UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[The Oracle]

Guess I didn't know that it was set in stone and thought that that this sort of made it official. Apologies for adding clutter to this obviously pristine topic/thread.

DAMN YOU!!

[WM Wolverine]

Solution to Ohio's QB race is easy, it's whoever works the read-option best with Eze Elliott which will be Urban's bread-and-butter play in '15. Not too familiar with Ohio's WR situation (talent?) but they lost a couple of Cardale's HR threats that made him look better than he was. Same is true of the other two QB's but those other QB's have more ability to gain yardage on the ground...

Urban is as good of a coach as there is in CFB, almost on par with Harbaugh. He'll know what to do with the QB situation, there maybe times and situations where one option is preferable to another. That's a good problem to have...

VT was a 3-5 (I think) ACC team last season in the weaker [Coastal] ACC division, I'll be surprised if Ohio has any trouble with them with the only caveat being is if Ohio really loses the turnover battle...

Speaking of OOC games, Utah looks really tough to me. They beat USC, Stanford and UCLA last season and return most all of their important pieces. M is going to need to go in to Utah ready to play one of its toughest games on its schedule.

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Chad Henne was very good, even with Jake Long though he didn't get near enough pass protection with his limited escapability plus he had some injury issues he played through. Except for '06, Henne was more a victim of a lousy OL and a defense unable to hold up there end of the bargain.

[iam416]

OSU lost Devin Smith. They also lost their best blocker in Evan Spencer. There's a lot of folks who think Cardale actually made Devin Smith even better. One of those people is Nick Saban. I could go into depth on OSU WR situation, but that's of little interest here. You are, IMO, way wrong on the read-option point. Hopefully the 2nd or 3rd (PSU fans love themselves some Franklin) best coach in the B10 East can figure it out.

[WM Wolverine]

I don't know the Buckeyes situation at WR, OL, etc near as well as you which is why I asked for your thoughts on their WR situation...

I expect the Buckeyes to run the ball a ton in '15 with Eze and Urban has shown an affinity for the read-option. I'd expect it'll be used a great deal though that can change depending on your personnel.

[Hannibal]

Henne was a mediocre QB who had a ton of trouble reading defenses and sensing pressure. He had a great arm and decent accuracy but he always looked like a deer in the headlights.

[hack]

Urban is as good of a coach as there is in CFB, almost on par with Harbaugh.

Despite the risk of sounding like Talent I have to say that's too much. Way too much.

[WM Wolverine]

I was throwing the troll a bone.

[lineygoblue]

Hmmmmmmm.......

[hack]

Fair enough.

[iam416]

WM:

JTB runs the actual read option the best. Cardale stretches the field and creates better opportunity for a pure power game. Braxton does a little of both. As has been pointed out by other M fans, it's a real disaster for the 3rd best coach in the division.

WRs: Michael Thomas really emerged last season and should be a very good #1. Corey Smith started to come along, too, and is a good option. Johnnie Dixon would have been in the rotation last year as a true freshman until he was injured. Noah Brown is expected to fit into the "Evan Spencer" role of great blocking WR (he played last year at H-Back--mostly in a blocking role). I think Curtis Samuel will also get time as a WR because they want to get his speed and talent more reps than just spelling Elliot.

I don't think you replace Devin Smith's ridiculous 27 ypc average and stunning consistency at producing long TD catches. But, overall the group should still be very good -- a far cry from the shitshow in 2012.

[Prime2]

You mean OP and who else? ;)

If I had to venture a guess, I'd say OP & Prime2 but Im not 100% certain.
I did hear he's a pretty good dancer though.

[Da Geezer]

OSU just got the commitment from the # 3 running back in 2016. That gives them the # 1, # 3, and # 4 running backs for 2016 (out of 8 total recruits). I'm rooting for Mike Weber to beat them all down, and become the #1 back eventually, but that is a load of competition.

[iam416]

Only one of them will compete against Weber. Hill and especially McCall will be used differently. McCall is pure H-Back (Jalin Marshall/Dontre Wilson).

[BuckLion]

Only one of them will compete against Weber. Hill and especially McCall will be used differently. McCall is pure H-Back (Jalin Marshall/Dontre Wilson).

I could see Hill be like Samuel where he is being recruited as an H-Back but could be big enough to be a HB. But agreed on McCall being 100% H-Back. I'm not sure who I like most. I'm actually leaning towards Hill. Next year will actually be the first year being the workhorse though with LJ Scott gone so we'll see more. Walker does thoroughly impress me though. Good, not great power but deceptive speed. I would compare him to Melvin Gordon.

[iam416]

I think Hill is the clear 3rd best. Walker is awesome and McCall, IMO, will be a superstar.