mgoblog.com: A position-by-position look at Michigan's offense headed into spring practice

I don't agree with Cook that Devin Gardner will redshirt. He'll beat out Denard Robinson for 2nd string for sure. And that's assuming DR stays at QB.

I think running back is not a position of strength this year for us unless some players like Shaw and Toussaint really bust out. As of now, we have no big backs to get the tough yards either. I don't like that situation at all. It's unclear if Hopkins will be good enough to contribute right away either.

Our O-line looks to have a bright future once some of the younger players develop a bit more. But, this year's recruiting class was weak in offensive linemen, so the coaches will have to work hard in signing a bunch next February.

Other than Molk, who cares about the O line? That's boring, anyway.

Let's have more articles about our fast guys and how we're just gonna have 7 or 8 reverses/laterals on every play and just madcap swashbuckling.

Long coach the King!

Precisely, Theo.

Besides, who says our passing game can live on bubble screens alone? Our King, that's who! When you SPREAD 'em out with 4 wide and little Vince Smith in the backfield with Denard or Tate or Devin in the shotgun, who's gonna stop it?!?!?!?

Sieg Heil!

Without a O line you cant do much.talk is cheap, M will finish no higher than 6 th in BIG TEN.

Swashbuckling is awesome. Rocco Khoury should be short yardage back. The kid is insane. He put 225 up 47 times at the nike camp. Nobody will be able to tackle that. Fitzgerald Toussaint will run for over 1500 yards. Kovacs will be 1st team All-Big 10 (he is a walk-on, and richrod loves that because he was a walk-on himself) that Gardner will get redshirted pending Forcier doesnt get broken early in the season.

Theo you are exactley right, why do you need an O-Line when the rest of your team is always 50 yards ahead of the oppent???

It's not the offense - it's the defense. Other than a couple games this past season, we scored enough points. Kudos to A2.com for linking to MGoBlog...

It's amazing. I don't even try to be as smart as I am, yet I still am!

The only positions that really matter, and rightly so, are qb, wr, rb (a little bit), and then a whole bunch more of wr. And they have to be FAST! And with our King, we now have everything we need for our dynasty.

I say the King should just list his guys from fastest to slowest, and the top 11 guys play both sides of the ball. If someone gets hurt, put in fast guy #12, and so on.

See? I did it again. Unmatched intelligence - it just comes to me.

Your Leader,
Theo

There r actually some big line men next year that will block for Tate or who ever starts. I agree in the spread O line isnt the main concern, but having big line men hlps wit the run and also giving the QB time so yeah pros and cons to this. And funny to hear UM will finish 6th place in BigTen, sounds like another teams fan who is worried about UM so he blogs. DR will stay at QB guess he prob developed as a passer, RB position looks to be i good shape, Cox and Hopkins can do that tough yardage, Toussaint will be dynamic. This class didnt need any O-line their main focus was getting Defensive players, which they did a great job. Many ppl r overlooking UM next year hopefully my prediction will be true on UM smelling roses. GO BLUE!!!!!

So if RR needs the perfect skill set to play his type of football, is he really a great coach or simply one of those guys who assembles talent and lets them play without any real coaching acumen...sort of like people often accused Steve Fisher of doing when he was the b-ball coach?

azwolverine,

To answer your question, our King IS a great coach THAT assembles the talent. You see, after RR and the masterful Magee recruit these after-burners, Mike Barwis puts them through his conditioning program. And from what I hear, the Great Barwis Conditioning Program involves 10k runs everyday, pure protein diets, and wrestling with bears.

After the players make this right of passage, they are no longer the fat asses they were in high school. This is when The King chisels away at their brain, making them ONE WITH THE SPREAD.

It's science, art, and masterful instruction all rolled into one!

Unlike some here, I believe the line is critical to the success fo the team. Last year, our lines inability to play effectively resulted in Forcier getting injured, unnecessary scrambles, turnovers, penalties, etc., etc., etc. Had the line play been even close to good, we might have won a few TOP battles and subsequently those games.

With that being said, the line play looks scary, as in scary bad. Having Ortmann gone is probably a good thing. He stunk. The fact that Dornstein is still here should make us all nervous. I hope some of these kids can come together, but this feels like we're singing the same song again. The past 2 years it's been whether freshman QB's can lead the team, now we need freshman at most positions on the line and at the RB position to come through. This is not a prescription for a B10 championship, let alone a Nat'l championship. This team is still a long way from being good, IMO. Keeping my fingers crossed I'm wrong, but I still don't see more than 6 wins with all these gaps in the team, offensively and defensively, and 4-8 is more likely the record.

3 gimmies 5 for sure losses one being to arch rival AGAIN. Even if you score a lot of points you still need to stop the other team. RR being coach another year puts program further back.

BlueinSC, "Wrestling with Bears"?? Are these bears well fed and provided with enrichment? Are these bears declawed? HAS ANIMAL CRUELTY BEEN NOTIFIED ABOUT THIS??!! I smell another NCAA investigation!

Love your post man! Got to be able to laugh at RR or I'll have a nervous breakdown!

Embrace the glorious SPREAD;
To the Promised Land we're led.
Reverses and tricks,
And on-side kicks,
Leaves Vesty better off dead!

-Theo Spurrier Bowden Rodriguez '10

And thank you, BlueInSC, for your profound and refreshing homage to the King. As we live out our days and find ourselves flailing and flapping with the wind, we can always turn to Barwis and the King for guidance, resolve, wisdom, and forthrighteousness.

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klick12,

The bears that are used in The Barwis Methods are very well fed. In fact, the bears themselves must endure the conditioning program before they become part of it. Yet, they are NOT declawed because the Great Barwis knows that those who wrestle those kinds of bears are wussies.

Theo,

I can't wait until the royal gathering on Tater's estate in Florida. To celebrate our King, I will make a special batch of squirrel gravy to present to him at the banquet. I hope it gives him fond memories of his West Virginia roots!

Long Coach The King!

It's easy to support your team when they win, it's hard when they lose. It strikes me as a difficult job to recruit and win in top collegiate sports. It's also hard to recruit when the team is losing. Let's see how the next season goes. Odds are the team will be good, not great, because they are still young. Pining away for the big and slow recruits of yesteryear won't help. We've got small and fast, and that won't work either. If we start winning, though, one can imagine how we could get the big and fast players we want (like the SEC has currently)...

How do these players match-up to other Big Ten talant...cmon, the "fast thing" is overated look what Wisconson, Penn State, and Ohio State did to "fast" teams during the bowl season...I'm worried we can't match up against the Big Tens size and strength...forget about the speed...

Aaron, underestimating speed is a cardinal sin against Our King's offense, and it's one that many teams in the future will regret! King Rod's offense is going to be so fast, the television stations will have to hire automated cameras to keep up with the speed of the ball whenever we're on offense!

It's funny to watch you guys mock speed. U of M built its reputation a century ago on Fielding "Hurry up" Yost's offense (he was a West Virginia native too). The last two decades of college football have been a testament to the impact speed has on the game, particularly exemplified by the Florida schools and USC. Sure our offense is gimmicky too much and there are other problems with the coaching, but you sound like you don't know what you're talking about when you complain about speed.