Long time no post (arrgh boring offseason), so here’s a little bit of info on a couple of recent Michigan graduates.

Jerome Jackson (looks good)
Alan Branch

I’ll be out of town this week, so unless Paul posts something, don’t expect a ton of content. When I come back around, I plan to do more editorializing-type stuff, rather than just posting straight news, so look forward to it.

Posted under Personnel

One of those annoying photo albums that they do.

If you hate clicking through those bastards, here is a spoiler for you:

25) Erik Ainge QB Tennessee
24) Vince Hall LB Virginia Tech
23) Dan Connor LB Penn State
22) Shawn Crable LB Michigan
21) Adarius Bowman WR Oklahoma State
20) James Laurinaitis LB Ohio State*
19) James Davis RB Clemson
18) Vernon Gholston DE Ohio State*
17) Sam Baker OT Southern California
16) Keith Rivers LB Southern California
15) Steve Slaton RB West Virginia*
14) Keenan Burton WR Kentucky
13) Derrick Harvey DT Florida*
12) Desean Jackson WR California*
11) Tyson Jackson DE Louisiana State
10) Gosder Cherilus OT Boston College
9) Limas Sweed WR Texas
8) Chris Long DE Virginia
7) Philip Merling DL Clemson
6) Chad Henne QB Michigan
5) Aqib Talib CB Kansas
4) Brian Brohm QB Lousiville
3) Talais Campbell DE Miami*
2) Jake Long OT Michigan
1) Darren McFadden RB Arkansas

You can’t really complain about Humanity Advanced being the number one guy off the board. Asterisks denote underclassmen (will still have eligibility after ’07). Long is the first OT off the board (obviously), Henne the second QB, Crable the third LB. After a good draft year like this one, three preseason projections as first-rounders isn’t bad at all. Obviously these lists are projections and aren’t OMG Mel Kiper Brady Quinn Official. Laurinaitis picture linked because it’s against Michigan.

The only really questionable prospects I saw were Merling, Burton, and Bowman, who I have never heard of, despite being an avid follower of college football. I hadn’t heard of the OT from BC either, but offensive linemen get no exposure until the draft rolls around, and BC gets no exposure because they generally suck.

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Didn’t have a whole lot of nice things to say about Michigan, though the interview he gave was a fluff piece for the Stanford Scout site, so I guess that’s to be expected.

The Eligibility Chart and Depth Chart have been updated accordingly.

At this point, I will refrain from commenting on pot-gate.

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School-record 7 draftees, though it certainly didn’t feel like a great draft, mostly because a couple should-be first rounders (Branch, Harris) slid into the second, and Hall was taken as the second CB off the board.

Wolverines taken in the NFL Draft:
Leon Hall 18 Cincinnati Bengals
Alan Branch 33 Arizona Cardinals
Lamarr Woodley 46 Pittsburgh Steelers
David Harris 47 New York Jets
Steve Breaston 147 Arizona Cardinals
Prescott Burgess 207 Baltimore Ravens
Tyler Ecker 216 Washington Redskins

The Surprise is obviously Tyler Ecker, who most people didn’t see getting drafted at all. Breaston and Burgess will spend their early years on special teams, while the top 4 will likely be early contributors in some regular capacity.

Undrafted Free Agents:
Rondell Biggs Carolina Panthers
Mark Bihl San Diego Chargers
Jerome Jackson Cleveland Browns
Rueben Riley Carolina Panthers
Garrett Rivas Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Matt Gutierrez New England Patriots

Obviously Gutierrez didn’t spend his final year of eligibility with Michigan, but once a Wolverine, always a Wolverine.

UPDATE: J-Jack to the Browns
TUESDAY UPDATE: Rivas to Tampa Bay

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Though Tom Beaver said not to worry about it a ways back, there has been enough rumbling about the situation to add fuel to the potential-Mallett-transfer fire.

However, sources, including this snide Texarkana blog, say that Mallett has made his decision to stay (this despite all but encouraging it a week ago). Bob Lichtenfels has also said that Toney Clemons was informed by Ryan himself that a transfer will not happen.

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I promise Paul will eventually post the photo gallery (last I spoke to him (last night) he was trying to decide how to post thumbnails in the most aesthetically pleasing manner possible). Depth charts have been updated with the new information from spring practice (click the “important posts” tab on the right).

Some analysis, most of it from the scrimmage:

Offense:
QB: Henne looked pretty good, though he obviously wasn’t giving 100% effort the whole time. His throws to the left (a point of struggling in the past) looked much more accurate. Tacopants was nowhere to be found. Mallett looked very good (see Paul’s video extravaganza below), and certainly appears to be ready to step in as the quarterback of the future. He didn’t have any trouble handling snaps from under center, and there were no shotgun snaps taken. Cone looked like career backup material (which shouldn’t be surprising, because he was recruited as such, and came in knowing the situation). Walk-on Nick Sheridan looked good, but will obviously never play a down.
OL: The run game struggled most of the day, but this was also without a few starters playing, and with a mix-and-match assortment of lineups. The starting line will almost assuredly be Long-Kraus-Boren-Mitchell-?, with ? representing the best of Dorrestein, Schilling, and Zirbel. Boren and Moosman both looked good snapping.
TE: Sucky. Martell Webb and Steve Watson had better be able to come in and play, and Mike Massey should have crafted himself (shoulder especially) out of a material other than glass. Criswell could block for the run and pass pretty well, but couldn’t catch a pass to save his life. McLaurin could do neither.
RB: Minor only played 2 downs in the scrimmage, thrown to twice. No news there, though he certainly looked like an imposing physical specimen. The FBs carried the load in the scrimmage, and looked like FBs doing so. The surprise of the spring was RS Freshman Mark Moundros, a preferred walk-on who has the smart money for being the starter come fall. Vince Helmuth has a little more developing to do, but he looked like a future badass.
WR: Walkon central, as Greg Mathews and LaTerryal Savoy were the only scholarship WRs there. Manningham was in attendance wearing street clothes, and Arrington was not present. Judging by the fact that there are only 2 scholarship WRs right now, hopefully both can come back and contribute. There will definitely be playing time opportunities for multiple freshmen here, as well. Mathews looked good, though he’s definitely not a burner (overthrown a couple time by both Mallett and Henne – on passes Manningham would have easily run under). Unlike last year, Savoy looked like crap, so I hope he just confuses “final spring practice” with “opposite day.” Walk-on David Middleton looked decent, though there’s a reason he’s a walk-on.

Defense:
DL: A ton of guys played here. Brandon Graham looked good, even if his step isn’t as fast as I was expecting from a former LB. Will Johnson looked really fast off the line for his size, which is good. Adam Patterson was solid if unimpressive. Jason Kates looked to be in terrible condition. There is more depth on the DL than I was expecting, which can only be a good thing.
LB: If the season started today, I’d have to think your starting LB lineup would be (weak to strong) Mouton-Ezeh-Crable. Johnny Thompson and Chris Graham both didn’t practice, but Mouton and Ezeh looked good. Mouton especially, as he was the best LB on the field, in terms of speed and big hits. Crable did not scrimmage. Austin Panter was OK, but he got run over in the run game a couple of times. He needs to work on his lower body strength a lot in the off-season if he wants to be a big contributor in the fall.
DB: Stevie Brown is really good at the football. Johnny Sears looked bad, which can’t be a good thing. It’s not even that he didn’t have the skills and mental abilities, it just seemed like he wasn’t even playing attention during the scrimmage. Hopefully it was just a bad practice for him. Brandon Harrison was as expected, Charles Stewart looked like a good backup SS, as did (surprisingly) career special-teamer Anton Campbell. Morgan Trent was beaten more times than I am comfortable with at this time.

ST: Punting will still be handled by Zoltan. He boomed a couple but was inconsistent (I probably could have said that without even attending the practice). The Place kicker battle will be between K.C. Lopata and Bryan Wright. Wright has the bigger leg, but was more inconsistent. Lopata was more accurate, but dinged an extra point of the back of an O-Lineman’s helmet. This one will be settled in the fall, and don’t be surprised if they split duties a bit during the season.

Posted under Personnel, Spring Coverage

Yeah, we’re going to try to milk this for all it’s worth.

Guys who weren’t there:
Adrian Arrington
Marques Slocum
Jason Forcier

Guys who were there, but didn’t dress:
Mike Hart
Kevin Grady (crutches)
Jamar Adams
Carlos Brown
Johnny Thompson
Chris Graham
Terrance Taylor

Dressed but only participated in position drills:
Jake Long
Shawn Crable

Recent ex-players in attendance:
David Harris
Steve Breaston
Alan Branch
Rondell Biggs

I think that’s about it, if I missed anyone you saw, drop it in the comments.

Posted under Personnel, Spring Coverage

Please, real-life football news begin soon.

MGoBlue covers pretty much all the bases, except mentioning that the award goes to the best offensive or defensive lineman… or linebacker?

Woodley won the award last year, and Jake looks to make it a repeat for the maize and blue.

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Just a couple of (as yet unconfirmed) things that have been coming out of spring practice.

1) Kevin Grady has suffered a fairly severe knee injury, and will be out for the rest of the spring, maybe even longer.
2) Carlos Brown is as good as gone.

This leaves the team in the precarious position of having only one backup running back on scholarship at this time. It’ll be interesting to see if the Grady injury is enough to convince Brown to stay, since it would mean a lot more playing time for him.

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The loss of Germany hurts DE depth, but the Wolverines are strong in the middle, and have some real potential in guys coming off the edge. Taylor seems poised to have a good year stopping the run up the middle. There is 2 or 3-deep depth at every position, but the real question is how much quality there is at each of these positions. Sagesse will redshirt unless there is a huge depth problem.

Nobody will be lost to graduation, but Terrance Taylor MAY be able to make the jump if he has a really good year. Still, with depth as poor as it is on the defensive line, expect the staff to go for a couple of defensive ends (including one top guy) and a defensive tackle, maybe two. This year will be a time for the staff to improve the depth, especially losing a couple of guys after the next season.

This is a definite rebuilding year for a linebacker corps losing two of three starters. The depth chart will probably not be completely set until after fall camp. Fortunately, the Wolverines are 2-deep at every position. Some of these guys need to improve, and expect both freshmen to take a redshirt. I am surprised to hear that Panter is not practicing all that well, as I didn’t think Michigan would bother with a JuCo unless they thought he’d be able to contribute right away. There’s the off chance that he takes a redshirt (he has 3 years to play two) as well.

Shawn Crable is graduating after this season, as is Chris Graham. If Graham wins the starting job this year, the team will again have to replace at least two starters. The MLB position seems fairly strong as far as depth, even if Cobrani Mixon transfers to Cincinnati, as has been rumored. A couple of OLBers should come in this class, as well as maybe one MLB to build further depth, since Thompson and Panter both have junior eligibility (unless Panter redshirts).

This position, long a subject of much bitching for Michigan fans, looks to be relatively strong this year. If Trent and Sears can continue to improve (reports from spring camp indicate that Sears is looking very good), the corners should be adequate, though still the weakness of the position group. New coach Vance Bedford has helped this position a lot. The nickel back position is a new one for Ron English’s defensive scheme, and Brandon Harrison looks to fill that role, with freshman Michael Williams backing him up. Expect redshirts for Babb, Rogers, and Woolfolk, though nothing is guaranteed.

To graduation, Michigan loses Anton Campbell, a career special teamer (who actually impressed in spring practice), Jamar Adams, a three-year starter at SS, Brandent Englemon, and undistinguished safety. With a bunch of safeties in the past couple classes, Michigan will probably only need to take one or two. At the CB position, nobody is lost to graduation, but Doug Dutch
(unrenewed 5th year candidate) is unproven at the position, as is sophomore Carlos Brown. Expect a couple of CBs to be taken, including at least one super (I’m going out on a limb here by saying they’ll land one – wait a minute, they already got U.S. Army combine MVP Boubacar Cissoko).

Posted under Personnel, Recruiting