Spring Practice Report

[Revelli]

Have any of you been over to MgoBlue.com to watch the videos of spring practice? Watched a couple tonight, and I gotta say that I was against the Robinson hire, but from the videos he looks like he might just know a thing or two. Long story short, I could be wrong about him getting the job. Didn't have any idea for an alternate when he was chosen, just thought he might be to "old-school". I hope, and it looks like he is, with the times in the videos so far.

Big Will Campbell looks impressive already. Saw him put a hit on (I think) B. Graham and he took him right over the pad and landed him on the ground.

Also, Robinson was talking about players he was impressed with so far this spring and he mentioned Mouton. I thought he was injured?!?:confused:

RR has said that he is already seeing a difference between last years spring practices and this years. He also mentioned that Barwis said the same thing about the guys in weight room with regards to performance of 08-vs-09.

Brandon Minor made a comment some time during the winter about many of the guys "not buying into the system", and I'm wondering if that has changed. I certainly hope so, because it's all about the attitude and buying in early.

GOBLUE!!!

[tpilews]

Well, the Mouton comments, as were all of the player comments, Greg was talking about things he had seen last season, on film. Robinson seemed pretty excited with the talent level he has at his disposal. The guys were "working hard mentally and physically". I bet the coaches are really looking forward to all the guys getting there this summer. There's a ton of talent still not in AA yet.

[GoDeepHammer]

Brandon Minor made a comment some time during the winter about many of the guys "not buying into the system", and I'm wondering if that has changed. I certainly hope so, because it's all about the attitude and buying in early.

GOBLUE!!!

That was after the osu game.

[Bighouse]

Does anyone else like the little fight that occured in the vid? I do! I'm sure Nut would say the team is in ruines, but I think the boys are pissed off and full of adrenaline..

[bighousemike84]

Also on Mgoblue.com is a report on the events of the day on April 11. From 8-10 they will have tours of the locker room, from 10-12 will be an alumni scrimmage Gary Moeller will coach the Maize and Jerry Hanlon will coach the Blue. The players who are participating in the scrimmage have yet to be announced but that ought to be a good time

[hail2mich]

Glad to see Michigan having Gary Moeller involved, even if it is an alumni scrimmage. He was such a great coach.

[deltguy2]

This sucks, the spring game is the Saturday of Easter weekend!! I will be traveling to northwest Ohio for the holiday, but now I've got to try to convince my wife to make a "pit stop" 1.5 hours out of the way to Ann Arbor...otherwise I would totally be one of the 40,000 people there. Anybody else plan on going??

[bighousemike84]

I will most definitely be there! It will be an amazing day.

[GoDeepHammer]

The wife and I are talking about going.

[bighousemike84]

sounds like my kinda woman! I had to pull teeth to get my girlfriend to go to the Utah game with me. She just rolled her eyes when I told her I was going to the spring game

[GoDeepHammer]

sounds like my kinda woman! I had to pull teeth to get my girlfriend to go to the Utah game with me. She just rolled her eyes when I told her I was going to the spring game

Yes, I am very lucky. She does fantasy football, march madness pools, I play softball three nights a week, go to all the home games and I do pretty much what I want to. She also loves sports and she is a NASCAR fan, the NASCAR thing is really the only bad thing about her. We have a great relationship, I have been blessed.

[tpilews]

Some new information found over at mgoblog.

http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/SpringPractice_1FE6/tateforciergunshow_thumb.jpg


Friend of blog and practice attendee Craig Ross:

Forcier’s arm is stronger than I thought it would be. Most of the balls he threw looked pretty crisp. He looked terrific in the drills. Running right or left he puts the ball on the money. I didn’t see him throw a poor ball.

And of course there's the other guy:

I felt Nick Sheridan looked better than last year at this time


From Varsity Blue:


From the mouth of Rod:

1st full scrimmage will probably take place on Saturday.

One of the reasons Rich wants to have a big spring game (in terms of fan attendance) is to help young guys get used to playing in front of an audience, so they aren’t as nervous when they see crowds of 100K+ in the fall.

Brandin Hawthorne, though he sometimes has been practicing with the safeties, is going to play outside linebacker.

Steve Watson’s move to defensive end has gone well. He is competing well enough that he will get some real playing time if he keeps it up. The depth at TE (Koger, Moore, Webb all doing well) allows him to play there. If they need tight ends, he’s a smart enough player that he could move back.

Will Campbell will be a big help for the team, because the depth at DT is pretty thin. He still has lots of learning to do.

Steve Schilling is at guard for now, and he’ll probably stay there for the time being. He looks good at the guard position, and shows good leadership on the field.


Observations and E-pinions:

Starting defense appeared to be a 3-4 set with the following personnel: DL - Van Bergen, Martin, Graham. LB - S. Brown, Evans, Ezeh, Fitzgerald. S - Williams, B. Smith. CB - Warren, Cissoko.

1st team backfield featured Nick Sheridan, and often had 2 RBs (Minor at FB, C. Brown at RB) in. Moundros was the starting true fullback, in front of Grady and with Forcier as the QB.

The starting offensive line looked to be (L to R): Ortmann, Schilling, Molk, Moosman, Omameh. 2nd team: ? (green jersey), Barnum, Khoury, Ferrara, Dorrestein.

In individual drills for the offensive linemen, either Barnum or Omameh (the only 2 black O-linemen having 56 and 65, respectively, was confusing) appeared to be by far the quickest on the team. I think it was Omameh.

Practicing taking direct snaps at QB with rollout runs: Feagin, T. Robinson, C. Brown.

An observation from the Oklahoma Drill (or the “Wolverine Drill” or whatever they call it here): Brandon Minor looked like a man among boys. He trucked a couple defenders, was able to spin off a couple more, and run by one or two (not easy in a 5-yard-wide playing area). We should have video of at least one of the impressive runs. Vincent Smith is super shifty, as can be expected of most tiny backs.

Video From Varsity Blue (http://www.umvarsityblue.com/audio/spring_practice.mp4) shows QBs throwing, RBs running, and other drills.

[TxWolverine]

forcier looks pretty good in practice, I noticed he throws the ball on a line where sheridan throws a rainbow almost every time.

[tpilews]

forcier looks pretty good in practice, I noticed he throws the ball on a line where sheridan throws a rainbow almost every time.

I thought Sheridan looked to have the strongest arm of the bunch. Coner was tossing rainbows. Forcier's arm wasn't as strong as Sheridan, but it was strong enough. He threw the ball on a nice line and was always accurate.

[BlueBallers]

I thought Sheridan looked to have the strongest arm of the bunch. Coner was tossing rainbows. Forcier's arm wasn't as strong as Sheridan, but it was strong enough. He threw the ball on a nice line and was always accurate.

Don't tell me that.

[Frank Rizzo]

If you want to meet a real michigan football freak?look for me on the free locker room tour on sat. morning before the game.I will be there ALL day.HELL YEA...GO BLUE!!!!!

[tpilews]

Don't tell me that.

Sheridan's arm strength was never a problem last year. It was his decision making and accuracy. The fact that Sheridan's arm is stronger than it was last year is a good thing. I'm not trying to put a jinx on the whole thing, but what happens if Tate goes down and Robinson isn't ready to take over? Sheridan had the best game of any QB last year.

[Blue In Ohio]

Last year it looked like arm strength was Sheridans main problem He had no zip. If Forcier's weaker than that look out.

[deltguy2]

Did you guys watch the spring practice video's on mgoblue.com? Is it just me or does Tate look really small out there? He just looks so small and fragile to me compared to everyone else. I hope he will not be another McGuffie...to small to take some hits in the Big10. God knows that he is going to get hit a few times with as much running he'll be expected to do.

What do you guys think?

[1OSUNUT]

deltaguy2,

Be very careful what you say about Tate being to small, his arm being to weak or anything about him being fragile from not lifting weights. The people on this site will turn on you so fast your head will spin. I said the very same thing about him taking hits in the RR style offense - the backlash was incredible.

[mgoblue1]

Some new information found over at mgoblog.

http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/SpringPractice_1FE6/tateforciergunshow_thumb.jpg



From Varsity Blue:



Video From Varsity Blue (http://www.umvarsityblue.com/audio/spring_practice.mp4) shows QBs throwing, RBs running, and other drills.

thx for the info TP. Good to get something of substance around this time.

[BlueBallers]

Being small is not a big problem if you don't allow yourself to take the "Big hit". McGuffie would run straight up and let people drill him full speed. Hopefully Tate is a little smarter than that and knows how to protect himself when running the ball. Like Marvin Harrison and other good players who know when to get down and when to dive for the extra yard.

Plus, the good thing about the rad option is that the QB should only pull the ball and run if no one is there. It's not like RR is gonna call run plays for Tate straight up the middle.

[1OSUNUT]

All I'm saying is that people always make fun of the Big Ten - but it is a physical conference. The Big Ten (for the most part) plays defense. You will get hit by all the teams. I'm just not sure I want the most important player on my team (who is a bit undersized) taking that many hits from linebackers and linemen. JMO

[bigboyBlue]

I have no idea why people feel Tate has not been hit before, he has been a mobile QB hasn't he? Yes, it takes getting used to college speed and size, but its not like he has never been touched.

[1OSUNUT]

Getting hit by the caliber of linebacker the Big Ten is a completly different thing. It's just fun to actually talk actual football again.

[Don Unverferth]

Getting hit by the caliber of linebacker the Big Ten is a completly different thing. It's just fun to actually talk actual football again.

Depth at QB seems to be in question right now as well. When Tate is abused who will back him up?

[tpilews]

Depth at QB seems to be in question right now as well. When Tate is abused who will back him up?

Well, let's see. There's Sheridan and Denard as regular backups. Feagin has taken snaps in practice this spring, Carlos Brown has taken snaps, Terrence Robinson has taken snaps.

[tpilews]

Another Video found on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxrTIsVPJLw) from practice. Smith #2 looks like a really nice runner.

[nc wolverine]

nice clip thanks T,
we look fast, the only thing that worried me was that tates ball didnt have a lot of velocity, and he looks short... still think he will be good

[Sten Carlson]

nice clip thanks T,
we look fast, the only thing that worried me was that tates ball didnt have a lot of velocity, and he looks short... still think he will be good

I didn't notice a lack of velocity on Tate's passes. I am no QB expert, but it seems like he was throwing just as hard as everyone else.

[Don Unverferth]

Well, let's see. There's Sheridan and Denard as regular backups. Feagin has taken snaps in practice this spring, Carlos Brown has taken snaps, Terrence Robinson has taken snaps.

I didn't realize you had that much depth. ;)

[tpilews]

I didn't realize you had that much depth. ;)

Oh, I forgot. There's Furrha too.

[nc wolverine]

I didn't notice a lack of velocity on Tate's passes. I am no QB expert, but it seems like he was throwing just as hard as everyone else.

well sten, i am a qb expert, and i thought tates ball lacked velocity.

ok so im kidding. sherridans just looked like it had a little more zip. but tate probably wansnt throwing all out, just trying to get timing down

[deltguy2]

How big was Pat White at WVU when he played in that offense under Rich? He couldnt have been much bigger than Tate as a freshman right? I am hoping we will pass the ball more with Tate's strong arm and accuracy that what Pat White did...he seemed to stay healthy for most of his career. I guess playing in the Big East is a little different than playing in the Big10...

[1OSUNUT]

Once you see a true freshman actually play a game - you will rethink what you said about wanting him to pass more. The kid will look great in practice and in scrimmages - but the game is much different. The game is a lot faster and mistakes are way more costly. It happens to all freshman QB's. TP was the same way last year. In practice he threw the ball with great velocity all over the field. Then when he got in a game he became to careful and tried to place the ball. You will see the same thing from Tate and he will become even more careful after his first big mistake.

[Wolvrin704]

Once you see a true freshman actually play a game - you will rethink what you said about wanting him to pass more. The kid will look great in practice and in scrimmages - but the game is much different. The game is a lot faster and mistakes are way more costly. It happens to all freshman QB's. TP was the same way last year. In practice he threw the ball with great velocity all over the field. Then when he got in a game he became to careful and tried to place the ball. You will see the same thing from Tate and he will become even more careful after his first big mistake.

Funny, weren't you raving last season about TP's passing prowess?

[Sten Carlson]

Once you see a true freshman actually play a game - you will rethink what you said about wanting him to pass more. The kid will look great in practice and in scrimmages - but the game is much different. The game is a lot faster and mistakes are way more costly. It happens to all freshman QB's. TP was the same way last year. In practice he threw the ball with great velocity all over the field. Then when he got in a game he became to careful and tried to place the ball. You will see the same thing from Tate and he will become even more careful after his first big mistake.

I see you've been consulting your crystal ball again! Hearsay your honor!

[tpilews]

Once you see a true freshman actually play a game - you will rethink what you said about wanting him to pass more. The kid will look great in practice and in scrimmages - but the game is much different. The game is a lot faster and mistakes are way more costly. It happens to all freshman QB's. TP was the same way last year. In practice he threw the ball with great velocity all over the field. Then when he got in a game he became to careful and tried to place the ball. You will see the same thing from Tate and he will become even more careful after his first big mistake.

I think TP was exposed even more so because he lacks decent throwing mechanics. Sure the game speed is something that Tate will have to adjust to, but he's also one of the most polished QBs to come out of HS in a while.

I doubt TP was a true QB in high school. Meaning, he probably just used his freakish athletic ability to excel on the field. He probably just dropped back and launched bombs and never developed as a passer.

I believe this is where Tate will differ. His strong suit is his accuracy. The slants, out routes, etc.... the quick passing game. That stuff is hard to defend. No doubt Tate is going to have to make adjustments to the game, but I think, because he's already a more complete passer, it won't be as tough of a transition. Plus, the extra nine months of practicing in college won't hurt that transition either.

[Shane Falco]

Once you see a true freshman actually play a game - you will rethink what you said about wanting him to pass more. The kid will look great in practice and in scrimmages - but the game is much different. The game is a lot faster and mistakes are way more costly. It happens to all freshman QB's. TP was the same way last year. In practice he threw the ball with great velocity all over the field. Then when he got in a game he became to careful and tried to place the ball. You will see the same thing from Tate and he will become even more careful after his first big mistake.

Don't even compare TP and Tate on throwing the ball. Tate is alot better passing and is more groomed now than TP will ever be.

[Revelli]

Don't let NUT turn this into a T. Pryor thread. Stay on topic...Michigan, not 0$U!!! If you want to talk pryor, go to a suckeye thread!
Thanks for your attention,
the thread originator