MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

2 hours and 20 minutes

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Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, HomeSure Lending, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, The Phil Klein Insurance Group, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, TicketIQ! and The Nose Bleeds, which is the Sklars Bros’ reboot of Cheap Seats on UFC Fight Pass.

starts at 1:00

The spring game happened and most of the starters sat for most of it. JJ had one bad interception but otherwise looked like JJ. Tuttle looked pretty good, him and Davis Warren look at least ok. Apparently Alex Orji has a downfield passing game?? Seth's takeaway of the backup QBs was - let's not get JJ hurt. Ben Hall shined at running back and looked like he might get some legitimate carries this season, and especially in future seasons. Semaj Morgan might be a good end-around weapon. Frederick Moore was a steal. Former walk-on Peyton O'Leay looked like a guy and he made some plays, he out-muscled Amorion Walker on the two-point conversion. Loveland is the guy at tight end but he only played for a quarter (Jake Butt thinks they're alike). None of the transfer offensive linemen are on campus yet so Greg Crippen and Raheem Anderson played center - they both looked good. The guards are young but it's fine because Keegan and Zinter have those spots locked down. Tackle was a little bit concerning, they were letting guys through all day. Sherrone Moore seemed to have a really decent feel for play calling - an improvement over last year's spring game.

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]

2. Michigan Spring Game - Defense and Special Teams

starts at 45:35

Everyone's number one player that they want to talk about is someone different. Kenneth Grant is one of them, he looked fantastic. Rayshaun Benny ran down a guy from behind. We are reminded that Jake Ryan wasn't thought of extremely highly for a while until he got a scholarship and shined in a spring game. Josiah Stewart looked alright, Derrick Moore looked like not-a-freshman. TJ Guy didn't play, he was injured and on a scooter during the day. We saw a lot of Ernest Hausmann, he was quick. He made a mistake by not dropping back when he was supposed to on a play but that's something that will get fixed. Something you might try this year is move Sainristil to corner and run some 4-3 against less passy teams. Michigan hasn't had a ball hawk safety in a while, maybe Zeke Berry can be that kind of guy, there's some potential there. We saw a lot of Keon Sabb, both good and bad, he's still a work in progress (probably a year away). Amorion Walker is a great athlete that can do everything, just need to teach him what to do. He's not there yet but by the Penn State game he should be matured. Who would you start as the 2nd cornerback right now? McBurrows? Tommy Doman looks pretty good at kicker and punter.

3. Hot Takes and Basketball Bits

starts at 1:28:12

Takes hotter than Seth's face trying to be Brian. How much would you have to pay Caitlin Clark to come to Michigan? There's a lot more parody in basketball this year, why is that? This Purdue team probably isn't a #1 seed in most other seasons. A lot of blue blood type teams are missing key pieces. Enter Nimari Burnett, exit Kobe Bufkin and Hunter Dickinson (this was recorded before the Bufkin news). In theory Michigan could match whatever offer anyone else is offering Hunter Dickinson but based on Juwan Howard's statement and player comments on social media, it feels like there's some closure there... How much do we get out of Papa Kante next season? How does Michigan get top guys out of the portal?

starts at 2:05:35

Ok now for some good news. The interim tag officially comes off Brandon Naurato, the timing of this is interesting but here we are. Why did it take so long? We're curious to see how this changes the culture in the long term.

MUSIC:

• "Words and Guitar"--Sleater Kinney
• "3D Country"--Geese
• "Really Really Light"--The New Pornographers
• “Across 110th Street”