Enough with the Denard Critiques
So in the wake of the Purdue mud bowl I've seen the following. Denard can't read defenses, Denard is slowing down, Denard can't scramble, Denard has no touch on long passes etc. I just checked the football database to make sure who we were talking about. Is this the same guy that plays qb for Michigan as a true Sophmore?
| 1 | Bryant Moniz | Hawai'i | JR | QB | 10 | 70 | 3374 | 449 | 3444 | 7.7 | 344.4 |
| 2 | Denard Robinson | Michigan | SO | QB | 10 | 1417 | 1990 | 412 | 3407 | 8.3 | 340.7 |
| 3 | Brandon Weeden | Okla St | JR | QB | 10 | -72 | 3391 | 400 | 3319 | 8.3 | 331.9 |
| 4 | Robert Griffin III | Baylor | SO | QB | 11 | 508 | 3071 | 501 | 3579 | 7.1 | 325.4 |
| 5 | Dominique Davis | ECU | JR | QB | 10 | 139 | 3065 | 532 | 3204 | 6.0 | 320.4 |
| 6 | Alex Carder | W Mich | SO | QB | 10 | 216 | 2920 | 490 | 3136 | 6.4 | 313.6 |
| 7 | Russell Wilson | NC State | JR | QB | 10 | 302 | 2814 | 495 | 3116 | 6.3 | 311.6 |
| 8 | Colin Kaepernick | Nevada | SR | QB | 10 | 946 | 2161 | 376 | 3107 | 8.3 | 310.7 |
| 9 | Dan Persa | N'western | JR | QB | 10 | 519 | 2581 | 466 | 3100 | 6.7 | 310.0 |
| 10 | G.J. Kinne | Tulsa | JR | QB | 10 | 502 | 2576 | 482 | 3078 | 6.4 |
307.8 |
I understand that Denard is not above criticism, but everyone needs to understand Tommie Frazier was never going to throw like Tom Brady and Tom Brady was never going to run for 200yds. Please enjoy Denard.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:25 PM ^
Think how good this kid is going to be his senior year!
November 16th, 2010 at 5:25 PM ^
Potential.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:26 PM ^
He's also the guy who's thrown 7 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in the last five games.
But hey, let's not criticize and point out things he can improve upon!
November 16th, 2010 at 4:28 PM ^
At least he is not as bad as Favre (10 TDs - 16 INTs in 9 games).
November 16th, 2010 at 6:48 PM ^
two other things that Denard isn't as good as Brett Favre at?
1. Being old.
2. ....this is too easy.
November 16th, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^
Yeah, but Denard doesn't just play around in a pair of Wrangler jeans with his friends as well as Favre does. Never has, never will.
Why did his receiver have to stretch out like that? Shouldn't that ball be thrown a little more accurately? And why does one team get Favre and the other gets Randy the house painter? What kind of touch football draft is that anyway?
November 16th, 2010 at 4:35 PM ^
Let's leave criticisms/improvements up to coaches, not MGoBlog posters. I agree with the OP.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:42 PM ^
Well, I guess someone should inform Brian that he should stop doing UFRs unless he can cough up some coaching certifications or something.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:45 PM ^
That's a breakdown of our plays, which is helpful for football insight/development of our players. I think the OP is referring to the fact that some people seem to demand more from Denard when the fact of the matter is that he is still a sophomore and has produced very well for us.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:48 PM ^
Well, since Brian's breaking it down play-by-play and others are looking at the big picture and overall trends, I guess Brian's critiques are okay and everyone else's aren't.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:51 PM ^
Not what I said -- isn't that what MGoBlog is anyway? I never said that -- if that didn't happen nobody would watch the games. I'll just keep it general, I agree with the OP.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:44 PM ^
Yeah, why would we want informative football posts like the one by papabear the other day when he broke down Denard's passing mechanics?
While we're at it, let's all start a petition to stop Brian from doing his UFRs. After all, he's not a coach and all those -1s, -2s, and -3s he assigns are criticisms!
November 16th, 2010 at 5:27 PM ^
I think we should stop being critical of all things and only give positive reinforcement and encouragement. No more negs and negative comments/responses. An MGoUtopia, of sorts. I can see it now . . .
I am floating above on the pink pony in OCTAL9's avatar. BRAYBRAY would have a pillow as his avatar instead of that freaky face-thing that haunts my dreams at night. JMBLUE would have an avatar as well, you know, to fit in. Rather than having an imposing Aegis cruiser as his avatar, MGOSHOE would have a photo of an inflatable raft with a cupholder holding a nice, cold beer. And VICTORS_VALIANT would have a photo of a kind and loving Yoda, not a somewhat scary one with shades. Ahhhh, a utopia indeed . . .
Wait, were you being sarcastic?
November 16th, 2010 at 6:09 PM ^
Lets make the entire UFR metric positive, you get +1 for being on the field and +2 for trying even if you failed. If you do something good you might even get a smiley face sticker!
November 16th, 2010 at 6:39 PM ^
Seriously, what are the criteria for those things? Putting your cleats on the right foot?
November 16th, 2010 at 6:43 PM ^
Way too many stickers for that to be the criterion.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:51 PM ^
Avoiding my EECS homework at all costs, I came upon this:
http://notjustanotherbuckeyefootballblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/leaf2.jpg
which is allegedly Tressel's criteria list. It's interesting that it's mostly team stuff, I had always assumed they were more individual, but I guess that explains why everyone has a lot stickers but not necessarily a lot of individual accomplishments.
November 17th, 2010 at 1:20 AM ^
cant neg on that too much... we used to do the same thing
November 16th, 2010 at 4:39 PM ^
Look, I love Denard (there is a Denard wallpaper on my computer as I type this), but he has some difficulty with certain passes, as has been documented by people with a better understanding of passing mechanics than I. We all think he is a great player with huge upside and a smile that could create peace in the Middle East.
However, the great part about him is that he does have so much room left to grow, and he does have areas to improve upon that when he does, he could be better than any of us have ever seen in this offense. A guy who is THIS good right now with THIS much upside for the future? Incredible. But to get that upside fulfilled, he has to improve in some places.
November 16th, 2010 at 5:28 PM ^
I say right in my short post he is not above criticism, but the amount of new threads trying to figure out why Denard isn't completing 80% of his passes or why he isn't arching his long passes right on the money is ridiculous.
As a coach Magnus you should know more than anyone that over the course of a season and game players wear down. As they wear down there mechanics break down. After running for 2 plays in a row on a 10 play drive, don't you think the odds Denard throws an errant pass increase?
Can Denrad improve? Yes and he will, just the over analyzing of his every move has gotten out of control.
November 16th, 2010 at 7:37 PM ^
People keep talking about denard like he's going to be around forever and he's nowhere near his potential. While I agree with the latter he also only has two years left of elgibility. 7 touchdowns vs 8 INT is horrible for a seasoned sophomore. This deserves critisisim because ITS KILLING THE TEAM, not to mention all the fumbles. I love denard but I feel like the offensive mindset of "we need to score a touchdown on every possession" has come back to bite us (our defense) in the ass. Securing the football will make or break these next two games.
November 16th, 2010 at 7:48 PM ^
constructive criticism and being soft edge
"ITS KILLING THE TEAM"
Over the line tomcat
November 16th, 2010 at 10:56 PM ^
"You can't handle the truth"
November 17th, 2010 at 7:28 AM ^
Just for clarification. Ahem... What the fuck is a seasoned sophomore? If anything that would describe Tate. Denard is a player that was so gifted athletically that he saw the the field a handfull of plays last year (Minus Iowa where he played due to "injury " of Forcier) where they didn't let him throw the ball because he was so incredibly behind as a qb. This year after working harder than most of us probably ever have making leaps and bounds to be the best qb he can be. Yes its frustrating when he over throws and misses a receiver only to find the safety. When you can see that he clearly has a running lane if only he would scramble. At the end of the day the only thing I blame him for is running with the ball in the wrong hand because that is something you learn early on in your life and should be corrected. I suppose by that logic Texas also has a "seasoned sophomore" in Gabbart (sp) How's their season going?
Edited for being an idiot and not knowing how to use there and their properly.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:26 PM ^
Ziff72, you just BOOM MGoRoasted! all the haters.
Denard is only a sophomore, please everyone keep this in mind. He is just getting started (oh shit, if I was the rest of the BT I would be very worried for the next few years).
November 16th, 2010 at 4:30 PM ^
Looked how much he improved in a year. He will only keep getting better and better! The B10 should be worried as hell!
November 16th, 2010 at 5:11 PM ^
Whenever I see a poster with an impressive negative MGoPoint total I almost feel obligated to negbang them, even if I agree with their comment. Why is that?
November 16th, 2010 at 5:36 PM ^
Peer pressure.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:41 PM ^
Why do I suspect this thread will soon be filled with Haters Gonna Hate images?
November 16th, 2010 at 7:29 PM ^
You just broke the seal.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:39 PM ^
[EDIT]: The picture I put up got deleted from the internet. What are the chances?
November 16th, 2010 at 7:30 PM ^
quite high.
November 17th, 2010 at 12:33 AM ^
Haters will always hate.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:43 PM ^
Enough protectionism posting already. Ziff has a habit of crying about anything that is not 100% fluff. Denard does have weaknesses just like any other player, and he isn't made of glass, he won't break. Critiquing a players game is well within the boundaries of what we do hear, personal attacks are what I can't take.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:47 PM ^
Well said.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:05 PM ^
Hear, here.
November 16th, 2010 at 5:49 PM ^
I'm defensive or RR because as you may have noticed he has faced some obstacles the 1st couple of years and I feel the need to point out facts to try and convince people that listen to talk radio and/or don't do any research to get on board.
I've been a Tate guy all along so I don't have a thing to protect Denard. I just think the expectations of this guy and our offense have gone off the deep end. Some people have got to come to the realization of 2 things.
1. The other team has coaches that get paid to stop us and players on scholarship that want to win as well.
2. When you have a qb that runs that much you have to accept a certain amount of bad passes due to fatigue and being banged around during the game. What Mcgee, Smith and Rodriguez have done to get Denard to this point is remarkable.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:09 PM ^
Well there's one thing we can all agree on: talk radio is stupid.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:11 PM ^
And to that, some say, "Yes but . . ."
And then post that he gets hurt every game, his passing has degraded, he isn't as fast, teams are figuring him out, he's making bad decisions, etc.
It is all part of the MGoObsession.
November 17th, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^
If I could + vote this I would do it 300000 times. That made me start cracking up so hard!!!! +300000 to you SIR
November 16th, 2010 at 4:44 PM ^
Good post, the numbers tell the story. Every QB has a miss every so often, but the overall performance has been often. As a first year starter, still awesome.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:52 PM ^
Denard will win the heisman at michigan before he is done here! Write it down.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:57 PM ^
Why can't I just make a mental notation?
November 16th, 2010 at 4:56 PM ^
Dude, everyone loves Denard there's no question. I know I definitely enjoy him... I commented on another thread but the mere fact that we're saying things like "he only needs to average 300 total yards per game... to beat x,y,z record" makes a smile a bit.
He's raised the bar so much that we expect approximately 200 yards passing, 100 yards rushing each game.
That being said, some folks on these interwebz are actual football coaches, or do have legit insight/credentials. I agree with your overall intention of this post, but I also think it's fair to analyze (not criticize) Denard's game.
November 16th, 2010 at 5:31 PM ^
I put right in my post that Denard is not above criticism. It has just gotten out of control, because of the mud bowl. Yes he needs to scramble more and not throw punts over the middle of the field. Can we end all the threads now?
November 16th, 2010 at 5:08 PM ^
Even those that say no one should criticize Denard point out he " will only get better and better". Well, that certainly implies he has areas of weakness. There is nothing wrong with people pointed those areas out even if it is just their opinion. My opinion, shared by some others is that he is slightly "off" from the way he played earlier this year. That does not mean with think he should be benched or is still anything short of amazing.