Jimmy's program is playing its best football the last two years. This season has gone as expected, with easy wins in the pre-season and now the first difficult road game. JJ is leading the nation in QB accuracy and Blake is leading the country in TD's. The offensive line played its best game in Iowa and the WR's have so much talent there's not enough targets to go around. Erick All is hurt but Luke Schoonmaker looks to be a future star at TE. It's hard to find anything to nitpick on offense but let's look at a few areas:
- No offense line will be perfect each week, but Michigan did have a few missed assignments that almost changed the game. The backwards pass by JJ comes to mind.
- Depth could be an issue for Michigan's offense. We saw what happened when Edwards turned an ankle and even though Michigan has experience on the Offensive line, it's clear the starters are a step above the back-ups.
- I don't want to even jinx this, but right now it's unclear who is the #2 QB if JJ gets banged up. There is talent there but not a ton of experience.
- Pass rush still concerns me. I saw the D-line run stunts, which made me happy. Okie could be a great late pick-up and Mike Morris saved the game against Iowa. We still need to see more consistency out of this group. Even a bad QB can complete passes when he has all day to throw. Michigan has to be able to pressure the QB on every passing down.
- LB play - Hill-Green has yet to play this year and the rest of the crew seems to be struggling. Colson has flashed and seems to be a legit starter but we saw true freshman Rolder get snaps against Iowa. We have to have better play here if Michigan is going to Indy. Having Hill-Green back would help a ton!
- Is there a star playmaker on defense? Michigan had 3 first round guys last year on defense. Mazi is great, but his position is limited in playmaking.
- Depth in the secondary and at LB concerns me. I think the DL has guys they can plug and play to stop the run if needed. More #99 please (he is Goode! :) BTW: Huge hat tip to Mason Graham who is starting for the #4 team in the nation coming right out of high school. It's rare for a player to be physically ready to step into that role as a true freshman.
With the Big Ten struggling, Michigan needs to protect itself from trap games. This week could be one of those traps. See Georgia - Mizzu from last week if you need evidence of a road trap game.
- Paul Chryst and Wisconsin came to agreement of a reduce buyout of 11M to be paid prior to next February. His total buyout could have been over $19M.
4 comments:
I don't put that backwards pass on JJ. That was a missed assignment and he got backsided trying to make a play. He played a damn near flawless game...
3rd RB behind Corum & Edwards would be nice
OL depth: can never have too much
DTs - led by Mazi Smith have been very good IHO.
DEs/Edges - in obvious passing downs, they can pin their ears back and get after the QB. I agree like to see more of Okie on the field, his 1 knock is he gets too far inside in his pass rush and at times lose contain of the QB. On running downs, they have a tendency to not set the edge and let the ball carrier get outside. After Morris and Okie, nobody else really jumps out. Brandon McGregor looks over matched every time he's on the field.
LBs - Colston's been solid, but not spectacular. The only other time I notice a LB is when they don't drop deep enough on passes and open up the seam route.
DBs - besides pass rush, secondary was my biggest concern coming into 2022. You lost Hill, Hawkins, and Grey. I'm tentatively satisfied with Green and Turner. I only say that as we haven't face elite WRs yet. I really like the S rotation of Moten, Moore, & Paige. And of course, even though its beginning to get played out, Sainristil has been a bit of a revelation as the slot corner. His lack of size will limit his ceiling, but I love his moxie!
Oh whatever happened to Julius Welshof? Thought he was the next "IT" guy on the Wolverines roster.
Scary thought: Jim goes all Nick Saban and brings Paul Chryst on to his staff. Look sure he's a nice guy, but his offense set football back at least 30 years.
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