This Week’s Obsession: Most Desired Breakout Player

You break out or I will. [Bryan Fuller]

The Question:

You get a magic wand to anoint any Michigan player an instant all-Big Ten, except an offensive tackle else we'd all just be naming backup OTs.

Brian: This might be dumb.

Ace: We’re all gonna go with CBs, right?

Brian: I'm going with Quinn Nordin?

Ace: Never mind.

The Responses:

Brian: I mean, #collegekickers, right? And if Nordin can hit them straight you've got four years of NFL range and accuracy plus kickoff returns that amount to "lol no".

Is that crazy?

Adam: I was going with Ron Johnson because please someone anyone D-line depth. and it'd be nice to have a guy that can play SDE and 3T.

Brian: I feel Ron Johnson is an invalid selection since to be All Big Ten you have to have some opportunity to play and TBH he does not.

An instantly playable James Hudson could give Michigan a solid two-deep at DL.

Adam: But who are the backups?

Brian: Dwumfour and Solomon.

Ace: In terms of value added over another position on the roster, Nordin isn’t crazy. Dropoff from his ceiling to the backups is bigger than most any other spot on the roster.

Brian: Yeah, I mean it would be nice if Devin Bush was ABT but I'm not stressed if he isn't.

Adam: I'm going more for the principle than a specific player but I really haven no idea who the backup 3T will be. Marshall? Hudson? DIB?

Ace: I’d guess Hudson. He’s outrageously strong.

David: Maybe Gary if they can find snaps for a freshman at anchor?

Ace: Gary might slide inside on some obvious passing downs but he’d be better utilized on the edge. I think that’s a last resort that won’t be needed.

Seth: Kemp is the backup at anchor. Of all the backup DL that’s the spot I’m least worried about.

[Hit THE JUMP for more of us ignoring the offense because you really cut our legs out with this tackle rule.]

David: I guess I have two (two!) thoughts in this vein. First, Pick a CB. It seems that M has 3 potentially nice options at safety...although one could slide down to VIPER. They can also potentially live with 2 of McCray/Robo/Bush at LB. They also have a great class of freshman LBs coming in. The DL looks like it will still be very good...with maybe a slight bit of depth once the Fall rolls around? While there are many different options at corner -with high ceilings- it is still very much an unknown and we have yet to see any of those options take meaningful snaps. If Long/Hill/Washington/freshman were to be an instant success, this defense could be very, very good again.

What if Drake Harris hit his potential?? All of a sudden this offense could explode! You have a tall burner who can take the top off the defense. This would ease the load of the rest of the younger guys and allow them to find their niches. Obviously, the OL will need to give Wilton Peters time, but an All B10 home run threat would add a dimension to this offense that we haven't seen since probably 2011.

Ace: I’m taking David Long. Aside from offensive tackle, cornerback is the biggest question mark in the lineup. We’ve seen some flashes from Lavert Hill, enough so that there’s reason to be optimistic he’ll be at least a passable starter. They need another, obviously. We haven’t really had the chance to see Long play, to the point that it’s mildly concerning, but he’s got a ton of talent. Living up to that potential early would address one of the biggest concerns on the entire team and give this defense a chance to be as good as last year’s.

Adam: David and Ace took the corners, Brian covered special teams, and I'm not at all concerned about the safeties or LBs/VIPER, so I'm sticking with backup 3T. I'll borrow from Ace and go with James Hudson. NT is in fine shape with Mone and Solomon and, if he rekindles the hype from before he was injured, Dwumfour. At SDE you have Gary and Kemp, and I expect Kemp will be a serviceable backup this year. That leaves WDE and 3T as the perilously thin spots. I think you could make cases for Luiji Vilain or James Hudson; I'm going with Hudson because it'd be real nice to have someone to spell Michigan's best defensive player.

For the lols [Bryan Fuller]

Seth: James Hudson is a good value pick but I'm going totally selfish with this one and taking Josh Uche as a stand-up OLB/DE tweener. Reasons:

1. Guy most people weren't talking about in preseason to All-B1G would necessarily mean tons of TFLs, which would be hella fun to watch.
2. Young enough and not-built-for-NFL enough that we'd probably get to keep him a long time.
3. WDE depth right now is "um, can Vilain play?" while the roster sets up well for Brown's 3-3-5 sets.
4. Wheee tiny blitzball edge weapons. I've been wanting one of these in our defense ever since Michigan State was wracking up 17 TFLs with tiny Denicos Allen.
5. Die in a fire, Urban Meyer offenses.
6. Don Brown hybrid edge weapon gives me a year's worth of Neck Sharpies material.

Ace: Last year may have set our expectations for D-line depth unreasonably high. Vilain was edging towards five-star status by the end of the recruiting cycle. He’s probably going to be a plug-and-play guy who’s more than serviceable as a backup on a line where he’ll be surrounded by top-end talent.

That said, I’d still love to see Uche break out. He could be a lot of fun.

Seth: Right? Like envision all those runs where J.T. Barrett gets isolated with a DE and slinks through the crack for 6 yards, except instead he's constantly getting brought down in the backfield then jumping up all like "Who the hell got me?"