Earlier: 2010 Official Depth Chart Breakdown: The Offense

While the offensive side of the official depth chart lacked many unexpected moves, its defensive counterpart has some very intriguing — and unforeseen — twists:

The first thing that jumps out to me on the defensive line is the placement of sophomore Will Campbell — third string, a disappointing spot to be in for the former five-star recruit, who showed up to camp overweight at 333 pounds. He is stick behind senior Adam Patterson, who has all of eight career tackles in 25 appearances.

True freshman Jibreel Black earned a spot on the two-deep behind Ryan Van Bergen at defensive end, a very good sign from a player many thought would contribute immediately. The absence of redshirt freshman Anthony LaLota — especially in lieu of redshirt junior Steve Watson, who is on his third position in four years as a Wolverine — might not be a good sign for the former four-star prospect.

Your starting defensive line is redshirt junior Ryan Van Bergen at defensive end, junior Mike Martin at nose tackle, and redshirt senior Greg Banks defensive tackle. That’s a lot of experience along the line — this should be a strong unit up front.

They weren’t kidding about redshirt senior Mark Moundros making a serious run at Obi Ezeh for the middle linebacker spot — the former fullback is listed as a co-starter with Ezeh, who was benched late last season despite making 31 career starts in three seasons. This is a position battle that could very easily continue into the season, especially as Moundros becomes more accustomed to the defensive side of the ball. Sophomore Craig Roh and redshirt senior Jonas Mouton are your other starters. Roh is finally at the proper weight for a player who will spend the majority of his time blitzing, while Mouton has been impressive in fall practices after a disappointing 2009 season.

At cornerback, senior James Rogers gets the nod for now to start across from redshirt sophomore J.T. Floyd. As expected, the backups at corner are all true freshmen — Terrence Talbott and Cullen Christian back up Rogers, and Courtney Avery sits behind Floyd.

The biggest surprise on the depth chart is true freshman Carvin Johnson’s rise to the top of the depth chart at spur. Johnson was an unranked recruit when he first committed to Michigan, but finished as a high-ranked three-star who was creating a lot of buzz on blogs and message boards. He moves ahead of redshirt freshman Thomas Gordon, who most projected as the starter, and walk-on Floyd Simmons. Another true freshman safety, Marvin Robinson, has also landed on the two-deep — he sits behind Jordan Kovacs at bandit.

Redshirt freshman Cameron Gordon stays atop the two-deep at free safety, where is he backed up by another walk-on, redshirt junior Jared Van Slyke. Redshirt freshman Vlad Emilien, who many presumed would at the very least challenge for the starting job, is stuck at third string.

Special Teams:

The battle at placekicker is still ongoing between Brendan Gibbons, Rivals.com’s No. 8 kicker in the class of 2009, and walk-on Seth Broekhuizen, a fellow redshirt freshman. True freshman and Army All-American Will Hagerup will start at punter, with Broekhuizen at backup. It could be an up-and-down year in the kicking department with two freshman handling the specialist duties — keep in mind the team will also have to find a replacement for kickoff specialist Bryan Wright, who transferred to Bowling Green for his fifth year.

Darryl Stonum will once again be Michigan’s top kickoff returner after he averaged 25.7 yards per return in 2009 and set the school record for single-season kickoff return yards with 1,001. He will be backed up by Martavious Odoms, who is one of three receivers vying for the punt return job, along with redshirt freshman Jeremy Gallon and redshirt sophomore Terrence Robinson. Stonum should once again be an excellent return man, and Michigan should at least have a sure-handed player handling punts among the three candidates.

Similar Posts:

• 2010 Official Depth Chart Breakdown: Offense
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Defense
• Early Guess at the Football Depth Chart: Now Updated for Spring
• Position Threat Levels: Severe
• A (Very) Early Look at the 2010 Defense

The position previews forge on with a look at the most disconcerting position group on the roster — the cornerbacks:

Returning Contributors: J.T. Floyd (RS So.), James Rogers (Sr.), Teric Jones (So.), Tony Anderson (RS Jr.)
Incoming Freshmen: Courtney Avery, Cullen Christian, Terrence Talbott
Key Departures: Donovan Warren, Boubacar Cissoko, Justin Turner

Returning Player Stats:

The Projected Starters: Standout senior Donovan Warren will line up across from junior Boubacar Cissoko, who is poised for a breakout year after starting all 12 games as a sophomore.

Senior Troy Woolfolk can play either safety or corner, and is a solid option as a nickel corner, while blue-chip freshman Demar Dorsey is also competing for a big role in 2010 after an impressive showing in fall drills.

Redshirt freshman Justin Turner is also in line for a breakout year after being one of the country’s top defensive back recruits in 2009.

We all know the story by now: Michigan’s secondary is a decimated unit after a series of unfortunate events — Boubacar Cissoko getting kicked off the team, Donovan Warren leaving school early, Demar Dorsey and Adrian Witty (again) being denied admittance, Justin Turner transferring, Troy Woolfolk suffering a season-ending injury — leaves only unproven veterans and true freshmen battling for time at cornerback.

With all that has transpired, redshirt sophomore J.T. Floyd is now the team’s de facto number one cornerback, coming off a season in which he saw little playing time after appearing unready to see the field when he played in the opener against Western Michigan. Floyd is a former three-star recruit who played safety in high school, and he has earned the praises of the coaching staff and practice observers for his improvement since the end of last season. How much he has improved will go a long way towards determining the success of the Wolverine defense this season.

While Floyd is cemented as the team’s top corner, who will start across from him is a questions that thus far remains unanswered. As it stands right now, senior James Rogers appears to have the inside track on the job. Rogers started his career at cornerback before switching to wide receiver in 2008, but he moved back over to corner during the 2009 season when the team needed more depth at the position. Rogers is a former high school track star and at 6-1, 183 pounds, he has great physical attributes for a corner — the question will be if he can play with proper technique after bouncing between offense and defense throughout his collegiate career. If he wins the job, expect Rogers to be serviceable, but the ceiling here — especially in comparison to a guy like Cullen Christian — is relatively low.

The Competition: A trio of true freshmen — four-star Cullen Christian and three-stars Courtney Avery and Terrence Talbott — will compete not just for playing time, but to start alongside Floyd as the 2010 season rapidly approaches. Christian is the highest-rated of the group, has the most college-ready body (6-0, 187 lbs.), and possesses very good cover skills, but he must improve on his tackling if he wants to see significant time. Avery has been mentioned as the freshman who could see the field the soonest, despite being a three-star prospect who played mainly quarterback in high school. He is a very good athlete, but at 5-11, 167 pounds he needs to add some weight, and soon. Talbott, at 5-11, 171 pounds, is also in need of some bulk, and he is also a pretty raw prospect — on the plus side, he was a strong tackler in high school, a quality the coaches are really looking for in all their defensive backs. My guess is Christian sees the most playing time of the three freshmen based on overall talent and size, but everything is very much up in the air right now.

Sophomore Teric Jones has bounced around enough times to make even James Rogers’s head spin: Jones arrived on campus as a three-star running back/slot receiver prospect, but was moved to cornerback last fall and saw brief mop-up duty against Eastern Michigan and Delaware State while spending most of his nine appearances on special teams. This spring he moved to safety to compete to back up Jordan Kovacs at bandit, but was moved once again to cornerback after Woolfolk’s injury. Jones has ideal speed for a corner and hits surprisingly well for a 5-9, 195-pound defensive back, but he will have to learn proper corner technique in a hurry if he wants to see the field this year.

Others: Redshirt junior Kelvin Grady was moved this week from slot receiver to cornerback, and considering Grady’s outstanding scrimmage performance as a receiver last Saturday, this says a lot about the depth and quality at cornerback right now. [EDIT: Guess that rumor wasn't true. Thanks to commenter Steve for the heads up.]

Redshirt junior walk-on Tony Anderson has played on special teams throughout his career at Michigan and could see time at corner if the situation calls for it, but he’s unlikely to get significant time on defense unless the team gets hit with even more injuries. True freshman Carvin Johnson has seen practice time at both safety, his natural position, and cornerback, but with three other true freshmen at corner I don’t foresee him having much of an impact here.

Outlook:
Okay, planning for a nuclear attack may be a bit over the top, but let’s look at this situation rationally for a minute: Michigan’s top corner will be a redshirt sophomore whose most memorable moment as a Wolverine was getting torched by a Western Michigan receiver in garbage time last year. That’s our top corner. The other spot will be manned either by a senior who has switched positions multiple times without ever seeing significant playing time or a true freshman. Behind that, we have more true freshmen and a walk-on who has only seen time on special teams. While it is conceivable that this unit could be something besides a complete disaster, well, the reality points to expecting something close to worst-case scenario. I will be very, very happy if I’m dead wrong about this position, but after two years of having my optimistic expectations crushed, I’m going to seek shelter in a bunker of realistic pessimism. My apologies if you expecting some comfort from this preview — here’s a winking puppy to make you feel better.

Previous Position Previews: Quarterback, Running Back, Outside Receiver, Slot Receiver, Tight End, Offensive Tackle, Interior Offensive Line, Defensive Tackle, Defensive End, Linebacker

For every position preview, click here or hit the “2010 Position Previews” tag at the bottom of the post.

Similar Posts:

• Justin Turner Leaves Michigan
• There’s a Middle Ground on Turner Departure
• 2010 Official Depth Chart Breakdown: Defense/Special Teams
• Position Threat Levels: Severe
• A (Very) Early Look at the 2010 Defense

Thanks to a generous friend with an extra ticket, I was able to attend Michigan’s scrimmage today. No pictures or video were allowed in the stadium, and I won’t comment on specific schemes or formations, but here are a few player-specific notes from my view in the box seats — please keep in mind that these are one person’s observations of one scrimmage from high up in the stadium:

• Unless something crazy happens between now and September 4, Denard Robinson is your clear starter at quarterback. The quarterbacks weren’t live today, but Robinson still managed to carve up the second-team defense (running the first-team offense, of course) with his legs and his arm. His made good decisions with the ball and his passes were on the money, and he took a QB draw 40+ yards to the house — only Denard makes that play, and he made it look easy.
• Devin Gardner, running mostly with the twos, looked at times like a seasoned veteran, but he had a couple throws — including an ugly interception to Marvin Robinson — that reminded everyone he is just a freshman. His natural ability could lead to him seeing the field this year, but I think it’s safe to say he’s probably a year away from really pushing for the starting job. Really like his poise in the pocked and running ability, however, and it would have been interesting to see what he could have done if the quarterbacks were live. Tate Forcier started with the threes but saw snaps with the ones and twos as well — he looked solid throwing the ball, but made a couple poor reads on zone running plays.
• It was great to see Vincent Smith out there running with the first-team offense, and he looks 100% healthy — the coaching staff even put him back to return a kickoff, which has to be a good sign about both Smith’s and the coaching staff’s confidence in his knee being back to normal. He did fumble after getting cracked on a reception (didn’t see who made the hit, but it was a good one). The most impressive back, however, may have been Stephen Hopkins, who has dropped some weight since the spring and looked much quicker while still running through tackles. I didn’t think he’d be more than a situational back this fall, but after seeing him today I think he has a real shot at not only being in the rotation, but starting.
• Kelvin Grady had a very impressive day, making some great catches on seam routes from the slot, getting a lot of yards after the catch on screen plays, and scoring a touchdown on an end-around. He should have an impact this fall from a number of positions on the field. On the flip side of that coin, Terrence Robinson struggled with drops all day — I’d be surprised if he sees much time at receiver or punt returner if those issues continue. Jerald Robinson showed the most promise of the freshmen wideouts, and Je’Ron Stokes had a couple nice catches as well.
• On defense, I was most impressed with the play of Mark Moundros, who showed good instincts in the run game and had a couple really nice hits — he was playing alongside Obi Ezeh with the ones, with Jonas Mouton sitting out in a green jersey. Interestingly, it was Moundros playing in the middle with Ezeh at WLB. Still not sure how I feel about a converted fullback sliding into the starting lineup, but if Moundros beats out Ezeh at MLB, it’s because he earned it. Jibreel Black also made some nice plays — he could be a guy who contributes right away as a pass rusher. Also, his physical resemblance to Brandon Graham when he’s in a uniform and pads is eerie.
• J.T. Floyd and James Rogers were the cornerbacks on the first-team defense. Floyd looked solid, but Rogers got picked on a couple times and got hit with a pass interference flag after getting beat deep by Jerald Robinson. The secondary in general looked very suspect — they were playing a lot of soft zones and gave up too much underneath and up the middle. The good news is they didn’t give up any bombs if you exclude the flag on Rogers, but the offense moved the ball pretty easily through the air.
• From the few kicks we were able to see, Brendan Gibbons looked like the best kicker, but he still has to get more consistent from inside 40 yards — just can’t afford to miss those kicks. Will Hagerup had an up-and-down day punting the ball — had a couple that traveled around 50 yards in the air, but also had some 30-yard kicks. The kicking game could be an adventure this season.
• One last note: Take this for what it’s worth, but I didn’t see Austin White out there in uniform today, and he definitely didn’t see any playing time. Not sure what his status is with the team, and I’ll have updates when there’s some news to report there.

For more, make sure to follow me on Twitter, where I posted my initial thoughts on the scrimmage, and make sure to check back to the blog for more season preview content as we get closer to kickoff. Your thoughts and questions, as always, are welcome in the comments.

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I’ll get this out of the way right now: In no way should Troy Woolfolk’s devastating leg injury — and the resulting nightmare of a depth chart — have any bearing on Rich Rodriguez’s job status at Michigan. To say Rodriguez has had horrible luck with cornerbacks during his tenure in Ann Arbor would do a disservice to the term ‘horrible.’ AnnArbor.com has a brief rundown of how Michigan got so thin at the position, and it isn’t pretty:

In addition to [Justin] Turner’s untimely departure, Donovan Warren left school early after the 2009 season to enter the NFL Draft, expecting to be a mid-round draft pick. Instead, he signed an unrestricted free-agent deal with the New York Jets.

This spring, the Wolverines signed highly touted recruit Demar Dorsey. He could have played safety or cornerback, but the university denied his admission.

Boubacar Cissoko started the first four games of the season at right cornerback last year, but was kicked off the team for violating internal rules, and subsequently pled guilty to four robbery charges.

Adrian Witty was a highly touted 2009 cornerback recruit, but never made it to campus as a non-qualifier.

You could argue that Rodriguez brought some of this upon himself: Witty and Dorsey were both his recruits and neither met Michigan’s academic standards (Witty wasn’t admitted by the school in 2010 after meeting NCAA eligibility requirements one year after being recruited), but few were complaining when the Wolverines added Dorsey on signing day to a strong crop of 2010 corners, and nobody could have foreseen just how desperately the Wolverines would need instant-impact corners at the time.

As for the others, Warren was a Lloyd Carr recruit — and Michigan’s top corner — who didn’t wait for his NFL draft evaluation before declaring early, and Cissoko was another Carr holdover who let off-field demons get the best of his career in Ann Arbor. Rodriguez can hardly be blamed for either departure. And Turner? Having one of the nation’s top 50 prospects decide he doesn’t want to work hard enough to play Division I football came as a surprise to everyone — he was a can’t-miss prospect who missed, and nothing in his recruiting profile raised any red flags until he showed up late and out of shape for his freshman season. Even then, fans expected Turner would turn it around and compete for a starting role this fall, but Turner never fully committed himself to football, and now he’s gone.

Rich Rodriguez has done everything he could to hold together the cornerback position. In 2008, with former five-star Warren and the talented Woolfolk already on the roster, he added Cissoko (a four-star and Rivals.com’s No. 4 corner) and three-star J.T. Floyd (unlike Cissoko, not a Carr holdover, as he committed after the coaching change). In the class of 2009, he locked up Turner, Scout.com’s No. 3 corner, and added Witty for depth. When Witty didn’t qualify and Warren departed early for the NFL, Rodriguez loaded up on 2010 corners with Army All-American Cullen Christian and three-star prospects Courtney Avery and Terrence Talbott, and pulled a recruiting coup when he landed Dorsey on signing day. Of those players, only Floyd and the three freshmen (excluding Dorsey, of course) remain healthy and on the team. The last thing this team could afford was a serious injury to the only experienced corner, and that’s exactly what happened yesterday.

Until we see what Greg Robinson and the defense can make out of Michigan’s depleted secondary, we won’t know just how large of an impact Woolfolk’s injury will have on the defense. At this point, however, it’s tough not to measure that impact in losses — multiple ones at that — and I only hope that Dave Brandon, as well as the Michigan fans, take that into account in what has been billed as a make-or-break year for Rich Rodriguez.

Similar Posts:

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I’m currently writing this from an island in Canada with no real internet, so I’m forced to tether my phone to my laptop and deal with dial-up level connection speed — this will be brief and sans pretty pictures as a result, but I wanted to write a bit more on Justin Turner’s departure before the weekend hit.

There seem to be two schools of thought on Turner’s departure, each polar opposites in their outlook. The first, as seen on many message boards and blogs (sorry, no links, as I barely have enough bandwith as it is), is one of semi-panic at the departure of a former five-star recruit at a position of great need. The other, espoused over at The Wolverine (free article) by my friend Michael Spath, is one of relative unconcern — Turner clearly wasn’t working hard enough to see the field, and therefore Michigan didn’t lose much in the short term. While I tend to side with Spath in this case, I do take issue with the headline of the piece (“Turner’s departure will not impact Michigan”) and this paragraph:

Meanwhile, Michigan has adapted. Some losses have hurt more than others but Turner’s won’t be one that retards the Maize and Blue significantly this fall. He had great promise, elite talent, but a work ethic that didn’t match his ability, and his impact this fall would have likely been relegated to the occasional snaps seen as a reserve cornerback or dime defender.

While it is true that Turner was slated for a reserve role, his departure could still have an enormous impact on this defense. This has nothing to do with his future potential, and everything to do with who is left to fill in the reserve roles — beyond four-star freshman Cullen Christian, Michigan has two undersized three-star freshmen who ideally would take a redshirt year, senior James Rogers (who has bounced between receiver and defensive back during his U-M career), running back-turned-safety-turned-corner Teric Jones, and walk-on Tony Anderson. If there’s an injury to Troy Woolfolk or J.T. Floyd, one of those players will be pressed into a starting job, and another will see the field plenty as a nickel back. While Turner was coming up well short of expectations, his natural ability on the football field likely would have gotten him onto the field this fall in some capacity if that was the case — Michigan’s options at the position are that limited.

What am I trying to say here? Turner’s departure doesn’t mean the sky is falling, and there’s a decent chance Spath is right and the 2010 team doesn’t suffer from his departure. But, if something were to happen to Woolfolk, Floyd, or even Christian, Michigan will certainly feel Turner’s absence — it’s tough to sugercoat how dire the depth situation is at corner. There’s no reason to get too concerned at the moment, but Michigan is one bad break away from the secondary becoming even more disconcerting, and Turner’s departure has a lot to do with that.

Similar Posts:

• Justin Turner Leaves Michigan
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This is not good. At all:

What was expected to be a promising career from one of Michigan’s highest ranked recruits in recent classes has come met a premature end. Redshirt freshman defensive back Justin Turner from Massillon, Ohio, has left Michigan and will not be part of the team this fall according to the University.

“[Turner] asked for, and was granted, his release yesterday. We wish him well in his future endeavors,” Michigan Director of Media Relations Dave Ablauf announced Wednesday.

Turner came to Michigan last year with five-star recruiting hype, but redshirted after showing up to camp out of shape. It appears weight was again an issue when he arrived at fall camp this year, and his inability to pass J.T. Floyd on the depth chart raised major concerns about Turner’s ability to stick at cornerback. His absence leaves Michigan razor-thin at corner — after projected starters Troy Woolfolk and Floyd, the Wolverines have only senior James Rogers, who has spent his career bouncing between receiver and defensive back, and true freshmen Cullen Christian, Terrence Talbott, and Courtney Avery. Expect Christian, the highest-rated of the true freshmen, to see the field immediately. Despite getting middling three-star ratings, Talbott is likely the next corner on the depth chart — I think if Rogers was a college-level corner, he would have seen the field by this point in his career.

At this point, Rich Rodriguez couldn’t be blamed if he put Woolfolk and Floyd in full-body, bubble-boy air casts to ensure no injuries take the cornerback situation from merely petrifying to completely apocalyptic. Turner may not have been developing as the staff had hoped, but his absence still leaves a huge hole in this year’s defense. Hopefully, one or two of the freshmen can step up and fill that void.

UPDATE: According to insider Sam Webb, Turner’s parents are on their way to Ann Arbor to talk to him about his decision. While this opens up the possibility of Turner returning to the school and the team, it’s still clear that he is a very long way from contributing on the field even if he changes his mind. I’ll have updates as we get more information — for now, I think it’s safe to say that Turner is very unlikely to see the field for Michigan in 2010.

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Remember the Homeland Security Department’s biggest PR move, the terrorist threat level indicator? You know, this thing. Well, I decided — in a desperate attempt to figure out what type of content to post during the slow summer months — to apply these threat levels (minus the whole, you know, terrorist thing) to Michigan’s position groups. In other words, which groups are the Wolverines comfortably stocked at, and which ones have you buying mass quantities of bottled water and canned foods to prepare for the football apocalypse? Over the next week, I’ll be placing each of the position groups into one of the above categories. So far, I have covered the “Low”,  “Guarded”, “Elevated” , and “High” threat categories, and today, we we end with the “Severe” position groups. Duck and cover, everyone.

Cornerback: No surprise here — with the early departure of Donovan Warren from an already-disappointing secondary, cornerback is a major area of concern heading into the fall. The team will rely heavily on senior Troy Woolfolk, who is back at corner after bouncing between the position and safety last season. He is perhaps the only player in Michigan’s secondary who we can definitely expect to start every game when he’s healthy (Cam Gordon may also fall under this category, but he’s still a redshirt freshman who just switched from wideout to safety), and he’ll be relied upon to shut down the opposition’s top receiver. Woolfolk doesn’t quite measure up to Michigan’s usual standard of a #1 corner (think Law, Woodson, Jackson, Hall, and even Warren), but he should be a reliable starter.

The other starting spot should be hotly contested perhaps even during the season, as redshirt sophomore J.T. Floyd will have to hold off competition from redshirt freshman Justin Turner, senior James Rogers, and a host of talented true freshmen. Floyd has appeared much-improved this spring after looking overmatched at times in 2009, but his ceiling is relatively low compared to the players competing for his spot. Turner could be ticketed for safety, as he has looked big and a little slow for a corner this spring, but he was a highly-touted recruit who has the potential to be a special player. As for the true freshmen, Michigan secured a pair of blue-chippers in Cullen Christian and Demar Dorsey — both should see the field early and often when they get to Ann Arbor, although it appears that Dorsey has a large uphill climb with regards to qualifying academically. Courtney Avery and Terrence Talbott were both three-star recruits — if either is immediately thrust into a major role, things have probably gone very wrong.

The good news at corner is that Michigan is filling in the depth chart with talented young players after being burned by depth issues the past couple seasons. The bad news is that, besides Woolfolk, there isn’t a proven corner on the team right now. That’s a major concern for anyone who has witnessed the Wolverines’ secondary play of recent years.

Safety: Have I mentioned that last year’s secondary was disappointing? Well, a cursory look at this year’s projected depth chart does little to dissuade any fears that Michigan’s back five (remember, 3-3-5 defense this year) won’t be the weak point of the team again in 2010. Yes, Cameron Gordon has emerged as a potential impact player at free safety — he’s still a redshirt freshman who was playing wide receiver last season. That’s your last line of defense. Although it appears Gordon has the free safety position locked down, he will get some competition from sophomore Vlad Emilien and potentially freshman Carvin Johnson and redshirt freshman Brandin Hawthorne in the fall. Regardless, a first-time starter will be the man tasked with protecting Michigan from big plays over the top — I can’t be the only person who is somewhat petrified by this.

As for the box (strong) safeties, it looks like redshirt sophomore, and former walk-on, Jordan Kovacs will start on one side, while redshirt freshman Thomas Gordon is your current leader across from Kovacs. Competition will be heavy for these spots, however — redshirt junior Mike Williams, freshmen Marvin Robinson and Josh Furman, redshirt sophomore Floyd Simmons, and sophomores Mike Jones and Teric Jones will all get a shot at playing time. Of those guys, I’d expect Robinson and Furman to have the best shot at unseating one of the starters, although the coaching staff could be (legitimately) wary of plugging in a true freshman into an already-green secondary. Regardless of who starts, the team will be heavy on youth and light on experience at safety.

Kicker: Michigan signed kicker Brendan Gibbons to a scholarship in the class of 2009, with the expectation that he would start from day one. Instead, walk-on Jason Olesnavage handled the kicking duties last season, and performed well, but Gibbons has once again failed to grab the starting job against a pair of walk-ons in Kris Pauloski and Scott Schrimscher. There’s not a whole lot to analyze here: Rich Rodriguez has said the kicking game has been inconsistent, and that’s never a good sign when you’re looking at a first-time starter at kicker no matter who wins the job. With so much pressure to win games, and a defense that will likely give up its fair share of points, Michigan can’t afford to miss out on points in the kicking game. Let’s all hope that Gibbons, or one of the walk-ons, can step up and at least be somewhat reliable, or else Rodriguez’s very job could hang on a kick or two this season.

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Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be examining the foundation for the 2010 Michigan Wolverines: the five recruiting classes, from 2006 to 2010, that comprise the team. So far, I’ve examined the class of 2006 and the class of 2007. Today, I move on to this year’s juniors and redshirt sophomores from the class of 2008:

Class of 2008 (Sorted by Rivals.com Ranking):

Who’s Left?

16 of the 25 prospects from the 2008 class still remain in Ann Arbor, and while many of the blue-chip players from the class are gone, there are several solid contributors remaining: Darryl Stonum, Michael Shaw, Kevin Koger, Mike Martin, Roy Roundtree, Martavious Odoms, J.T. Floyd, and Patrick Omameh have all seen starts for the Wolverines, and players like J.B. Fitzgerald, Ricky Barnum, Elliott Mealer, Kenny Demens, and Mike Cox are either pushing for playing time or in line to compete for a starting spot down the road.

Martin, Odoms, and Roundtree have all shown all-conference potential so far in their careers, and Omameh could soon join them on that list after locking down a starting guard spot as a redshirt freshman last season. Given the sheer depth of talent in this class, however, it’s hard not to be somewhat disappointed in the production they have given so far. A lot of the reason for that has to do with…

Who’s Gone?

While the class of 2008, at least percentage-wise, hasn’t seen the sheer attrition of the previous class (2007 has just 11 of the 20 recruits remaining), the losses here have been both high-profile and critical to the performance of the team. Marcus Witherspoon and Taylor Hill, two four-star linebacker recruits, never qualified and moved on to other schools before their freshman year, leaving Michigan very thin at a critical position, something from which they’re still feeling the effects. Sam McGuffie and Boubacar Cissoko were both extremely talented players who, for different reasons, were not able to play out their careers at Michigan despite earning starting roles early in their careers. Dann O’Neill, Kurt Wermers, and Justin Feagin were all potential contributors who transferred (O’Neill and Wermers) or were booted for major legal issues (Feagin). And does anybody else think that Brandon Smith would have been perfect for one of the box safety positions in the 3-3-5? Unfortunately, we won’t find out, as he transferred as well.

The Upshot:

This is the third consecutive class that didn’t come close to living up to its lofty ranking, at least so far. Obviously, with 2-3 years of eligibility remaining, there is still a lot of time for this class to change that perception, especially with talents like Martin, Roundtree, Odoms, and Omameh (just to name a few) still on the roster. Regardless of future potential, however, this class has still played a large role in the disappointment of the last couple seasons — it’s tough to blame a group of true freshmen for 2008′s 3-9 season, but a class this deep should have had more guys ready to make major contributions as sophomores last season, when the team was very short on upperclassmen. The next couple seasons will be what truly cements the legacy of this class, but they will have to make great strides as a team to be thought of as anything but a disappointment, especially if they get lumped in with the previous two classes.

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• A (Very) Early Look at the 2010 Offense
• The 2008 Recruiting Class, Now 17 Strong

With Michigan’s annual spring game happening tomorrow, the talk is once again centered around the quarterback position. That topic, however, has been somewhat talked to death in recent weeks, so today I’ll be talking about the five players I’ll be watching tomorrow who won’t be taking the snaps for the Wolverines:

1. Taylor Lewan (RS Fr. OT) – The spring buzz around Lewan has been very positive, and some think the left tackle position is his to lose at that point. That would be great news for Michigan, as Lewan was expected to take a couple years to develop before he would see the field — instead, the 6-8 redshirt freshman could be the man to protect Tate Forcier’s (or Robinson’s, or Gardner’s…) backside this fall. Big #77 has already drawn the obvious comparisons to Jake Long, and it will be very interesting to see how he performs on the field tomorrow.
2. J.T. Floyd (RS So. CB) – Floyd struggled mightily when he saw the field last season, but so far this spring he has held off highly-touted redshirt freshman Justin Turner for the second cornerback spot across from Troy Woolfolk. So far in his career, Floyd’s lasting impression on Michigan fans has been him hopelessly trying to catch a Western Michigan receiver from behind, so anything positive he can do on the field this weekend will show at least some progress. Hopefully, he can do more than that, and show he has the athleticism to play corner and the ability to stick with Big Ten receivers — having Floyd as a viable option would go a long way towards relieving some of the anxiety surrounding the secondary.
3. Kenny Demens (RS So. LB) – Demens is another guy who has gotten some positive spring buzz this year after spending last season behind walk-on Kevin Leach on the depth chart. The 6-1, 244 redshirt sophomore is as physically talented as they come, but has yet to earn his way onto the field to show off his physical abilities. The former four-star prospect could compete with Obi Ezeh for the starting middle linebacker spot if he impresses tomorrow and in fall camp, and having some young blood to push the senior incumbents could be just what the Wolverines need at linebacker.
4. Cameron Gordon (RS Fr. S) – Gordon probably gets this year’s “Most Spring Buzz” award, switching to free safety from wide receiver and — through both his strong performance and a timely injury to Vlad Emilien — has played the majority of the snaps with the top defensive unit. With Emilien back (and also impressing, according to recent reports), there will be a lot of pressure on Gordon to impress tomorrow or risk losing his hold on the starting role. How he responds to that pressure could tell us a lot about what kind of player he is.
5. Whoever lines up at running back – Ha! I cheated, but it’s my blog, so I’ll take some liberties. The running back battle may be the most open on the team, with junior Michael Shaw, redshirt sophomore Mike Cox, redshirt freshman Fitzgerald Toussaint, and early enrollee Stephen Hopkins all competing for snaps. Each player brings a different skill set to the table, but it would be nice to see one or two guys really separate themselves and give Michigan a true feature back or two.

There are a lot of unanswered questions heading into this year’s spring game, and I’m excited to see what kind of team we’ll be fielding tomorrow. Of course, this is still the spring, and it’s just a scrimmage, but at this point I think we’re all starving for football of any kind. With a lot of position battles yet to be decided, tomorrow should be a very interesting day for the team and the fans alike, especially for the guys listed above.

Similar Posts:

• The Foundation: A Look at the 2009 Recruiting Class
• 2010 Official Depth Chart Breakdown: Offense
• Five Players With the Most to Gain in Fall Practice
• Five Players With the Most to Gain in Spring Practice
• Early Guess at the Football Depth Chart: Now Updated for Spring

Back in February, I took an early stab at projecting the offensive and defensive depth charts for the fall. Now that spring practice is underway and the new roster has been released, there’s a lot more information available about how Michigan will line up and who will be lining up where. So, I’ve taken another opportunity to make myself look really foolish in the fall, and updated my projected depth chart to reflect these changes. Here are a few notes on the changes:

OFFENSE

One player who has a lot of buzz surrounding him so far in spring is running back Mike Cox, whose running skills seem to be catching up to his outstanding athleticism and frame. For now, I’ve moved Cox up to second on the depth chart with Michael Shaw, behind the injured Vincent Smith. With all the talented players the Wolverines have at running back, I expect to see a fair amount of running back by committee come fall, and Cox should be one of the backs in the mix for carries.

At receiver, Roy Roundtree has been practicing at outside receiver, but I expect him to move back into the slot when Junior Hemingway returns healthy in the fall. Word from practice is that Roundtree and Martavious Odoms have become a dangerous combination when both see the field at the same time, so it would not be a surprise to see Michigan start two slot receivers next season. We’ll have to wait and see if that has any effect on the tight end position, but for now I’m keeping Roundtree as the top slot in my depth chart along with Odoms — down the road, I may split the slots into two positions.

On the line, it sounds like Mark Huyge, Perry Dorrestein, Taylor Lewan, and Michael Schofield are the players battling for the two tackle positions, so I’ve changed the depth chart to reflect that competition. Patrick Omameh, who some (including myself) originally thought would move out to tackle this season, has been playing (and impressing) at guard. I have him projected as the starter at right guard, with the experienced Huyge and Dorrestein at tackle — I wouldn’t be surprised if Lewan grabs one of the tackle spots, but he’s a redshirt freshman who is still filling out his massive frame, so for now I have him backing up Huyge.

DEFENSE

The big change here is the alignment — I recommend checking out this helpful post from Touch the Banner to get more familiar with the slight move to more of a 4-2-5 look:

From left to right along the line should be Ryan Van Bergen, Will Campbell, Mike Martin (injured for spring practice, so Greg Banks is playing there right now), and Craig Roh. The two interior linebackers are Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton, if they hold on to their positions. The weak side safety in the above graph is what Michigan is calling the “spur” position — right now, Mike Williams and Brandin Hawthorne appear to be the most likely players to start there, with Mike Jones, Thomas Gordon and probably Josh Furman (when he arrives in the fall) also competing at the position. The strong safety — Touch the Banner calls it the “boundary” safety, but I’ll use the more common term to save confusion — appears to be Jordan Kovacs’ position to lose, although Marvin Robinson could compete for time there when he enrolls in the fall. Vlad Emilien has received the first-team reps so far at free — deep — safety, although Cameron Gordon impressed when Emilien sat out with a minor injury this week. If Troy Woolfolk were to move back to safety, this would likely be his spot.

At cornerback, Woolfolk is obviously holding down one spot, and I’ll place him there in the depth chart until he moves (if he moves) to safety. J.T. Floyd has been getting the first-team reps at the other corner spot, and has impressed so far, although J.T. Turner will make a strong push for that starting role. Of course, the competition at corner will not be fully settled until the fall, when Demar Dorsey, Cullen Christian, Terrence Talbott, and Courtney Avery arrive on campus.

For the full, updated depth chart, hit the “Football Depth Chart” tab at the top of the screen, or simply click here.

Similar Posts:

• Position Preview: Safety
• 2010 Official Depth Chart Breakdown: Offense
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Defense
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
• Five Players With the Most to Gain in Spring Practice