Michigan Football:
All right, all right.
We are having a very good year at Michigan. Everyone on the team with the exception of our second cornerback looks great. However, there is some opinon out there that Chad Henne has made HUGE strides from last year. Again, this is a classic case of a quarterback getting credit for making great improvements, when, in fact his supporting cast has improved so much around him. Henne has always been good; and has always been a significant improvement over John Navarre.
He's probably not an outstanding QB, but he has never been awful.
Look at Henne's cast last year. He had Avant as his #1 WR, and Breaston as his #1.5 WR. He was also missing three offensive lineman for most of the year, and Mike Hart was not healthy the entire year.
Now, Mike Hart is healthy. The O-line is healthy and playing phenomenally. Breaston is back comfortable as a #3 wideout and slot specialist, because Mario Manningham has assumed the role of number one receiver on the team. If you give Henne from last year a bonafide top 5 WR in the country (Manningham), a guy who may be as good already (and more talented) as Avant (Arrington), and a healthy Mike Hart (who, for my money is the best RB in the country even with Adrian Peterson healthy.) Henne has an outstanding year. He didn't get worse from freshman year, he lost his best WR in Braylon, his best RB in Hart, and his best O-Linemen.
Also, we have the best front 7, defensively, in the country this year. What if 17 points wouldn't have been enough in Happy Valley last year?
Fact is, Henne is having a great year, and he throws the prettiest deep ball I have seen since Jeff Blake. However, those deep balls were wasted last year, because we tried to go deep to Breaston. Manningham gets more separation going deep than any Michigan receiver since Derrick Alexander. And that's why Henne looks so damn good this year.
Go Blue. Beat Iowa.
posted by Anthony @ 9:56 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Very true. However, I did like Arrington in that lead role, more than I would have liked Avant. And I loved Avant. But with Breaston and Avant on the field at the same time, there is just no space for Hart, Breaston, Avant, or Henne to operate. We just needed someone with size to get up the field. And Arrington provided that. I loved Jason Avant. But you know how I feel about ceilings . .. I don't buy them so much.
I will say this: Marquis Walker was a better possession receiver than Avant. He caught 77 passes his senior year, and single-handedly (literally) beat Iowa with his one-handed catch. He was always the go-to guy on third down, and I believe that no other wide receiver caught more than 30 balls that year. Navarre would lock onto him like he was staring at a buffalo he was about to try and shoot in the backwoods of Wisconsin, and there would always be double coverage. Kind of like the Jesshu's bush/lips- double coverage. It's pronounced "face plant."
I bet the under on comments before the first mention of the Jesshu and I lost
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