When Harbaugh came to Ann Arbor during his first Fall Camp he said that the team was going into a Submarine and would only come up for air at press conferences. This year seems very "submarine like" as the buzz has been very quiet outside of Schembechler Hall. Yes, we have heard about a couple of injuries and a few players have spoken but we really haven't heard much more.
As we creep closer to the two-week mark to kickoff, the season will be here before we know it. Here are some situations, I hope the Wolverines are working hard at.
#1 - Redzone offense -every year the Wolverines start very slow in the redzone. If Michigan opens up the offense a bit more, I don't think the defense can just play the run in the Red Zone.
#2 - Pass Rush - I think Michigan has the talent but it's a bit unproven at this point. Michigan got in real trouble when they blitzed against TCU and will need to find a consistent pass rush without blitzing.
#3 - Throwing the Ball - Everything in the world is set up for Michigan to just plow through teams on the ground with the best 2 RB's and Offensive Line in the game. That is the problem, Michigan will need to open up the offense, get the young WR's and talented TE's more involved. Remember when JJ couldn't hit the long ball last season? If they can consistently throw the ball, there will be huge running lanes for Blake and Donovan.
#4 - Secondary Depth - Michigan is very light in this area. If the starters are healthy, I think Michigan will be fine. If they start to get hurt, Michigan might have issues here.
#5 - Place kicking - Michigan had the best kicker in college football, he is now gone. If Michigan can't get those 3 points when the offense struggles in the Redzone, that is going to be a huge issue. Michigan hit the transfer portal hard for 2 kickers and let's hope one or both are really good.
Outside Looking In:
-Punt Returns - AJ is now at Northwestern. Just catch the damn ball.
- Too Much Speed at LB? - Michigan has some really good LB's but they will need to be able to read and react and not run past plays. Speed is great but sometimes it can get you in a bad position to make the play.
-Play the Big Guys on the D line! - More snaps for run stoppers like Goode and Grant!
- I rarely ever agree with OSU fans on anything, but they also seem to dislike Gary Danielson in the booth.
- Anyone else thinking about how you're going to watch the Michigan game? I'm not at all interested in a subscription to Peacock.
- Desmond was on GMA recently and the intro bottom line called him an NFL Hall of Famer. He of course is a college football Hall of Famer.
7 comments:
Spot on, spot on, spot on! Totally agree with what the Wolverines need to work on this year. To a lesser degree, I'd say the backup QB. I expect a rotation of various QBs depending on the situation.
I think #1 and #3 go hand in hand. Not sure if it was Jim or whoever, but last year in the redzone Michigan wanted to show how big their cajones were and wanted to show they could pound the ball in. That'll work for the cupcakes on the schedule, but when you're playing the big boys you got to mix it up. Hopefully the pass rush is better, they seem to have the bodies, just need to have the desire! Michigan has recruited decently for the secondary, just need for guys to step up/get coached up. Kicking will be interesting. Jake Moody was the Wolverines version of Jason Hanson, just seemed like he was our K for a decade!
I really don't think you can have "too much" speed at LB, you just need more discipline. Be assignment sound and the rest will take care of itself.
Finally the season opener is probably 3 wks away for me. Not subscribing to Peacock. I pay enough for cable and this whole movement to streaming sports has me "red assed" sorry, not sorry! I would listen in on the radio and probably still will but Doug Karsch was horrible last year. I listened in to a bit of the spring game and it was brutal. Hoped it would of gotten better, but had to tune in during the middle of the season and he was just as bad. I go back to Ufer, listening in when I was just a wee lad! Didn't like Beckman at first, but he grew on me, then wasn't a huge Brandy fan at first. maybe Karsch will grow on me too, but man it was bad last year!
Doug Karsch is just a sideline reporter at best. And that is saying a lot. As mentioned he was horrible. When I want to listen to Michigan football on the radio I use my phone and download the "College Football Radio" app. That way I can listen to the opposing teams radio announcers. Anything is better than what is in the Michigan Radio Booth.
With our offensive line talent I'd like to see more quarterback sneak formations at the goal line as what the NFL Eagles accomplished in being unstoppable in scoring touchdowns last year.
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Yes I did not make any comments. I said I'll be gone and I was gone until new season and it's a new season and I am BACK!!
Beautiful life blue for life
Michiganman true to his forked tongue. You said you would leave, period. Not a man, nor true to his word, pitiful...
It's going to be interesting week to week to see how opponents game plan against us. They all know the running game is premium, O line is premium, QB is near-premium, but the WR is good...not elite. So do they load the box, try to stop the run and the QB read options and take their chances on their pass D's? That's my guess. That's when the TE's make a huge difference and we got good ones. The best d plans against this offense will be...."what the hell, let's just try this cuz we got nothing to lose". As for our D, looking mostly solid. The cryptonite is always...the crossing route and a good running QB. Why did we beat $uckeye U the last couple of years? Cuz they finally had a QB that wasn't much of a threat to run. Go Blue...."Make Michigan Great Again!"
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