NigerianDonDada
FFOE
Michigan practice observations: Tarik Black, Brandon Peters and much more
ROME -- First thing's first: Michigan's opening practice in Rome wasn't all that intense, it was the team's third helmets-only workout of the spring.
And, Jim Harbaugh purposefully dialed back the overall pace and tempo of the day to allow his team a chance to re-acclimate to being on the field after five days of travel and touring Rome.
Still, there were a few things I was able to glean from the Wolverines' two-hour workout this morning at Olympic Center Giulio Onesti.
Here are a few observations from practice No. 1 (or, spring practice No. 13):
Tarik Black's a player
More than anyone else, the freshman receiver from Connecticut was the guy I found myself watching and jotting notes down about Thursday.
Black is so much more smooth than I thought he'd be after watching his high school highlight tape. That happens, of course. Great athletes in high school can always get away with just being bigger, faster and stronger than everyone else. But once they get on this level, athletes and football players tend to separate themselves.
Black's a football player. Plain and simple.
I didn't watch every live rep he took during 7 on 7 or passing drills, but I saw more than plenty. I did not count a single time when a target thrown his way found the dirt. He caught everything. And I mean everything.
His routes were sharp and crisp, his feet are great. And he has that ability to completely control his 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame in mid-air and on the ground while still being athletically effective -- something that's so difficult to do for big wideouts, especially when they're young.
He caught a crossing route over the middle that was thrown high and behind him, with a defender on his hip, where it was simply all hands. The ball looked like a sure incompletion -- and in a live setting, maybe worse. But he was able to time his leap right, reach back and just glide through the catch. He has a unique ability to make difficult receptions look relatively easy.
For a first-year receiver, this seems rare. I've seen so many freshman receivers get into a camp -- whether it be in the spring or the fall -- and just look lost with their fundamentals. Black is not one of those guys. Donovan Peoples-Jones didn't practice Thursday, sitting out with a minor injury (undisclosed). So I wasn't able to compare the two.
But Black looks like the real deal in terms of raw ability. We'll see how he handles himself when the bright lights turn on in September -- and I know this because there's no chance he doesn't play. He's too good to sit. He'll have a job and a role on this team and it'll probably be a sizable one.
Brandon Peters has just about everything a QB needs
So, the spring game wasn't a fluke. Brandon Peters can throw the football. He can really throw the football. And some of it just looks effortless.
The big label on Peters when he was coming out of high school was how much talent he had and how relatively raw he was in terms of overall coaching. He obviously had strong high school tutelage from coaches at Avon High School in Indiana, but he wasn't a guy who spent all his free time with manufactured "quarterback gurus." So everything he did was, basically, natural.
And all of that shows.
Photos from Michigan's practice in Italy
He has basic, fluid quarterback skills that just came with his DNA. His feet in the pocket are great, his release is basically perfect and almost every ball he throws -- when he's not facing pressure (more on that in a minute) -- is absolutely on the money.
Time after time Thursday, Peters dropped back and delivered whatever throw he was working on right where it needed to be. He has natural gifts as a passer. He doesn't force things, he doesn't aim or push the ball. He delivers it in whatever way each route dictates. He can change speeds, he can use touch, he does what he needs to do in each given situation.
That's all great stuff. And he absolutely has a bright future, there's zero sense questioning any of that.
At the same time, he's still never been tested with those live in-game bullets. And while this falls into the "intangible" category that I sometimes think gets overblown, it is important in this case. He's not a demonstrative guy, he's very quiet. Wilton Speight and John O'Korn -- older players, of course -- have full command of everything going on around them when they step up to the line.
One of Speight's best qualities right now is his ability to improvise when everything's falling apart. I haven't seen much of that from Peters yet because, frankly, I just haven't seen enough of him in live action.
If there's any missing piece here, it's this. And it's absolutely something that a quarterback can only improve upon by having the chance to experience it more. Maybe you could throw him into a high-level game right now and he'd light it up -- he certainly has the talent. But can he create offense and keep you on schedule when everything around him goes to hell? That happens. That's football. We haven't had much of a chance to see that yet. But based on Harbaugh's comments from last week, this is something where Speight has a serious advantage right now.
Peters might be the most talented passer on the team. He's effortless at times, he really is. But there's more to playing quarterback than that. So much more. Harbaugh knows this, of course, and that'll absolutely be something they continue to work with him on.
Offensive line tidbits
Michigan did not have its full contingent of offensive linemen here in Rome on Thursday. More players will be here Friday, but possibly not everybody. We'll have to see how it goes.
Patrick Kugler was not here, so Cesar Ruiz took all the first-team reps at center with Mason Cole and Jon Runyan at the tackles and Ben Bredeson and Michael Onwenu at the guards.
This was not a live workout, more of a walk-through for the offensive lineman. So you can't glean a ton there. But Runyan is a player Michigan really likes right now, there's no getting around that.
Tim Drevno and Greg Frey have put in a lot of time with him. Even Thursday while the rest of the team was off doing 7-on-7 drills, Drevno had Cole spend a ton of time working with Runyan on his kick-step as a right tackle. He has really good feet, he's in shape, he has power. But they're still working on his fundamentals in the pass-protection game.
The staff sees a football player in there and sees a guy who, with more polish, can be a possible starter at tackle. He held up really well in the ground game during the spring game. Pass protection, though, is still priority number one. Some of his strides have a tendency to be too long, which impacts his quickness off the ball. This doesn't seem like an overly complicated fix and it's definitely something they're working on right now.
Khaleke Hudson feels at home
Hudson has completely bought into the role of playing the viper spot in Don Brown's defense and, at this point, he feels like he was almost made for the position.
He's 6-foot, 210 pounds. He can cover. He can run. He can play with leverage and bring some wood in the blitz game. Everyone saw this earlier in April. He's very comfortable with this unique position and he told me he's really excited about the opportunity to show how versatile he can be on the field.
If there's one thing still giving him trouble, though, it's finding a way to combat bigger tight ends and offensive linemen in the box. He has to push away the urge to simply get into a hand-fight with them the way a safety or corner would with a wide receiver. He's never going to win that battle.
He's been working on using leverage and speed to get around those blocks easier. And, he's been working on his keys and reads to spot those potential blocks before they happen, so he has a plan of attack in the moment.
Jabrill Peppers was a master at this. He was so tough to block in space because he could diagnose things instantly and dodge a would-be blocker before they had a chance to engage.
Hudson is still watching a ton of Peppers' film from a year ago right now and trying his best to pick up those nuances as time goes on.
Other notes
When the full-team offense went on the field for the first round of snaps, it was the aforementioned offensive line, Wilton Speight, Black and Maurice Ways, Ian Bunting and Chris Evans on the field.
Kekoa Crawford, Eddie McDoom and Drake Harris were not with the team Thursday. Harris and McDoom won't be on this trip. I'm not sure about Crawford yet.
The only notable absence at running back was Karan Higdon. Otherwise, Evans, Ty Isaac and Kareem Walker did most of the rotating back there.
Zach Gentry continues to see a lot of reps as a receiver/tight end hybrid. If they can find a true home for him, he can be a weapon. He's still a really solid athlete, he's so much better with his hands now and he seems much more comfortable as a route-runner.
Again, finding him a home. Do that and you've got something going.
I'm not completely sure if Friday's workout will be in full pads, but it was almost surely be at least helmets and shoulder pads. So we'll probably get a chance to see more live contact then.
ROME -- First thing's first: Michigan's opening practice in Rome wasn't all that intense, it was the team's third helmets-only workout of the spring.
And, Jim Harbaugh purposefully dialed back the overall pace and tempo of the day to allow his team a chance to re-acclimate to being on the field after five days of travel and touring Rome.
Still, there were a few things I was able to glean from the Wolverines' two-hour workout this morning at Olympic Center Giulio Onesti.
Here are a few observations from practice No. 1 (or, spring practice No. 13):
Tarik Black's a player
More than anyone else, the freshman receiver from Connecticut was the guy I found myself watching and jotting notes down about Thursday.
Black is so much more smooth than I thought he'd be after watching his high school highlight tape. That happens, of course. Great athletes in high school can always get away with just being bigger, faster and stronger than everyone else. But once they get on this level, athletes and football players tend to separate themselves.
Black's a football player. Plain and simple.
I didn't watch every live rep he took during 7 on 7 or passing drills, but I saw more than plenty. I did not count a single time when a target thrown his way found the dirt. He caught everything. And I mean everything.
His routes were sharp and crisp, his feet are great. And he has that ability to completely control his 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame in mid-air and on the ground while still being athletically effective -- something that's so difficult to do for big wideouts, especially when they're young.
He caught a crossing route over the middle that was thrown high and behind him, with a defender on his hip, where it was simply all hands. The ball looked like a sure incompletion -- and in a live setting, maybe worse. But he was able to time his leap right, reach back and just glide through the catch. He has a unique ability to make difficult receptions look relatively easy.
For a first-year receiver, this seems rare. I've seen so many freshman receivers get into a camp -- whether it be in the spring or the fall -- and just look lost with their fundamentals. Black is not one of those guys. Donovan Peoples-Jones didn't practice Thursday, sitting out with a minor injury (undisclosed). So I wasn't able to compare the two.
But Black looks like the real deal in terms of raw ability. We'll see how he handles himself when the bright lights turn on in September -- and I know this because there's no chance he doesn't play. He's too good to sit. He'll have a job and a role on this team and it'll probably be a sizable one.
Brandon Peters has just about everything a QB needs
So, the spring game wasn't a fluke. Brandon Peters can throw the football. He can really throw the football. And some of it just looks effortless.
The big label on Peters when he was coming out of high school was how much talent he had and how relatively raw he was in terms of overall coaching. He obviously had strong high school tutelage from coaches at Avon High School in Indiana, but he wasn't a guy who spent all his free time with manufactured "quarterback gurus." So everything he did was, basically, natural.
And all of that shows.
Photos from Michigan's practice in Italy
He has basic, fluid quarterback skills that just came with his DNA. His feet in the pocket are great, his release is basically perfect and almost every ball he throws -- when he's not facing pressure (more on that in a minute) -- is absolutely on the money.
Time after time Thursday, Peters dropped back and delivered whatever throw he was working on right where it needed to be. He has natural gifts as a passer. He doesn't force things, he doesn't aim or push the ball. He delivers it in whatever way each route dictates. He can change speeds, he can use touch, he does what he needs to do in each given situation.
That's all great stuff. And he absolutely has a bright future, there's zero sense questioning any of that.
At the same time, he's still never been tested with those live in-game bullets. And while this falls into the "intangible" category that I sometimes think gets overblown, it is important in this case. He's not a demonstrative guy, he's very quiet. Wilton Speight and John O'Korn -- older players, of course -- have full command of everything going on around them when they step up to the line.
One of Speight's best qualities right now is his ability to improvise when everything's falling apart. I haven't seen much of that from Peters yet because, frankly, I just haven't seen enough of him in live action.
If there's any missing piece here, it's this. And it's absolutely something that a quarterback can only improve upon by having the chance to experience it more. Maybe you could throw him into a high-level game right now and he'd light it up -- he certainly has the talent. But can he create offense and keep you on schedule when everything around him goes to hell? That happens. That's football. We haven't had much of a chance to see that yet. But based on Harbaugh's comments from last week, this is something where Speight has a serious advantage right now.
Peters might be the most talented passer on the team. He's effortless at times, he really is. But there's more to playing quarterback than that. So much more. Harbaugh knows this, of course, and that'll absolutely be something they continue to work with him on.
Offensive line tidbits
Michigan did not have its full contingent of offensive linemen here in Rome on Thursday. More players will be here Friday, but possibly not everybody. We'll have to see how it goes.
Patrick Kugler was not here, so Cesar Ruiz took all the first-team reps at center with Mason Cole and Jon Runyan at the tackles and Ben Bredeson and Michael Onwenu at the guards.
This was not a live workout, more of a walk-through for the offensive lineman. So you can't glean a ton there. But Runyan is a player Michigan really likes right now, there's no getting around that.
Tim Drevno and Greg Frey have put in a lot of time with him. Even Thursday while the rest of the team was off doing 7-on-7 drills, Drevno had Cole spend a ton of time working with Runyan on his kick-step as a right tackle. He has really good feet, he's in shape, he has power. But they're still working on his fundamentals in the pass-protection game.
The staff sees a football player in there and sees a guy who, with more polish, can be a possible starter at tackle. He held up really well in the ground game during the spring game. Pass protection, though, is still priority number one. Some of his strides have a tendency to be too long, which impacts his quickness off the ball. This doesn't seem like an overly complicated fix and it's definitely something they're working on right now.
Khaleke Hudson feels at home
Hudson has completely bought into the role of playing the viper spot in Don Brown's defense and, at this point, he feels like he was almost made for the position.
He's 6-foot, 210 pounds. He can cover. He can run. He can play with leverage and bring some wood in the blitz game. Everyone saw this earlier in April. He's very comfortable with this unique position and he told me he's really excited about the opportunity to show how versatile he can be on the field.
If there's one thing still giving him trouble, though, it's finding a way to combat bigger tight ends and offensive linemen in the box. He has to push away the urge to simply get into a hand-fight with them the way a safety or corner would with a wide receiver. He's never going to win that battle.
He's been working on using leverage and speed to get around those blocks easier. And, he's been working on his keys and reads to spot those potential blocks before they happen, so he has a plan of attack in the moment.
Jabrill Peppers was a master at this. He was so tough to block in space because he could diagnose things instantly and dodge a would-be blocker before they had a chance to engage.
Hudson is still watching a ton of Peppers' film from a year ago right now and trying his best to pick up those nuances as time goes on.
Other notes
When the full-team offense went on the field for the first round of snaps, it was the aforementioned offensive line, Wilton Speight, Black and Maurice Ways, Ian Bunting and Chris Evans on the field.
Kekoa Crawford, Eddie McDoom and Drake Harris were not with the team Thursday. Harris and McDoom won't be on this trip. I'm not sure about Crawford yet.
The only notable absence at running back was Karan Higdon. Otherwise, Evans, Ty Isaac and Kareem Walker did most of the rotating back there.
Zach Gentry continues to see a lot of reps as a receiver/tight end hybrid. If they can find a true home for him, he can be a weapon. He's still a really solid athlete, he's so much better with his hands now and he seems much more comfortable as a route-runner.
Again, finding him a home. Do that and you've got something going.
I'm not completely sure if Friday's workout will be in full pads, but it was almost surely be at least helmets and shoulder pads. So we'll probably get a chance to see more live contact then.
Milton probably not going for that pine
