Michigan Thursday: Trending Blue Now

Lansing State Journal 

Since its been a bit of a slow news week, we have been tracking the recruitment of 3 star WR Andrel Anthony out of East Lansing.  To recap:

• Anthony has been a target for Michigan for some time.  
• Michigan lands 3 higher rated WR's and starts to move on from Anthony (
• Anthony trends hard to MSU and has 100% CB predictions
• Anthony announces he will commit on 7/31 
• Plans a surprise non-official visit to Ann Arbor on
• As of Tuesday, the recruiting insiders were
• Now things have changed..............

Those same insiders now have switched their predictions and have AA heading to Ann Abor.  The predictions were 100% on MSU on Tuesday, now its 84.2% Michigan and 15.8 MSU.   The new Michigan predictions have a very high probably ranking as well. 

So the recruiting insiders are now feeling this was a legitimate trip on Sunday and he really wants to play in Ann Arbor.  Not just some fake drama to make his commitment more viable to a larger audience and a perceived win over the Wolverines.   

Lets take a look at A2!

Andrel Anthony is a 6'2, 175 pound 2021 3 star WR out of East Lansing.   He is ranked the 85th WR on the 24/7 composite and the 529th player in the country.   His offer list reads like a 4 star with offers from the likes of ND, PSU, UK, Iowa State, Maryland, Ole Miss, Northwestern, Nebraska, Oregon State, Wisconsin and more.   AA had 54 catches, 954 yards, and 9 TD's last season.   If A2 does end up picking MSU, he will be the Spartans highest rated recruit in the 2021 class. 

He makes his decision tomorrow and will end all this back and forth.   IF AA commits to Michigan this will close out WR recruiting for 2021, with the focus on TE, CB, and DT.  

Either way, it has given us some good content this week.  

Michigan Friday: Talking About Practice

Since AI decided to retire after being retired for like 3 years, I thought we could use his famous rant as today headline for some tidbits from practice:

• As expected, Share Morris is the #2 QB behind Devin.
• No starter yet at center seems to between Miller & Glasgow
• 2 more days of camp before CMU week starts
• Norfleet will return kicks and punts
• 3 J's will take Amara's snaps:  Jeremy, Joe and Jehu
• The Tom Brady visit was a surprise to the team

It seems Shane is getting a bit more comfortable in the pocket and in this offense.   I also like how Michigan ran the ball.   It seems I underestimated how much Justice Hayes we are going to see this year.   I now believe he will get a bunch of the #2 RB carries. 

• Stevie Breaston got cut by the Saints this week, he might be heading for retirement.

• Braylon Edwards roster spot seems to be hanging by a thread with the Jets right now.  He could be another guy that might have a hard time finding a job if this one doesn't work out.

• If you get a minute please read this article on Michigan commitment Bryan Mone who is already a Man and soon to be a Michigan Man. 

• Don't forget Michigan should have a commitment today on ESPN at 4:00!

Michigan Tuesday: Good News and Bad News

First the good news: 

• 2015 CB Tyree Kinnel is visiting Ann Arbor on Saturday.  I would consider him on commitment watch.  He is a 5'11 - 6'0 183 pound CB from Huber Heights, Ohio.  He has  early offers from the likes of Arkansas, Kentucky and the Wolverines.   He is rated 4 star by Scouts but not rated by the other services.

 
Now the bad:

• Former Michigan WR and Chicago Bears #1 draft pick, David Terrell has been arrested for drug dealing.  I hate stories like this one.

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Here is a nice story about a former Michigan WR Jason Avant who has become a leader on the Eagles.

Rumor Mill:  Amara Darboh has some type of injury but doesn't sound serious.   Also maybe Jake Ryan could be coming back sooner rather then later.   Which is good news but I hate for him to rush back and re-injury it.

Bennie likes what he saw at the scrimmage: 

Saw scrimmage in the stadium last night, take way, defense is the fastest I've seen & offense is explosive
— BennieJoppru (@Umich83) August 18, 2013
 

Michigan Friday: #21 Makes it to the Hall

#21 in your program and one of Michigan's most dynamic play makers ever, Desmond Howard was voted into the College Hall of Fame yesterday.  As we all know, Desmond won the Heisman Trophy in 1991 when he was basically a human highlight reel.

As I think back on that season, it seems like he did something special pretty much every week.  Clearly, the highlights were his diving catch against ND and his famous Heisman pose after returning a punt against Ohio State.  Where we heard Keith Jackson's famous call, "Good Bye and Hello Heisman!".

I know Michigan runs a ton of WR screens these days, but there was nobody better at running those then Desmond Howard.  I remember a game against Indiana or something, watching him run those and thinking, "that play just isn't fair, they can't stop it!".

I know there is a debate on whether numbers should be retired or not.  (Some folks are in the camp that: Yes we should do it - Others say it's huge for recruiting if a guy has a chance to wear #1, #2, #7, or #21).  Either way, Michigan needs to do something to recognize our great players of the past.   Wall of Fame, Ring of Honor, something.

After Michigan, Desmond went on to have a 10 year NFL career with 6 different teams.   He was drafted #4 overall to the Washington Redskins and finished his career with the Detroit Lions.   The highlight of his professional career was of course his MVP in the Super Bowl during the 1996 season when he took a second half kick off 99 yards for a touchdown.

Desmond after football has also found success as a college football analysts on ESPN's College Game Day and even assisted the Bill Martin and the University of Michigan in finding a new football coach after Lloyd Carr retired.

Desmond is a class act and this is a well deserved honor.   Not bad for a kid from Cleveland, that took a chance on heading North for his education and wearing the Maize and Blue.   Go Blue!

Wolverine Wide Recievers: How many are there?

One of the BHB readers asked me to run down the number of Michigan wide receivers on the roster and rank their probably of playing. Michigan currently has 12 wide receivers on the roster.

Hemingway, Stonum, Odoms, Stokes, La Savoy, Matthews have all played the WR spot this year.

Michigan also has a position called Slot Receiver (SR) which Michigan has 8 of those as well. Yes, Odoms is listed as a WR not a slot on the roster. Go figure.

The players that have seen action at SR are: Kelvin Grady and Odoms.

My opinion on grade and depth chart: Wide Receivers:

1. Junior Hemingway is Michigan's top WR. He is a deep threat with good hands. Needs to stay out of the trainers room, has a history of bad luck injuries. Grade: A-


2. Greg Matthews, he made the winning touchdown catch against ND and has good hands. Not a burner but can use his 6"3 frame to out jump smaller DB's. He is a senior and needs to have a big year. Grade A-


3. Darryl Stonum is a second year sophomore that didn't really live up to the hype last year as one of the top WR's in the country out of high school. Darryl enrolled early and saw a lot of playing time. He had a DUI and really didn't do anything explosive until the ND kickoff return. Darryl has a lot to prove and is off to a decent start in 2009. Still need more productivity from him at the WR position. Grade: B


4. LaTerryal Savoy is a 5th year senior that I thought would be on the bubble to be asked back for his 5th year. He is back and made a couple of nice plays before the big drop in the end zone. LaTerryal has been getting some good practice press which has lead to some playing time this year. Could be a sleeper pick for a decent year. Grade: B-


5. Je'Ron Stokes is a 4 star freshman that has only been on campus for a few weeks. He was a signing day commit to the Wolverines and has a nice up side. Look for him to get some more playing time in the coming weeks. Jury still out on Je'Ron has he learns the offense. Grade: B-


6. James Rodgers is a junior that really hasn't done much or seen any decent field time since becoming a Wolverine. He is in the mix but barley. Grade: C-


7. Cameron Gordon is a true freshman out of Detroit. He is 6"2 208 and the Michigan coaches wanted him at LB instead of WR, but he came to Michigan as a WR. Guess what the latest rumor is? That he is moving to LB. No official word on the change yet. Grade: TBD


8. Zac Baker, Jon Conover, Joe Reynolds and Patrick Collins are just column fodder at this point.

Now on to the Slot:

1. Kelvin Grady: has taken over the slot position after playing on Michigan's basketball team for the last two years. He has shown flashes but nothing great yet, he has shown a nice pair of hands in catching some high throws. Jury is still out of him: Grade B


2. Martavious Odoms: was Michigan's leading WR last year as a freshman. He plays the slot position so I have him listed here instead of above. I keep waiting for Odoms to break the bubble screen to the house, which just hasn't happened. He lost his punt return job because he fumbled and dropped too many balls. He has done a decent job on kick off returns this year. I'm still waiting for his breakout game. Grade: B-


3. Terrance Robinson: is a redshirt freshman where injuries limited his practice time last year. There have been rumors that TRob is having trouble catching the ball and a potential transfer. TRob hasn't done anything yet and maybe it's still too soon. But it can't feel too good to lose your spot to the point guard off the basketball team. Grade: D


4. Roy Roundtree: is a redshirt fresman that I had high hopes for this year. He lite up the spring game and many thought was Tate's favorite target. I sort of expected him more in the WR role but is still in the slot. Not much action so far this year, but expect him to get some time now that he can see the ball with his new contacts. Grade: TBD


5. Jeremy Gallon: is a true freshman and has only been on campus for a few weeks. He needs time to learn the offense and maybe the return game. Grade: TBD


6. Column fodder: Doug Rogan, Nick Koenigsknecht, Jordan Owens, Ricky Reyes

The Big Ten Week 3 Preview and Predictions coming this afternoon. Stay tuned.