The question:
Ace: Inspired by the spirited Twitter debate over Phil Steele's preseason All-Big Ten teams: If you could take one player from another Big Ten program's roster and put him on Michigan for 2015, who would you choose?
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The responses:
Seth: J—
Ace: [immediately claims Joey Bosa.]
Seth: Shi—
Adam: There goes my first choice. I'll take Shilique Calhoun and write it up later.
Seth: Dangit you guys…
BiSB: Are you allowed to do that?
Alex: I'll take my brother Connor. Mostly because it would hurt State a lot.
BiSB: Connor C—
Alex: Too late!
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Dave: While taking an Ohio State QB/anything is probably the right answer, this is a hipster blog which prides itself in bucking conventional wisdom!
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| The book on Carroo was he would go off on teams without a pass defense and get shut down by those who had one. Then Rutgers joined the Big Ten. [MyCentralNJ.com] |
Let's say that Jake Rudock is not only competent but was held back by the Iowan offensive coaching ineptitude. Let's also say that Tim Drevno finally unlocks Ben Braden's mammoth-sized potential. Now, perhaps Michigan finally has a plausible running game! (Wooooo, I kinda like this game!) Now, who would benefit Ru-Baugh and Co the most? Why, its Leonte Carroo, of course!
Carroo is a senior WR for Rutgers who interestingly chose one more year in Piscataway over trying his luck in the NFL. As long as he stays healthy -and Rutgers finds someone to consistely get him the ball- Leonte has a grand opportunity to be All-Big Ten. At 6'1" 205, he definitely has the size. He's also been clocked between 4.4-4.5 in the 40, which suggests he has enough speed. Last season, Carroo tallied 1,086 yards on 55 catches for 10 TDs.
The biggest thing that Leonte Carroo would bring to Michigan—aside from being one the Big Ten's top returning WRs- is that he would provide a playmaker opposite of Amara Darboh. While we all hope for Darboh to make a Hemingway-like leap, he probably is best fit as a possession-like, Avant-molded, second banana. Carroo and Darboh—with Butt moved around in various schemes—would allow Harbaugh to attack defenses with multiple proven passing targets...not to mention giving Rudock one more game-changer to take him from competent to explosive.
Sure, sure...a Heisman-contending QB is an ok choice, I guess. Or a first round, unblockable DE is fine, too. But don't sleep on what Leonte Carroo...can do...for you!
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Seth: Aaaand there's the Rutgers content. Looks like the Internet is burning after all Ace.
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Ace:
[After the jump: Picks, snark, more Simpsons references, I swear this is totally NOT Draftageddon]
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Ace: I'm here to explain my Joey Bosa selection.
Um... do I need to explain my Joey Bosa selection?
While Michigan could certainly use an elite quarterback or wide receiver, Rudock should be solid, and the available options at receiver on other Big Ten teams don't blow me away—Carroo seems the clear-cut best choice and he's coming off one (very) good year following a season plagued by drops.
While it may be difficult to fix the issues of the offense with one player, that may not be the case for the defense, which has the potential to be lights-out if they can unearth the program's first truly productive pass-rusher since Brandon Graham. Joey Bosa is much more than that; he's a potential #1 overall draft pick. With defensive end looking like the area in greatest need of depth—as well as top-end talent—on defense, Bosa would be among the first players in the country I'd choose in this exercise.
Now let's move on before the sheer amount of talent on Ohio State gets me all mad again.
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Seth: Nice going Ace, you didn't just burn the internet down; you've made a full-fledged DRAFTAGEDDON!
/half of readership flees
/quarter of readership flames
/one guy talks about what a great linebacker Steve Longa is.
You guys pinpointed the obvious #1 need is a Bosa/Calhoun to pressure the edge and force plays to end before the aggressiveness can bite us. You could add Penn State 3-/5-tech Anthony Zettel to that list—he's basically Brandon Graham forced to play inside because of their depth issues.
I can't let this question pass without mentioning the other question mark on defense could be answered emphatically with Minnesota CB Eric Murray, whose resume for the position of boundary/in-your-face man coverage Michigan is praying Wayne Lyons can pull off is a three-year laundry list of NFL-bound receivers producing zilch against him despite no help over the top.
While I'm back there, anyone else notice Steele's All-Big Ten secondary is all kinds of wrong?
It doesn't include Jourdan Lewis for one. Then he has Sean Davis (Jeremy LeSeuer 2.0) on 2nd team, Nick VanHoose (he's crafty but a poor man's Countess) over everybody, and R.J. Williamson over not just "safer" choice Jarrod Wilson, but teammate Montae Nicholson who took half of Williamson's snaps last year as a true freshman.
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Adam: That no one has gone full Grimey since the addition of Rutgers is nothing short of a miracle.
Yeah, I'm concerned about the offense too. I was tempted to take a receiver, but there just isn't one I'd pick over Shilique Calhoun. He's the missing piece that elevates Michigan's defense from very good to great.
I'm making the assumption that Wormley et al. will be able to hold down the SDE spot without much cause for concern. The one thing this defense is missing is pass rush, and the least-proven spot on that side of the ball is WDE. I'm fairly confident that Lawrence Marshall will someday wreak havoc from that position, but he's still trying to put on weight while retaining his speed and that's reason enough to pause. Plug in Calhoun, though, and the defense has a 6-5, 250 pound EMP cannon dressed up as a defensive end with three years of experience harassing quarterbacks. I, for one, welcome our new pass-rushing overlord.
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Brian: This question is bad and makes me feel bad, because the answer is obviously either the QBs on MSU or OSU or the DEs on MSU or OSU.
Let me put in a word for Corey Clement, though. The sole good idea Seth had during last year's Draftageddon (let us all pause in silent contemplation of the fact that Seth had the first crack at least year's uber-loaded Big Ten running back class and came back with... Venric Mark) was taking Clement late. While Melvin Gordon was pushing for Heisman consideration, his backup was going for 947 yards at 6.5 a pop. He would nicely resolve a lot of questions Michigan has at tailback, like "does Michigan have any tailbacks?"
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BiSB: If we're taking a running back, I'd go with Ezekiel Elliott or Justin Jackson. As a freshman, Jackson averaged almost 119 yards per game at over 5.0 yards per carry, despite playing behind a line that was most decidedly not Wisconsin's line (they were 83rd in adjusted line yards to Wisconsin's 12th).
However [*prepare for the #HOTTAKE hyperbole*], the clear answer here is Connor Cook, for three reasons.
- Michigan's largest question mark is at the most important position. If you can solve this, you solve it.
- We have a lot more evidence for Cook fitting Michigan's type of system than any of the OSU quarterbacks. People often equate "he's a system quarterback" with "he can't play in other systems," which is a red herring. The real issue is that when a guy runs an Urban Meyer spread, we haven't SEEN him run anything else. There's a knowledge gap, and when you're looking at a one-player draft, you're looking for a sure thing.
- The fun part about taking someone from another team is that the law of conservation of matter dictates that he cannot suit up for his prior team. If you take JT Barrett, Ohio State still has Braxton Miller and Cardale Jones. If you take Connor Cook from Michigan State, you leave Sparty with exactly 3 career in-conference passes attempted.