Yeah. I know I've been gone a while. Most of the stuff I've been writing in my spare time is pretty depressing, so I've put it on hold. But the news of Boren's departure stirred me from my slumber. What follows is some serious, serious pessimism. If you're looking for reassurance that everything will be okay, go to a Buckeye site. They're confident these days. - MnBDave.
We're boned. Seriously. Boned.
DickRod Shows Your Ass Where The Door Is Located.
What is it with West Virginia coaches running off players? Alex Mitchell and Jeremy Ciulla immediately exited stage right with Rodriguez arrival. Ryan Mallett? Gone. Now starting left/right guard Justin Boren has decided to say "the hell with it" too. What the hell is going on? Beilein came in and ran off half the basketball team. Now Rodriguez is doing the same to the football team, except with starters in positions Michigan is too thin to afford any losses. Apparently whatever slighted deity that has been ravaging the hockey team decided to take a swipe at the football team as well.
Pessimism is now the rule of the day. The sun is black. Hot snow falls up. The rain of frogs will begin any minute now.
What this means is Michigan will have almost as many freshmen in the two deep for the offensive line as any other class. Expect to see uber recruit, Dan O'Neil play significant minutes at guard this year. Expect some kid you've never heard of to make a serious mistake at O-Line at a crucial time in a game Michigan shouldn't lose, causing you to throw something at your TV/spouse/friend/window/bouncer type person and also causing you great personal/physical/financial harm. Expect Michigan's quarterback, be it Steven Threet or former-walk-on-turned-potential-starter Nick Sheridan, to be beaten within an inch of his life, Clausen style, by the flood of defenders pouring through the offensive line like the Mongol Hordes of yore. Yore, I tell you!
Michigan Announces Its New Starter at left guard
Speaking of quarterbacks, we don't have one yet. Steven Threet, despite being an Elite 11 quarterback, hasn't grabbed the starting position most thought was his for the taking. A good deal of this probably has to do with the assertions that Threet is as mobile as a coffee table, something that does not fit well into Rodriguez' offense or the current state of the line. Last year's #3, David Cone, isn't even being mentioned by Rodriguez during press conferences. At this point it will either be Threet or Sheridan starting against Utah on August 30, unless freshman to be Justin Feagin comes in and goes all Martix-like during fall practice. Sheridan is a barely recruited, redshirt sophomore walk-on who saw two snaps last year. While he's getting some press right now, I'd be very surprised if he wins the starting job. Threet should win the QB battle, but with Michigan's swiss cheese like offensive line he might consider calling a doctor in advance to find out whether Tylenol or Advil works best with a concussion(s).
Until Boren's departure I was relatively confident Michigan would be able to work through its initial issues and eek out a decent season (seven, maybe eight wins). His departure has caused me to lop a win off that projection. Yes. I think offensive line is that important. Especially when you return only one starter and are replacing almost all of the backups. Unless Michigan starts to truly grab hold of Rodriguez' offense and some of the sophomores and freshmen step up, we're in trouble.
Happy thoughts later. For now I need to do something about all these damn locusts.