Riley Norman committed to MSU tonight with a track scholarship according to Josh Helmholdt of Rivals. As a Rivals Top 250 Offensive Tackle he would have been a great fit for the football team. And holy wow does MSU need offensive tackles. His football highlights are just ridiculous. Picture a grown man slapping around kindergartners, that’s about half as savage as these highlights are. Actually, just watch them below.
The kid really wants to shotput in college and who could blame him? He tossed a 61’ 2.5” this season in the shot and a 167’ 7” in the disc. For comparison, Reese Hoffa PRed this season at 71’ 3” and the gold medal winner finished the disc at 224. The 12th place finisher in the shot at the Olympics put a 65’ 7” toss. Norman may well have not just a college career out of this, he might well have real international potential at shot and disc.
Will he play football at MSU?
According to Helmholdt, no. Football has more scholarships than any other sport, so if Norman accepted a track ride, he’s going to do track. Otherwise they’d put him on football scholarship and let him do track in the Spring.
As bright as Norman’s future in football is, it takes some stones to run down the thing you love. Especially when track has just a fraction of the commercial success that football has. Best of luck to him and hopefully we can all watch him get his Reese Hoffa on in 2016 or 2020.
That man is an Olympic athlete and a damned fine one too. I’m living my life wrong.
Here we continue our 2012 position previews. I aim to be occasionally right, barring that I’ll shoot for humor. For your enjoyment, I present the Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Fullbacks.
Starters: Dion Sims, Denzel Drone, Andrew Gleichert
Departures: Garrett Celek, Brian Linthicum
In 2011, MSU had a pretty solid rotation of tight ends with Linthicum, Celek and Sims. Linthicum was the point guy for all of Dan Roushar’s Linehanian Tight End devilry. Celek and Sims took turns being hurt and catching passes. The Tight End group combined for 498 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2011.
In 2012, Linthicum and Celek depart and are replaced by…
Guys, we did remember to recruit some Tight Ends after Linthicum and Celek, right? Surely, we did not recruit for the last five years and only bring in Dion Sims? Right? Guys? No? I mean surely you’re not telling me we intend to run an offense that relies on two tight end sets to disguise intent right up until the snap with Dion Sims and a bunch of tight end n00bs right?
It’s not fair to say that MSU has an Angry Tight End Hating God a la AIRBHG,but their luck since Dantonio has come to town has been poor. MSU didn’t take a Tight End in 2008 or 2010. In 2009 they took Sims who hasn’t been a consistent presence on the field, but has been a breathtaking mismatch when healthy. They also took Derek Hoebing in 2009 who currently sits fourth on the depth chart. In 2011, MSU brought in Paul Lang who suffered a pretty severe back injury and according to the message boards(WHICH ARE NEVER WRONG) his career might be over.
But I thought you sarcastically implied(in italics no less) the coaches recruited adequately for the type of offense they like to run?
I uh… thought they did. Not taking a Tight End in 2008 or 2010 and then having Hoebing not really pan out makes three years where MSU’s Tight End recruiting has one very talented Tight End to show for it’s efforts. True freshmen Evan Jones and Josiah Price look pretty promising, but are true frosh. As such they might be good in 2012, but it’s not fair to expect that of them.
Dion Sims
Dion Sims has had an up and down career with MSU. Sims is a constant mismatch for defenses because he has linebacker speed but is 30-40 lbs heavier than your average B1G linebacker. In 2009 he caught 11 passes for 133 yards and 3 touchdowns and in 2011 he caught 12 passes for 99 yards and 3 touchdowns. In 2010, Sims redshirted after being convicted of laptop theft that occurred while he was still in high school. He’s had issues with injuries in both 2009 and 2011 which isn’t surprising. Humans are not meant to be 6’5, 285 lbs and move like Sims does. He’s poised for a big year if he can stay healthy. He’s been named to the preseason Mackey Award list and will see his catches go way up in 2012. Expect big things or injured things from Sims in 2012.
Denzel Drone
Denzel Drone moves over to the tight end position after a very productive year at DE/DT in 2011. Drone played flat out of his mind in the Georgia game when injuries dinged up the defensive tackle position. Drone starts the preseason as the number two tight end on the depth chart and if he can continue his development curve at tight end, watch out.
Andrew Gleichert
Gleichert will push for playing time in 2012 and had a couple catches in the Spring Game. He also lead the Tight Ends in catches after the most recent scrimmage. At 6’5” and 250, he figures to be more of a pass catching Tight End than a blocking Tight End. Given the walk-on status and the being a sophomore and all a decent season from him might position him nicely to have a Blair White trajectory at the Tight End position.
Starter Summary
Well as previously stated, Sims is our occasionally injured juggernaut at the tight end position and then a giant fantastic ball of “I don’t rightly know”. This is the reason I skipped the Wide Receiver segment so far; there’s just lots of conjecture behind one or two guys. So if you’re bored and concerned about this, write out the names of the tight ends that aren’t Sims and pick one. Know secretly all season that if your pick isn’t on the field, he’d have done better because the cosmos willed that piece of paper into your hand.
The Other Guys
I really enjoyed this flick. It was one of those movies where I had low expectations and so they were met wildly and as a result I enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s very similar to MACtion football in that regard. Oh… the Tight Ends. Yes, sorry. If you are not one of the three guys listed above you’re going to need a stellar fall camp to see the field in 2012. So far no indication of that.
Overall Conclusion
If you’re looking for a position to brag on MSU’s depth and talent this is not the one for you. Call up the defensive line, I hear they might be decent. If Dion Sims can stay healthy, he’ll be all Big Ten in 2012. Everyone else falls in various places on the spectrum of talented but unproven. Recruiting has improved at this position with the arrival of Evan Jones and Josiah Price for 2012 and Dylan Chmura for 2013. In the meantime, MSU sits tight and waits for those guys to carry on the finest Linehan traditions in 2014.
Starters: Niko Palazeti, Trevon Pendleton
Departures: Todd Anderson
The fullbacks took a beating last year. The fullbacks take a beating every year, that’s their job. Oh, they also deliver beatings(to High School Spanish Teachers and everyone else on the Adam Sandler CD from way back when.) When they drop the hammer, they are Fight Club style hits designed to take blitzing linebackers out of plays. The traditional I-formation fullback has been replaced in both college and the pros by a more H-backy fella who might line up wide or motion presnap. As a result, fewer teams are giving out scholarship rides to fullbacks and instead using athletic Tight Ends to handle big pieces of the H-back job.(See Linthicum, Brian)
Todd Anderson leaves MSU after a 2011 where he caught 6 passes for 40 yards and a Touchdown. He also had one carry for one yard against Indiana in 2011, so obviously we’re not talking huge chunks of offensive yardage here. But the bruises! Oh the Glorious Bruises!
Niko Palazeti
I have known three dudes named Niko in my life, none of them well and all of them could beat me to death with their eyebrows. I suspect that this Niko is no different. I just looked it up, Niko actually means “Victory of the People” He was the only fullback to be recruited as a fullback to come play at MSU. In 2011, he caught one pass for 2 yards against Indiana and caught a couple passes in the Spring Game. In high school, he rushed 224 times for 1279 yards and 24 TDs his senior year. Palazeti is entering his redshirt sophomore year so if he’s the right mix of athletic and boxer you’ll be noticing him for a few years.
Trevon Pendleton
Trevon Pendleton is a redshirt freshman this year. He’s walked on at MSU, but turned down offers from Ball State and Air Force. Hokeamania? He turned down the hallowed stomping grounds of Hokeamania? Anyway, Pendleton was the number three ranked fullback in the class of 2011. He had a few catches in the Spring game and figures to be the next guy up should we lose Palazeti for any reason. He rushed 88 times for 967 yards in his senior year of High School which is good for 11 yards a carry. He also had 78 tackles on defense.
These are the guys right here who will start at Fullback, so much as anyone starts there. This year it would be a huge improvement in my mind if they can assist in picking up short yardage situations so you don’t see five wide on 3rd and 2 a few times a game. These guys are both a bit smaller than Todd Anderson was last year and as a result likely a bit more athletic. You should be able to get a good sniff on how much more or less MSU will rely on it’s linebackers this year pretty early on against a lightweight Boise State defense.
Taylor Calero was recruited to MSU as a part of the 2010 recruiting class and had the JLS offer sheet(Indiana and the MAC). He came to Michigan State as a defensive end and is transitioning into the fullback role this year. I don’t have all of the information, but I seem to recall him struggling with injury at some point between his commitment and now. Senior Jeff Bobek was recruited as an inside linebacker and decided to walk-on at Michigan State. Neither are expected to see significant field time this year.
It’s tough to write that the fullback will have a huge role because they just don’t get used enough. As I talked about in the starter summary, the best and most immediate impact any fullback could have is to allow MSU to obliterate their opponents in short yardage. I haven’t seen enough of either of these guys to know if they’ve got the blast their linebacker into space power. Treadwell also tended to use the Fullback to roll out into the flat and catch passes more often than Roushar and again, I haven’t seen enough of these guys to know if that’s a strength of theirs.
So in short, MOAR RUNNING on 3rd and short probably means YAY FULLBACKS!
Dylan Chmura committed to Michigan State on June 24th,2012 over offers from Western Michigan and Central Michigan...and that's it. Eastern passed because they've had enough of this directional school solidarity bullshit. They went .500 last year and I'll be damned if Eastern is just going to fall in anymore. Chmura is currently unrated by Rivals, two star by 247 and Scout. He's the sole tight end commit for the class of 2013 and was the eighth commit overall.
Chmura plays football at Waukesha West in Wisconsin where he's coached part-time by his father, Packer great Mark Chmura. Dantonio gets his Beeline on raiding by Raiding Sons of Former Pro Players. Chmura was sidelined his junior year with an ACL tear which I'm sure was super fun for him.
A Predictor of Future Success is YOUtube
Ouchtown brother, population you. Instead:
Awww... I mean, manly, beer, football, meat, bloody meat.
Stats: Threw a 52 foot 7" finishing ninth in the State Shotput meet. 19 catches for 250 yards and 4 TDs in his sophomore year. And a State Championship.
Prediction for 2013 and Beyond: Normally this is the part where I say he redshirts as a freshman because of the low, low ratings and the serious injury his junior year. Positionally, after Dion Sims there's currently a void of proven talent heading into the 2012 season and since he didn't play his junior year there's a void of knowledge as to how good Chmura is right now. The TE #2 spot will get sorted out for this year, but whether he could crack the 2013 depth chart, only your psychic knows. Probably not though.
And Beyond? Well, Chmura really is going to be more of a pass-catching TE than a blocking TE so he'll see the field after the Sims/Drone duo clears out next year. You know, genes and all that.
From Chmura's commitment article on 247:
I’m from Massachusetts. I have zero ties to the state whatsoever. I was clear to all the colleges that were recruiting me, including Michigan State, that I’m not from Wisconsin, that my blood isn’t from Wisconsin, it’s from Massachusetts.
(H/T to The Only Colors Welcome Aboard post)
Translation: Screw Wisconsin. Screw them right in their ear. I don't like this state, their brats or fried cheese curds. Go Bruins!
Impact on the remainder of the class
Linemen. We need linemen. Do you know any linemen who want to play football at Michigan State University?
Team with Back to Back 11 win seasons seeks Offensive and Defensive Linemen. Perks include a scholarship to a Big Ten University, all the food you can eat at training table, hanging out with Sparty, winning division titles, Florida bowl games. You too can enjoy a fine collegiate football career at Michigan State.
Call the football office for details!
Starters: Le’Veon Bell, (Larry Caper and Nick Hill)
Departures: Edwin Baker and Joel Foreman(LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL end around against Indiana LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL)
Well, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the Running Back position will improve significantly in 2012, the bad news is that it’s because regression to the mean would demand improvement. In the 2011 season, MSU averaged an underwhelming 3.95 yards per carry and finished 11th in the Big Ten in total rushing. More importantly, on third and 2 MSU would line up in the power I and hand off to one of their TWO FULLBACKS OUT OF THE TRIPLE WISHBONE AND --- what? MSU would throw over 50 percent of the time on 3rd and 3 or less? Ugh. The excellent news is that as the workload shifted from Baker to Bell throughout the 2011 season, the running game improved dramatically. In fact, in the last six games of MSU’s season the ground game averaged 4.3 ypc/144 ypg vs the first eight games of the season where they averaged 3.70ypc/133 ypg.
Le’Veon Bell
Much of that late season improvement can be attributed to the emergence of Le’Veon Bell. Bell started the 2011 season as the complimentary back to Edwin Baker and as the season wore on he continued to get more PT and continued improving. Bell finished the 2011 season with 5.21 YPC average and 13 TDs. He also emerged as a legitimate receiving threat grabbing 35 passes for 267 yards. In the 2012 outlook for Bell, he was ranked the fifth-best running back in the Big Ten pre-season by ESPN(although the list included Silas Redd who will be playing at USC this year). He’s a Doak Walker preseason watch list selection as well. As you know Bell has a weird combination of elusiveness and bruising ability, like he can hurt you or he can sidestep you. That’s a blend not often seen at Running Back. Way Too Early Prediction: Le’Veon Bell will end up second team All-Big Ten this year behind only Montee Ball. That dude won the award for All Big Ten when he decided not to enter the NFL draft.
Larry Caper
<-- Larry Caper sets up a field goal runs over Troy Woolfolk to beat UM in 2009. 2011 was an interesting year for Larry Caper. He played in 11 games, primarily as MSU’s third down back. He averaged 3.87 ypc and caught 10 passes for 86 yards. Showed great hands and more important looked great as a pass blocker on third down. He spent a few games of the 2011 season concussed after the Nebraska game and again in the Spring game this year. Provided his noggin stays healthy, he’ll see an expanded role in the offense as he and Nick Hill consume all of Edwin Baker’s carries from 2011. Caper has a running style that is quicker than Bell and moves nice and fluidly. He’s obviously not quite as beefy, but at 220, he’s still a load to bring down.
Nick Hill
Nick Hill saw a lot of mop-up duty in 2011 aiding in defeating mighty juggernauts such as Youngstown State, FAU, CMU and Indiana. More importantly he returned 38 kicks for 999 yards in 2011 and showed that he has the quicks to be the lightning to Le’Veon Bell’s thunder. He actually reminded me a bit of DeAndra Cobb, where you could run the delayed draw and watch Nick Hill go right up the middle for 78 yards and a touchdown. He had 29 carries for 113 yards and no receptions. It’s difficult to tell how the coaches will work Hill and Caper into the fold together.
Bell is the clear number one back, but the coaches haven’t hinted whether they’re going to try and feed three guys carries again in 2012 or whether they’ll try to pick two guys and go. If the coaches go three guys I’d expect to see Bell and Hill on first and second down and then Caper on third down. If the coaches go two guys it’ll be Bell and someone else. Another thing helping this group is that the interior Offensive Line has improved quite a bit since 2011 as well. Chris McDonald and Travis Jackson return at RG and Center, Joel Foreman is replaced by Blake Treadwell who’s flat nasty on the football field. Running between the tackles should become quite a bit easier this year.
The two guys most likely to see the field are Jeremy Langford and Nick Tompkins. Jeremy Langford was recruited as an athlete from the same school as Keshawn Martin. The rumor has been that Langford was faster in a straight line, but Keshawn was like a Wonkavator in every direction. Langford played third string corner last year and had an interception return for a touchdown. Nick Tompkins is a true freshman this year and picked MSU over offers like Wisconsin and Georgia Tech, he like Hill has that one-cut and gone type speed. These are the two guys next most likely to be tapped.
Tony Fant and Marcus Horne join the team this year as walk-ons. Tony Fant comes to MSU from Loyola High School where he averaged 10.2 ypc and picked up 9 TD’s his senior year. Horne is a greyshirt from Wisconsin who turned down a Single Redeemable Offer Anywhere in the MAC to come play football at Michigan State. Horne and Fant Jr. both have the kind of stories where you root for them to succeed.
The position of Running Back may not be amazing in 2012, but it will improve and substantially. It will certainly evolve into a position of consistency which will give Maxwell some additional breathing room on 2nd and 6 type plays. The three backs all bring different styles to the table, Bell is strong and fluid, Caper is sturdy and Hill is quick as a cat. There’s a formula for dinging all of the Big Ten defenses with those three styles it’ll just be a matter of health and blocking. I expect MSU to finish more middle of the pack this year in Big Ten rushing(think 4-6th) and that 2012 to be MSU’s strongest rushing year since 2007.
