Steven Threet vs. Tate Forcier

Threet has shown the ability to find the open receiver and not throw into bad coverages (throwing TO the open receiver has been a problem though) as a redshirt freshman. He's clearly, when protected even slightly, demonstrated being comfortable with the speed of the game, and has moved well in the pocket to avoid being sacked.

If he can just stop overthrowing every ball I feel he's a really good fit for this offense and I'd be happy to watch him start next season.

...at least outperformed Marve and Lee this year.....i think.

My take: Remember how many of us were drinking the kool aid back in the spring that a kid like Feagin may take over half way through the year a la Pat White?

In actuality, we'll see that play out next season....the question is will it be Beaver or Tate.....I just dont see RR keeping a talented kid on the bench. If he could be swayed to go with Sheridan over Threet, then if either of these recruits can come close to living up to their billing, they will play. A lot.

Why is everybody assuming that Forcier is better than Threet? Why are we even assuming Forcier is better than Beaver? Give me game college experience over some "4 star" high school player any day. After looking back several years at some of these 4 and 5 star recruits and how they do absolutely nothing when they get into the mix, i'm going to assume that the kid that has seen the field in front of 110,000 is much better than a high school kid. I'm just so f'ing sick of all this hyped up ranking BS.

Forcier or Beaver they have more options and a larger playbook. plus when nothing is there they can run to get the first down.

Is it really true that Forcier has Henne-like arm strength? If he does that is a ridiculous combination with his speed. If he can be anywhere close to as accurate as he was in HS he can be great college QB.

I think there are two main reasons why Forcier or Beaver will probably end up being the better option next year.

1. Speed. I think the biggest display of why this will be huge is Threet's looooong run early in the season, whatever game that was. He ran a long way, but eventually got tracked down. I think in that situation Forcier or Beaver takes it to the house. Just like cpt20 just said, they always have the ability to run it for a first down, and that frees up a lot of other things. Too often this year with Threet and Sheridan there didn't have to be a defender waiting just in case they ran, because it wasn't that big a threat.

2. Experience in this type of system. Like Tom said, Threet's a smart kid, but making decisions on the run doesn't seem to be his strong suit. I obviously haven't seen Forcier or Beaver play in person, but from the videos it looks like both of them (especially Forcier) are very good at scrambling while keeping their eyes downfield. That's what makes a dual threat QB so dangerous, IMO. Even if he starts to scramble, you need to continue to cover all of the receivers. Once again, there were a lot of times this season where the pocket collapsed, and it seemed to me that if Threet wasn't getting sacked, he was tucking the ball completely and running for 2-5 yards. With Forcier or Beaver, those plays can consistently turn into larger gains.

This is all assuming that they're prepared to play at the college level, which we won't know for some time yet. I hope they can. It'd be nice to have an established freshman quarterback (or two) that will be around for another year after Threet is gone... makes building the rest of the team an easier task.

all this speculation about who will be the game 1 starter is making me head hurt. i'm just taking solace in the fact that the qb play SHOULD be improved regardless of who it is because of a full year of experience for threet or better fitting skill set with forcier/beaver.

OT for TomVH: any word from Mr. Lewan about his weekend visit to Minnesota and his next steps? I'm assuming the Gophers throwing up a goose egg to Iowa's 55 couldn't have made the best impression...

Threet's just not elusive enough. Had he been, he could have avoided multiple injuries.

1) Same height as Drew Brees who is currently torching the Packers on MNF. Evidence here: http://www.qbforce.com/main.html

2) Also on the page is the 'Golden Gun' award for accuracy.

3) 50+ offers don't lie (That is a TON Threet had like 7)

4) Think Chad Henne arm and accuracy on Sam McGuffie

5) Threet repeatedly, repeat, repeatedly missed (and we're talkin' by YARDS not inches) open receivers and 15 yard throws - like bubble screens and long hand offs that are essential to this offense. It seems someone very accurate with a strong arm could make these throws immediately. We saw that these are effective when completed right like non-death sheridan @ Minnesota.

6) I watched part of the televised game Beaver played in and he was wild man, wild. definitely would not start over threet and will probably be third on the depth chart. Most schools recruited him at receiver as opposed to QB. Tate is a much much more polished passer right now on video.

Threet's mechanics were terrible all year and he never showed any accuracy on simple throws, like bubble screens. Supposedly Forcier is an extremely accurate passer HS. Even if Forcier is just as good as Threet in terms of accuracy, he will start ahead of him because of Forcier's speed and ability to throw on the run.

I think Forcier starts from Day 1.

didn't bother to read any other comments, but i think threet will get the start in the opener and from there we'll see if he keeps it. forcier will probably be seeing significant playing time by the end of the non-conference schedule. but also, why will our #1 freshman qb be forcier. why not beaver? maybe he'll have a good camp or something

All throws seemed to kill Threet this year.

Tate has been groomed to be a qb his entire life. He's always working on his mechanics, and they are flawless. He's got a very quick release, and has great arm strength to go along with that accuracy. He also able to make time with his feet. The only time Threet was able to make was the time it took him to hit the ground.

Shavodrick had surgery on his arm and will be extremely limited in practice. Threet/Sheridan have had an entire year to develop in this system. Let's just face it, this offense is not for them. It is a great fit for Tate though. He will be the starter from Day 1. I think it would be a major mistake if he didn't.

He should retain the job until he loses it on the field. If he can't be a 60% passer next year - I'm not saying that is likely, just saying that's my target for him (I think it would singlehandedly bring the offense up to respectability) - you move on and start trying the freshmen. But because of his experience, Threet deserves the first chance to show that he can be a solid QB next year.
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Tom: I think the point about offers rather than star rankings has merit - good point. However, in this particular case, I don't think looking at offers is an apples-to-apples comparison since *only* pro-style teams would offer Threet while both pro-style and spread teams would offer Forcier.

You realize the coaches can't comment on recruits, right?

Threet's progress was hindered by the coaching change, he transfered to michigan thinking that he would learn the pro offence. unlicky for him he would have played in either paul johnson's system or RR's system. the kid would have been good if he started later in his carrer.

There is evidence that RR will hand over the reigns to the best guy, regardless of experience. Wasn't Pat White a true freshman starter when they beat Georgia in the BCS game? Not saying that any of our guys will be Pat White (or need to be) but RR has had success w/ young players.

Remember RR started Sheridan over Threet against Utah. What can we take away from this? Any theories?

My biggest fear with the transition to the spread is that the player that RichRod calls the "most important on the field," the QB, will be regularly exposed to Big 10 sized defensive linemen and linebackers intent on killing him.

Keeping that QB functional, let alone at 100%, is unlikely over the course of the season. Getting two a point where we have two or three guys capable of truly running this offense is the goal.

Maybe Forcier's physical tools help compensate for one less year of experience and running the Michigan system. Either way, having two guys who are ready to go, and capable of making good things happen would be great. Maybe they aren't carbon copies of each other, but that isn't a bad thing either.

As to who is starting... If we start WINNING I don't care who is STARTING.