U of M Spring Scrimmage

After watching the Big Ten Network highlights of the spring "game," I have some observations that I would like to make:

1) Kevin Grady looked like Mike Hart, with good lateral movement and the ability to drag an entire linebacker corps for an extra 8 yards.

2) Avery Horn is fast. Fast fast. It's great to see him get into open space and just run as fast as his little legs will carry him. He also blasted up the middle on a goal and one to go situation, which was great to see.

3) Brandon Minor is in super-awesome-Barwis shape, and looks like he can finally see some God damn holes. Unlike in previous years when he danced around fruitlessly behind the line of scrimmage and then fell down.

4) The battered, bruised, and inexperienced offensive line looked like it was...ok. They were opening up holes, and they were getting downfield to set up blocks for the runners. That's great to see.

5) The no-huddle is going to piss some teams off in 2008. I would venture to guess we'll win a couple games just based on the fact that the offense, if it can be even partially effective, will win us games simply by gassing the other team's defense in the second half. I can see our deep running back position being a boon, as well. Tire out the other team's front fatty defensive lineman, swap tailbacks, run Avery horn in the open, gash into secondary, swap in Grady/Brown/Minor/McGuffie and repeat as needed. Simply being in better shape than the other team will carry Meeechigan more than most people think.

6) The qb situation is less than perfect, but Threet actually looked pretty darn good. The scouting report that he has great leadership obviously was dead on, because everything I've heard from eyewitness accounts has him taking excellent control of the offense. He is nice and tall, has good vision, a great release, and is somewhat mobile. His passes seem to have a nice touch to them (OH GOD YES SCREEN PASSES TO MCGUFFIE AND HORN ALL THE TIME PLZ), and the only problem he seemed to have all day was the ball slipping out of his hands a bit on deep balls. Still, Matthews just went up and got them, regardless; something that seems to be genetically inherent in every single quality Michigan wideout.

Sheridan and Cone looked like they had chugged a bottle of absinthe before taking the field, however, and I would venture to guess that if we see either of these two in any substantial way in 2008, we're boned.

Brown (when he gets healthy) and Feagin should be nice additions to Threet, and a two quarterback system running a no-huddle, Leak/Tebow style rope-a-dope will cause teams like Northwestern, Purdue, and Toledo to burst into flames.

7) Everyone looks leaner and meaner than last year. The offensive line is practically skinny, and the defensive line (which I think will be our greatest asset next year) looks great. It's incredible to see Terrance Taylor sans gigantic flabby beer belly.

8) The defensive backs looked pretty good, but that's only because Nick Sheridan was throwing the balls they picked off directly to them.

9) The option looks messy right now, but that's to be expected. They'll attempt it a bunch early next year. We'll either clutch our heads in frustration, or we'll whoop and holler as teams flail around fruitlessly to wrangle a stretched Avery Horn running downfield like an Italian sportscar.

I expect a little of both.

10) And finally, OH GOD WHY CAN'T IT BE AUGUST ALREADY? CLEARLY BASEBALL IS FOLLY THIS YEAR! I NEED FOOTBALL! ARRRRGHGGHGHFFFFFFFF