UA-59049186-1 Michigan Spring Game Recap - Good if it Goes

Michigan Spring Game Recap

Michigan held their spring game on April 4, which was the first look at the team under Jim Harbaugh and his staff. The Blue team defeated the Maize team 7-0, with rather ugly performances by both offenses. I don’t think this is a reason to panic; defense is almost always ahead of offense at this point in the year, and while the defense was ahead by a lot more than usual, remember a few things:

  1. This was a good defense last year.
  2. The defense is much deeper than the offense, especially on the lines, which really shows in a situation like this where the rosters are split up.
  3. The offense was not very good last year and is adjusting to a new system.
  4. The teams were being led by quarterbacks without a lot of experience with this year’s likely starter still not on campus.

After the game, Harbaugh said that Shane Morris was the leader at QB coming out of spring, but he’ll face competition from Jake Rudock once he gets on campus. Morris’ accuracy has improved by a great deal over last year, although that may not show up on paper. He went 11-for-24 in the spring game, less than 50% completion, but there were a couple of drops. There’s still room for more improvement, but Morris made some really nice throws and started showing some of the promise he had coming out of high school.

Alex Malzone looked like a freshman, which is okay, because he is one. His arm strength is going to have to improve if he’s going to make a difference at this level. He showed good accuracy, but that was mostly on short passes. He didn’t try to do too much or force anything, though, which is really nice to see, especially from a freshman.

De’Veon Smith looked like the team’s best running back, although Ty Isaac barely played and Drake Johnson did not play at all. Wyatt Shallman played running back for the Blue team and looked okay, but that’s about it.

Amara Darboh had a nice showing, although his biggest catches came against Dennis Norfleet, a 5’7 guy who looked very much like he had just started playing cornerback recently and may have only been there to fill out the roster since it’s split up for this game. I have no idea what Norfleet’s going to end up doing for this team in the fall. He’s probably not a receiver in Harbaugh’s system and may not return kicks with Jabrill Peppers around. The receivers outside of Darboh didn’t really do anything significant, mostly because they were not given a chance to do so. Jake Butt had a nice showing at tight end.

Logan Tuley-Tillman did not look like he would be a threat to Mason Cole at left tackle, which was a bit disappointing, as the word on him coming into the spring game was that the light had finally come on. It was not on in the spring game. Overall, the offensive line play wasn’t great, but also not terrible considering the roster split.

The biggest question on the defensive side of the ball was what the defense would look like under D.J. Durkin. After speculation that Michigan could transition to a 3-4, the front seven looked much as they did last year. I was very impressed by the defensive tackles; Maurice Hurst, Willie Henry, Ryan Glasgow, and Bryan Mone all look like solid players. On the ends, Lawrence Marshall was particularly impressive and had a nice sack.

Desmond Morgan and Joe Bolden had nice showings. James Ross, who will likely be the third starter, was injured and didn’t play. Since this defense will probably spend a lot of time in the nickel, with Peppers playing the safety/linebacker hybrid spot, Ross may not see a ton of time on the field this year.

Jourdan Lewis came away looking like Michigan’s best cornerback. I’d expect to see Blake Countess on the other side, though he’s still got some work to do in grasping the new man defense. Wayne Lyons, graduate transfer from Stanford, is not on campus yet, so we’ll have to wait and see how he fits into things.

Jarrod Wilson looked solid at safety. Delano Hill had a nice showing as well and is my guess to occupy the other safety spot when Michigan is in the nickel and Peppers is playing the hybrid role. Also, I was encouraged by what I saw from Dymonte Thomas and am hopeful that he’ll figure into plans here as well, as he had a good amount of potential coming into college and hasn’t really gotten there yet, and is running out of time to get there, since Hoke, for whatever reason (probably not a good one) decided not to redshirt him.

Michigan didn’t run any special teams, with the exception of an extra point from Kyle Seychel. Expect Andrew David to be Michigan’s kicker in the fall. Blake O’Neill, graduate transfer from Weber State, should be the punter.

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

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