Mailbag question: Any other receiver to move position?

Mailbag question: Any other receiver to move position?

I would like to start by saying this is the first thing I check every morning. It is fun but challenging to get exciting for Michigan football in the heart of ND land. Keep up the good work. I have two questions:

First a football question: There has been a lot of talk that one position where depth (number of bodies) may not be an issue is at the receiver spot. T. Jones appears to have made the transition from offense to defense fairly easily. Are there any other receivers that could/should make this move to improve defensive depth? It appears that recruiting WR’s is easier for Michigan than S/CB’s. Obviously with how Kelvin has performed, that is not a move you would want to make, but why didn’t Coach Rod push for that at the beginning of camp?

Second question is a general Michigan question: Which 2009-10 Michigan sports team will be considered the best of the year? Also which team will surprise the most people?

I guess my two questions grew into four.

Thanks for your research, opinions, answers, and hard work!

Darin
South Bend, IN

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Thanks for the question and comments.

Michigan does have a good numbers situation at split end, but we think running back has the best depth of any position.

Michigan needs to have adequate numbers at split end because Michigan uses multiple wide receiver sets a large majority of the time.

So, moving another split end is not as easy as it might appear. If any further receivers were moved, Cam Gordon to safety would currently make the most sense, at least in our opinion. That is why every year it is important to recruit team needs as much as good players. There is a need to balance out every other class and compliment each class back to back.

As far as the other Michigan sports, wow, this might be a tougher question that demands more than just providing a shallow, surface-scratching type of answer. That is one of the neat things about following the University of Michigan. It is not just football and basketball that demonstrate excellence. Most Michigan teams are very successful.

The answer requires an analysis of the usual Michigan teams that have demonstrated consistent quality, such as Softball, Hockey, Volleyball, Women’s/Men’s Gymnastics, Men’s Swimming and Diving, Water Polo, and Wrestling.

Softball should be loaded again this year, losing only two players on the roster and returning starting pitchers Nikki Nemitz and Jordan Taylor. They should make another run for the Women’s College World Series under Coach Carol Hutchins. And maybe this year the ladies will repeat what they did in 2005.

The Women’s Gymnastics team missed the NCAA Championships for the first time in the last sixteen years. That snapped the nation's fourth-longest streak of consecutive NCAA Championship appearances. They should be very good again under Coach Beverly Plocki.

Coach Berenson's hockey program is usually at the top of the CCHA and making it to the Frozen Four is almost a mainstay for his program. This will likely be a tougher road this year, but the Wolverines have many young talented players.

We also predict the wrestling team under Coach Joe McFarland will surprise many people, despite losing Steve Luke.

The surprise team, in our opinion, might be the Field Hockey program, which has struggled the last couple of years. But under Marcia Pankratz the program once again will try to bring that magic back and make it into the NCAA championships.

Michigan has many great athletic programs and we apologize for not mentioning them all. This question reinforces the saying “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine.”

Thanks for stopping by Go Blue Michigan Wolverine
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Written by CoachBt and ErocWolverine