Michigan’s seventh-ranked football team continues fall practice … a few more notes we’ve picked up over the last couple of days –
As mentioned on The Fort, TheWolverine.com’s premium message board, only a pair of spots on the offensive line have been secured due to injuries, surprising performances, etc. Fifth-year senior right tackle Erik Magnuson has had a great camp and – sigh of relief – center Mason Cole has been very good in the middle sliding over from left tackle.
As we noted, a few guys on the line have been banged up. That’s opened the door for players like freshman Ben Bredeson, who has been very good, and frosh Mike Onwenu, who has spent more time at guard after playing some defensive tackle, as well.
We’d still expect to see the starting five out there most believed it would be at the start of camp – sophomore Grant Newsome at left tackle, fifth-year seniors Ben Braden and Kyle Kalis at left and right guard, respectively – but it wouldn’t shock at all if we saw something different in the opener vs. Hawaii, either.
Also on offense, we expect (our opinion) freshman Kareem Walker to redshirt. He’s dealt with a handful of issues in the early going that have slowed his progress, though he’s back on track in a couple of areas. As we said, his issues are separate from frosh Ahmir Mitchell’s and redshirt frosh defensive end Shelton Johnson’s (theirs are related).
On the injury front, still nothing of the season-ending variety, but one defensive lineman expected to play has been dealing with a painful and lingering issue. It’s one of those “worse than it sounds” types that it usually takes rest to cure, so we’ll watch and see how it affects him. There’s depth there, of course, so that helps.
One of the defensive backs, too (not a starter, but one of them playing well enough to work with the twos) banged up his lower leg. He was playing well, so that will slow his progress. In fact, freshman Kekoa (formerly Dylan – he has decided to go with his Hawaiian name) Crawford was even played some defense and given a look there before moving back to offense.
That also speaks to how much they like freshmen receivers Eddie McDoom and Nate Johnson. McDoom, as we’ve said, is a burner. His teammates have backed that up from day one.
Overall, things look good, especially on defense. The biggest question marks … who is going to emerge at quarterback and running back? Strong opinion – they were expecting John O’Korn to rise up and seize the job by now, but he’s been pressing. He’s better physically, as we’ve known, but Speight has a better grasp of the offense.
As for the RBs, freshman Chris Evans will play, but some of the issues that have been there in the past are still there. Senior De’Veon Smith is solid, but he still needs to find the holes better than he has (and the way he did in the bowl game, essentially). Nobody in the group has separated himself, and it’s not because they’ve all been lights out at this point.
The good news – they won’t have to be dynamite because the defense is so good, and they have three weeks against weaker opponents to work on some kinks. But these skill positions are obviously critical, and they need guys to emerge.
As mentioned on The Fort, TheWolverine.com’s premium message board, only a pair of spots on the offensive line have been secured due to injuries, surprising performances, etc. Fifth-year senior right tackle Erik Magnuson has had a great camp and – sigh of relief – center Mason Cole has been very good in the middle sliding over from left tackle.
As we noted, a few guys on the line have been banged up. That’s opened the door for players like freshman Ben Bredeson, who has been very good, and frosh Mike Onwenu, who has spent more time at guard after playing some defensive tackle, as well.
We’d still expect to see the starting five out there most believed it would be at the start of camp – sophomore Grant Newsome at left tackle, fifth-year seniors Ben Braden and Kyle Kalis at left and right guard, respectively – but it wouldn’t shock at all if we saw something different in the opener vs. Hawaii, either.
Also on offense, we expect (our opinion) freshman Kareem Walker to redshirt. He’s dealt with a handful of issues in the early going that have slowed his progress, though he’s back on track in a couple of areas. As we said, his issues are separate from frosh Ahmir Mitchell’s and redshirt frosh defensive end Shelton Johnson’s (theirs are related).
On the injury front, still nothing of the season-ending variety, but one defensive lineman expected to play has been dealing with a painful and lingering issue. It’s one of those “worse than it sounds” types that it usually takes rest to cure, so we’ll watch and see how it affects him. There’s depth there, of course, so that helps.
One of the defensive backs, too (not a starter, but one of them playing well enough to work with the twos) banged up his lower leg. He was playing well, so that will slow his progress. In fact, freshman Kekoa (formerly Dylan – he has decided to go with his Hawaiian name) Crawford was even played some defense and given a look there before moving back to offense.
That also speaks to how much they like freshmen receivers Eddie McDoom and Nate Johnson. McDoom, as we’ve said, is a burner. His teammates have backed that up from day one.
Overall, things look good, especially on defense. The biggest question marks … who is going to emerge at quarterback and running back? Strong opinion – they were expecting John O’Korn to rise up and seize the job by now, but he’s been pressing. He’s better physically, as we’ve known, but Speight has a better grasp of the offense.
As for the RBs, freshman Chris Evans will play, but some of the issues that have been there in the past are still there. Senior De’Veon Smith is solid, but he still needs to find the holes better than he has (and the way he did in the bowl game, essentially). Nobody in the group has separated himself, and it’s not because they’ve all been lights out at this point.
The good news – they won’t have to be dynamite because the defense is so good, and they have three weeks against weaker opponents to work on some kinks. But these skill positions are obviously critical, and they need guys to emerge.
