The positive reviews keep coming in for Michigan football.
After Big Ten Network visited Ann Arbor for practice, the 12th stop for the network on its 14-team conference tour, no team received more effusive praise than the Wolverines.
Gerry DiNardo raved both on Twitter and on “Big Ten Today” about how good the maize and blue looked. You can add his cohort, Dave Revsine, to the list. Revsine appeared on “Stoney and Jansen” this week and shared why Michigan is among the top teams in the conference.
“I’ve gotta say, we were really blown away by this practice,” Revsine said. “Man, we were really impressed. It was a great practice. There has to be questions on defense just because of how good Hutchinson and Ojabo were. One and two in the Big Ten in sacks — they had more sacks between the two of them than many Big Ten teams did. Are they just gonna plug someone in there? I don’t think so. But man, they were really good. That whole defense can really run. They’ve got a ton of athletes.
”Offensively — this is going to be a great offense. They were humming the day we were there. I thought both quarterbacks looked very good. McNamara — the ball never hits the ground when he’s in there. He’s just so accurate. They’re really talented at wide receiver. To see Ronnie Bell back, running full speed — and then offensive line is just gonna be fabulous. It was so good last year, and I don’t really think they’ve missed a beat there. The transfer from Virginia is every bit as good a center as Vastardis was. Physically, they just look great.
“Really, really impressed by Michigan.”
Revsine is one of the few outsiders who has gotten a chance to see the quarterback battle between incumbent Cade McNamara and phenom challenger J.J. McCarthy. While there are loud cries from many in the fan base for McCarthy, Revsine insists, after watching both in practice, that the incumbent should be the man starting under center. He explains why.
”Oh, I would go with McNamara for sure,” Revsine said. “I think there’s a little more risk with McCarthy. He’s a really, really good quarterback and any team in college football would be falling all over themselves to get him. I’m not suggesting he’s not good, but I guess I just feel like McNamara makes such good decisions and it’s just not worth the risk. You want a guy that won’t put the ball in harm’s way simply because you don’t need the risk because your offense is so good that you’ll be great with McNamara.
”We haven’t even talked about the tight end. Erick All — holy cow, Jon! There just aren’t guys that look like him, that run like him. You just have so many weapons, I think you need someone who isn’t going to make mistakes at that spot. So, for me, it’s McNamara. I think there has to be a role for McCarthy because he does add a really dangerous dimension, but for me, it’s McNamara — no doubt in my mind.”
Michigan opens up the 2022 season on Sept. 3 when it host Colorado State at The Big House.
[lawrence-related id=61601,61599,61573]
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbzardvge799bm2 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]