Mailbag question: Josh Furman

Posted at 8:00am — 8/7/2010

Mailbag question: Josh Furman

With no running back really standing out at this time, should Michigan take a look at Josh Furman at running back? Boy his junior and senior year film at running back is awesome. He’s big, quick, and fast.

With Mike Shaw having some academic issues and no one is really sure how Vincent Smith will respond coming off ACL surgery, should we look at Josh Furman to start his football career at running back instead of defense?

Dwain P.

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Thanks for the question, one that is very logical and shows outside-the-box possibilities.

Our staff has been told that Josh Furman has probably grown his way out of the running back position.

In our opinion, one that is very easy to defend, UM’s biggest need clearly remains defense — we have beating the same drum since the first practice we saw under Coach Rod. As an aside, the discussion of defensive talent usually turns into a “whose fault is it?” mud-wrestling match. The reality is simple: fault matters not, what talent is on the field and can start building a successful, “Michigan type” defense is what matters. Enter Josh and a few other good defensive prospects this year.

Furman, with his speed and athletic ability, has a shot at being a solid outside linebacker, or even a rush defensive end if he grows enough. For a linebacker, he has “wow” measurables. But football is more than athletic measurables.

If Furman is good enough to get playing time at running back, then the move would make sense. But if he is being moved to running back strictly for back up/depth reasons (an insurance policy), we believe this would hinder Josh’s development and provide little true benefit for the team.

In regards to Michael Shaw, official announcements trump rumors or speculation when dealing with academic matters, which some folks still consider private information in this world of the journalistic credo that essentially states, “Our right to know and get a story, supercedes your right to exist and have privacy.“ Some recruits publicly state high school scores and GPA, some do not. Notice how many recruits hold back birthday information as a result of the landscape of today’s society.

So, GBMWolverine will let an official statement(s) be the final source. One thing for certain, if nothing comes forth and Michael is on the field September 4, then Michael’s academic standing is clear.

Several of us on this staff know from personal experience that eligibility and final grade status are not always cut and dried. There really can be vagueness and uncertainty that must be filtered out before a final decision is reached. An example of this might be individual policies of professors for a specific class.

Written by GBMWolverine Staff

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