Friday, February 22, 2008

Cell Block News and Notes: Friday Edition



  • Well the Michigan Basketball team win streak ended in the cold (shooting) of Minnesota as the Wolverines lost 60-69 last night.

  • Here's a new SI article on high profile/soon to be Freshmen - "white lighting" Sam McGuffie.

  • For those that haven't heard about the tragedy that incoming Freshmen Elliott Mealer has had to live with these past few months. Here is an article from today's Toledo Free Press.

  • ESPN Big Ten Spring Power Rankings has Michigan #5 right ahead of Purdue. Yikes! OSU and Wisconsin are 1&2.

  • Here is ESPN Spring Primer, with the title being: Big Ten looks to regain credibility among college football's elite. (for those of you that follow this blog - this sentance goes back to a discussion between myself and Buckeye John) Here is the Michigan Preview:

What to watch: It's another ho-hum spring in Ann Arbor, just with a new coach (Rodriguez), a new offense and no quarterback. Georgia Tech transfer Steven Threet, who has yet to throw a pass in college, competes for the starting QB job with David Cone (one collegiate pass attempt) and Nick Sheridan (no pass attempts). Good luck with that.


• Whoever wins the coveted quarterback job needs someone to block for him, and the Wolverines must replace their two top linemen (left tackle Jake Long and center Adam Kraus) and two other veterans (Alex Mitchell and Jeremy Ciulla). Perry Dorrestein backed up Long last year and will get a good look this spring.


• The defense will be in the backdrop, but the Wolverines still must find replacements for their top four tacklers. Obi Ezeh might move from middle linebacker to strongside 'backer, filling Shawn Crable's spot but creating a new opening in the middle.

ESPN Hashmarks gives us a Jake Long Combine update: Jake Long, who was listed at 6-7, 331 on the Michigan roster, was measured at 6-7, 313 pounds this morning. He talked about the fact that he had only two penalties during his four-year career with the Wolverines. He had a holding call his redshirt freshman season and had a false start this past year.


Long only gave up two sacks during his career. He said one came against Michigan State four years ago and one came against Ohio State's Vernon Gholston, who is one of the top players at the combine.


Asked about his penalty-free play, Long basically said he was an effective cheater. He said he always keeps his hands inside so that officials can't see him when he's holding. Since there's a good chance the Raiders will draft him, I'm not sure this is something he should be discussing publicly.


Long played his first two years at right tackle before moving to the left side for his junior and senior seasons. He said the greatest honor he's received was being elected captain his final two seasons.

No comments: