Jake Rudock appreciation thread
October 6th, 2015 at 2:50 PM ^
I hereby publicly appreciate you, Jake Rudock!
There, done. Now back to finding cute cat pictures on the Internet.
October 6th, 2015 at 3:41 PM ^
and by "cute cate" pictures he means pornography
October 6th, 2015 at 4:15 PM ^
October 7th, 2015 at 10:18 AM ^
Kate, or both?
October 6th, 2015 at 2:26 PM ^
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October 6th, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^
I saw Speight on the field in garbage time against Maryland. He doesn't look any better.
And Morris hasn't done anything to give me confidence that he would do better, either.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:31 PM ^
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October 6th, 2015 at 3:13 PM ^
His point wasn't that they are better, and I assume it's not even close between the QB's (just as Harbaugh has said). Having said that, it's not much of a stretch to think any other QB on the roster could have gotten us to 4-1. Any QB could have gotten us a loss at Utah, obviously, and the rest of the games were blowouts that didn't rely much on QB play. I will say I'm really glad Rudock is our QB. He's much better than everybody else we have, and he seems to be leading the offense well. I have been very pleasantly surprised with his ability to use his legs the last couple weeks, though. That wasn't something I really expected to see him do. I really enjoyed the run against Maryland where he cut back inside when everybody assumed he would be crusing to the sideline or sliding. Other than that, I think he is what we thought he was going to be. He's a pretty average QB that probably isn't going to win us any games by throwing the ball deep.
October 6th, 2015 at 4:13 PM ^
If Speight or Morris were in I think they throw as many, if not more ints, probably don't run for those touchdowns and probably have a much lower completion percentage. Neither one has Jake's pocket presence. MAYBE, juuust maybe Morris or Speight may have connected on a deep ball or two in the past five games but I don't think that comes close to offsetting all the other areas they are deficient to Jake. Call me crazy but I'm on the side of Butch Davis and Jim Harbaugh on this one.
October 6th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
October 6th, 2015 at 7:54 PM ^
October 6th, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^
I doubt that.
Remember, everyone has a new offensive playbook. If we were still running a Hoke offense, then yeah the other QBs would know the system better.
But everyone is starting from scratch. You get with Rudock:
1) Game experience that the others do not have
2) Calmness and leadership as a senior
Yeah, Rudock is still learning Harbaugh's system. But the younger guys would be too and probably in panic scramble mode at any sign of pressure. I think our QB fumbles and QB sacks allowed would be much higher with the younger guys.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:57 PM ^
liked a couple of the calls that have lead to Rudock turnovers. I hated the empty backfield that lead to the Utah pick-6 and I did not like the 4th and short shortgun whatever that lead to the Maryland fumble. In a couple of instances I thought that Rudock wasn't given the best material and that the calls lead to the outcome every bit as much as Rudock.
October 6th, 2015 at 3:09 PM ^
Yeah, I remember Harbaugh said that didn't work in practice either and he (Harbaugh) shouldn't have called that play.
October 6th, 2015 at 3:14 PM ^
While Rudock hasn't been the Unstoppable Throw God in the passing game or indeed what some people would like to see at the position ultimately, he's been good enough and at least has the requisite in-game experience, and he's able to manage the game in a way that I doubt the available backups could right now.
I'll trust the staff here - Rudock probably is the best QB available on the roster. That's not necessarily saying he's fan-effing-tastic in all aspects of the position, and what that might say about the state of things before Rudock arrived is something we can leave to individual interpretation.
I still don't understand what people expect right now necessarily - I had thought we knew that 2015 was going to be a bit of a transitional year on the offense, QB included. If you want the best chance to win games and make that 8-4 to 9-3 prediction that a lot of people had come to fruition, Jake Rudock is the guy.
October 6th, 2015 at 3:37 PM ^
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October 6th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^
4th year in Iowa system vs 4th week in Michigan system.
Sounds like you need to re-evaluate some things.
October 6th, 2015 at 4:06 PM ^
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October 6th, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^
October 6th, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^
The team is 4-1 under him having scored more than enough points to win. Don't you think Harbaugh is aware that he has a great defense and what Jake's limitations are, and structures the offensive gameplan accordingly, asking just enough of him to win? Harbaugh said himself, Rudock is doing what we ask him to do. His job is to win football games and he is doing a good job of that. The offense can improve in all phases, not just at QB. I don't think Rudock has suddenly lost the ability to throw accurately and do the things he's good at now that he's under Harbaugh. He certainly doesn't look completely confident slinging it down the field deep and I think that's because Harbaugh's #1 rule of QBing is take care of the ball and that's been drilled into his head. Hopefully that hesitancy is coached out of him. Sometimes it looks like he has the yips or overthinks and misses what seem to be easy throws, but other times he's thrown some nice dimes, including some deep ones that WR's had a good shot at. Most importantly, he never looks lost, clueless, panicky or throws outright head scratchers. His ints have mostly had a root cause not totally on him. Maybe it's not his 4th week in the system, but it's his 4th week playing live game action as Michigan's starter. He will likely will keep getting more comfortable under Harbaugh's coaching and planning. He's the best we got.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^
Seems like a real stretch to say we'd lose to Oregon State, UNLV, and Maryland with Morris or Speight instead of Rudock.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:30 PM ^
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October 6th, 2015 at 4:07 PM ^
I don't think "former NFL coach Butch Davis" cared to note that our average margin of victory in the past 4 games has been 27 points.
Can we make this a DJ Durkin, Greg Mattison, Brady Hoke, Greg Jackson, Mike Zordich, Ryan Glasgow, Willie Henry, Maurice Hurst, Chris Wormley, Matt Godin, Mario Ojemudia, Taco Charlton, Desmond Morgan, Joe Bolden, James Ross, Jordan Lewis, Jeremy Clark, Channing Stribling, Jabrill Peppers, Jarrod Wilson, Delano Hill, John Baxter, Blake O'Neil appreciation thread instead?
October 7th, 2015 at 2:05 AM ^
I think some are underestimating momentum (announcer's word). My word is emotion. I remember playing ball and when part of the team does awesome (scores touchdown), then the defense gets fired up to do well, too. If offense is blowing it and boos are coming out of the crowd, the defense won't have as much adrenaline and excitement to kick butt.
It's easy to say the players should be motivated enough to play their maximum on every play, but it's never true. Need the excitement, adrenaline, confidence, crowd support.
And, plays change as you start to get ahead. If there is more of a lead, then you can "try" a few plays you haven't tried before...play a few more players, etc. Some more liberal play calls may not have been attempted had we not already had the lead.
Point is, there is a part of each game where all of us feels like the game isn't in hand, then we break it open and start to demoralize the other team and shake up play calling...but a pick 6 or less turnovers by the other teams may have delayed and even prevented this moment.
I feel like playing Oregon State and Maryland with another quarterback could have been a loss. Oregon State especially had some bad luck plays and turnovers that allowed M to get ahead. Who knows what would have happened without the botched Oregon State punt.
I feel great with Rudock and think he is thinking in a cerebral way, understands the game well, and doing everything to gain trust and support of players, which in turn ensures everyone's best performances. I feel like he is challenging himself more than prior years and that is the part that isn't 100% yet, but we will appreciate his efforts later in the year. Plus, 2 of his interceptions against Utah were from receiver issues...it's not all on Rudock, and has a lot to do with the full cohesiveness of the team. I would be closer to agreeing with Butch Davis than disagreeing. We are very lucky to have Rudock to make this season work.
In future years we will have many Harbaugh quarterback options, but this year is the thin year on capable quarterbacks.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:28 PM ^
He is sufficiently adequate to not lose us games.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:49 PM ^
Except Utah.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:56 PM ^
He is sufficiently adequate to not lose us games.*
*Post-Utah
October 6th, 2015 at 2:31 PM ^
Let's see how things go the next two weeks and then decide if a Jake Rudock appreciation thread is warranted or not.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^
October 6th, 2015 at 4:14 PM ^
October 6th, 2015 at 2:32 PM ^
Expectations were way too high. This is a kid that got benched last year by IOWA. He has only been in Ann Arbor for a few months and is still trying to build chemistry with his WRs. I doubt Harbaugh would play a kid if he really was not our best option. This thread is long overdue.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:48 PM ^
People need to read this post over and over again. Breath, and then relax.
The coaching is elite. The defense is elite. Special teams might be elite. The running game has been efficient.
Just dont turn the ball over. I really wish he connected with Jehu Chesson on that 2nd deep route. We needed to put a deep pass on film for these next two games.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:59 PM ^
if you think about, it may be better that we did not put a deep pass on film for the next couple of games.
October 6th, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^
Elaborately schemed fake being-bad-at-long-balls by Harbaugh and Rudock? Jehu Chesson catches 3 50+ yard TDs on Saturday? Yes please.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:33 PM ^
this post?
October 6th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^
just throw the damn deep ball better please
October 6th, 2015 at 2:55 PM ^
long passes. But, I'll take less turnovers and a 60%+ completion rate before that. I'm pretty confident he can achieve that before the end of the season.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^
October 6th, 2015 at 2:38 PM ^
The quarterback position is so much more manageable this year. Rudock keeps his head, makes the play he can see, and throws it away if he must.
Quarterback play is not a tire fire like last year.
Rudock is no Tom Brady, but as long as he is not turning the ball over constantly, the defense and the ground game give us a chance to win.
October 6th, 2015 at 3:19 PM ^
Sort of funny comment. Devin's stats thru his first 5 stars last year are not much different than what Rudock is . And Rudock has far superior protection and coaching.
Comp | Att | % | Yds | YPA | TD | INT | |
Gardner | 72 | 114 | 63.2% | 872 | 7.6 | 5 | 6 |
Rudock | 89 | 148 | 60.1% | 956 | 6.5 | 5 | 6 |
October 6th, 2015 at 7:15 PM ^
October 6th, 2015 at 10:01 PM ^
Here are the stats from MGOBLUE.COM
PASSING GP-GS Effic Cmp-Att-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G --------------------------------------------------------------- Gardner 6-5 128.35 75-120-7 62.5 911 5 34 151.8 Morri 4-1 48.08 14-39-3 35.9 128 0 26 32.0 Total... 6 108.66 89-159-10 56.0 1039 5 34 173.2 Same stats for Jake
PASSING GP Effic Cmp-Att-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G ------------------------------------------------------------- Rudock 5 117.44 89-148-6 60.1 956 5 44 191.2 Speight 4 0.00 0-4-0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 Total... 5 114.34 89-152-6 58.6 956 5 44 191.2 I think Jake is better
October 6th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
Great, another post about our quarterback situation.
October 6th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
Butch Davis must be one hell of a talent evaluator to be able to draw such strong conclusions after watching a single pre-game warmup.
October 7th, 2015 at 1:43 AM ^
Or he's observed Jake Rudock and Shane Morris in past years. It's not like the practice was the only showing of those two.
October 7th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^
Yeah, I'm sure that Butch has taken the time to break down film on every one of Shane Morris' whopping 87 attempts over the past two years.
October 10th, 2015 at 4:25 PM ^
That's kind of extreme to break down the film.
Butch has been paying a lot of attention to a lot of football in the last few years.
Jake is a great game manager and has really changed the opportunities for this Michigan team...Butch is probably more right than not.