Michigan Football Tidbits: Denard in Ann Arbor
Who is the most underrated or overlooked player on Michigan roster? We believe Moundros. His work ethic continues and he is one of those guys who Barwis loves to talk about because he is willing to do all the extra stuff.
This year Moundros may be even more important. Reason, because of our lack of depth and he will play a very valuable role on almost every special teams.
Just going on spring we saw less slot formations, less five wide receiver sets and much more three wide receiver sets with Moundros on the field. Looks like he plays a big role in 2009 season.
Denard Robinson sighting. Expected to be at workouts today and probably be showing up this weekend when quarterback’s and wide receiver’s get together.
Defensive line with very different schemes then the defensive line in 2008. and judging from spring and early summer reports. The big three remain the same (RVB, Martin, and Graham) look to be sure starters.
RVB looks to be back. Back-ups or second group is where competition will be. Sagesse looks to be making a bid to solidify primary back-up on inside. Big Will of course progressing in terms of strength and conditioning, but still needs a lot of technique work next fall.
Depending on which teams we play we could see more four man fronts than people think. Yes Coach Robinson loves that hybrid defensive line / linebacker, but our personnel in 2009 may dictate we get more defensive tackle’s on the field. Patterson is now the primary back-up behind Graham and Banks is the primary back-up behind RVB.
Note: Under Barwis it is always the bigger players who are tougher to develop. Graham because of his athleticism has changed his body structure quicker and Patterson has been a constant winner of off-season awards. However, players like Sagesse and now Big Will along with RVB have been slower, but have been seeing much better results this off-season.
The defensive line in our opinion is going to be much deeper than expected. Defensive line depth may be the biggest strength of our defense. However, we are limited in talent when it comes to rushing the quarterback and at times our defensive line struggled in spring defending the run against our offense. Martin will make a big difference, but the continued development of this group is critical in 2009.
3) Hawthorne vs. Jones. This will be one of the competitive situations to watch in fall practices. In spring, Hawthorne was on the second team more often, but Jones by far was more productive when he got he opportunity.
The big question will be is this who Michigan will go with in fall as primary back-ups to S. Brown. Bell is another option, but one would think he will be way behind both Hawthorne and Jones because of him not being at Michigan in spring.
Of course another big question will be how about moving B. Smith to that position. This is a possibility and one Coach Robinson will consider, but before that happens B. Smith is going to have to show a willingness to really compete (something he did not do in spring). In fact, truth was a walk-on had basically outplayed him at safety. Whoever it is both Hawthorne and Jones have been pleasant surprises especially in terms of their work-ethic. The question is can these three star players actually play? Anyone question the need for M. Robinson?
More team stuff coming.
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Written by MaizeMan and ErocWolverine
