Devin Gardner impressing scouts at East West shrine game practices
January 16th, 2015 at 12:17 PM ^
Go Tribe, Go Blue, my undergrad and grad school representing :)
January 16th, 2015 at 12:18 PM ^
Would love to see him succeed. Not only because he kind of got screwed over here (two HCs, multiple OCs, move to receiver then back, etc.) but because it's well documented that he's an outstanding man as well. Big fan.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
I share your feelings. When Devin showed up and he, Tate and Denard used to warm up pre-game, I always thought he had the best arm of the three. Not every kid can develop the analytic skills the postion requires, but i alwasy felt that Devin got the short end of the stick.
I hope he makes it as a WR.....for what he has had to endure, he most certaintly deserves success in the NFL.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^
would have been able to morph the 3 of them together he would have what needed for the spread to work here... tate was the best of the 3 accuracy wise, denard had the speed and devin had the size...
January 16th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
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January 16th, 2015 at 8:30 PM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
Devin is a winner and a leader. Hope pro football works out for him, but if not, he has nothing but success ahead of him.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:24 PM ^
DG deserves all the success he gets going forward. Proud he represented our university with such character through so much adversity.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
I can see him as a pretty good WR ... he's big, he's athletic, and he's got that shifty / deceptively quick running style that may leave defensive backs playing catchup. Plus, I have to believe as a former QB he understands the whole QB/WR relationship thing.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:51 PM ^
will be a level better than most WR's because of his time at QB and all the inside running he did.
January 16th, 2015 at 4:26 PM ^
Yeah, i don't see why everyone is so surprised. He was moved to receiver because he was good and we needed the help at the position. And help he did.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
So we graduated a TE and a QB and we will probably end up with 2 WR's getting drafted. Wish both Devin's nothing with the best
January 16th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
Way to go, Devin.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
I always will associate Gardner with Gallon for the rest of my life.
I still cannot believe that no one is giving Gallon a chance.
Simply cannot believe it.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
From MLive: Gallon set a Big Ten record with 369 receiving yards on 14 catches, and Gardner broke Michigan's all-time single-game total offense mark with 584 total yards and five touchdowns as the Wolverines held off feisty Indiana in a wild 63-47 win at Michigan Stadium.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
He was signed to a futures contract by the Raiders, so maybe he will get a shot next season.
http://espn.go.com/blog/oakland-raiders/post/_/id/8720/raiders-add-nine…
January 16th, 2015 at 5:09 PM ^
but if I remember correctly he was injured most of camp and they threw him in the end of the last preseason game. Wasn't able to show his stuff in that limited try-out.
Or maybe he photobombed Belichek.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
Great to hear. Devin Gardner deserves all the success in the world. He gave Michigan everything he had in a lot of no win situations.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
hope he does well. Seems like a great kid and deserves much better than what he got here (not just from the coaches, but the fans as well).
Odd to think, though, that out of our past two quarterbacks, one was drafted as a running back and the other will be drafted as wide receiver.
January 16th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
Odd to think, until you consider who recruited them.
RR seems to value speed and athleticism over accuracy or decision-making in his quarterbacks. Denard's being drafted as an RB and Devin's being drafted as a WR are simply further evidence of that fact.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^
wonder what it would have been like to see Devin playing WR at Michigan with a truly great pro-style QB. Someone who could really throw an accurate long ball.
Or if Denard was a RB with a great QB and a brick wall OL.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:27 PM ^
been looking for the second coming of Pat White and until he finds that type of player his O won't work work as well as it did at WVU with White running the show... he thought he had it with Denard, but Denard never progressed that much in the passing game and to me that is the closest RR has come to getting another Pat White...
January 16th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
I think DG could have a solid pro career at WR. He obviously gives his all on the field (even if that didn't translate to success as a QB), and he has a lot of passion and all of those wonderful "intangibles" the talking heads love. This is all not to mention that he fits the mold for a lot of currently successful WRs that aren't blazingly fast but can stretch the field with their height and general athleticism (a la Alshon Jeffery).
January 16th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
Check.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^
Great to hear. Kid deserves a chance to impress.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^
'cause he sure isn't impressing them with those ugly-ass uniformz.
January 16th, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^
You forgot the tweet. Pretty cool that became captains again.
2014 Michigan Football Captains turned 2015 East-West Shrine Game Captains w/ @JakeRyan_47! #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/CkucbempQF
— Devin Gardner (@DevG98) January 16, 2015January 16th, 2015 at 1:33 PM ^
and sticks in the league. Also think he will have a better career than Devin F. Nothing against Funchess, but I think DG's speed, toughness, and QB background will serve him well.
Best of luck to them both!
January 16th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
Would it be funny if Gardner ended up being a better WR than Funchess? I think so, and he just might be
January 16th, 2015 at 1:38 PM ^
Good for DG. During his brief stint at WR, he definitely showed promise -- especially for a complete newbie. Sometimes his route-running was off. But of course it was. Also, he wasn't exactly blessed with a high-caliber passing attack. He's a really smart guy, and a remarkable athlete. He could make this transition. He may well be a better long-term investment than a certain other Michigan WR.
January 16th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^
Who makes a better pro WR Funchess or Gardner? Funchess has the speed advantage probably.
January 16th, 2015 at 2:24 PM ^
Gardner has the nutsack advantage, as in it's 10x larger
January 16th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
He deserved one year with Harbaugh.
January 16th, 2015 at 3:25 PM ^
That would have been fascinating, and he may have regained status as a QB prospect.
January 16th, 2015 at 2:57 PM ^
I'd like to preface this by saying I hope Devin Gardner does catch on in the NFL as a wide receiver. He's nothing but a class guy and he deserves the success.
That said, it's not a great reflection on the QB position at Michigan ever since Chad Henne's senior season in 2007. Rodriguez inherits Stephen Threet and Nick Sheridan for 2008 and the team has the first losing record since the 1960s. Tate Forcier plays for two seasons before he's released from the program because of academic ineligbility, then unsuccessfully tried to catch on with San Jose State.
Denard Robinson is now a running back in the NFL and Gardner is projected as a wide receiver. That certainly says something about how the QB position at Michigan has worked out for the last eight years or so.
Michigan was developing a reputation as pro-style Quarterback U. John Wangler might have been the first, but it probably really started with John Harbaugh. The list goes on from there--Elvis Grbac, Todd Collins, Brian Griese, Tom Brady, John Navarre and Chad Henne. If Drew Henson hadn't opted to play baseball, he would have likely been on that list as well. Hell, even Matt Gutierrez who transferred from Michigan to Idaho State because of injury saw a cup of coffee in the NFL, and of course, Ryan Mallett was at UM for one year before he transferred to Arkansas and then got drafted into the pros as well.
I have high confidence that Harbaugh will bring UM back to its previous role as QB U. But let's face it--the last eight years haven't been the greatest for Michigan and the quarteback position.
January 16th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 4:47 PM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 5:43 PM ^
Of course you could go back to Dennis Franklin, U-M QB who was drafted as a WR by Detroit. Only played in 9 games over 2 seasons, though.
January 16th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
He's got a lot of talent. I hope some team is willing to take a chance on him and develop him. Looking forward to seeing you on TV on Sundays, Mr. Gardner.
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January 16th, 2015 at 3:21 PM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 3:23 PM ^
Anyone else curious how Devin may have performed at QB with better support and better coaching? He was considered a NFL QB prospect at one time. Is he no longer a QB prospect because the situation made him look so bad? The tools are still there.
If he were inserted where Cardale Jones was with those advantages, would he have excelled as well?
January 16th, 2015 at 3:49 PM ^
January 16th, 2015 at 4:02 PM ^
deserves some good fortune more than DG
January 16th, 2015 at 5:19 PM ^
some difficult circumstances, but he has the skill, size, toughness, and the mentality of a champion for a solid NFL career. I hope he has a lot of success in the NFL.
January 16th, 2015 at 6:20 PM ^
The article linked in the OP also has some interesting words about O-line coaching not preparing O-linemen for the NFL due to the proliferation of spread offenses and the focus on zone defenses. (Details from a former NFL O-line coach in the article.)
The upshot: Current NFL offensive line coaches are left to teach refined techniques that linemen used to know.