Does Kovacs start the first series?

[bamf16]

I really don't know if he'll start or not, but I'll say that Kovacs presence on the field in any capacity other than special teams only shows how far our talent pool has fallen these last 3 years on defense under RR.

Dang, we could have a thread devoted entirely to the debate over whether RR couldn't recruit defense and so the talent sucked vs. the talent is there to win and it was just coached poorly. Probably a combination of both to an extent, but seeing where people fall on that is pretty funny.

With Cam Gordon moving to LB, the safeties are Marvin Robinson, Thomas Gordon, Carvin Johnson, Floyd Simmons, Josh Furman and Jordan Kovacs.

Floyd Simmons is a career special teams player who I don't think many expect to be in the conversation for PT.

Marvin Robinson and Josh Furman were the two highest rated coming out of HS, and have the best "measurables." But both have experience with nothing more than some special teams appearances.

Carvin Johnson and Thomas Gordon both started a couple games last season with mixed results at the hybrid linebacker position. The question with both of them surrounds the move back from playing at LB depth to DB depth and covering receivers in a 2 deep.

Jordan Kovacs may have the worst measurables, but he knows the defense. On the one hand, I agree with Coach Wooden about always taking talent over experience. On the other, speed is great, but I'd rather have a kid run a 4.6 to the right place than a 4.3 to the wrong place. He did make a pick along the sideline at OSU at the end of the first half and against Iowa on their first drive, he jumped a route and had a pick in his hands along the sidelines inside the 5 that he would have taken 95 yards and given us a 14-0 lead. So he has shown in the past an ability to anticipate to make up for the lack of speed and make plays along the sidelines.

The first series against Western Michigan in the season opener, I think Jordan Kovacs starts. The first series against Minnesota in the Big 10 opener, that's a different story. I think against Western and Eastern we'll be able to see guys like Robinson and Furman in the game show a little of what they can do.

 

[beez]

Side note..I cant wait til Cam Gordon leaves Michigan unless he learned to tackle this off season. Maybe eliminating some of that space will cut down thinking time and he wont try to blow everyone up. We'll see.

 

[bamf16]

I hear ya. Wasn't he a WR in college? Then a S last year, and now a LB?

Learning to tackle should be priority #1.

 

[GoBlueInAtlanta]

I agree with everything except calling him a "bad athlete." When I was in high school I started in varsity football, basketball, and baseball for two years and therefore consider myself a good athlete, but I never sniffed college athletics. The fact that he's a contributing player for Michigan means he would most likely run circles around me (and everyone else on this board for that matter).

I'm sure he means bad athlete COMPARED to a D1 college football player. I considered myself to be a very good athlete as well but I could definitely see that if I was in a D1 college football uni at safety, I would be perceived as an unathletic player.

I assumed he meant that, but the MAC is D1 and I doubt there are many MAC teams, or lower-tier AQ conference teams, that wouldn't love to have Kovacs. I'm not disagreeing that he's not top caliber, but there's a wide span between top caliber and "bad."

 

[deathroh]

Avery or Floyd at corner will be another interesting one. I'm solidly in the Avery camp.

 

[beez]

I'm sure he means bad athlete COMPARED to a D1 college football player. I considered myself to be a very good athlete as well but I could definitely see that if I was in a D1 college football uni at safety, I would be perceived as an unathletic player.

I assumed he meant that, but the MAC is D1 and I doubt there are many MAC teams, or lower-tier AQ conference teams, that wouldn't love to have Kovacs. I'm not disagreeing that he's not top caliber, but there's a wide span between top caliber and "bad."

Fair enough.

 

[beez]

I hear ya. Wasn't he a WR in college? Then a S last year, and now a LB?

Learning to tackle should be priority #1.

Not sure about where he played in high school.

FYI you said college. (I know what you meant though)

 

[deathroh]

He was recruited as a WR, but he did play Safety and LB in high school as well.

 

[GoBlueInAtlanta]

I like those multi-purpose kind of guys.

 

[Michchamp]

I really don't know if he'll start or not, but I'll say that Kovacs presence on the field in any capacity other than special teams only shows how far our talent pool has fallen these last 3 years on defense under RR.

AAAAARGH!!!! THE TALENT POOL WAS NOT, AND IS NOT THE PROBLEM!!!!!

How many times to we have to go over this?

 

[GoBlueInAtlanta]

I really don't know if he'll start or not, but I'll say that Kovacs presence on the field in any capacity other than special teams only shows how far our talent pool has fallen these last 3 years on defense under RR.

AAAAARGH!!!! THE TALENT POOL WAS NOT, AND IS NOT THE PROBLEM!!!!!

How many times to we have to go over this?

You're right. It wasn't talent, it was experience (or the lack thereof).

 

[deathroh]

Question: Who do you have at that free safety position that you like that is starting to figure that out?

Greg Mattison:

 

[deathroh]

Kovacs is smart - and that's what he has going for him.

Tackling.

 

[bamf16]

The talent wasn't the reason they were in the 100s in total defense giving up over 30 points and almost 450 yards. We undoubtedly had better defensive talent than Minnesota who finished above us in defensive rankings. I hold firm my belief that if we played a bland 4-3 cover 2, we'd have been better than what was done last year.

However, the talent + experience wasn't good enough to put UM in the top quarter of the Big 10. This year we likely won't see any freshmen playing meaningful minutes (unless Countess really steps up) on defense, so we can have the fun discussions with those who want RR dead saying it's the coaching that's the reason for the improvement vs. those who claim experience does matter.

That chatroom should be a lot of fun on game days!

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

The talent wasn't the reason they were in the 100s in total defense giving up over 30 points and almost 450 yards. We undoubtedly had better defensive talent than Minnesota who finished above us in defensive rankings. I hold firm my belief that if we played a bland 4-3 cover 2, we'd have been better than what was done last year.

However, the talent + experience wasn't good enough to put UM in the top quarter of the Big 10. This year we likely won't see any freshmen playing meaningful minutes (unless Countess really steps up) on defense, so we can have the fun discussions with those who want RR dead saying it's the coaching that's the reason for the improvement vs. those who claim experience does matter.

That chatroom should be a lot of fun on game days!

Might not be - a lot of us will be at the game.

 

[bamf16]

The talent wasn't the reason they were in the 100s in total defense giving up over 30 points and almost 450 yards. We undoubtedly had better defensive talent than Minnesota who finished above us in defensive rankings. I hold firm my belief that if we played a bland 4-3 cover 2, we'd have been better than what was done last year.

However, the talent + experience wasn't good enough to put UM in the top quarter of the Big 10. This year we likely won't see any freshmen playing meaningful minutes (unless Countess really steps up) on defense, so we can have the fun discussions with those who want RR dead saying it's the coaching that's the reason for the improvement vs. those who claim experience does matter.

That chatroom should be a lot of fun on game days!

Might not be - a lot of us will be at the game.

Jealous. I get to 1 or 2 a year...tough drive from Pittsburgh. Though I'm not coaching football this year, so I have more time. Maybe I'll get to 3.

The Official Gameday Threads on the other board got quite lively last year.

 

[RABID]

A drawback of Brink is his relatively small size of 6-foot-5, 265 pounds.

Yeah- I would pummel has ass!

Who are you Art Vandelay? Are you from the ESPN board?

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Might not be - a lot of us will be at the game.

Jealous. I get to 1 or 2 a year...tough drive from Pittsburgh. Though I'm not coaching football this year, so I have more time. Maybe I'll get to 3.

The Official Gameday Threads on the other board got quite lively last year.

Yeah but a drawback to these boards is that they're limited to the small portion of us that made the move.

 

[GoBlueInAtlanta]

A drawback of Brink is his relatively small size of 6-foot-5, 265 pounds.

Yeah- I would pummel has ass!

Who are you Art Vandelay? Are you from the ESPN board?

He's DeathReau, DeathRoh, and BWhit (NOT!)

 

[redandguilty]

Question answered. This is from the mgoblog summary of Hoke's recent press conf:

I would say probably 2 or 3" starting positions on defense are set by now. Woolfolk and Martin have had nice camps, and Kovacs has had a nice camp. The other positions aren't quite settled.