Football: CFN Preview dissection

CFN hasn't posted their Michigan preview on the front page yet, but they have put on the eeenternet all the same. It's basically par for the course for CFN... broadly correct with a number of statements that indicate they aren't quite paying attention. Before you read it, mentally prepare yourself by correcting the following statements:

First, in general... CFN was confused by Michigan's insistence on listing people by academic year even if they've taken a redshirt. Thus many players are listed as a year further along in their eligibility than they actually are, like "senior" Darnell Hood and "junior" Jake Long.

"Clayton Richard is one of the nation's best number three quarterbacks and would likely start for at least seven other Big Ten teams." WTF? And you rank the QB position an eight?

"[Hart's] not a home run hitter and isn't much at creating his own running room." I suppose the first part is plausible, but the second part is insane. I mean, how the hell do you think a guy like Hart runs for 1,400 yards?

"Roger Allison will eventually be the team's top fullback, but it might not happen until next year." This sentence is fine but they left out "because he has a mysterious nerve injury that will sideline him until 2006."

"Avant ... has good size and good speed, but he's not a deep threat and isn't going to replace Braylon Edwards..." I don't have a major quibble with this, but let's get in the wayback machine and head back to a year I like to call... 2004. [/Kasey Kasem] What did you say about Avant then, CFN? "He's not just a possession receiver; he can be a scary deep threat leading the team with a 16.4 yard-per-catch average..." Good example there of how the CFN guys guess from stats... which, admittedly, has been a good portion of mgoblog's frustrating foray into the world of season previews.

"The 6-5, 317-pound All-Big Ten talent [Stenavich] will be on everyone's All-America short list entering his third season on the line." Whoah. Holy cognitive dissonance, Batman! Stenavich is all right, but this is a classic example of a Michigan guy getting overrated because he's a Michigan guy. Stenavich is a third year starter at left tackle for Michigan, so he must be teh hottness, right? Eh. He plateaued a while ago.

On the defensive side of the ball, CFN has completely missed Michigan's return to a base 4-3 (hallelujah). But there's more. Horrible, horrible more.

"Pierre Woods [is] sure to come up with a great year..." Strangely omitted was the phrase "playing Madden, because that's the closest he'll come to a football field this year."

"Massey is a slippery pass rusher who feasts on one-on-one blocking." Ummm...

"LaMarr Woodley is part end and part linebacker, but he excels most when Michigan uses the 3-4." Wow. Wow. That's completely 100% wrong in every imaginable way. mgoblog cringes at the idea of Woodley--very possibly the best defensive end at Michigan in fifteen years--lining up at linebacker. Woodley at linebacker makes Baby Jesus kill kittens. (And by "Baby Jesus" I mean "me" and by "kittens" I mean "Jim Herrmann.")

"[McClintock] on the inside [sic weird construction] will be the anchor of the linebacking corps as the only returning starter." David Harris has taken McClintock's job.

"[Mundy's] a consistent tackler with good size and warp speed; he's usually in the right place when he has to be." Some Michigan fan on the Internet (sorry, I forgot who you are) coined the term "Yards After Mundy." That's because there are a lot of them. Mundy needs to improve his angles and tackling badly.

"Punter Mark Spencer, Sr. or Zoltan Mesko, Fr. - A walk-on, Spencer will replace Adam Finley until true freshman Zoltan Mesko gets to camp. Expect this to be a battle up until the opener." mgoblog will consume hats until the cows come home to roost if Mark Spencer ever punts with a game in doubt. Also, why did they completely omit mention of Mesko's impending Heisman campaign?

Anyway, it's there. You can check it out if you like. I'm trying to be a good boy and not bag too hard on it, but if you read this blog you're probably not going to learn anything new. And overdosing on the words "huge," "grow," and "fantastic" is a real possibility. Steel yourself!