Monday, January 3, 2022

The Original Michigan Monday: Team 143 Starts Today

Michigan Football had a magical season minus 2 road bumps.   As Harbaugh said after the game, this is not the end, it's the beginning.   The Beginning for team 143 starts today.  Here is what we know so far.  

  • Michigan's 5-star CB Will Johnson has already practiced with the team twice during bowl practice👍
  • Michigan's signing day steal of DT/DE Derrick Moore destroyed the UA All American game in Orlando and won the game's MVP. 👍
  • Eric All has signaled that he is coming back👍
  • Former 5 Star QB JJ McCarthy seems ready to be the man next year at QB 👍

Hutch has signed with an agent and fingers crossed he is the #1 pick.  David Ojabo hasn't said anything yet, but it's expected he will head to the NFL Draft as well.  Replacing those two guys is going to be a challenge.   Dax Hill is not a vocal guy, but some are saying he could be a late first rounder.  If that is the case, I think he declares as well.  So that is the 3 best players on defense for the Wolverines that will need to be backfilled.  The strong 2022 class might fill some of those roles.  

There are lot of questions marks but a firm foundation to build off of.  I trust these coaches and players to figure it out and make another run at the Big Ten Title next year.  (the only thing that matters).   The memory of this season will include the following:
  • Fumble at Nebraska 
  • All or Nothing at Penn State 
  • The Snowflakes of victory over the Buckeyes 
  • The Big Ten Championship platform in Indy 
Now to the rest of the Big Ten News
  • Iowa was close against UK but fell short 
  • Penn State was just out manned due to opt outs against Arkansas
  • The Ohio State game was bonkers.  Quick question: I enjoy high scoring games as well, but why do we praise bad football?  I guess it's just for the entertainment value. 
I know expanding the CFP has some challenges, but I sure would have preferred Baylor, ND, OSU, Ole Miss and Utah in the mix.  Would have been some fun matchups and help with all the stars opting out. 

  • AB just can't help himself from being a story.   Tom is losing weapons by the day in Tampa.
  • With the basketball team struggling.  The blog's focus will be on football in the off season. 

6 comments:

BlueManGroup said...

Bob - Thanks for your steadfast commitment to this blog! I look foward to reading it every morning and especially enjoyed reading it this past football season. Go Blue!

Voice of Reason said...

I have two genuine questions, 1) If the Michigan players all took the booster shot to avoid testing positive for Covid, considering how so many people complained that they experienced sickness and weakness right afterwards for a period of time, was it smart to take the booster so close to the game and could it have affected their play? Maybe the physician that posts periodically here can address this question.

2) We know that Georgia is good (very good), however, I couldn't help but wonder if Georgia was the beneficiary of PED's and Blood doping. They've just had their asses handed to them by Alabama a month before and now they are extra strong, extra fast more so than they've seemed all season. Are players tested for this type of thing?

No sour grapes here, but I can't shake these questions. I'm sorry, but I just don't trust the integrity of the top SEC teams. IMHO!!!

Justwin said...

Truly loved that Corum and then at least JJ watched Georgia celebrate on the field. I hadn’t realized that they did that until saw it yesterday. Soak it in boys and use it to feed the fire.

ScottyDoggs said...

Voice of Reason's thoughts are valid, and I had the same questions, but do not possess the writing skills to express it so reasonably....the Georgia team played like they were possessed, and the targeting late in the game showed that their motors were revved up considerably. Down South, High School football is treated like a holiday, with a lot of local stores closing early on game day. I have relatives in a county in North Carolina that built "one high school", for everyone (enrollment 2500 Est.), so that they are guaranteed a quality football team. The shots had to affect the players at least a little bit...maybe not allowing their motors to Rev up to 111%

BlueManGroup said...

All is returning. That is confirmed. Ojabo is 50/50 right now. He could be a 1st round pick but he still would be considered a "project" at the pro level and a 3rd down sub. He should stay 1 more year and refine his game and add a little more weight. He could be a top 10 pick if it all came together for him. Dax Hill hasn't graded well at safety and he graded very well as a slot defender. He's projected mid-2nd round or 3rd round right now. I think he will go pro, but he should also stay another year. JJ has to be the man next year. Hopefully Jimmy has the balls that Dabo had when he anointed Trevor Lawrence. The team that Ohio St fielded for the Rose Bowl is pretty much their team for next season. We will blow them out again for sure. Good times are ahead. GO BLUE!

BlueManGroup said...

I wonder if they can snag a high end LB in the transfer portal.