Dropped Passes

Submitted by TorontoBlue on

This team has many flaws, all well-documented.  I only watched the first quarter today, then followed the rest of the game online while attending a work function.  Canteen's drop in the end zone after the fake punt just floored me.  That pass was killer, and right in his wheelhouse, a sure TD.   He's not the only one, Funchess looks like a prima donna out there.  Wojo called Devon Gardner a "coach-killer" back in September, and I agree the INT's are just mind-numbing.  But these guys have to catch the ball when it's right in their hands. Why don't they?  

URL to Wojo's coumn for reference:  http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/columnists/bob-wojnowski/2014/0…

 

I Like Burgers

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:01 PM ^

But that's what I'm saying...what ability?  Those first round projections were based on potential and results from early in the year, but he's been really bad the last several weeks.  NFL scouts won't overlook that.  He's not a TE in the NFL because he's allergic to blocking, and he's not even one of the top 10 WRs in college so definitely not a 1st rounder.  He's played himself down into the 3rd'ish round I would think. 

I Like Burgers

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^

At this point, a good combine showing isn't going to offset all of the film on Funchess.  He gets pushed around by DBs, drops way too many passes, shows no ability to fight for the ball, and doesn't block.  He'll have to have a combine for the ages, and then interview his ass off to offset all of that bad tape.  

There were 5 WRs and one TE in the first round last year.  Funchess is neither the top TE or a top 5 WR so I don't see the 1st round projections.  In the top 50, there were 8 WRs and 3 TEs taken.  I don't think Funchess falls in that group either.  Just too many question marks for him to be one of the top 50'ish players in the draft.

Don

November 23rd, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^

LOL. If Devin Funchess played at some other conference school but otherwise had exactly the same record of achievement—constantly dropped balls, completely inept blocker, without great speed—everybody here would be laughing their asses off at the notion that he's a first-round pick based on what he's done so far.

 

JTrain

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:17 PM ^

He is not a bawler. He drops a lot of EZ passes. Doesn't block for shit. And sulks a lot. The fact that he's wearing our sacred #1 was cool for about a second. That's it. Effing disgrace.

victors2000

November 23rd, 2014 at 7:54 AM ^

that could have happened to him. Before that he looked to be a real find but afterwards he appeared to have a sense of entitlement, like the jersey reinforced what he thought of himself versus feeling the honor or wearing it. This goes back to the coaching; I don't think Brady was the guy to straighten him up.

RJMAC

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:45 PM ^

He should play TE again. He doesn't have great speed for separation. If he stays at receiver he'll probably be a bust like Mike Williams was with the Detroit Lions. I'd use him as a pass catching TE in the pros, that is if he can learn to be a real pass catcher.

Mocha Cub

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:33 PM ^

Let's all get real here for a second. The only reason people on this board say that they think he'll go late 1st or early 2nd round in the draft is because they've read it on mock drafts. Anyone that watches these games would never think he was going that high in the draft.

Tater

November 23rd, 2014 at 12:26 AM ^

Most people who thought Funchess would go in the first round thought so because he was seen as a college version of Jimmy Graham.  Now that the sample is a little bigger, it's obvious that he has a lot of work to do before he gets there.  Funchess has pretty much played himself into spending his senior year learning a new offense for a new coach.  

I hope he comes back and aces his shot at redemption.

True Blue Grit

November 23rd, 2014 at 7:56 AM ^

The new coaches are going to have to give him a bigtime kick in the ass similar to what Lloyd did to Braylon when he was turning into a slackard.  Based on what we're seeing on the field it looks like he's being coddled by the coaches.  And the first thing the new coach needs to do is take that #1 jersey away from him and make him earn it back.

late night BTB

November 23rd, 2014 at 9:51 AM ^

this is the annual Michigan slappy draft projection.  Slappies always say that M players will go high in the draft, as if the NFL is only drafting from a handful of schools.  Take off your maize colored glasses.

Will Funchess even get any All B1G awards? Maybe Honorable Mention.

If a team is drafting him on perceived ability, it'll be with a late round (5-6) pick. You are insane if you think first 3 rounds on an unproven commodity.  Unless you're the Lions in the WR picking heydey.

Dude shows nothing that makes you think NFL ready.  Gives no effort, drops passes, doesn't block, doesn't run hard.  Newsflash: there are plenty of guys the NFL can draft that are 6'3" and can run, Funchess isn't the sole commodity.

 

Bagheera

November 22nd, 2014 at 10:30 PM ^

The receivers as a group really seem to have checked out.  Lazy blocking, bad routes, tons of drops, no YAC.  They're not helping Devin out at all.

GoBLUinTX

November 22nd, 2014 at 10:42 PM ^

Gardner isn't doing a lot to help out the receivers.  Wouldn't it be nice if hitting a receiver in stride wasn't the rarest of exceptions?  While there were many drops, Canteen's being the worst, most of the drops had a lot help from being poorly thrown.

B1G_Fan

November 23rd, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^

 Let's no go overboard here. Now this week may not have been exactly the case but, Devin been throwing terribly all season. The no YAC has more to do with horribly thrown passes and the receiver having to adjust to the ball.

 Bad routes, most of our receivers  have played very little college football.

 Lazy blocking, most of our receivers are pretty good blockers. Funchess has never been a good blocker, thus why he moved to WR from tight end. He obviously doesn't want to block. If thats the case they should sit him instead of giving him the number one jersey

JWolve

November 22nd, 2014 at 10:35 PM ^

Not to exonerate the receivers, but it must be so frustrating for them knowing that there's almost no way they are ever going to get an accurate pass their way, or that they could be wide open waving their arms and Gardner still won't find them. You have to imagine that it plays into them being a little checked out.  

I Like Burgers

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:05 PM ^

C'mon just about every route a WR runs doesn't end with a reception.  And not every pass is going to hit you in the numbers.  Your job as a WR is to get open and catch whatever is thrown in your direction.  And if its not thrown to you, block your ass off.  These WRs aren't doing any of that.  Hecklinski has done an awful job with them.

JWolve

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^

Yes, that is their job. But we've all played backyard football. It gets frustrating when there's no hope of a good ball even coming your way. And imagine how much more frustrated you'd be if you spent all off-season and every day practicing...our receivers seemed to be alright at the beginning of the season, at this point I don't blame them for being fatigued.  

kb

November 22nd, 2014 at 10:36 PM ^

the receivers do not have confidence in Gardner to throw them catchable balls. The result is lazy routes, lack of effort, and poor concentration.

Rhino77

November 22nd, 2014 at 10:39 PM ^

I think it's a rhythm thing. These receivers never know where or when the ball is coming. They have timing routes. The ball should be there.



Denard drove me nuts but at least he chucked it down the field. Hell DG did that years ago. Something is broke.

Mr. W

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:05 PM ^

Putting it plainly on timing takes away too much accountability from the receivers. Your main job is to either block and catch the ball. A lot of balls were thrown on time today, hit receivers in the hands (or chest), and dropped. I'd excuse passes thrown behind receivers as a timing issue but a majority of the drops were not.

Louie C

November 22nd, 2014 at 10:40 PM ^

I don't think Devin is a coach killer. I think Hoke is a QB killer. Denard-regressed, Devin-regressed, Shane-still not ready for prime time, Russell-edgads! The fact that a physically and mentally beaten Gardner is the best option at QB says all that needs to be said of this coaching staff.

snarling wolverine

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:05 PM ^

I'm scratching my head about this one.  I don't think Hoke spends that much time directly coaching the QBs.  One would think you'd have to put it on the QB coaches - Borges and Nussmeier.

I don't think Denard regressed so much as that he wasn't as good a fit in Borges's offense.  Still, he did well enough for us to go 16-4 when he started, not counting the NU game when he was knocked out in the first half.

Gardner was up and down under Borges but his last game (2013 OSU) was fantastic and when he did struggle, it could plausibly be blamed on the OL.  Generally, when he had time to throw he was pretty good.  I think most of us, going into this season, still felt pretty highly of Gardner.

Morris didn't set the world on fire in the bowl, but he looked respectable enough, completing 24 of 38 passes.  

Then we fired Borges for Nussmeier and the QB position has been shot to hell.  Even though our pass protection is considerably better, both Gardner and Morris look markedly worse in just about every respect - mechanics, reading defenses, decision-making.  It would seem like Nuss is the problem.  But OTOH, he was known as a QB guru before he got here, so I don't understand why he'd now be the problem.

So maybe it is Hoke?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Monocle Smile

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^

Morris had more action than just the bowl game and looked pretty bad, but the bowl game was below mediocre. That stat line is awfully misleading.

Denard regressed as a passer, partly because he was being asked to do things he hadn't done before. That 16-4 record was mostly from him saving our bacon by doing Denard things and the defense looking pretty strong both of those years.

We're trying to look at common denominators here. The team has gotten worse and worse. There have been changes along the way. What's remained constant?

GoBLUinTX

November 22nd, 2014 at 11:33 PM ^

Gardner litters the QB section of the Michigan record book because of 2013 and in 2014 he evaporated.  What was the greatest change?

Okay, let's put it this way. 2009 Michigan scored 29 points per game, 2010 Michigan scored 32 points per game, 2011 they scored 32 points per game, 2012 was 29 points per game and 2013 they scored 32 points per game.  2014 through 11 games they're scoring less than 20 points per game... Have you identified the outlier?  If so, what do you suppose was the single greatest change that might have brought it about?