Michigan Monday: Spring Practice Thoughts

Daniel Mears / The Detroit News

Michigan practiced in the Big House on Saturday and did a scrimmage at the end of the session.   The practice was mostly drills which was nice to see but didn't really show us much.  

The scrimmage didn't show us a ton either, but here are some of my thoughts after watching the two hour Big Ten Channel telecast:

• As expected the defense is ahead of the offense at this point. 

• Devin didn't look that good.   He missed a number of throws and his first play in the scrimmage was a pick.

• The offense line looked better then I expected, they got some push on positive running plays.  Other times looked terrible as the DL was easily in the backfield (which seemed to be the 2nd unit).

• I like our running backs, Justice Hayes stood out to me but I also like how Green and Smith ran the ball.  Michigan seems loaded at that position.

• Freddy is going to play as a true freshman.  Devin looked for Funchess most of the time but Canteen was his #2 choice.  Freddy is going to get a lot of snaps this season.

• Talk about a loaded position, how about CB? Jourdan Lewis picked off Devin and Shane I believe.   If you include true freshman Jabrill Peppers, we should have some playmakers at each corner and great depth.

• Could Michigan's DL be a "sneaky" good unit?  This group has a huge ceiling. 

• Walk-on Alert:  I liked Bo Dever's hands - could he be playing the Dileo role next year? 

• Mason Cole looked pretty good.  It's hard to say a true freshman, who has been on campus for 3 months could be Michigan's starting Left Guard, but it could happen.

Michigan has talent on both sides of the ball, but it's clear (mostly on offense) they need to work on some fundamentals as they learn Coach Nuss new system.  I think this is a very important summer for the leaders of this team to organize practices and take this team to the next level.

• Update:  UTL3:  Penn State game at 7:00 on ESPN or ESPN 2