Best pre-Rod players for the spread/shred?
I bet some former Michigan players would have been great in RR's spread. For example, Michael Taylor at QB, or Breaston and Bass at slot, Jamie Morris at superback. What do players you guys think would have success in the spread?
By the way, it's great hearing Michael Taylor on the radio. He's a good dude.
"I don't want to hear from Phil or George Perles, the Presidents of the Know Nothin About Footbal Club!"
November 20th, 2009 at 2:00 AM ^
breaston tears it up in this offense. but receivers are receivers, for the most part. Slot is different, sure, but the only real position that is drastically different is QB
November 20th, 2009 at 2:04 AM ^
Perfect as a slot ninja.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:23 PM ^
The man was absolutely electric in the slightest bit of space.
November 20th, 2009 at 2:07 AM ^
that guy could fly, imagine what he could've done with the field more spread out
November 20th, 2009 at 2:08 AM ^
antonio bass, hands down. what a shame.
November 20th, 2009 at 2:21 AM ^
Steve Breaston was definitely the first that came to mind for me. Every time I watch Central, and see the way Antonio Brown tears it up, I think of Breaston in a spread offense. Brown reminds me a lot of Breaston.
November 20th, 2009 at 2:55 AM ^
Bo had plenty of option oriented QB's, none more fit for this offense than Rick Leach.
November 20th, 2009 at 5:22 AM ^
I agree that Leach would have been a dual threat beast in this offense. He ran for over 2,000 yards and threw for over 4,000 in what was a very conservative offense to say the least.
November 20th, 2009 at 9:33 AM ^
before the season started i got into a discussion with a guy at a BW's about rick leach. the guy tried to tell me that leach didn't run the option when he was a michigan because BO didn't run the option.... i should have known better when he told me that he posts on freep.com all of the time....
November 20th, 2009 at 9:57 AM ^
Watch every video on WolverinHistorian's youtube page. You'll see the evolution of the Michigan offense from Bo to RR. We were still running some option in the late 80's.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:11 AM ^
to explain that to this guy and he was having nothing to do with it. i even told him that there is joke that leach never threw a forward pass at michigan only backward ones...
November 20th, 2009 at 10:37 AM ^
Bo was an option guy for the majority of his tenure. Only in the Wangler era and then from Harbaugh on were we a pro-style passing team. And that was largely thanks to Moeller, Cam Cameron and Les Miles who were functioning as a three headed offense coordinator.
November 20th, 2009 at 3:14 AM ^
Drew Henson
November 20th, 2009 at 6:09 AM ^
Demetrius Brown and Michael Taylor from the late 80's. Manningham would be a monster as well.
November 20th, 2009 at 7:56 AM ^
I thought Brown would be a star at UM, but he was the epitome of "million dollar talent and ten cent head." He was another who didn't feel going to class was important and eventually left the team for academic reasons. If you can't perform in class, you definitely can't learn the spread option as a QB.
As for Taylor, he had everything except a big enough hand to grip the football. He had a rocket arm in baseball, but couldn't get enough leverage to throw a football correctly. Michael Taylor with bigger hands would be everything we hope for out of Denard.
November 20th, 2009 at 7:27 AM ^
Naverre would have been the next Tim Tebow. Can't you just see the triple option read with that blazing fast speed.....
November 20th, 2009 at 7:40 AM ^
He didn't have the post-season opportunities that Leach did, but when it comes to the fundamentals of running an option-style of offense—ball-handling, speed, quickness, reading a defense, etc—Franklin was every bit the equal of Leach. He was capable enough at throwing the ball as well.
November 20th, 2009 at 7:42 AM ^
Bass, Breaston, Butterfield (DUH!!), Seth Smith, Mercury Hayes
Todd Richards
Michigan has had a lot of great skill guys who could play in any offense, any era. Some of you have mentioned a few.
November 20th, 2009 at 8:51 AM ^
All Butterfield did for us was "drop" a pass against UVA in the Pigskin Classic. I still can't believe he was #1. I just can't tell if this is serious or not. Todd Richards? Hell throw Felman Malveaux in there for the heck of it.
November 20th, 2009 at 8:45 AM ^
Tim Biakabatuka would have been more fantastical in the spread.
November 20th, 2009 at 9:57 AM ^
Does Michigan win if he catches the ball?
November 20th, 2009 at 10:58 AM ^
Jake Long and Desmond Howard could fit in any system. A-Train would be a good RB in this offense. How about Tyrone Wheatley or BJ Askew in the Power back/Full back Owen Schimtt type role?
November 20th, 2009 at 8:25 PM ^
I don't know, why don't you just go check the identical thread from 1 month ago. Or the one from 2 months ago, or 3 months ago, etc.