Can DG be fixed? Who Broke Him?

no

Considering the people who broke him are the ones still coaching him, I'd say no, he can't be fixed.

The coaches.

Brian had an interesting point in the latest MGoPodcast. When Hoke is gone, a thing he'll be remembered for is having two dyanmic athletes at QB in his tenure and them getting worse and worse as they got older. 

DG shouldn't be restricted to being a game manager. 

Well he did state that for his first 3 years at Michigan he really didn't work very hard at learning the playbook, getting better, etc.

I'm guessing he did this because he felt Denard was always going to be in front of him.

Whether or not Devin is hurt, idk.  What I do know is that his confidence appears shot.  Confidence with quarterbacks is a huge part of their game.  A QB void of confidence is a qb void of trust.  I think the OL issues and the beatings he has taken under center have had a big effect on him.  This is a guy who has been through an awful lot, yet all he does is get slammed by fans and on the internet.  Even his teammates don't appear to have his back. He has been on the receiving end of 2 huge cheap shots that his teammates didn't even react to, to me that says a lot. 

Is Michigan football Robocop now?

Probably a couple of things, some of which we won't know, like personal work ethic, but I think it's mostly on the coaches  and transistions.  Rich Rod did not/does not put a large emphasis on mechanics.  I believe he's even stated that he really just cares about the QB getting the ball there, not how he looks doing it.  RR designed his offenses that a QB doesn't need great mechanics to be succesful in the passing game.  Then there was a mass overhaul in offensive systems where he received 3 years of 'anti-coaching' to quote Brian, followed by a third system. and coaches that seem unwilling to do anything that lessens the burden on him. 

Who Broke Him?

Many people broke DG...

Pat Narduzzi and the MSU defense started it... Al Borges, the O-Line, and Brady Hoke have finished the job.

Can he be fixed?

I ultimately believe no... As someone who played college football and lost their confidence on the football field, he looks lost between the ears. I remember that look on myself. It's tough to get it back when you're under duress at all times. I played at a small school I cant imagine what the pressure of playing at a school of Michigan's calibur is like. I hope he finds whatever it was he personally lost, but I don't see it happening.

It's time to move hime to wide-out and let him showcase talents for the NFL.Let Morris take his hand at the starting job and gain experience for next year. 

DG is a great athlete but not a pocket/pro style QB. I just don't feel that he is at his best sitting in the pocket, reading coverages and going through progressions. He is a spread or read option guy and that would the type of offense that would get the most out of his capabilities. He doesn't have the strongest arm, tends to float passes and accuracy is suspect at times. I suspect that the latter points is maybe why we don't see much of a downfield passing game as far as play calling goes. I've always had a belief that DG would be a WR today if the Bellomy debacle woundn't have occured.

the push lob floaty pass thing?

The dip in production has coincided with a big downgrade in our offensive talent.  Last year we had Gallon and Funchess.  This year it is just Funchess.  The offensive line has gotten worse each of the last two seasons.  In late 2012 DG had Denard hanging out in the backfield to keep the defense honest, while now the running game is pretty much non-existent against legit competition. 

Loss of confidence and a possible injury are issues, but a big factor is that the team around him just isn't as good.

For openers, as Lord G pointed out, those who broke him are still coaching him.  Aside from that, he doesn't have the intangibles (confidence, poise, resilience, field vision, I may be missing a few) to take this team very far.  Unless he's in a good rhythm and things are going well, he falls apart or at best, starts to get wildly inconsistent.  At this point, the best strategy with him is to turn him into a game manager by making the focus of the offense getting the ball out quickly and minimizing his time in the pocket.  We'll still need to throw some long ones on occasion to keep defenses honest.  But, without reducing the turnovers by a significant amount, we're done. 

All that being said, I'm still a little suspicious that Devin has some nagging injury that's limiting him.  But, it seems the coaches would not let him play if it was anything significant.  Several plays against Utah, he seemed to have a real problem getting the ball out there.

I've been confused at his lack of running and when he does run he seems much slower than last year.  Maybe the foot injury robbed him of some speed.  There was a moment vs MAC level LBs he was outrun in the Miami of OH game and that would not have happened the first 7-8 games of 2013 (later in the year he was slower as the cummulative effect of the hits wore on him). 

I wrote this on another post but since he only really focuses on his first read I dont understand why the coaching instruction is "if read 1 (or 2) is not there, immediately run... or throw it out of bounds." 

He ran 14-16 times most of last year, I dont get why he is not running 8-10 times at least vs ND and Utah.  I get not running vs App State or Miami OH - no need too.  But he is a square peg in a round hole. 

I cant speak to his passing issues - he seems broken there and regressing.  The guy who was throwing 40-50 yard bombs to Gallon during Indiana ... is he inside DG? I dont even know anymore. 

I do feel really bad for what has happened to him.  I see the same tendencies I see in Matt Stafford although Stafford is obviously a far superior player.  Matt was hit a lot early in his career and tends to get rid of the ball early the past few years leading to bad footwork.  Now his arm strength and QB profile is a whole different level so he can get away with it a lot - when his mechanics break down he throws high but still he gets it in the right area.  When Devin's mechanics break down its not that pretty and he doesnt have a bunch of NFL WRs around him.  I just think he has been beaten to a pulp to such a degree his mental clock is completely off - he probably hears footsteps the second he gets the ball and in a way I cannot blame him based on the OL the past few years. 

Count me in the camp that thinks he's harboring a secret injury. If I had to guess, it was from the shot he took after the INT at the end of the ND game.

the system is broken -

he needs to be used properly.  He can be successful if given the opportunity

He is probably not a 'pocket passer' but he can be explosive in other strategies

for QB's you fall back on technique and mechanics.  DG has neither.

He will continue to be slow to set himself in the pocket, continue to stare down receivers, continue to panic at the first sign of pressure and continue to throw wildly off target.

I think that Gardner can be fixed, in that he can be set up to regain his confidence and be successful—within a limited definition of that word—this year. You come out with a slightly simplified gameplan, give him a bunch of reps at plays and reads that he can is comfortable with, and help him feel more free to use his feet. Really play to his strengths for a game or two This will all help rebuild his confidence and make him a compentent—and at times, thrilling—player again. While Gardner, unfortunately, is not likely to be as good I believe he could have been with years of consistent coaching, he'll still be better than Morris would be right now. And I think it is imperative that we keep Morris on the bench.

As Brian has pointed out here, our QB situation is terrible. Morris is really our only hope at QB for the next year or two (as I'd like to avoid playing a freshman). So we need to make sure that he is going to be as good as he possibly can be in 2015 and '16.

So, if Morris isn't an upgrade over Gardner this year, then the only reason to play Morris now would be if it would make him better in 2015 and '16. But I don't think that playing in this offense is going to help. Instead, I think Morris needs lots of practice reps, lots of game film, and some mop-up action, all without the pressure of trying to save the program and his coach's job. Because if we destroy Morris's confidence this year, who else is there to turn to?

Plus, I just love Gardner when he's on, and I think he's got a few more of those games in before it's all over.

I just feel really bad for Gardner, because

• He seems like a stand up guy by all accounts
• He stuck with the program through 2 HCs, 3 OCs, and a transition from the position he was recruited for (QB) to WR and back to QB

It just doesn't seem fair that he has anything less than a stellar season this year, but (so far) that doesn't look like it's in the cards.

Why did they pull Gardner after his second INT?  Did he look THAT bad (I fell asleep at halftime and glad I did)?  It's one thing to pull your guy like a hockey goalie that just has a bad day.  It's another to pull the guy b/c you're just done with him and want the second guy to take over.  Not sure which one happened here, but 2 INTs alone shouldn't be cause for the pull.

Also, I agree he is digressing.  I hope the coaches haven't shot his confidence and that's the cause.  If that's the case, I have no hope that they will develop Morris or Speight for that matter.