This is part 3a of an ambitiously stated seven part series. This series will focus on introducing MSU fans to their position group players. It is not intended to replace the quality analysis that media types can provide, but we give it our best shot. We'll work backwards from the most stable position groups to the more dynamic ones so we can write about the most volatile groups last.
The fullback can be a very important position in the pro-style offense we run. Faster than an offensive lineman but still can deliver a punishing hit to break a running back free. If a defense is napping and loses sight of the fullback, they can kill you in play action. The first play of the Mark Dantonio era offensively was a 16ish yard pass play to the fullback in play action.
MSU currently has five fullbacks on the roster: Todd Anderson, Jeff Bobek, Niko Palazeti, Trevon Pendleton and Adam Setterbo. Of the five, only Niko Palazeti was recruited out of high school and offered a scholarship at the fullback position, Todd Anderson and Adam Setterbo I believe are scholarship players this year as well. Like years prior, I expect Dantonio to use the fullbacks on a rotational basis to try and keep defenses guessing.
Todd Anderson
Todd Anderson played DE last year and made some noise earlier in the season. At 6'2" and 260 he's got ideal size to play fullback and a nasty streak forged on the MSU defensive line. Anderson emerged as the top fullback candidate during Spring Practice and figures to be the likely starter in this position.
2011 Prediction
Anderson should be the starter and go-to guy at Fullback this season. It's rumored his pass-catching and blocking are coming along smashingly. After last year, where the fullback position seemed to be down a bit I think he can bring back some of the nastiness that'll get you a 3rd and 1 conversion when you really need it. Which is always. You always really need a 3rd and 1 conversion.
Jeff Bobek
As a member of the class of 2009 Jeff Bobek was recruited as an inside linebacker. He decided to walk-on at Michigan State. His brother Brian was a four-star recruit for the Buckeyes and will be a true freshman this year.
2011 Prediction
Bobek is not expected to contribute significant minutes at this time.
Niko Palazeti
Palazeti was recruited and accepted an offer to play fullback for Michigan State. To my knowledge he is the first Dantonio recruit to receive a scholarship offer at the fullback position. While other fullbacks have been on scholarship, he is the first I know of to be recruited as such. Palazeti was a late commit in the recruiting class of 2010. This year he will be eligible as a redshirt freshman. At 6'1 and 250, he's got the solid build you're looking for in a blocking and receiving FB.
2011 Prediction
Palazeti will see minutes on the field this year. I don't believe he is the present of the fullback position, but I think he is the future. With four years left to play he's gonna be blowing holes open for running backs not yet committed in 2014. I'd expect him to be part of the fullback rotation and see significant minutes in run-heavy games and/or blowouts.
Trevon Pendleton
Pendleton was the third ranked fullback and a three star recruit according to rivals in the class of 2011. He had scholarship offers from Air Force and Ball State. Sadly, no school starting with the letter C or below elected to offer him. He has come to Michigan State as a preferred walk-on. He and Palazeti are without question the future of the fullback position probably starting in 2012. At 5'11 and 230 he's really going to be in a good position to bowling ball his way through a LB or two.
2011 Prediction
I suspect Pendleton will redshirt this year.
Adam Setterbo
Setterbo is entering his fifth year as a Spartan. He was also a preferred walk-on coming out of high school. He has been a valuable member of the scout team in the past few years and that should translate to some game time this year.
2011 Prediction
Setterbo will see the field rotationally this year although I suspect it'll only be a handful of times. Still, despite limited game time, guys like Setterbo are what teams are built around. Hardworking dudes who keep coming back even if they don't have all of the physical talent in the world.
Worst Case Scenario: As always depth is a bit of an issue although not as severe as at other positions. If we lost Anderson and Palazeti odds are we'd just go to more single-back sets and rotate in Setterbo more often as well as use some of our TEs in an H-back type set up. The offense could survive some losses at this position.
Best Case Scenario: Really fullbacks are about what they ADD for a team. A good fullback can pop your running back free for an extra 2 yards between the tackles. A good fullback can sneak away when no one is looking and grab a pass for a first down. Anderson has shown a knack for making plays when he's on the field in the past, if that continues at the FB position this could be an immediate strength for us. If Palazeti shows promise immediately and quickly we could begin converting 3rd and shorts easier against the Iowas and Wiskys of the world.
Overall Assessment:The fullback position is under a period of quiet transition. Palazeti and Pendleton represent a young future at the position which will help us convert 3rd and 1s with even more consistency in the upcoming 2-3 years. 2011 will serve as a valuable transition year to start breaking in these young guys who will be making our opponents D black and blue for years to come. Anderson seems to be in a position to play the position well right now, but I think will aid in developing our young guys.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
College Football Zealots Michigan State Season Preview
We at A Beautiful Day For Football were nicely invited by Kevin at College Football Zealots to contribute to their daily season preview series. Working up through their own Top 20, they’re posting one preview a day. Clocking it at #15 is Michigan State, so today CFBZ posted our mutual Michigan State season preview. Ty did his best to answer Kevin’s questions completely, accurately, and without bias—but that’s not really how he rolls, so he just tried to keep the raging homerism to a dull roar.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Here's Your Shield: Kodi Kieler
The "Here's Your Shield" series will be monitoring MSU football and basketball commitments. We'll try to do a detailed breakdown of who the kids are and how they'll be helping the teams they've committed to.
On Monday night, when my car broke down and I was sitting in the parking lot of VG's where I held my first job as a teenager waiting for someone to come pick me up, I saw the Spartans had picked up a commitment from Kodi Kieler a 6'6" 305 athlete from Gibraltar Carlson. Kieler was offered at Offensive Tackle and accepted.
Kieler has a pretty so-so offer sheet consisting of Minnesota, Purdue and the MAC. You might think I mean all of the schools offered, but I don't. I mean the MAC sent a single offer redeemable at all 12 schools. With this commitment, I believe MSU has closed out their OL recruiting for the 2012 cycle. Scout lists Kieler as a three-star prospect, Rivals as of yet has no rating.
This has led to a pretty goodly amount of hand-wringing from the MSU faithful as some fans believe that we could have vetted some "better" prospects before offering a kid who did not come to MSU summer camp. The last recruit I remember this much hand-wringing about was LeVeon Bell, and he sure sucked.* While hand-wringing about the quality of recruit does not inversely correlate to the recruits success, I remember similar whining about Trenton Robinson, Darqueze Dennard, Trae Waynes(haven't seen him play yet)and Derek Hoebing. Congrats Kodi Kieler, if Spartan questioning of ability is any indication of future success you have a 75 percent chance of starting by your senior year. **
* - Sarcasm.
** - True Fact.
In the Big Ten, the Iowas, MSUs and Wisconsin's of the world love to pick up 6'6 240 lbs type TEs because they can grow into TEs, OTs, DEs, DTs and even sometimes OGs. With Kieler, I think they saw another Dan France type where France was projected as a DT but might be more successful as an OT. Kieler is listed with Rivals as a Strongside Defensive End, but it's clear the intent is for him to play OT.
If YouTube video existed it would go here. Since there is not, there is video behind the Rivals paywall here
The BDF BFD Take: Kieler is a kid with a so-so offer sheet who from what I can tell did not attend any camps this summer. This smacks on a much smaller level of the Keshawn Martin situation where he did not attend any camps and thus was not noticed. If the staff was willing to offer despite the lack of a camp appearance and no pressing need to fill the spot(it is only August after all) you can bet Dantonio and crew want him. That's good enough for me.
Kieler appears to have good feet and a nice quick burst, he's got the right kind of frame to put on a few more pounds, but doesn't need to put on a lot of weight to be effective at the next level. I'd expect him to redshirt his freshman year as most of his best highlights appear to be on the DE side of the ball. Additionally, if you're starting a true freshman OT you're usually in trouble. By all accounts Kieler looks to be a solid pickup with some boom potential if the transition from DE to OT goes smoothly.
On Monday night, when my car broke down and I was sitting in the parking lot of VG's where I held my first job as a teenager waiting for someone to come pick me up, I saw the Spartans had picked up a commitment from Kodi Kieler a 6'6" 305 athlete from Gibraltar Carlson. Kieler was offered at Offensive Tackle and accepted.
Kieler has a pretty so-so offer sheet consisting of Minnesota, Purdue and the MAC. You might think I mean all of the schools offered, but I don't. I mean the MAC sent a single offer redeemable at all 12 schools. With this commitment, I believe MSU has closed out their OL recruiting for the 2012 cycle. Scout lists Kieler as a three-star prospect, Rivals as of yet has no rating.
This has led to a pretty goodly amount of hand-wringing from the MSU faithful as some fans believe that we could have vetted some "better" prospects before offering a kid who did not come to MSU summer camp. The last recruit I remember this much hand-wringing about was LeVeon Bell, and he sure sucked.* While hand-wringing about the quality of recruit does not inversely correlate to the recruits success, I remember similar whining about Trenton Robinson, Darqueze Dennard, Trae Waynes(haven't seen him play yet)and Derek Hoebing. Congrats Kodi Kieler, if Spartan questioning of ability is any indication of future success you have a 75 percent chance of starting by your senior year. **
* - Sarcasm.
** - True Fact.
In the Big Ten, the Iowas, MSUs and Wisconsin's of the world love to pick up 6'6 240 lbs type TEs because they can grow into TEs, OTs, DEs, DTs and even sometimes OGs. With Kieler, I think they saw another Dan France type where France was projected as a DT but might be more successful as an OT. Kieler is listed with Rivals as a Strongside Defensive End, but it's clear the intent is for him to play OT.
If YouTube video existed it would go here. Since there is not, there is video behind the Rivals paywall here
The BDF BFD Take: Kieler is a kid with a so-so offer sheet who from what I can tell did not attend any camps this summer. This smacks on a much smaller level of the Keshawn Martin situation where he did not attend any camps and thus was not noticed. If the staff was willing to offer despite the lack of a camp appearance and no pressing need to fill the spot(it is only August after all) you can bet Dantonio and crew want him. That's good enough for me.
Kieler appears to have good feet and a nice quick burst, he's got the right kind of frame to put on a few more pounds, but doesn't need to put on a lot of weight to be effective at the next level. I'd expect him to redshirt his freshman year as most of his best highlights appear to be on the DE side of the ball. Additionally, if you're starting a true freshman OT you're usually in trouble. By all accounts Kieler looks to be a solid pickup with some boom potential if the transition from DE to OT goes smoothly.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Assume the Position: Quarterbacks
This is part two of an ambitiously stated seven part series. This series will focus on introducing MSU fans to their position group players. It is not intended to replace the quality analysis that media types can provide, but we give it our best shot. We'll work backwards from the most stable position groups to the more dynamic ones so we can write about the most volatile groups last.
This entry should have about as much drama as a sleep laboratory. Kirk Cousins is our quarterback, a fifth-year senior and third year starter. Andrew Maxwell is not pushing to oust him from the position. Kirk Cousins will be your Youngstown State starter as well as take the final snap in our final game this year barring injury.
Kirk Cousins
The most interesting story about how Kirk Cousins came to be the player he is today is how much competition he's had to play through to get the job. The quick recap is that Keith Nichol accepted an offer to play football at MSU in 2005, then decommitted with the firing of John L Smith in November of 2006. Kirk Cousins committed to MSU in January of 2007 after the hiring of Mark Dantonio. Mark Dantonio then received a commitment from Nick Foles who decommitted from ASU after Dennis Erickson was fired. In fall of 2007, Dantonio had to redshirt one of the two QBs and selected Cousins. Foles would be the third string QB and Cousins the scout team QB.
Then... in 2008, Nick Foles left the program after it was Cousins shaping up to be Hoyer's backup and not Foles. A few months after this happened Keith Nichol decided it was time for him to come home and try to win back the MSU starting QB job. Over 2008 and well into game 5 or 6 of 2009 Cousins and Nichol battled to be the starting QB for the Spartans. Finally, he won the job outright mid-season in 2009 and hasn't looked back. The guy has proven himself over and over and over and over and will happily do it again from what I can tell.
Kirk Cousins is a leader and as much the leader of this team as anyone, he's a third year starter and a third year captain. His leadership qualities appear to be second to none, and he will probably be a Senator in the United States Congress someday.
He says it better than I do.
Captain Kirk's stats showed improvement from 2009 to 2010. His completion percentage went up from 60.4 to 66.9 percent, ypa went from 8.17 to 8.36, TDs from 19 to 20 and Int's went from 9 to 10. He took 8 more sacks in 2010, but I think this was part of knowing when to hold 'em and knowing when to fold 'em.
2011 Prediction: I suspect that with the departure of only Mark Dell and Charlie Gantt but the emergence of Bennie Fowler and Dion Sims that Cousins' throwing options will remain equally as competent for 2011. It seems reasonable to expect a slightly higher completion percentage provided he has time to throw behind his new OL (more on this later). Statistically, I'd expect him to be the best pocket QB in the Big Ten this year behind only maybe Dan Persa. **
The thing that makes Kirk Cousins special however, is not his completion percentage, nor his TD to INT ratio. He's not a swashbuckler, he's not a Brett Favre, you just get the sense when he's out there that everything will be ok. He might make a poor decision from time to time, he might take an unnecessary sack. I've never gotten the feeling that he's lost or can't convey that sense of calm to the remainder of the offense. He's the leader of these Spartans and the quality of his leadership will go a long way to determining our on-field success this year. I think he has it in him to take this team far.
** - Comparing Denard Robinson to Kirk Cousins in this regard is comparing apples to oranges, the zone read and pro style are just not the same offense, not even kind of. Denard would struggle in the MSU offense and Kirk would struggle in the Zone Read. Hence the qualifier "pocket QB". Both Robinson and Cousins are excellent football players, but they are such different QBs they cannot be adequately compared in my opinion
Andrew Maxwell
Backing up Captain Kirk is Andrew Maxwell. Maxwell has seen limited relief in his two seasons at MSU. In fact he only even took a snap last year for the first time. His stats for 2010 were 11 of 25 for 123 yards, no touchdowns, no picks and 4 sacks. In fairness, 16 of those 25 passes were against Iowa and Alabama in games we were getting our butts whupped in.
He was the starter for the Dow Chemics his sophomore, junior and senior year. Maxwell came to MSU after graduating the Elite 11 camp having earned the "Most Accurate Passer" award. After committing to MSU in March of 2008 he continued to work the national camp circuits to improve his technique, etc.
2011 Prediction
If Andrew Maxwell sees any significant time this year, you can assume that Cousins' has received an injury. Cousins' saw limited action in 2008 in situations where the outcome of the game was not yet decided, but the timing of his entry into the game likely would not have an outcome. Think early second quarter against a lesser opponent(CMU, Minnesota, etc). Expect this trend to continue for Maxwell this year against lesser opponents as well as traditional mop-up type duties.
I'd expect should Maxwell see more than just limited playing time to see our offense struggle at least initially. Accommodations would probably be made to shift the focus of our offense back to run-first and pass second as opposed to a mix of the two which is what we did under Treadwell. As far as projected stats, there is just not a valid foundation to make any sort of prediction. I do suspect in 2013 we'll be really happy with our redshirt senior Andrew Maxwell, but I just do not know how he'd do if thrown to the wolves this year. He has the tools to succeed, that's all I'll say.
Connor Cook
Connor Cook is a true freshman from Ohio. He had offers from a couple big ten schools and most of the MAC. His junior year his high school team ran a pro-style MANBALL offense, but switched to a more spread-like offense his senior year to highlight and take advantage of Connor Cook's arm. "completed 116-of-199 throws (.583) for 1,700 yards, 15 TDs and seven interceptions as a senior . . . rushed 79 times for 443 yards (5.6 avg.) and five scores in 2010 ". He honestly sounds a bit more like a Northwestern Quarterback than an MSU pocket back.
2011 Prediction
I would expect to see Connor Cook redshirt this year. I think if Cousins and Maxwell went down you'd sooner see Keith Nichol play QB to finish out a game than Connor Cook. If you're looking at multiple week injuries for both you MIGHT maybe see Connor Cook. With no offense meant to Mr. Cook, I hope we don't see him this fall.
Keith Nichol
Keith Nichol is a transfer from Oklahoma whose story was detailed a bit above. Currently he is going to be a starter at WR and is probably one of the best run-blocking WR I have seen in college football. He gets an honorable mention at QB because in an emergency situation he'd be our go-to guy. I suspect if injuries meant a more than single game loss of Maxwell and Cousins, you'd see Cook get the nod over Nichol.
That said, he scored our only touchdown against Alabama in our battle against Goliath. He also won us the Michigan game in 2009 when the game was on the line. I'd never count this guy out when the chips are really down.
2011 Prediction
Keith Nichol's time at quarterback should be limited to gimmick and wildcat type plays. That said, he and Keshawn Martin could give coaches fits if we do run any sort of wildcat type package with any regularity.
Peter Badovinac
Peter is a transfer from Drake University after being named Chicago Catholic League Offensive Player of the Year in 2007. He is a preferred walk-on at MSU and I suspect if you see him in the game beyond a senior day type scenario it's so he can kneel out the clock.
2011 Prediction
Badovinac is not expected to contribute significant minutes in 2011.
Tommy Vento
Vento was the QB at Farmington Hills Harrison last fall. He went 156-of-276 passes (.565) for 2,803 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior. He is a preferred walk-on at MSU this year.
2011 Prediction
Vento is not expected to contribute significant minutes in 2011.
Overall Assessment:The Quarterback position remains in the good hands of Captain Kirk this year. Backing him up is the talented but unproven Andrew Maxwell. Behind Maxwell, is the also talented and hopefully redshirted Connor Cook. Our overall depth at QB is kind of thin right now, ideally you'd like to have three available scholarship QBs and we really only have two right now. Nichol and Cook both are on scholarship, but you'd prefer to keep both off the field at QB this year. As goes Cousins, so will go the offense.
Worst Case Scenario: Cousins is injured at some point before our murderer's row of an away schedule. Maxwell is not yet ready to take over the reins and struggles behind an OL that is seeing 3 of it's 5 starters replaced. We're forced to run more often than we were in 2010 or 2007, power defenses can key on the run and we won't be enough of a threat through the air to force them to stop. Our offense goes from being one of the big ten best to middle of the pack.
Best Case Scenario: Cousins remains healthy throughout the season and builds off of his 2010 success. He remains an effective game manager but shows improvements in throwing the ball away and continues to improve the TD to INT ratio. He gets the school record for touchdowns in a season(only 22). His good decision-making allows MSU to create long, sustained drives of more than 5 minutes that lead to touchdowns.
This entry should have about as much drama as a sleep laboratory. Kirk Cousins is our quarterback, a fifth-year senior and third year starter. Andrew Maxwell is not pushing to oust him from the position. Kirk Cousins will be your Youngstown State starter as well as take the final snap in our final game this year barring injury.
Kirk Cousins
The most interesting story about how Kirk Cousins came to be the player he is today is how much competition he's had to play through to get the job. The quick recap is that Keith Nichol accepted an offer to play football at MSU in 2005, then decommitted with the firing of John L Smith in November of 2006. Kirk Cousins committed to MSU in January of 2007 after the hiring of Mark Dantonio. Mark Dantonio then received a commitment from Nick Foles who decommitted from ASU after Dennis Erickson was fired. In fall of 2007, Dantonio had to redshirt one of the two QBs and selected Cousins. Foles would be the third string QB and Cousins the scout team QB.
Then... in 2008, Nick Foles left the program after it was Cousins shaping up to be Hoyer's backup and not Foles. A few months after this happened Keith Nichol decided it was time for him to come home and try to win back the MSU starting QB job. Over 2008 and well into game 5 or 6 of 2009 Cousins and Nichol battled to be the starting QB for the Spartans. Finally, he won the job outright mid-season in 2009 and hasn't looked back. The guy has proven himself over and over and over and over and will happily do it again from what I can tell.
Kirk Cousins is a leader and as much the leader of this team as anyone, he's a third year starter and a third year captain. His leadership qualities appear to be second to none, and he will probably be a Senator in the United States Congress someday.
He says it better than I do.
Captain Kirk's stats showed improvement from 2009 to 2010. His completion percentage went up from 60.4 to 66.9 percent, ypa went from 8.17 to 8.36, TDs from 19 to 20 and Int's went from 9 to 10. He took 8 more sacks in 2010, but I think this was part of knowing when to hold 'em and knowing when to fold 'em.
2011 Prediction: I suspect that with the departure of only Mark Dell and Charlie Gantt but the emergence of Bennie Fowler and Dion Sims that Cousins' throwing options will remain equally as competent for 2011. It seems reasonable to expect a slightly higher completion percentage provided he has time to throw behind his new OL (more on this later). Statistically, I'd expect him to be the best pocket QB in the Big Ten this year behind only maybe Dan Persa. **
The thing that makes Kirk Cousins special however, is not his completion percentage, nor his TD to INT ratio. He's not a swashbuckler, he's not a Brett Favre, you just get the sense when he's out there that everything will be ok. He might make a poor decision from time to time, he might take an unnecessary sack. I've never gotten the feeling that he's lost or can't convey that sense of calm to the remainder of the offense. He's the leader of these Spartans and the quality of his leadership will go a long way to determining our on-field success this year. I think he has it in him to take this team far.
** - Comparing Denard Robinson to Kirk Cousins in this regard is comparing apples to oranges, the zone read and pro style are just not the same offense, not even kind of. Denard would struggle in the MSU offense and Kirk would struggle in the Zone Read. Hence the qualifier "pocket QB". Both Robinson and Cousins are excellent football players, but they are such different QBs they cannot be adequately compared in my opinion
Andrew Maxwell
Backing up Captain Kirk is Andrew Maxwell. Maxwell has seen limited relief in his two seasons at MSU. In fact he only even took a snap last year for the first time. His stats for 2010 were 11 of 25 for 123 yards, no touchdowns, no picks and 4 sacks. In fairness, 16 of those 25 passes were against Iowa and Alabama in games we were getting our butts whupped in.
He was the starter for the Dow Chemics his sophomore, junior and senior year. Maxwell came to MSU after graduating the Elite 11 camp having earned the "Most Accurate Passer" award. After committing to MSU in March of 2008 he continued to work the national camp circuits to improve his technique, etc.
2011 Prediction
If Andrew Maxwell sees any significant time this year, you can assume that Cousins' has received an injury. Cousins' saw limited action in 2008 in situations where the outcome of the game was not yet decided, but the timing of his entry into the game likely would not have an outcome. Think early second quarter against a lesser opponent(CMU, Minnesota, etc). Expect this trend to continue for Maxwell this year against lesser opponents as well as traditional mop-up type duties.
I'd expect should Maxwell see more than just limited playing time to see our offense struggle at least initially. Accommodations would probably be made to shift the focus of our offense back to run-first and pass second as opposed to a mix of the two which is what we did under Treadwell. As far as projected stats, there is just not a valid foundation to make any sort of prediction. I do suspect in 2013 we'll be really happy with our redshirt senior Andrew Maxwell, but I just do not know how he'd do if thrown to the wolves this year. He has the tools to succeed, that's all I'll say.
Connor Cook
Connor Cook is a true freshman from Ohio. He had offers from a couple big ten schools and most of the MAC. His junior year his high school team ran a pro-style MANBALL offense, but switched to a more spread-like offense his senior year to highlight and take advantage of Connor Cook's arm. "completed 116-of-199 throws (.583) for 1,700 yards, 15 TDs and seven interceptions as a senior . . . rushed 79 times for 443 yards (5.6 avg.) and five scores in 2010 ". He honestly sounds a bit more like a Northwestern Quarterback than an MSU pocket back.
2011 Prediction
I would expect to see Connor Cook redshirt this year. I think if Cousins and Maxwell went down you'd sooner see Keith Nichol play QB to finish out a game than Connor Cook. If you're looking at multiple week injuries for both you MIGHT maybe see Connor Cook. With no offense meant to Mr. Cook, I hope we don't see him this fall.
Keith Nichol
Keith Nichol is a transfer from Oklahoma whose story was detailed a bit above. Currently he is going to be a starter at WR and is probably one of the best run-blocking WR I have seen in college football. He gets an honorable mention at QB because in an emergency situation he'd be our go-to guy. I suspect if injuries meant a more than single game loss of Maxwell and Cousins, you'd see Cook get the nod over Nichol.
That said, he scored our only touchdown against Alabama in our battle against Goliath. He also won us the Michigan game in 2009 when the game was on the line. I'd never count this guy out when the chips are really down.
2011 Prediction
Keith Nichol's time at quarterback should be limited to gimmick and wildcat type plays. That said, he and Keshawn Martin could give coaches fits if we do run any sort of wildcat type package with any regularity.
Peter Badovinac
Peter is a transfer from Drake University after being named Chicago Catholic League Offensive Player of the Year in 2007. He is a preferred walk-on at MSU and I suspect if you see him in the game beyond a senior day type scenario it's so he can kneel out the clock.
2011 Prediction
Badovinac is not expected to contribute significant minutes in 2011.
Tommy Vento
Vento was the QB at Farmington Hills Harrison last fall. He went 156-of-276 passes (.565) for 2,803 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior. He is a preferred walk-on at MSU this year.
2011 Prediction
Vento is not expected to contribute significant minutes in 2011.
Overall Assessment:The Quarterback position remains in the good hands of Captain Kirk this year. Backing him up is the talented but unproven Andrew Maxwell. Behind Maxwell, is the also talented and hopefully redshirted Connor Cook. Our overall depth at QB is kind of thin right now, ideally you'd like to have three available scholarship QBs and we really only have two right now. Nichol and Cook both are on scholarship, but you'd prefer to keep both off the field at QB this year. As goes Cousins, so will go the offense.
Worst Case Scenario: Cousins is injured at some point before our murderer's row of an away schedule. Maxwell is not yet ready to take over the reins and struggles behind an OL that is seeing 3 of it's 5 starters replaced. We're forced to run more often than we were in 2010 or 2007, power defenses can key on the run and we won't be enough of a threat through the air to force them to stop. Our offense goes from being one of the big ten best to middle of the pack.
Best Case Scenario: Cousins remains healthy throughout the season and builds off of his 2010 success. He remains an effective game manager but shows improvements in throwing the ball away and continues to improve the TD to INT ratio. He gets the school record for touchdowns in a season(only 22). His good decision-making allows MSU to create long, sustained drives of more than 5 minutes that lead to touchdowns.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Assume the Position: Special Teams
This is part one of an ambitiously stated seven part series. This series will focus on introducing MSU fans to their position group players. It is not intended to replace the quality analysis that media types can provide, but we give it our best shot. We'll work backwards from the most stable position groups to the more dynamic ones so we can write about the most volatile groups last.
Welcome, for lack of a better place to begin our introductory piece on the 2011 Spartans we shall begin at thebeginning Special Teams group. No other group has the potential to flip the momentum of a game on a dime like Special Teams. Yet if they are not among the most consistent units on the field it'll cost you games and in a hurry. This year's Special Teams unit features stability in the kick returns arena and a newcomer at Punter. Without further adieu....
Punter
In 2010, the best quarterback on our team was none other than the pride of New Concord, Ohio, Aaron Bates. He wasn't too shabby a punter either. With a punting average of 45.0 yards Bates finished 14th nationally at the position. Mr. Bates will be replaced by Redshirt Freshman Mike Sadler from Grand Rapids or as my 2 year old calls it, Grand Rabbits. Mr. Sadler had offers from the likes of Alabama, LSU, USC, Northwestern, Purdue and Air Force. Despite Air Force's strong recruiting push, Mike selected MSU over LSU. He was a top 10 punter in 2010 by all three recruiting services(Scout, Rivals and MaxPrep). Mr. Sadler averaged 39.9 yards on 32 kicks in his senior year and converted a 58 yard field goal against Belding(pretty town, I thought anyway). He graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA.
2011 Prediction: I have no reason to think that Sadler will not be a great punter by the time he leaves MSU. MSU has put more than their fair share of kickers into the league. That said, we will miss Aaron Bates this year from a leadership perspective. Sadler looks to develop into a heady punter like bates over the years, but he's green and will need time. Back-up punter Kyle Selden is not expected to be a factor at this time.
Placekicking
Coming into 2010 this was a two-way race between Dan Conroy and Kevin Muma. Conroy as a preferred walk-on won the job from Kevin Muma and went 14 of 15 on the year including this miraculous game-tying kick against Notre Dame in our night game last year.
Oh, uh Conroy didn't make the kick? Well, maybe next time.
Conroy's kicking percentage was good for 5th overall. He was 4 of 4 from more than 40 yards with his single miss coming at Northwestern.
2011 Prediction: My big concern with Mr. Conroy would be avoiding the sophomore slump, literally. To finish 5th overall in the NCAA kicking percentage as a freshman sets the bar at damn high for the remainder of his MSU career. To extrapolate that year forward means he would finish 56 of 60 for his career at MSU, that doesn't sound difficult to me, that sounds nearly impossible. Kevin Muma will continue to handle kick-off duties for the forseeable future.
Expect placekicking to remain a strong point for the Spartans, but don't expect 14 of 15 again.
Punt and Kick Return Duties:
Luckily for us, those duties fall to one very talented Keshawn Martin. Martin has scored five different ways in a Spartan uniform(caught, throw and ran a touchdown pass. Returned both a punt and a kick for a touchdown), he's a dropkick and a field goal short of scoring every way a person can on offense. In 2010 he continued to perform at a high-level in this position.
2011 Prediction: Martin will continue to perform at a high-level this year although I suspect if the coaching staff can find an 90 percent as good option at either position they'll take it over Martin. Martin is too important to the offense as the x-factor to take an unnecessary risk in injury. There are a host of young talents who have lots of speed but have had trouble finding the field in other areas to back up Mr. Martin.
Nick Hill has lots of speed but is stuck behind the Baker/Caper/Bell logjam. Jeremy Langford is another speedster without a country, he can't crack the positions at RB or WR right now, IIRC he's not quite quick enough for CB. Tony Lippett has shown outstanding athleticism but looks to be slated for the Chris Gamble role of yore. There are lots of quick, shifty, bursty guys who could play either kick return position in lieu of Martin. But Martin is simply put the most exciting Spartan on the field with apologies to LeVeon Bell. You just do not know what's coming next with him.
As an aside, Martin still had moments last year where he'd do something that made you facepalm, it'd be rad if he could knock that off this year.
Overall Assessment: In 2010, Special Teams was an area of strength for the Spartans. In an old version of NCAAF, if you were an A++ your team's bar broke the end on the team strengths page. I think the Special Teams were that good for MSU last year. This year, an improvement would basically be more of the same, holding steady would be a slight decrease in quality and a huge step backwards would be Special Teams costing us a game or two. I think this particular group is in a position to "hold steady" meaning we lose some specialties in the punting game for this year and hold steady at placekicking and kick returns. The development of Sadler is the expected storyline for this group this year.
Worst Case Scenario: Sadler struggles to replace Bates in terms of kick quality and distance. Conroy struggles mightily with the sophomore slump and Muma can kick a country mile but can't hit the broadside of a barn. Keshawn cedes the kick return duties to a Nick Hill or Jeremy Langford due to injury or we're not receiving many kicks because our D isn't stopping anyone. I don't know, I just don't see a healthy Keshawn ever being "bad" at this.
Best Case Scenario: Sadler is an immediate replacement for Bates in terms of kick quality and being the best QB on the MSU Spartan team. Conroy finds a way to go 15 for 15 or maybe even the elusive 16 for 15. Keshawn cedes the kick return duties to a Nick Hill or Jeremy Langford type and they are as good or better.
Welcome, for lack of a better place to begin our introductory piece on the 2011 Spartans we shall begin at the
Punter
In 2010, the best quarterback on our team was none other than the pride of New Concord, Ohio, Aaron Bates. He wasn't too shabby a punter either. With a punting average of 45.0 yards Bates finished 14th nationally at the position. Mr. Bates will be replaced by Redshirt Freshman Mike Sadler from Grand Rapids or as my 2 year old calls it, Grand Rabbits. Mr. Sadler had offers from the likes of Alabama, LSU, USC, Northwestern, Purdue and Air Force. Despite Air Force's strong recruiting push, Mike selected MSU over LSU. He was a top 10 punter in 2010 by all three recruiting services(Scout, Rivals and MaxPrep). Mr. Sadler averaged 39.9 yards on 32 kicks in his senior year and converted a 58 yard field goal against Belding(pretty town, I thought anyway). He graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA.
2011 Prediction: I have no reason to think that Sadler will not be a great punter by the time he leaves MSU. MSU has put more than their fair share of kickers into the league. That said, we will miss Aaron Bates this year from a leadership perspective. Sadler looks to develop into a heady punter like bates over the years, but he's green and will need time. Back-up punter Kyle Selden is not expected to be a factor at this time.
Placekicking
Coming into 2010 this was a two-way race between Dan Conroy and Kevin Muma. Conroy as a preferred walk-on won the job from Kevin Muma and went 14 of 15 on the year including this miraculous game-tying kick against Notre Dame in our night game last year.
Oh, uh Conroy didn't make the kick? Well, maybe next time.
Conroy's kicking percentage was good for 5th overall. He was 4 of 4 from more than 40 yards with his single miss coming at Northwestern.
2011 Prediction: My big concern with Mr. Conroy would be avoiding the sophomore slump, literally. To finish 5th overall in the NCAA kicking percentage as a freshman sets the bar at damn high for the remainder of his MSU career. To extrapolate that year forward means he would finish 56 of 60 for his career at MSU, that doesn't sound difficult to me, that sounds nearly impossible. Kevin Muma will continue to handle kick-off duties for the forseeable future.
Expect placekicking to remain a strong point for the Spartans, but don't expect 14 of 15 again.
Punt and Kick Return Duties:
Luckily for us, those duties fall to one very talented Keshawn Martin. Martin has scored five different ways in a Spartan uniform(caught, throw and ran a touchdown pass. Returned both a punt and a kick for a touchdown), he's a dropkick and a field goal short of scoring every way a person can on offense. In 2010 he continued to perform at a high-level in this position.
2011 Prediction: Martin will continue to perform at a high-level this year although I suspect if the coaching staff can find an 90 percent as good option at either position they'll take it over Martin. Martin is too important to the offense as the x-factor to take an unnecessary risk in injury. There are a host of young talents who have lots of speed but have had trouble finding the field in other areas to back up Mr. Martin.
Nick Hill has lots of speed but is stuck behind the Baker/Caper/Bell logjam. Jeremy Langford is another speedster without a country, he can't crack the positions at RB or WR right now, IIRC he's not quite quick enough for CB. Tony Lippett has shown outstanding athleticism but looks to be slated for the Chris Gamble role of yore. There are lots of quick, shifty, bursty guys who could play either kick return position in lieu of Martin. But Martin is simply put the most exciting Spartan on the field with apologies to LeVeon Bell. You just do not know what's coming next with him.
As an aside, Martin still had moments last year where he'd do something that made you facepalm, it'd be rad if he could knock that off this year.
Overall Assessment: In 2010, Special Teams was an area of strength for the Spartans. In an old version of NCAAF, if you were an A++ your team's bar broke the end on the team strengths page. I think the Special Teams were that good for MSU last year. This year, an improvement would basically be more of the same, holding steady would be a slight decrease in quality and a huge step backwards would be Special Teams costing us a game or two. I think this particular group is in a position to "hold steady" meaning we lose some specialties in the punting game for this year and hold steady at placekicking and kick returns. The development of Sadler is the expected storyline for this group this year.
Worst Case Scenario: Sadler struggles to replace Bates in terms of kick quality and distance. Conroy struggles mightily with the sophomore slump and Muma can kick a country mile but can't hit the broadside of a barn. Keshawn cedes the kick return duties to a Nick Hill or Jeremy Langford due to injury or we're not receiving many kicks because our D isn't stopping anyone. I don't know, I just don't see a healthy Keshawn ever being "bad" at this.
Best Case Scenario: Sadler is an immediate replacement for Bates in terms of kick quality and being the best QB on the MSU Spartan team. Conroy finds a way to go 15 for 15 or maybe even the elusive 16 for 15. Keshawn cedes the kick return duties to a Nick Hill or Jeremy Langford type and they are as good or better.
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Spring of MSU’s Recruiting Autumn, or: Brady Hoke Is Eating Mark Dantonio’s Lunch
Brian from MGoBlog recently wrote two posts: “A Brief History of In-State Recruiting: late Lloyd Carr era”, and its sequel, “Rodriguez and Now.” Both delve into the gritty details—and the dramatic meta-narrative—of the battle between U-M and MSU for Michigan football talent. Shorty thereafter, MGoBlog recruiting maven Tim posted Big Ten recruiting rankings, and . . . well, it backs up the current state of said narrative: Brady Hoke is eating Mark Dantonio’s lunch.
First, a disclaimer: I’m not a recruiting guy. I’m leaning on what I glean from other sites, and from my co-author, Jim (who, like me, has taken the postseason off to pursue other pursuits). Still, I’ve been watching the U-M masses frolic upon Mark Dantonio’s grave, and suddenly a post was bubbling up under my fingers. So, out it comes:
I told Brian during the Hoke intro presser, “You may have gotten your Dantonio, for whatever it’s worth.” Hoke, like Dantonio, was an assistant during the most recent Glory Days of his respective program—and Hoke, like Dantonio, immediately appealed to his base with strong campaign promises: I will install a Good Old Fashioned He-Man offense, I will recruit in-state talent, my teams will out-work the other guy for sixty minutes, and—most importantly—we will beat our rivals.
Dantonio tried, sort of, to hold together the transitional ‘07 recruiting class. But when he went hunting in early 2008, he had lots of ammunition: immediate playing time in a pro-style offense, a BCS National Championship ring, and a big bandolier of we’re going to beat Michigan. His 2008 haul looked unlike anything seen at MSU since the Internet has cared about such things, and 2009 saw an unprecedented tail-kicking of U-M for in-state recruits. Brian describes these years as “Transition,” and “Dominance Type Substance” in his articles:
Michigan State nearly swept the in-state four stars, though some of those were pretty iffy—Jeremy Gainer's offer list read "MSU, Iowa and crap"; Donald Spencer's read "MSU and… MSU." Others could be filed under "just one of those things," like Blake Treadwell being a Spartan coach's son. Others were no longer of interest to Michigan because of their offensive system.
That said, this year saw four players who Michigan wanted and seriously could have used go to Michigan State, more than the previous six years combined. Only one—Norman—was a Ren/SE kid. Michigan's instate recruits were three Cass Tech kids and Inkster's Cam Gordon; with the exception of Michigan getting the #1 kid in the state this looks like a complete reversal of The Natural Way Of Things.
We Spartans proudly proclaimed it all over the Internet: The Natural Way of Things had been reversed, and the upper hand was ours! Unfortunately, that didn’t really hold for the 2010 class, and 2011 is shaping up to be a tail-kicking of us, by them. What happened?
Partly, it’s losing Dan Enos to CMU; he recruited Detroit beautifully. But primarily, I see a lot of Hoke’s 2011 success coming from the same source as Dantonio’s 2008 triumph: easy buy-in. Hoke’s doing and saying all the right things to appeal to Michigan’s (huge) in-state fanbase. Hoke is telling kids they can get in on the ground floor of the New Era of Michigan Awesome, and it’s easy to believe. He’s preaching the same values and fundamentals these kids have heard all their lives, and offering immediate playing time in pro-style schemes. In-state recruits are buying what Hoke’s selling, just like Michigan fans everywhere.
Is this a return to the Natural Way of Things, as experienced by Michigan since Bo? Maybe. But if Hoke is Bo, or even significant fractions thereof, he has yet to show it in the fifty-two years he’s walked the Earth. Brian, since the 2007 coaching search, has been screaming that Hoke’s resume is completely inadequate, and repeatedly stating the truth: that if Hoke “been a Michigan State assistant no one would have ever brought him up:”
I promise you this: if Brady Hoke is actually hired small children should not read the site for a week following because every other word will be swearing. This is in no way a joke.
Of course, the aforementioned introductory presser pressed every right button, with authority. Just as we clung to Dantonio’s granite jaw after years of John L. Smith calling triple-pitch WR passes and slapping himself, Hoke sweating maize and talking blue is anodyne to the Wolverine faithful. Hoke also pulled off an incredible hire, convincing Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Greg Mattison to hold the same position at U-M—as he once did from 1995 to ‘96 . This should help offset the fact that Hoke has never coordinated a defense at the college level.
That’s right; Hoke was a career DL or LB coach, and he held a DL coaching job at Michigan from 1995 through 2001, before the words “associate head coach” were appended to his job title. Hmm . . . career defensive line coach, spent most of a decade under the same head coach and defensive system, got promoted to “associate head coach” before landing a head coaching gig, compiled a losing record over several years, and loves to whip players and fans into a team-first adrenaline frenzy with dramatic monologues about toughness and outworking people. Sound familiar, Lions fans?
I’m not saying . . . I’m just saying
Honestly, now: I’m not saying Brady Hoke will be the disaster at Michigan that Rod Marinelli was in Detroit. For starters, Hoke’s made much better coordinator hires. Besides the masterstroke of pulling Mattison to run the defense as opposed to, you know, his son-in-law, Hoke brought along his offensive coordinator from SDSU, Al Borges. Marinelli, on the other hand, hired his personal and professional antithesis: Mike Martz. Second, the NFL is a brutal meritocratic road grader: over time, the wheat consistently get separated from the chaff. Marinelli may be able to whip a defensive end into a quarterback-killing frenzy with nothing but talk, but he had no clue how to play the game of chess that unfolds between NFL offensive and defensive coordinators every Sunday. The ultimate result was 0-16.
In college ball, however, perception is reality; reputation can produce results in a feedback loop. The teams that recruit well win; the teams that win recruit well. Hoke is attempting to start that loop by stuffing an empty larder with beefy front seven recruits; with enough hard work and pad level and luck and smoke and mirrors, his hot air will inflate that perception long enough for the results on the field to catch up to his pressers—and the “Natural Way of Things” really will be restored.
However, Hoke’s strategy will be to take one of the best round offenses in the nation and file off the edges until he can stuff it into a square hole—then take one of the worst round defenses in the nation and stuff that into a square hole, too. Just as Marinelli spent three years trying to remake the roster in the image of his system, Hoke will have to throw out what’s working along with what isn’t. If initial results are no better than Marinelli’s—or, to the point, Rodriguez’s—all of the Michigan Men who never extended Rich Rod a second’s grace will fall all over themselves excusing Hoke . . . for a while. Meanwhile, all the fans who simply want Michigan to win again will grow restless, especially when Michigan again loses to Michigan State, Ohio State and three, four, five, or maybe six other teams.
So, fellow Spartans: do not sweat this tidal wave of Hokeamania. Wail not ye on the message boards, nor gnash thy teeth on teh Twitterz. Let Michigan be The Victors of April. Golf clap for their recruiting classes now, as they did not for ours. Should they press their case to you, simply smile and say “Scoreboard.” Sleep well, knowing what the Way of Things shall be come autumn.
Friday, March 18, 2011
A Storm in a Teacup
Who would have known, I could have skipped the first 33 games of Spartan Basketball this season and cut right to the end. Last night's game had every single defining moment of this season all in the same game. Summers looking like a beast in the first half, Summers non-existent in the second. Flip the script for Kalin who in the first half, Kalin who's gonna kill ya in the second. Draymond's triple-double. Going down 10-0 to start the game. Being down 23 with 8:45 to go. Staging a near miraculous 21 point comeback from there.
It was all there, all of it. Yet, without watching games 1-33 I couldn't have appreciated how truly special game 34 was. Most importantly for 8 minutes and 45 seconds, I felt like a fan again. I was transformed to my 21 year old self who was in Breslin for the 114-63 pasting of Michigan in 2000. This game really turned out to be an epilogue for the regular season.
This year has led me to believe that State basketball fans have gotten fat and lazy. Izzo made the tourney, he put up a hell of a fight to a very talented UCLA team, and given the journey here, I think we all should be damn happy with that. Yet, this morning all I hear in the office is what happened? Where's our team? Blah blah blah.
I try not to be too much of a moral victory slappy, but in terms of W-L this season was and has been lost for months now. In terms of growth for Izzo and the program though, this season couldn't have been a bigger win for MSU basketball. It's good for Izzo to get knocked around a bit, it's good for the fans to get knocked around a bit. It's good for guys like Appling and Payne to be baptized by fire once in a while.
In 2014, I wonder if we don't look back at 2011 and say thank you. Thank you for a tough year that showed us what's important about our MSU basketball.
It was all there, all of it. Yet, without watching games 1-33 I couldn't have appreciated how truly special game 34 was. Most importantly for 8 minutes and 45 seconds, I felt like a fan again. I was transformed to my 21 year old self who was in Breslin for the 114-63 pasting of Michigan in 2000. This game really turned out to be an epilogue for the regular season.
This year has led me to believe that State basketball fans have gotten fat and lazy. Izzo made the tourney, he put up a hell of a fight to a very talented UCLA team, and given the journey here, I think we all should be damn happy with that. Yet, this morning all I hear in the office is what happened? Where's our team? Blah blah blah.
I try not to be too much of a moral victory slappy, but in terms of W-L this season was and has been lost for months now. In terms of growth for Izzo and the program though, this season couldn't have been a bigger win for MSU basketball. It's good for Izzo to get knocked around a bit, it's good for the fans to get knocked around a bit. It's good for guys like Appling and Payne to be baptized by fire once in a while.
In 2014, I wonder if we don't look back at 2011 and say thank you. Thank you for a tough year that showed us what's important about our MSU basketball.
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