Michigan Football Tidbits: Three Topics of Interest -- Part 1Topic one: Reports on Incoming Freshmen (not previously covered)
1) Teric Jones: (Cass Tech kid) Some believed Jones would have a hard time adjusting to the college game, mostly because he is somewhat of a “tweener.” Teric was not a top running back candidate and also not exactly the prototype slot recruit. So he has work ahead of him to nail down a permanent position. This process will start at fall camp.
But, one thing Jones does have is straight-line speed. In fact, Teric may be one of the top five fastest players on the roster. T. Jones, we think, starts out competing for a slot position. So, what are his chances?
Early prediction is Teric will red-shirt all the way. But this prediction is not currently as strongly held as at the end of spring practice. Why so? T. Jones was one of the first freshmen to report in June and he has been impressive with his overall strength. He is a bigger, stronger player than people perceive.
A summary analysis of the potential slot group reveals that Odoms and Gallon are both elusive type of players with limited speed, Stokes is quick, and a bigger player who runs a 4.5. Roundtree is a possession type of receiver, and T. Robinson, who knows how he will look in this fall” So, enter Jones, a kid who can flat out run and when in space is going to be very hard for opponents to catch.
Teric looks to be able to catch the ball pretty well and what has surprised us, somewhat, he appears to be a pretty fierce competitor.
Taking the above into account, no one should give up on Teric’s chance of playing: maybe on special teams, or because of an injury, or he might have a great fall and pass some higher rated kids. Teric’s development will be interesting to watch this fall.
2) T. Gordon: We fully understanding the need to upgrade UM’s athleticism at safety, but T. Gordon is one of those kids who will be proud that he was part of Michigan by the time he graduates.
Simply, Thomas is a great kid and was easily the leader of that Cass Tech team a year ago. Physically, he is ready to play right now. And along with T. Jones was an early arriver on campus this June. T. Gordon is very similar to Williams, in that he is more of a physical type of safety as well as a very smart kid. And he is not the type of player who will complain, but will instead compete to receive his playing time.
With the lack of depth at safety and UM’s need for quality special teams players, Gordon may see action this year.
In a normal situation, Gordon would be considered a program player, one who would red-shirt his freshman year, but could be a mainstay in the line-up by the time he is a sophomore or junior.
A prediction for T. Gordon at Michigan: he will probably be one of those unsung (by fans) contributors who take a back seat to higher rated, more athletic, kids throughout his career. But when each season is over, he will be a quality contributor to the line-up.
Great kid!!
3) Cameron Gordon: Posters may or may not remember C. Gordon's camp experience before his senior year. While at camp, Cameron worked out at wide receiver, where he looked good, but not great Coach Rod and Coach Hopson, because of his athletic talent, wanted Cameron to go through some linebacker drills. That was somewhat of a disaster. After the drills, in which C. Gordon basically went through the motions and loudly complained that he did not want to play defense, it looked like Coach Rod and coaches had decided he was not right for Michigan.
If you recall, his scholarship offer was somewhat later in the process and now he has something to prove at Michigan. Can he overcome some adversity? That is going to be the main question Cameron needs to answer. Athletically, he is, one could argue, the top athlete UM recruited last year (when you take into consideration height and weight and potential growth). We are happy to note that Cameron also arrived early this June and has done well in workouts.
C. Gordon needs to red-shirt. We think he will. Cameron needs to red-shirt more than some, because he needs to mature. Maturity will teach Cameron how to compete at a higher level. This is what coaches will be watching for, and if he learns how to compete, the sky is the limit for C. Gordon.
But keep in mind, on an athletic team there are more kids than not who spend a lot of time complaining about their situation, rather than competing. As time progresses, we will see which direction Gordon decides to take.
4) Offensive Line: We have written about the offensive line before, so this post is not going to provide detail about each individual. Lewan, Schofield, Q. Washington: the great thing about this group is not only are they athletic types, but they also understand work ethic. They are real offensive linemen with very bright futures. They show up and go hard during workouts, not once, but every workout, without any complaints.
And what is also impressive is that especially Lewan and Schofield do well in running drills, compared to where the offensive linemen were a year ago. Q. Washington has struggled more in the running area, but that was to be expected, because of his size, as we have talked about several times in the past.
5) F. Toussaint: Like most freshman, Fitz came in very excited and really went hard during the first couple of workouts. Maybe he went a little too hard, as he suffered a hamstring injury (nothing serious). But this has hampered his ability to attend workouts. As of now, the staff has basically cut way back on Fitz’s workouts and he hopes to be ready by August 10th.
Some good news about F. Toussaint is that he seems to have that extra gear, which puts him in the same class as C. Brown and M. Shaw. And in this offense, that is a big advantage. But, unless injuries intervene, we predict Fitz will red-shirt. We do not see him as a special teams only player, because others are going to be ahead of him. And Fitz has some adjusting to do in college, so let him adjust and see how he looks next spring.
6) Bell: Another player who, early in the fall, faces a decision as to where the staff will decide to start him out. Linebacker seems to be the most logical place, but his ability to defend the pass, so effectively, may place him in competition for playing time behind S. Brown.
That would put M. Jones, Hawthorne, and Bell at the same spot. So something will have to give. Bell is behind, because both M. Jones and Hawthorne were in spring practices, but neither showed a great ability to defend the pass. So Bell could make an early run.
The prediction for S. Brown’s backup is Hawthorne or M. Jones. We foresee that M. Jones may move to linebacker. But it is that both move, depending on what the staff does with B. Smith.
Going to be fun to watch. Note: So many young kids.
7) Roh: Please let this kid red-shirt. But this wish is probably not going to happen, because of depth issues. But, Roh is so thin it is scary. We just cannot see him contributing this season, unless it is in a specialized role of rushing the passer; even then, his play would be limited to defensive end, not quick defensive end.
But, Roh is a worker and we can easily see him gain up to thirty pounds by next spring. If the above happens, Roh may be in the running to push for a starting defensive end slot next year. Remember, he is clearly a high motor type of guy, even in workouts. Roh is the type of student-athlete every team desires. Frankly, we would be shocked to hear anything but praise from everyone at Michigan about Roh. He is a quality person with a high level of work ethic.
8) Feagin: Yes, he is not a freshman, but because of the nature of his freshmen year, and since he did not play in spring because of sickness, it is like starting over.
Keep in mind that Coach Rod loves players who played quarterback in high school. Feagin is a player, who just seems to be in the right place. He has good hands, decent speed and definitely has some elusiveness to him.
Could he compete this year at slot receiver? We have no inside information, but do not count out any of three things regarding Feagin:
1) Feagin's name appears as a candidate for playing time at slot receiver.
2) It may be decided early on that slot receiver is out of the question and the coaches may entertain some thought about Feagin moving to defense.
3) Rumors start that he is a candidate for transfer.
We are not counting Feagin out at slot receiver, but he must show some clear progress early during fall practices. Feagin is from Florida and one of the downside of Florida kids is that if they do not see a chance to play, they may get "homesick" quickly.
Overall we would say the transition for the incoming freshmen has been very smooth. This can be credited to the upperclassman telling the youngsters what to expect and do in a positive way, versus last year, when everyone bitched. The Florida kids seem to handle the running part easier.
Topics two and three will be presented tomorrow. These topics concern competition and items discussed on Monday night GBW chat.
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Written by MaizeMan and ErocWolverine
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