MGoBlog has moved. The new site can be found at MGoBlog.com

Friday, December 10, 2004

An oddly free article at the Wolverine makes it sound likely Antonio Bass will commit to Michigan in the near future.

If that actually occurs, next year Michigan will have 5 true or redshirt freshman wide recievers, plus sophomore Adrian Arrington, and a very thin depth chart at CB. Someone will probably move, but who?

The contenders:

  • Adrian Arrington: Arrington saw sporadic playing time as a true freshman, and at Michigan that usually means you're the anointed Next One. He won't move. Both Edwards and Avant went through freshman years with a lot of playing time but few opportunities to catch balls, and then exploded their sophomore years. Arrington will have to deal with Avant, Breaston, and perhaps Carl Tabb, though, so his big year may be his junior one.
  • Doug Dutch: Dutch is an excellent return man with blazing speed and moves. He's smallish and agile, but that spot in the offense will be taken by Steve Breaston the next two years.
  • Morgan Trent: Trent is a burner: he beat Ted Ginn in the 100 in their only joint track meet. It's also doubtful he's going to see any playing time at WR this year with Avant, Breaston, Tabb, and Arrington already in front of him on the depth chart and two of the three WR coming in behind him described as the kind of explosive playmakers that win games. He looks to be the most likely candidate for a move.
  • Antonio Bass: Bass has actually played more defensive back than wide reciever in his high school career as a QB who moonlights at safety. But all reports indicate that he's the kind of player that is so explosive that putting him on defense would be a bit of a waste. He'll probably redshirt to learn his new position and have a productive career at WR.
  • Mario Manningham: Manningham torched 5-star OSU commit Jamario O'Neal in their matchup earlier this year, catching three long touchdowns on offense and returning a pick to the house. He's a little waterbug type like Dutch, and how much room is there for that type of WR? Probably only one slot at a time.
  • Laterryal Savoy: Savoy is an Avant-type: big, muscular, tough to stop. He's not built for DB. He does have prototypical WR size. He won't move.

My prediction is that both Trent and one of Manningham or Dutch switch to DB; Trent in the spring and Manningham/Dutch sometime during next year.

0 Comments: