Not fair comparing Peppers to humans. [Upchurch]
The Question:
Ace: Since there's always at least one: Who do you think becomes this year's Spring Breakout Guy?
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Alex Cook (hoops beat): Can I answer with Jabrill Peppers? Last year was a complete and unmitigated disaster -- even our best recruit (of the past decade and perhaps longer) went down with an injury and missed pretty much the whole season. It's going to be easy for the national media to forget about him: Peppers didn't make any noise last year -- because of injury -- and Michigan isn't expected to do a whole lot (though we do have Harbaugh, which will be a well-tracked national storyline).
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| I like big butts and we cannot lie, when we’re building an offensive line. When a kid walks in with fleet-foot spin, and lower-body weight you get sprung! [Upchurch] |
I'm a True Believer when it comes to Jabrill Peppers, especially after the move to safety, where he can be in the box and play a coverage guy in equal turn. The guy has "future top ten pick" written all over him and I'm guessing we'll hear all about that as spring progresses.
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Seth: Yeah it'll be Peppers though we've been stoking that flame so long it can't be that much of a surprise when it goes up. So in the spirit of the annual "hey look what we found" of Spring let's go for a surprise candidate.
Logan Tuley-Tillman is what NFL left tackles are supposed to look like at 20 years old. Here's a guy who dropped 20 lbs from high school, then built back 10. He also had a hand injury last year to explain why he couldn't compete with a true freshman.
Brian on Monday mentioned a practice observer said the light went on. When that happens to a guy whose build matches the Michael Oher description from Blind Side, that means a Jake Long is born.
For LTT to crack the starting lineup now would mean he beat out (probably) Magnuson and Braden, two guys with 23 starts between them. Word from practice so far seems to be emphasizing that Cole and Miller are the only two OL from last year's unit who've locked down a job, then peg Cole as maybe moving to guard or RT. Reading between the lines it seems somebody’s job’s under fire from one of underclassmen. It could as well be Dawson—perhaps he can pull?—pushing from behind, since I’ve also read nice things about him coming out of practice, but the Cole thing suggests it’s a tackle who’s upsetting the standard order, and if that tackle was Magnuson we’d be hearing they plan to find a spot for Mags. Fox is still hurt, so that leaves JBB or LTT, and people are talking about the latter.
[Jump for more things Harbaugh makes better]
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Adam Schnepp (press correspondent, hockey): Lawrence Marshall is human; this qualifies him to compete at WDE for the 2015 Michigan Wolverines. He's also a good football player; this qualifies him to compete to start at WDE.
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| Word from practice is that Marshall is carrying most of his muscle in his legs. That may make him serviceable as a pass rusher or standup end, which Durkin likes to use often, but he’s probably not yet big enough to be a 1st/2nd down run stopper. [Fuller] |
With Mario Ojemudia his only competition at the position until Reuben Jones arrives on campus this fall, Marshall was going to get playing time. What he can do with that time remains relatively unknown considering he redshirted 2014, but the aforementioned practice reports have been bullish. The coaching staff is shuttling him between WDE and Buck LB, which indicates that they see ways to utilize his athleticism and edge-rushing ability in a 4-3 and 3-4. One of the knocks on Marshall at the time of his commitment, as with almost any high school DE, was his technique; I'd be surprised if that remains an issue with the new coaching staff.
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BiSB (funny person, legal beat):
"Lo, and the clouds parted, and the Harbaugh did speak unto his chosen people, the Tight Endians. And the Tight Endians were awash in targets. And they said that it was good." ~ Jim 3:16
Jabrill Peppers is the correct answer, because of course it is, but I don't think anyone will make the kind of leap in the Michigan Zeitgeist like Ian Bunting. If you watch Jerry Hanlon's breakdown with The Wolverine of some of Harbaugh Orange Bowl, you can see the role a 'matchup nightmare' style tight end can play in this offense. It isn't even that Harbaugh's offenses get tight ends matched up on safeties or linebackers. Every offense can do that. It's that his offenses get tight ends on safeties and linebackers who are often pushed up on the line of scrimmage, and whose first seven thoughts on any given play are OMG GAP MUST STAY HOME OR MY VILLAGE IS LOST. Get a guy with some size and speed who can take advantage of the extra step the offense gives him, and baby you've got yourself a stew going.
Ian Bunting is 6'7 and 243 pounds, wears XXXXL gloves and runs a 40 in somewhere from the 4.6 to 4.7 range. THAT is a matchup nightmare. Jake Butt will remain a more complete all-around tight end, and Khalid Hill may even stay ahead of Bunting on the depth chart, but Harbaugh loves him some tight ends, Bunting will do SOMETHING in the spring game in which you will watch this assemblage of impossible limbs wheeling cartoon-fight-cloud-like through the secondary, and you will be whisked away to an alternate universe where Devin Funchess put on some weight, learned to block a guy or two, and became Jimmy Graham. And it will make you sad. But the Bunting thing will make you happy. So just be happy.
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Brian: My guy is Bunting, at least in the "this man will be hyped a lot and then not really play as much as you might think" sense, a la Canteen last year. I bet a dollar he's a year away from being Harbaugh-worthy in the blocking department, but once you see him wandering around out there palming former Soviet republics like they're superballs everyone will be like dang.
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| Harbaugh likes tight ends, and Bunting is an extant tight end. He’s also too tall to be captured by most smart phone cameras. |
My other guy because I need another guy so I'm just not repeating things people have already said is... Ty Isaac. Michigan is looking for a savior in the run game, and a five-star USC transfer looks like it might just fit the bill. I'm a little concerned about Isaac's height and the fact that his high school tape featured his team paving him a yellow brick road all the way to Touchdown City, but he is definitely going to be hyped to the moon what with the disappointment washing over the current group. Finding the hole and running through it fast would be wonderful. I wonder what Michigan's run game would have felt like last year with Mike Hart in the backfield. I think it might have been kind of good.
A side advantage Isaac has: with his frame and catching skills (the best part of his tape was a series of circus catches) Harbaugh is going to love the flexibility that gives him. Harbaugh does the LOOK IT'S FIVE WIDE (until we motion into a big set) thing. Isaac's receiving skills play into that most excellently.
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Ace: Michigan boasts a lot of depth and quite a bit of talent at receiver, which tends to be a position that gets a lot of attention in spring ball. (Hi, Freddy Canteen!) I'll admit that the first couple answers that came to mind have been taken—Bunting and LTT, though I didn't consider Peppers for this—but I'm still surprised neither Drake Harris nor Moe Ways has been mentioned.
If his hamstrings cooperate, Harris has the potential to break into the starting lineup and perhaps even become the #1 target. Much of the hype on him has worn off after he missed most of his senior season and then took an injury-induced redshirt in 2014, but other than missed practice time he shouldn't be limited by the past injuries—and the last time he wasn't limited he looked like Skinny Braylon. Michigan could use a true deep threat; Harris may very well be that guy.
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| Drake Harris (above) or Mo Ways or maybe Canteen again: some receiver has to pop out this year. [Fuller] |
Ways, meanwhile, has NFL size at 6'4", 205, and very well could've played as a true freshman last year if Michigan didn't have the depth they did at receiver. He took a significant step forward between his junior and senior seasons in high school. A similar leap this year is by no means out of the question, and that would put him right in line for playing time.
I think one of these guys has a big-time Spring Game performance that gets the hype train rolling. If I had to guess, I'd say Harris is that guy, if for no other reason than he's a much different receiver than the others on the roster. (Ways and Amara Darboh aren't too different stylistically, which could make it harder for Ways to move into a bigger role.)
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David Nasternak (operations): Imma go Offense then Defense.
Ace talked a little about Moe Ways. First, his NFL build. 6'4" puts him at Hemingway +3 inches. Second, seeing him at a couple of the practices, last summer, showed me a couple things. I thought he caught balls away from his body extremely well and he made some of those same catches in tight coverage. Granted, those days are a small sample size, but it started to build to the evidence that the potential is there. While Drake Harris's ceiling might be a little bit higher overall, I think this off-season is a huge opportunity for Ways. His size on the outside is something that Michigan doesn't have, outside of Bunting (who could be used in a myriad of other modes). Harris is still rather thin, so I might give the bump to Ways in 2015. Thankfully, his 2014 redshirt was not burned, so we will still have 4 Moe years. Also...how many headlines can we make with THAT name???
On Defense...I thought about this one for a while and almost went a couple of different directions. My guy is Ben Gedeon. Now, I'm not saying that he will start immediately, but I wouldn't be shocked if he pushed a starter throughout the year. Gedeon seemed advanced and borderline ready for action since he stepped on the field. We all say that the one thing we can never blame Hoke for is his recruiting...and I think that Gedeon has a chance to be Hoke's 2nd (Morgan, b/c of consistent playing time for 4 years) best LB recruit. I think the only thing that will keep him away from seeing major minutes is Morgan's 5th year -not a bad thing, by any means. Add Ben Gedeon to the list of guys it would have been REALLY nice to have redshirted...sigh.
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Seth: Count me a skeptic on Drake Harris for this year, and at the very least this spring. Those hamstring problems have set him back a ways, and I’m guessing the coaching staff isn’t going to push him until he’s had more time to heal and actually start a collegiate weight program. Brian’s not kidding about “rail thin.” He’s a good pick maybe for 2016, or 2017 when Darboh and Chesson are no longer around. Harris though hasn’t been able to run routes or gain strength. Better to pump the brakes on expectations for him now and save the hype for when it’s got a more realistic chance of showing.