Post-Signing Day BTB Roundtable hosted by Zombie Nation.
1. Were you pleased with this year’s recruiting class? Where did your team excel? Where did they fall short?
I was pleased to the tune of about a B+. Michigan picked up 2 QBs, which were desperately needed, a few good athletes, and some big bodies up front. They could have done better recruiting a couple more DTs (obviously, they lost two on Signing Day), and some linebackers. Other than that, it was a very good class, especially coming off a 3-9 season.
2. Name one or two players you want to see get on the field ASAP, and where you think they will fit in.
Tate Forcier is the obvious choice for most Michigan fans, as the QB play for Michigan last year was a choice between a healthy Nick Sheridan or a hurt Steven Threet for most of the year. I’m also pumped to see Will Campbell (along with Forcier, one of Michigan’s 7 early enrollees) at defensive tackle, Justin Turner in the secondary, and any number of the speedy little bastards Rich picked up in ’09.
3. This one’s purely for the sake of argument. Much has been made about the SEC’s recruiting ‘dominance’ over the Big Ten, particularly this year. Either validate that claim, or try to prove it wrong. At least vent a little bit. You know you want to.
Michigan in particular, and the Big Ten as a whole, just need to win. The Wolverines recruited ridiculously well, all things considered. The Big Ten needs to shake its national perception (fair or not) that it’s a weak conference. Of course, I think the Big Ten, top to bottom, is unlikely to ever recruit as well as the SEC, because an overwhelming majority of the nation’s top players come from the Southeast.
4. Going into next year (already), where does your team need to focus its efforts? How about the Big Ten as a whole? What can the conference/your team do better to attract more highly-regarded recruits, or is it even an issue?
Defense should be Michigan’s #1 priority, as they got a couple top guys (Campbell and Turner), but missed out on players like Jelani Jenkins (who would have considered the Wolverines much longer than he did, save for the 3-9 season), Darius Winston, and the two defensive tackles, Pearlie Graves and DeQuinta Jones. With a more successful 2009 (fingers crossed), the Wolverines should have an outstanding 2010 class, especially with all the top prospects they’re in on early.
One word/number answers…
How many freshmen (in your class) redshirt in 2009?
13 (of 22)
Did you watch live TV coverage on signing day? If not, how many times did you hit ‘refresh’ on your browser on signing day?
I had it on in the background as I was moderating the world’s most stressful LiveBlog. I didn’t refresh at all, and most of the information I got was actually from readers pitching in during the blog.
Are you going to your spring game?
Yes.
For the record – it was impossible to answer those questions with enough detail to make them interesting, while only using one word.
Posted under Football, Recruiting
Tags: 2009, roundtables
I think you should make it a mainstay of your SEC recruiting versus Big Ten recruiting that we don’t oversign classes and do not have the high attrition rate they have in the SEC. It’s cool to sign 15 4 stars, but when only 8 of them make it to campus in any given year, then that needs to be evaluated when talking about the euphoria of signing day.
VB: Question for you. I know RR and Staff would like to add a DT or two still to the 09 class. Are there any DT’s out there that is scholarship worthy and doesn’t have any background issues like grades or other problems? I know they got a couple Walk on’s to play DT.
Thanks!
very excited about 09 class, and soon as we get more wins, RR job becomes alot easier in coaching and recruiting we need to be patient as fans,3-4 year process.I think then the negatives against MI will subside.