The Future of Legends Jerseys

After Junior Hemingway proudly donned first 'Legend Jersey' in the Maize and Blue, news has surfaced that Roy Roundtree will be the predecessor for Desmond Howard's #21. The criteria for earning a 'Legend Jersey' remains somewhat unclear at this point. As Michigan AD Dave Brandon introduced the concept to fans at the 2011 Notre Dame game, he stated, "The concept is a visible representation of iconic figures in our program's storied history that fans across the country will see every Saturday." Brandon also stated that it is imperative that "Hoke and all future Michigan head coaches will assign this historic jersey to a special player who is deserving of the honor..." Brady Hoke and Desmond Howard both agreed that the 5th Year Senior from Trotwood, OH is deserving of the honor for the 2012 season, and they lauded him for his leadership abilities, team-centric attitude, and academic achievements.

In my opinion, I foresee that after a player is deemed a 'Michigan Legend,' the coaching staff will try to find a player to wear the jersey every season. I don't think a player will necessarily have to put up gaudy numbers as a prerequisite for the honor, but he will have to demonstrate his ability to live up to the 'Michigan Man' ideals and the responsibilities of carrying on a Michigan Legend's legacy. 

As the concept's future remains somewhat unclear, I will aim to provide my opinion on what 'Legends Jerseys' we will see in the future, and who I think could be deserving of the honor...

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All-Michigan First Team

These last few weeks have been prettttyyy slow, so I decided it could be fun to try and create an 'All-Michigan' Depth Chart.  Michigan has had some amazing players over the years, and I started to imagine what a team of  all-time greats would look like. When you are trying to rank players that are all very, very good, the difference between a Second-Team and Third-team Guard is pretty minuscule, so keep that in mind. In that same respect, some of my choices were strictly a product of my bias toward certain players, their playing style, or maybe just my memories. When you see Tom Brady as a First-Team QB, don't think, "BUT OMG HE SUCKED AT MICH..." because this isn't a best career at Michigan list, but it is a list of who I would want to play on our "hypothetical" team against any other school, team, etc, and I wouldn't trade Tommy B at QB for almost anyone from any team.

As another disclaimer, I realize that there are some outstanding old Michigan players that deserve much of the credit for Michigan's success, significance, and tradition on the gridiron, but they don't ever seem to 'fit' on these lists when I see them. Maybe I'm weird and that's just me, but so be it.  Obviously, Tom Harmon, Bennie Oosterbaan, and Willie Heston are some of the most valuable players in Michigan's history, so imagine this more like a All-Michigan Post-1950 Team, just to save my ass from missing a plethora of potentially deserving players.

EDIT- As I find more and more out about some of the players that are less talked about, creating this list getting more and more difficult... We really have had some outstanding players...

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Know Your Opponents: ND's 2013 Recruiting Class

YAHHHHHHH

Today, we'll be taking a look an the prospects that will eventually be subjected to a colorful, spit-filled, chew-out at some point in their near futures. Unsurprisingly, Notre Dame has continued its success on the recruiting trail with 12 verbal commitments. Notre Dame knows what it means to recruit nationally (cue Mark Dantonio joke), and they have 12 players from 11 different states. The Fighting Irish have 5 OL commits that all had a Michigan offer at some point in time and 8 commits with Michigan offers in total according to Rivals.com. Highly talented recruiting classes are nothing new in South Bend, and we expect that Brian Kelly will continue to assemble a Top 10/15 class before all is said and done...

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Know Your Opponents: MSU's 2013 Recruiting Class

In this series of posts, I will provide some analysis on the verbal commitments of Michigan's closest rivals, OSU, MSU, and ND...Most of the time, we only see their classes holistically in team recruiting rankings, so taking a look at specific prospects can give us a better idea of the teams our rivals will field in the near future.

First up, The Michigan State University Spartans...

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Taylor Lewan- First Round Pick in the 2013 NFL Draft?

The Situation

Outside of a few "interesting" rumblings that hinted at possible early departures from Denard Robinson and JT Floyd (-_-), the Wolverines have not had to worry about players leaving for the NFL Draft. However, if ridiculously early NFL Drafts , NFL.com prospect rankings, or Mel Kiper's opinion matter at all, Taylor Lewan may be in Radio City as early as next April. Kiper recently said Lewan was definitely one of his "Five-Star Guys," and after watching Taylor's progression over the past three years, we definitely agree that he has elite NFL potential.

Where do we think Taylor projects? What could it mean for the Wolverines in 2013?

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Shane Morris Wins MVP at Columbus Elite 11

Michigan's star recruit of the 2013 Class won the MVP award at the Columbus Elite 11 tryout, after a somewhat disappointing showing at the Dallas tryout. As a result, Shane has earned himself an invite to the national Elite 11 quarterback camp later this summer.

Morris beat out other B1G recruits for the honors, including, MSU commit, Damion Terry, OSU commit, Jalin Marshall, Northwestern commit, Matt Alviti, Purdue commit, Danny Etling, ND commit, Malik Zaire, in addition to many other prospects.
Look for Shane to build on this performance in quest of a National MVP award and the chance to solidify himself as one of the best, if not, the best QB prospect in his class.

A huge congrats to Shane, and good luck to the rest of the Wolverine commits participating in the Columbus NFTC this weekend! GO BLUE!

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A Dream Fulfilled

Former Rutgers DT, Eric LeGrand, signed today with the Tampa Bay Bucs...

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The Devin Gardner Dilemma

Michigan has a problem. Fortunately, it's a good problem. Devin Gardner is too athletic to be standing on the sidelines. Reports from spring ball say this has been addressed and Borges found a way to Devin some work at WR. There is no doubt in my mind that this kid could be an absolute stud. I mean come on. He's 6'4", 204 lbs, and has shoulders like Dwight Howard (THIS IS AN EXAGGERATION; NO ONE has shoulders like Dwight Howard)



...But #7 is getting close, right? Anyway...


So, here is my hypothetical rambling about what should, could, and will happen this year with Devin:

The reports coming out of spring ball have emphasized that Devin is NOT a full time WR and that he will probably play more of Charles Woodson type of receiver, if at all, to prevent injury. Sorry, but I don't buy it. Charles Woodson was definitely a great receiver, but he also started and was the best DB to ever play at Michigan. There was a reason to keep Woodson off the field, but it wasn't injury. College football is too tiring to be playing both sides of the ball 100% of the time. If he did (which I'm sure he could have), he probably wouldn't have been as spectacular as he was on defense. Further, let's try to keep any comparisons to Mr. Woodson reserved for when they're really applicable (mostly never).

Yes, I understand the argument that Devin needs to learn the position. But don't tell me sitting on the sidelines is helping. I think Devin's biggest problem at QB is that he hasn't been out there enough. Some game time experience will definitely help him down the road. The QB-WR connection is a two-way street. We've seen guys like Ryan Tannehill go from lowly ranked WR to first-round draft pick in the NFL, and on the flip side there are guys like Keith Nichol at (QB to WR at Michigan State) or Antwaan Randle El (QB at Indiana, WR/KR in the NFL). Knowing how to play one position in the symbiotic relationship helped/helps these guys play the other. Devin benefits from this. OH, and did I mention how big he is? Yes, yes I did. Don't tell me some 5'9" CB is going to lay him out and end his career (I'm knocking on wood as I type).

(Still knocking on wood...)



(Still....still knocking.......)

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