Anonymous O-lineman quote

Submitted by schone32 on

"If we just get a good initial block, even a good scrape Denard is gone; especially around the edge.   His passing is night & day from last year.  If he can complete 12-15 passes a game to keep the defenses honest our offense will be dynamic.   Denard has been a dog in the offseason, he works hard.  He has also put in a ton of time with the playbook learning the offense and now has a great grasp of it."

hokiewolf

May 17th, 2010 at 11:17 AM ^

"And lo, the children of the golden dome did invade the lands of the wolverine, and night was made bright as day.  When the lines of battle were joined, the wolverine did drive back the tainted ones, and they did not hold.  And in this tumult came a messenger clad in dilithium, and he did reach the corner, and the secondary of the tainted did shriek with fear.  And he did smoke them, and it was good." 

 

schone32

May 17th, 2010 at 5:33 PM ^

He is a starter. 

This was a recent conversation.

I have been an MGO lurker for a long time& only started an account because I established this relationship within the team& every once in a while I have something relevant to share.  I  check the blog daily for info, but don't normally post or respond because I find it irritating when people make reply comments that don't add to a thread just to gain a few MGO points.

I thought it was relevant& a better topic than many of the recent "very very OT" topics we have seen posted on the board: real estate, web sites, miss usa, etc,etc...

Firstbase

May 17th, 2010 at 11:20 AM ^

...the increasingly popular opinion among teammates is that Denard is the odds-on favorite to take the over the helm fairly early on this Fall. Ya gotta wonder what Tate's thinking?

maizenbluenc

May 17th, 2010 at 11:59 AM ^

Tate realizes he is going to have to step it up between now and the fall. Rich has been alluding to some issues with Tate. I'll bet he's back in line now.

Besides, he did have to spend a few months rehab'ing his shoulder. They also seemed to have him playing with the 2s a lot; so he was reading against the 1 defense. That has to help develop the decision making skills he seemed to loose at times last season.

SpreadGuru

May 17th, 2010 at 12:34 PM ^

"Does Syracuse have any depth at QB?"  Just for the record, I want Tate to stay but I worry about the feelings of his teammates about Denard being perfect for the offense and don't forget that DG is waiting in the wings. 

Erik_in_Dayton

May 17th, 2010 at 11:46 AM ^

Assuming this is real, it's very nice to hear.  The line will likely play better if they think that Denard can break a big one at any time, or so I imagine based on TV interviews with O-lineman about the guys they block for.  Dangerous QBs and RBs seem to bring out the best in O-lineman. 

NYWolverine

May 17th, 2010 at 1:00 PM ^

If RR is crystal clear about anything, it's that his system revolves around competition at the skill positions.  When guys are pushing each other, the starter is going to be that much better.  Ultimately, the guy next in line will also be somone you can rely on to win.  The bottom-line is there's no guarantee of a starting job and I don't think Tate was ever mislead to believe there was.

michgoblue

May 17th, 2010 at 12:10 PM ^

The logical part of my brain is saying, "no source, unidentified speaker, poster is new-ish with low point total (no insult intended), so this post lacks credibility." 

The fan part of my brain that is grasping at anything at all to make it happy is saying, "WOO, that quote is so freeking awesome, I can't believe that Denard is going to win the Heisman in his true soph season, maybe I should make hotel reservations in Pasadena now to avoid the rush."

Since it is a Monday and I need something to make me happy, I am going with the latter. 

MGoBender

May 17th, 2010 at 1:27 PM ^

Being a "newish" poster isn't a reason to consider something uncredible.  For example, I've been here for about 3 years, but someone at work figured out who I was on MGoBlog and I preferred at least a small bit of anoynimity. 

As Brian has pointed out in the past, people here have ties to the team.  People posting here live in AA, live with players, work in the AD.  Just because something lacks a concrete source doesn't mean it should be ignored.

I'm trying to remember the incident that brought the comments from Brian about.  I think it was regarding Sam McGuffie's transfer, but may have been about Mallett.

michgoblue

May 17th, 2010 at 3:19 PM ^

I agree that being newish does not necessarily render a poster unreliable.  But, that said, there are comments posted on the Board that do not have any substantiation or detail.  When the poster is someone like Magnus with a million points who has been here forever, you have a comfort level that the info is accurate.  When the poster is new and only has a few points, you just don't know. 

briangoblue

May 17th, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^

I'd like to see both Tate and Denard do well enough to make Devin Gardner redshirt. That guy will be a monster as a RS junior and senior and two full years of him running the team could take the program to a very high level. Tate and Denard are both capable of doing well, so I expect Rodriguez going with the hot hand for most of the year. We've already seen him pull both quarterbacks when both were underdeveloped. Now he actually has a capable back up to put in the game when one or the other struggles. I just hope Forcier is soaking all this up and getting better rather than getting negative. 

Braylon1

May 17th, 2010 at 12:49 PM ^

sounds good to me.

im not ready to write off Tate yet. we'll see how things play out. i just hope whatever the coaches decide on will give Michigan the best chance to win on Saturdays.

Section 1

May 17th, 2010 at 5:05 PM ^

Because if you want to be in the company of some really stupid and badly-informed opinion, there's nothing quite like the Drew Sharp Club.

So whether you were thinking last year that, "Oh, Denard has to transfer;" or if you are now thinking, "Oh, Tate has to transfer;" it is all pretty much the same.  You're in the Drew Sharp Club.  Which is not a good place to be.

Sharp, last year, talking about "expediting" the "transfer paperwork" for Denard:

http://www.freep.com/article/20091117/COL08/911170325/U-M%5C-s-storm-of-negativity-just-won%5C-t-fade

Beavis

May 17th, 2010 at 1:27 PM ^

I agree on the DG redshirt idea - since Denard OR Tate look like a more than capable backup QB already, it's time to sit DG for a year. 

Ultimately here is how I think it shakes out this year and next offseason:

- Denard / Tate flip-flop roles from last year - Denard gets majority snaps while Tate comes in for a "change of pace". 

- Denard still turns it over more than Tate, but Tate has more plays resulting in loss of yards.

- Even with Denard's offensive drives accounting for 35+ points in a game at times, our defense keeps us from blowing out the opponent, meaning we need "one big drive" late in the game to seal it and Tate gets the opportunity (less of a chance of a turnover with him).

- At the end of this season it is clear Denard WON'T be shifting to another position after he leads us to a bowl birth as our QB 1A. 

- Transfer rumors circle around Tate as he makes a dumb facebook wall post or his father puts something dumb up on the website.  Ultimately Tate transfers out as DG threatens to pass him on the depth chart.

Do I hope I am right here?  Well, on one hand we win at least 6 games this year (my guess is 7) and both Denard and DG are servicable to excellent QB options in 2011.  On the other hand, we lose Tate.  Tough call - but at this point in time, I'll take anything for a winning season. 

stankoniaks

May 17th, 2010 at 3:06 PM ^

Denard seems to have an infectuous personality and it appears to be rubbing off on the team.  He just seems to get Michigan football and genuinely appears to love being at U of M.  I remember the press conference after the Western Michigan game where he was smiling the whole time, and I remember thinking I really liked the kid.

WolvinLA2

May 17th, 2010 at 3:07 PM ^

I think people are overplaying the possibility of Tate transferring if Denard takes over the starting QB job.  Not everyone who gets passed on the depth chart takes off.  Just sayin'.