Michigan Football Tidbits: Incoming freshmen running backs, the tight end position, and the full backs

Incoming freshmen:

Smith: We have to admit we were not jumping up and down when Smith committed to Michigan. We consider him a good, but not great, back and he may end up surprising us.

We have to say that of all the freshmen on campus right now, he has surprised the most. He runs effortlessly and never seems to tire. He is very quick and light on his feet and just seems to glide over the ground when he runs. In addition, the coaches have remarked that Smith flat-out impressed them: they consider him a “football player” who will always get the yards needed — sounds a lot like Hart.

Toussaint: He will be a running back at Michigan. The coaches can’t wait to see him on campus.

The rumor is he has been told he will not get red-shirted, but I hope both Smith and Toussaint both end up as red-shirts. since running backs seems to be one of the easiest positions to recruit.

Compared to Smith (above), Toussaint he is thicker and has more power. Both Toussaint and Smith run between the tackles better than their sizes would indicate.

Fullback:

Moundros: He will take more snaps than people think. If we had 85 players that had his attitude, we sure would not have been 3-9 a year ago. Coach Rod has been known to use players like Moundros in the past, so expect Moundros to be utilized more, not less, than last season.

Tight Ends:

Koger: When you see this guy, one thing that really stands out is that he is one big kid — and getting bigger. There’s always some talk about Koger moving to defensive end, and he sure looks like one, but he is also our best tight end and has become an above-average blocker.

In addition, Koger wants to play offense. The alleged meetings between Oklahoma and Michigan, in which tight end play was discussed, seems to indicate that Koger may play an important part of the offense in 2009.

Webb: Which Webb shows up in 2009 — hero or goat? We hope to see a big change in him this year, but we will wait until we seem him “bring it” until we label Webb a potential contributor.

During individual meetings with players, coaches told Webb they plan on using tight ends more. Webb at one time was considered sure to transfer, but he is back, so he might just be waiting to see what happens in spring before making a decision. However, unless he shows a little more intensity on the field, the decision on whether or not he plays might be made for him.

Moore: We have one question: could Moore play defense? Moore showed some promise his first year, and he is gaining much needed weight and strength. Depending on how Webb performs, Moore may be our #2 tight end.

The fact we did not recruit any tight end means Moore may stay put. Of course, they could always move in Clemons. We don’t really have a good assessment on him, but we’ll be watching him closely this spring.

Watson: Watson has been injured his whole time at Michigan and has maybe resigned himself to just get a good education, which might be just as well because it is hard to see where his snaps are going to come from. Maybe he’ll be able to participate in spring practice this year, so we can see how he does.

>>> (Tomorrow we will be talking about the Defense.)

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Written by MaizeMan, CoachBt and ErocWolverine