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

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:

• Position Preview: Cornerback
• Donovan Warren Leaning ‘Heavily’ Towards NFL; Smith Out With Torn ACL
• A (Very) Early Look at the 2010 Defense
• S.O.S. (Save Our Secondary)
• Boubacar Cissoko Kicked Off Team

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
• Woolfolk’s Injury Shouldn’t Determine Rodriguez’s Fate
• Position Preview: Cornerback
• Brandon Smith Transferring, and Another Look at the 2010 Defense
• Position Threat Levels: Severe

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.

Similar Posts:

• There’s a Middle Ground on Turner Departure
• Woolfolk’s Injury Shouldn’t Determine Rodriguez’s Fate
• Position Preview: Cornerback
• Early Guess at the Football Depth Chart: Now Updated for Spring
• Position Threat Levels: Severe

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.

Similar Posts:

• Position Preview: Safety
• 2010 Official Depth Chart Breakdown: Defense/Special Teams
• Brandon Smith Transferring, and Another Look at the 2010 Defense
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Defense
• Early Guess at the Football Depth Chart: Now Updated for Spring

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 classes of 2006, 2007, and 2008. Today, I move on to this year’s sophomores and redshirt freshmen from the class of 2009:

Class of 2009 (Sorted by Rivals.com Rating):

The Upshot:

I’ve been doing “Who’s Left” and “Who’s Gone” for the last few classes, but in this case that seems unnecessary. So far the 2009 class has had just one loss: Adrian Witty, who couldn’t get academically qualified. So, let’s go straight to the analysis.

It goes without saying that it is far too early to evaluate a class that has all of one collegiate season under their belts, but the class of 2009 has already had a large impact on the field. That impact, of course, starts with the two quarterbacks, Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson — both saw the field last year as true freshmen, and both showed flashes of brilliance while experiencing the expected freshman growing pains. Craig Roh stepped onto campus in the fall and immediately took over the starting quick end position, and is making the transition to outside linebacker this year. He looks like an all-conference candidate, and should be a leader on the defense for the next few years. Vincent Smith, surprisingly, was the other true freshman to have a major impact, filling in admirably when Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown were injured and putting himself in position to start at tailback in 2010. Will Campbell, Je’Ron Stokes, Vlad Emilien, Brandin Hawthorne, Teric Jones, and Mike Jones all saw the field in some capacity last season as well — Campbell should start at nose tackle this season, and the other five will all battle for starting spots as well.

Several other players from this class will compete for snaps this fall after taking a redshirt year in 2009. Jeremy Gallon looked solid in the spring game and should have an impact in the slot and as a returner. Taylor Lewan has emerged as the leading candidate to take over the left tackle position, despite not playing on the offensive line until his senior year of high school — he could be a very special player with his huge frame and potential. Fitzgerald Toussaint is in the mix in a crowded offensive backfield, and Thomas Gordon has been a spring surprise at one of the strong safety positions in the new 3-3-5 defense — both could conceivably start, though Gordon has a better chance of doing so than Toussaint. Isaiah Bell has bulked up to 237 pounds and is fighting for playing time at linebacker, while Anthony LaLota is now a solid 263 pounds and could be in the rotation along the defensive line. Quinton Washington and Michael Schofield are both battling for playing time on the offensive line, but they’re each probably a year or two away from taking over a starting job. Brendan Gibbons will likely be the starting kicker in the fall, as he is the only scholarship kicker on the roster. Finally, Cameron Gordon has been the breakout player of the spring after moving over to the defense from wide receiver — he appears to have solidified himself as the starter at free safety, and could be the type of ball-hawking, hard-hitting player Michigan has sorely lacked at the position.

The jury is still out on one player in particular: Justin Turner, who has just as much recruiting hype as Will Campbell, didn’t see the field last year after arriving late and out of shape in the fall after struggling to qualify, and this spring has not been able to seize the open cornerback job over J.T. Floyd and James Rogers. Turner looks like he has outgrown the cornerback position, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him end up at safety when this year’s crop of freshmen, which includes several cornerback prospects, hits campus.

Overall, this class has been a very solid one — Forcier, Robinson, and Roh provided early impact, several players will see the field in major roles this fall, and there is great potential for the future in players like Campbell, Lewan, Cameron Gordon, Vincent Smith, and more. After a three-year run of disappointing recruiting classes, the class of 2009 should be the one to lead the turnaround this program desperately needs.

Similar Posts:

• The Foundation: A Look at the 2006 Recruiting Class
• Position Preview: Defensive Tackle
• Position Preview: Safety
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Defense
• Early Guess at the Football Depth Chart: Now Updated for Spring

I haven’t had the chance to re-watch the entire spring game yet, so my thoughts here are somewhat incomplete, but here is what I took away from Saturday’s scrimmage, as well as more opinions from around the Michigan blogosphere:

• I didn’t believe it before, but I will say it now, when it has lost all its profundity: Yes, we have a real quarterback competition on our hands. Denard Robinson is light-years ahead of where he was last season, and finally looks comfortable throwing the ball. He still isn’t the pure passer that Tate Forcier can be, but Denard’s ridiculous athleticism makes up for a lot of his deficiencies, and when he throws the ball like he did on Saturday he is very tough to stop. One play in particular swung my opinion of Denard: his second touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree, when he took advantage of having time in the pocket and, instead of taking off, stayed calm and found a seam between a couple defenders before hitting Roundtree with a laser. That’s simply a play Robinson didn’t have in his arsenal last season. I don’t want to put too much stock in one scrimmage, especially when Robinson was most running with the first-team against the second-string defense, and Forcier vice-versa, but when combined with the positive accounts from spring practice, it now looks like Robinson is the guy to beat (in a very close race, still) at quarterback.
• In other quarterback news, we can all stop clamoring for Devin Gardner to see the field. Not only did Robinson look like a real quarterback out there, giving Michigan two very solid options at QB, but Gardner looked like a true freshman out there. That’s not a knock against (hey!) a true freshman, but I’ve just about had my fill of guys stepping on campus and starting immediately — the pick Gardner threw when backed up against his goal line screamed “I need a redshirt,” and Michigan is now in a position to give him one.
• Michigan is pretty banged up at receiver right now, but for the most part I liked what I saw from the guys who should see the field in the fall. Roundtree was obviously the big standout, but Martavious Odoms looked good (besides one bad drop), and Jeremy Gallon appears to be a guy who could break a big play any time he touches the ball. I also like Gallon’s toughness — he was taking on tackles against much bigger defenders and falling forward.
• The running back battle was tight going into the spring, and I don’t think we got a lot of answers after Saturday. Mike Cox, to me, was the back who showed the greatest potential, but he still mental breakdowns on the field that could keep him from being a reliable option — there was one play where Forcier was screaming at Cox and had to physically move him to the right position on the field, which isn’t a great sign for a redshirt sophomore at the end of spring practice. Michael Shaw and Fitzgerald Toussaint both had their moments, but nobody really stood out to me. In fact, the only role that we do know among the running backs is that of the short-yardage back: Stephen Hopkins is the guy there. Other than that, the position is wide open.
• I’ll have more clarity on the offensive line and defense when I take a look at the game again, but there were a couple guys who stood out, for good or for bad. Ryan Van Bergen was getting very nice pressure on the defensive line, and Will Campbell looks like he could be a force of nature at nose tackle. The linebackers looked solid, which is a big step up from “disaster” — Ezeh and Mouton are both fighting hard to prove they belong out there. With Troy Woolfolk out, James Rogers played across from J.T. Floyd at corner for the ones — not a good sign for Justin Turner, who looked big and slow playing with the twos and could be ticketed for a switch to safety in the near future.

That’s all I’ve got for now — I’ll have more on the game after I get a chance to watch the tape again. Meanwhile, the rest of the Michigan blogosphere appears to have published their thoughts before I did, so here are some links if you haven’t had your fill of spring game coverage:

MGoBlog has you covered for RichRod’s post-game presser, both in normal form and in completely-bizarre Google caption form, which is totally useless for learning anything about Michigan football but may answer some questions you have about Iraq. Brian has also posted his initial thoughts, and Denard earns a lot of praise for his performance:

That said, holy crap. Robinson looks like a quarterback now. A running quarterback with rudimentary passing abilities, but a quarterback. There were zone reads and screens and rollout passes and a number of zippy seams that hit players between the numbers. When the offense broke down, Robinson made the concept of “pursuit angles” humorous. Putting him on the edge, as suggested by the coaches’ clinic tea leaves, puts the defense in a bind. His throws were all on a line but they were accurate aside from a couple mediocre bubble screens. There were multiple times where I was thinking “just run why don’t youuuu runnnnn” and he zipped a pass in for a first down or touchdown.

How close to Forcier’s passing does Robinson have to get if he’s going to start? If Forcier can’t set up in the pocket and throw on rhythm, how far apart are they now? It’ll be an interesting summer for both guys. Right now it looks like edge Denard.

Greg at MVictors checks in with his usual array of photos (alumni game, pre-game, and Denard), which includes this amazing picture that sums up Robinson’s day pretty well:

I have no idea how Greg managed to capture out sophomore quarterback defying physics and causing the earth to move while he ran in place, but I’m damn impressed.

Other blogs that have given their thoughts on the game: Maize n Brew, where Dave think Cox has positioned himself to split carries with Vincent Smith in the fall; Maize & Blue Nation, which has some nice video from the stands; The Fifth Quarter, where JC comes away impressed with the linebackers; and Burgeoning Wolverine Star, which has the most pessimistic take I’ve seen on the game. Touch the Banner has a full list of the recruiting visitors as well.

Similar Posts:

• Impressions From Saturday’s Scrimmage
• 2010 Official Depth Chart Breakdown: Offense
• The Denard Conundrum
• Impressions from the First Spring Practice
• Position Threat Levels: Elevated

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

Despite returning 18 players who saw time as a starter last season, Michigan heads into the spring with a lot of uncertainty throughout their depth chart. Here are five players who I think stand to gain the most if they can perform well in spring ball:

1. Je’Ron Stokes, Soph. WR: Michigan may have a logjam at slot receiver, but on the outside the competitions is wide open. With the departure of Greg Mathews and the disappointing production last year from returners Junior Hemingway and Darryl Stonum, there will be ample opportunity for the younger wideouts on the Wolverines to earn playing time, and possibly even a starting role, this season. Stokes may be the most likely of Michigan’s underclassmen receivers to take advantage of that opportunity — he saw sporadic playing time as a true freshman last season and was Rivals.com’s 104th-ranked player overall in the class of 2009. Stokes has the speed to be the deep threat Michigan has been missing since the departure of Mario Manningham, and if he can live up to his blue-chip recruit status, he could be a three-year starter for the Wolverines.
2. Brandin Hawthorne, Soph. LB/S: With Michigan moving to more of a 4-2-5 look on defense this season, Hawthorne could be the guy to replace Stevie Brown at a linebacker/safety hybrid position. Hawthorne played linebacker in high school, but came into Michigan last season undersized even by safety standards. Now, at 6-0, 202 pounds, Hawthorne can play the boundary safety role, and will most likely compete with Mike Williams and Jordan Kovacs at the position. Williams was perhaps the biggest disappointment on a very disappointing defense last year, and Kovacs is still limited athletically, so there is definitely an opportunity for Hawthorne to step in and take a starting spot with a strong spring performance.
3. Michael Cox, RS Soph. RB: With Vincent Smith sitting out spring practice while he recovers from a torn ACL, the running back position is wide open. Junior Michael Shaw, redshirt freshman Fitzgerald Toussaint, and early enrollees Austin White and Stephen Hopkins will all compete for playing time, but don’t overlook the potential for Cox to see ample snaps with the first team this spring. At 6-0, 210 pounds and with ideal athleticism for a running back (and without the injury history of Shaw or Toussaint), the former three-star prospect could vault himself from seldom-used backup to starting tailback if he can translate that athleticism and size to the football field.
4. J.B. Fitzgerald, Jr. LB: Even though Michigan returns two fifth-year seniors at inside linebacker, the position is far from stable — Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton both struggled mightily last season, opening up the possibility for one of Michigan’s younger linebackers to prove themselves worthy of a starting spot. Fitzgerald showed flashes of potential last season when filling in for Ezeh, displaying an aggression that the Wolverines have lacked with Ezeh at middle linebacker. If he can harness that aggression and cut down on his mistakes, Fitzgerald could leave Michigan with little choice but to unseat Ezeh and give the junior a shot to solidify Michigan’s linebacker group.
5. Greg Banks, RS Sr. DT/DE: With the departure of Brandon Graham, playing time has opened up along the defensive line as well. Banks has yet to capitalize on his chances to see extended snaps in his Michigan career, but at 6-4, 274 pounds, he could add a lot of versatility to the line this year. Rich Rodriguez mentioned Banks as a candidate to see time at Graham’s vacated end spot, and Banks is already listed on the roster as a defensive tackle, where he could see time at Ryan Van Bergen’s old position (assuming that Van Bergen slides over to DE) as well. I still expect Michigan to roll out a starting line of Mike Martin, Will Campbell, and Van Bergen, but Banks could earn himself a role as a valuable contributor if he proves himself in his final season.

I should mention a few guys who could just as easily have made this list: Toussaint, Mike Jones, Isaiah Bell, Vlad Emilien, Justin Turner, J.T. Floyd, Cameron Gordon, Quinton Washington, Ricky Barnum, Patrick Omameh, and Taylor Lewan are all fighting for their first shot to become full-time starters, and players like White, Hopkins, Jeremy Gallon, and Anthony LaLota are looking to contribute in the fall as well.

Tomorrow, I’ll look at the five players who have the most to lose this spring. With so many position battles and fresh faces, it should be a very interesting spring.

Similar Posts:

• The Foundation: A Look at the 2009 Recruiting Class
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Defense
• Spring Football: Five Players I’ll Be Watching
• Five Players With the Most to Lose in Spring Practice
• Early Guess at the Football Depth Chart: Now Updated for Spring

I had the privilege of attending Michigan’s first spring practice yesterday, along with Rich Rodriguez’s press conference. Before I get into my quick analysis of the presser and practice, I should make note of one thing: the media access to practice was limited to a 12-minute period when the team was split into position groups and doing drills. Between trying to get some decent photos and trying to decipher which drill I should be paying attention to (not to mention trying to figure out, with my complete lack of football-playing background, if players were actually doing the drills correctly), it was hard to glean much information of note from the actual practice. In fact, I really only took one thing away from the practice session itself, a point I’ll bring up later. I think I can speak for pretty much all the media in attendance when I say not to put a whole lot of stock into what you read about this spring practice — again, we saw 12 minutes of drills with the team split into position groups and spread across two football fields. Just making a note of that before I go into what I saw, and heard, yesterday.

With that out of the way, I’ll break down the one thing of note I saw and post some pictures, as well as give some highlights from the presser and new numbers/weights from the spankin’ new official spring roster.

THE THING OF NOTE

When I realized that I had no hope of seeing or understanding even 10% of what was happening in practice, I turned my focus to the quarterbacks and watched them go through a few drills. It didn’t take a Lombardian knowledge of football to see who will be the clear-cut starter for Michigan next season: Tate Forcier simply threw the best ball of any of the quarterbacks, and it wasn’t close. We all knew he would be the most accurate quarterback, but the zip he put on his throws also was very impressive — it’s safe to say his shoulder has healed up just fine.

Tell me something I don’t already know, you say. Well, for one, Devin Gardner’s mechanics have definitely improved since the end of his senior season at Inkster — he is releasing the ball at a much higher point than in any of his highlight videos from high school. Watching him throw, however, you can tell that he’s still really thinking about the mechanics of throwing, and his accuracy just isn’t at the level he’d need it to be to seriously challenge for playing time. Now, all of the drills we were able to see involved the quarterback throwing from the pocket, so we didn’t get to see Gardner show off his athleticism and ability to throw on the run, but after watching Gardner today I’d be very surprised if he got extended playing time unless Forcier goes down with an injury. It looks like he could really use a redshirt year to get his mechanics to the point where his throwing motion comes naturally to him, as well as to learn the offense.

As for Denard Robinson, he also had some struggles with accuracy, especially on deep passes. Rich Rodriguez was with the quarterbacks during the drills that we watched, and kept harping on the quarterbacks to “drop the ball in the bucket” — in other words, to put a lot of air under the ball so it “drops” into the receiver’s hands. Gardner and Robinson had their struggles with that concept, and both quarterbacks also missed a few intermediate throws that you’d hope they will hit once the spring game, and obviously the fall, comes around. The good news is that both quarterbacks, as well as Forcier, did well hitting tailbacks in stride when they practiced swing passes out of the backfield. That may seem trivial, but those passes are an important part of this offense, and hitting a running back in stride can be the difference between a big gain and a backwards lateral (think Notre Dame, 2008).

RICH ROD’S PRESSER

I’ll keep this rather brief, as Tim has already posted a very thorough rundown over at MGoBlog, but here are some of the highlights from Rodriguez’s pre-practice press conference:

• Vincent Smith and David Molk are both out for the spring with knee injuries, but Rodriguez said they were progressing well in rehab and expected them to do “limited activities” by the end of spring ball.
• Rodriguez said he expected to “do some different things with Denard,” since he thought a player with Robinson’s athletic and football abilities shouldn’t be spending too much time on the bench. He also clarified that Denard would likely be seeing those extra snaps at receiver, since the Wolverines already have a lot of bodies at running back.
• Nick Sheridan will not be playing this season — he is finishing up school and preparing for a career in coaching. It sounds like he’ll be a graduate assistant at some point, but Sheridan can’t be a GA right now since he’s finishing up his undergraduate degree. He was hanging around practice in street clothes, however. Bryan Wright will also not be using his final season of eligibility, citing back problems as the reason to end his playing career.
• There will be an emphasis on playing more people on defense this season, now that there is a healthy amount of competition at pretty much every position. Rodriguez said Greg Robinson will be working on keeping his schemes relatively simple so the plethora of freshmen competing for spots can contribute immediately.
• Both Troy Woolfolk and Justin Turner are practicing at cornerback, but Rodriguez did say there was a possibility of either player also seeing time at safety.

NEW SPRING ROSTER

MGoBlog also has a breakdown of the weight changes in the new spring roster, so I won’t go into too much detail here either, but I thought I’d mention these interesting points:

• When asked if any players stood out for their offseason condition, Rodriguez cited a trio of redshirt freshmen linemen: Quinton Washington, Taylor Lewan, and Michael Schofield. Washington dropped an impressive amount of weight, going from 325 down to 307, while Lewan (283, up from 268) and Schofield (281, also up from 268) each added some needed pounds. Washington slimming down should immediately put him in the running for a starting role, while Lewan and Schofield probably still need to add a couple pounds (certainly possible before the fall) before they’re in that same discussion.
• There were gains pretty much across the board on both sides of the ball. Junior Hemingway is now a very robust 227 pounds — I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not until we see him running full speed. Forcier gained six pounds, up to 194, which hopefully will protect him a little bit more from injury. On defense, Will Campbell is now up to 324 pounds, and he certainly passed the eye test — the guy is a physical specimen now and is worlds away from how he looked when he enrolled as a freshman. Craig Roh also added weight, and at 249 pounds he is now in the discussion at defensive end, a spot he was far too light for last season (Rodriguez specifically stated that Roh could see snaps at DE in the presser).
• Forcier still is wearing 5, even though I saw some rumors floating around that he would be switching to 4, his high school number. Instead, Cameron Gordon has taken that number, as he has switched officially over to safety. Teric Jones has also moved to safety, and Brandin Hawthorne is listed at the position as well — with Michigan slightly tweaking their defense, I’m pretty sure Stevie Brown’s position was reclassified from linebacker to safety, although I could be wrong there. If that is in fact true, it looks like that position battle will come down to Hawthorne, Mike Williams, and possibly Jordan Kovacs. Isaiah Bell is now up to 237 pounds and is listed at linebacker, as is Mike Jones, despite being only 207 right now.

FRESHMAN NUMBERS [end_columns]

PHOTOS

If you want to see more photos from today’s practice, I put up an album over on photobucket. They’re mostly of the quarterbacks, since that’s who I was watching for most of the time. If you want to see why Devin Gardner is such an intriguing prospect, check out the last photo: he just towers over everybody else.

That’s all I have for now. I’ll be updating the projected depth chart by the end of this weekend to reflect any changes in position or number. Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day (in a safe but enjoyable fashion, I hope).

Similar Posts:

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