Spring Game Standouts: Peters, Black, Hudson, Another Glasgow Comment Count

Ace

I guess I need to include a SPOILER ALERT for those who weren't able to watch the live stream. If for some reason you want the ending of the Spring Game to be a mystery, and yet you still are on this blog, stop reading now. The full game is airing right now on tape delay on BTN and will be replayed several times this week.


Brandon Peters was the best quarterback on the day. [Eric Upchurch]

For the second straight year, the Spring Game came down to the final play. Kyle Seychel's 31-yard field goal gave the Brandon Peters-led Maize team a 31-29 victory over the Speight/O-Korn-piloted Blue team.

Newsy bits first: Juwann Bushell-Beatty was among the players sitting out, so the starting O-line from left to right was Cole-Bredeson-Kugler-Onwenu-Runyan. The coaches shuffled that combination quite a bit throughout the day even before Runyan exited with an apparent leg injury—he walked off under his own power. The other injury on the day was to Eddie McDoom, who went down awkwardly on the sideline after a deep catch in the fourth quarter; he needed help from the trainers to get to the sideline, eventually was carted into the tunnel, and was spotted walking around without assistance.

Here are a few initial standouts from each side of the ball; we'll have much more this week after a re-watch.

OFFENSE

QB Brandon Peters. Peters had the best day of the quarterbacks, displaying good arm strength, touch on throws to all levels, and enough athleticism to repeatedly break the pocket and even scramble for a touchdown. While Peters had one ugly pick when he didn't see Brandon Watson waiting in the flat, Speight was worse in that regard. Caveats abound: it's one scrimmage and Peters got better protection from the line. That said, he looked like he could legitimately push Speight, especially if the incumbent starter doesn't clean up some of these sloppy mistakes.

RBs Karan Higdon and Ty Isaac. These two had the most complete days at running back, showing patience on impressive touchdown runs and breaking into the secondary multiple times. Chris Evans and Kareem Walker also looked good in less extended action; Evans looked bigger while still maintaining his ability to juke defenders in a phone booth, while Walker has an enticing combination of power and patience. There weren't always holes to hit, but when they were there, the backs made the most of them.


Tarik Black, not Donovan Peoples-Jones, had the best day of the freshman WRs. [Upchurch]

WRs Tarik Black and Nate Schoenle. Black dominated much of the second half, becoming John O'Korn's go-to guy on a touchdown drive in which he caught a fade over Benjamin St-Juste for a big gain, then beat St-Juste to the back corner to cap the drive. He managed to get over top of St-Juste on fly routes a couple times, and he provides a big target. Schoenle also had a couple long catches, including a ~50-yard throw from Peters that was perfectly executed on both ends. To stave off the inevitable questions, Donovan Peoples-Jones had a few short pickups on a relatively quiet day for him.

TEs Nick Eubanks and Zach Gentry. Gentry's inclusion here is based on one play, a long touchdown catch up the seam on a coverage bust; he's quite nimble for such a big dude. Eubanks had a more complete body of work, running a nice out route for a catch and nearly hauling in a deep throw from Peters on which he made a nice adjustment to the ball. Sean McKeon ended up with the most targets among the TE group but didn't get too much out of them.

OL Andrew Vastardis. I mostly have to punt on line play, as they shuffled around so much that it was tough to keep track of who was on the field from the press box. The right side of the starting line had a lot of trouble against the starting D-line—Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary dominated Runyan—but Vastardis stood out on the interior of the second unit, picking up a couple blitzes that were giving the other linemen trouble.


Devin Bush spent the afternoon in the backfield. [Bryan Fuller]

DEFENSE

The starting D-line. As expected, the Winovich-Hurst-Mone-Gary line gave the offensive line a lot of trouble. Gary was flat-out dominant, Hurst batted down a couple passes, Mone held strong on the interior, and Winovich got multiple pressures off the edge.

ILB Devin Bush. Bush looked unblockable on A-gap blitzes; it was pretty much an automatic sack when he rushed up the middle. He looked equally capable at both inside linebacker spots. "It's so nice when you have a young guy like that who can play two spots," said Don Brown. "You can ask some guys to do that and they'd look at you like 'are you kidding me?' But he handled it really with ease. He's a really good player."

VIPER Khaleke Hudson. The hype here isn't going to slow one bit after today. Hudson was everywhere on defense, looking like the heavy-hitting player we expected against the run and proving equally formidable in coverage, where he broke up a couple passes and nearly came up with an interception. As is his wont, he came inches away from a blocked punt, too.

CB Keith Washington. Washington held his own one-on-one against DPJ, limiting him to minimal YAC after a couple short completions. Noticeably bigger than last year, Washington also played well against the run, making at least one stop in the backfield after extending an outside run to the sideline.

S Jordan Glasgow. Surprise! A Glasgow might see the field. Josh Metellus was limited due to injury today, so Glasgow started at safety alongside Tyree Kinnel and looked very viable. He came up strong against the run, stringing out plays to the sideline and finishing them off, and he undercut a (terrible) pass from Speight for a 100-yard pick-six in the second half.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Quinn Nordin. There shouldn't be a kicking controversy this year if today's admittedly limited sample was any indication. Nordin booted a 48-yard field goal that would've been good from 60+, an impressive kick even with the wind at his back, and he was also strong on kickoffs.

Comments

M-Dog

April 16th, 2017 at 8:38 PM ^

Offensive Analyst.  He's actually very good in that role.  

Just don't let him call plays, especially that sequence where he calls the same ineffective play 15 times in a row so that he can surprise you with that one counter that goes for 20 yards.

umbig11

April 15th, 2017 at 4:58 PM ^

They will be very good! Lots of talent at RB and WR. Hudson is the real deal. JP 2.0 is accurate. Peters will pass JO'K easily. Speight, start looking over your shoulder. 18 is coming...

umbig11

April 15th, 2017 at 5:22 PM ^

Peters showed poise, looked comfortable, escaped the pocket when needed, and showed he can make every throw. Hell JO'K looked comfortable late. Speight forced things, pressure got to him. He made a lot of mistakes. He played a lot more than he was supposed to today. That is an indictment on him.

The Oracle

April 15th, 2017 at 6:52 PM ^

I think the idea that Speight was only going to make a limited appearance existed only among blog commentators. I believe we can infer that Harbaugh isn't quite as convinced about Speight as some fans seem to be.

alum96

April 15th, 2017 at 7:54 PM ^

Yes my thought as well so interesting you saying that.  If Speight had 2 good series it sounded like he would have been shelved in favor of the O'Korn show.  But with the struggles I think he played more than "they wanted".  Of course you are closer to "they" than most of us, so interesting to hear that theory seconded.

Brady-Henson 2.0 here we go all summer!

schreibee

April 16th, 2017 at 1:06 AM ^

Peters looked very good today. Certainly better than anything Henson did early,, and who knows about early Brady, since none of us had even heard of him until he was a RS Jr.

So, context counts. Peters has never seen the field in a real game at the college level, but he displayed measurably better talent than the other QBs today, subjectively and objectively.

I know JH preaches every day is a competition, but I feel pretty certain Speight is starting on Sept 2 in Jerry World. It concerns me we may have to lose that game to get Peters in. I'd rather give the guy with the ceiling the shot than the one with the floor.

I really like umbig11's insights, but in this instance I feel he's speaking more for himself than sharing insider info. We'll see.......

Ghost of Fritz…

April 16th, 2017 at 8:22 AM ^

could be the real deal and showed a lot of promise for the future. 

But I do not think anybody can reasonbly view Peters as comparable to Henson at this stage of development.  Henson was sort of like Peppers in terms of arriving with a once in a generation potential and skill set.  No one can say that about Peters, at least not as of today. 

There is a vague similarity between Speight and Brady.  Both are considered the 'less raw atheletic ability QB' than the other QB.  Also, like Brady, the supposed upside of Speight is that he is a good decision maker pre- and post-snap.  But to compare Speight to Brady is wrong, at least at this point.

Hope that by Sept. 1 Peters = Henson and Speight = Brady.  But as of April, that is not the case. 

MGoStrength

April 16th, 2017 at 9:09 AM ^

I didn't get to see them game and only the highlights.  But, Henson was a 5-star recruit, wasn't Peters more like a Top 150 type?  Henson was inconsistent in his second year, but he was pretty darn good as a junior and beat OSU.  I guess time will tell if Peters gets there in his 3rd year.

 

I don't watch a ton of film on recruits, so I didn't realize this until seeing Peters throwing in the spring game, but I was a little surprised that Peters has a bit of a funky delivery.  He has a long delivery and has some wasted movement with wrapping the ball back behind the shoulder.  Why do we seem to have so many guys with odd deliveries?  I guess I expected to see more of a natural throwing style when I heard that most think he has more arm talent than Speight, but Speight has an odd delivery too as he short-arms it.

 

Ultimately, the delivery is less important that accuracy and decision making, but I don't think either are quite to the ability of the names mentioned so far.

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

April 16th, 2017 at 10:04 AM ^

very similar "cupping" motion as Brady when he was at UM. It creates a slightly longer delivery, but the advantage is a dragging effect that allows for more accuracy. Obviously Brady changed his motion because the NFL windows close too fast for a cupping motion. Brandon throws the ball in the right spot almost every time, which is tantalizing with the reviving talent on this roster. He needs to do it quicker and with slightly more velocity. Those traits should happen as he gets even more confident in what he is seeing.

MGoStrength

April 17th, 2017 at 8:29 AM ^

Yeah, definately the top QB recruit we've had in a while, but probably not quite as high as Henson.  If memory serves me right, his best ranking was by 247 at #34 overall and his worst by Rivals at #158.  Although Rivals, Scout, and 247 weren't around, Henson was considered a 5-star recruit, which mean's he was probably a top 25 guy. 

YouRFree

April 15th, 2017 at 11:00 PM ^

Peters has very good touch with long ball and make good decision. And BTW, today is very windy, but his throw is quite accurate. Some of the outside throw was very good that only his WR has chance to catch it. Speight looked lost and didn't make good decision in terms of where to pass in a few occatiosn. I am wondering if that's because Peters have been working with this 2nd units WR since last year. While Speight need to get familiar with the new WR/TE corps.

 

 

Catchafire

April 16th, 2017 at 8:26 AM ^

It is always funny to see people heap expectations on an unknown commodity and ditch the tried and true.  Sure Speight didn't look great, but he has played real minutes in real games against good competition.

Speight will start.  He will only improve due to GOOD competition from oKorn and Peters. 

Still, I am happy we have good alternatives to Speight.

MotownGoBlue

April 16th, 2017 at 4:30 PM ^

You may be correct, but I think only because Jabrill was asked to do so many things. JP may have been the best returner, SS, RB, etc., (individually) this school has ever seen, but he was never given just one role to focus on and stay fresh to play. JP defines what "team player" truly means.

Kevin13

April 15th, 2017 at 7:40 PM ^

Might want to start looking right next to him. Not sure why reports have been saying that sleight has put distance between himself and all others. I know it's just one scrimmage but for a guy who started every game last year I saw no improvement from last year surprised to see him making the same mistakes Peters looked very good I have to believe there is going to be a battle through the fall

Kevin13

April 15th, 2017 at 7:40 PM ^

Might want to start looking right next to him. Not sure why reports have been saying that sleight has put distance between himself and all others. I know it's just one scrimmage but for a guy who started every game last year I saw no improvement from last year surprised to see him making the same mistakes Peters looked very good I have to believe there is going to be a battle through the fall

BroadneckBlue21

April 16th, 2017 at 7:36 AM ^

Taking over from Driesbach and Brady battling Henson! Peters looks good, but Harbaugh definitely told Brown to bring the pressure every play against the first team. As good as our defense has been and will be, I am not surprised by Speight's struggles. If he doesn't learn to adjust quickly and set his feet even under pressure, then I can see Peters replacing him at some point, even as Michigan continues to win.

yossarians tree

April 16th, 2017 at 9:02 AM ^

That was my impression--that Speight was facing a much tougher defense. Don't know if either guy had a better offensive line in front of him, but Speight faced far greater pressure and for the most part was able to step out of it only to have to throw it away. Peters' touchdown run was eye-opening. Dude can move pretty good. Impressive talent that we are going to enjoy watching develop.

maize-blue

April 15th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^

I think the WR's will be fine, if not better overall. There is a ton of depth there. A lot of good TE's too.

Onwenu is gigantic. I imagine nearly 700lbs of run blocking mass between him and Ruiz. Nice.

carlos spicywiener

April 15th, 2017 at 5:38 PM ^

We gonna drive the Peters bus all summer? A year of starting experience (Speight's 2016) at QB in college is a terrible thing to waste. But if Peters catches up to Speight the summer-  screw it. We may have our version of USC's Sam Darnold.