Enough with the Denard Critiques

for Wisconsin....I think this is the PA QB Iso also known as the Carlos.

I agree that the "Can't Scramble" and "No Touch on Long Passes" ideas are a little ridiculous.  These are things that he will improve upon over the next few years, but they aren't what is holding him back at QB right now.

Denard isn't 100% healthy, and this isn't a criticism.  In football speak, he is hurt but not necessarily injured.  He has 205 official carries (which includes sacks) in 10 games; he didn't play in large portions of the BGSU, Iowa and Illinois games, yet he still averages a little over 20 carries a game.  He is nicked up in the same way that a RB with comparable carries would be right now, which is slowing him down slightly.

I think the accuracy and reading-defenses/decision-making observations are fair though as Magnus makes a good point about his 7/8 TD/INT ratio over the last 5 games.  These observations are made with the intent of discussing and analyzing the present increase in interceptions; we're not the dumb**ses still saying that Denard should be moved to RB or WR and using the last few games as proof of this ridiculous idea.  I would think most of us believe that (i) Denard should stay at QB, (2) he is a very good QB right now, and (3) he will improve all of these things in the future.

Part of the problem is that right now, Denard can't just be "very good" if we are to beat Wisconsin and/or Ohio State.  Further, he certainly can't be "OK" or merely "somewhat bad" like he was against Purdue to have a prayer against our next two opponents. 

He needs to play beyond his age/inexperience and play "Heisman-level great" to compensate for our defense.  Two interceptions leading to short fields or pick-6s will not be overcome against Wisconsin or Ohio State.  This is unfair to put on his shoulders, and nobody should hold it against him if he falls short, but he really is the key to us winning.  His problems right now are understandable, but the critiques are valid.  Hopefully he, along with the freshman on defense (to a much greater extent), can play beyond their years to finish out the regular season.

He deserves some heat!  He has 8 turnovers the last 2 games.  It's ok!  The young man can take it.  Besides, he's the starting QB and the criticism goes with the position.  Let's not sugarcoat the shoelaces!

Denards weakness... numbers?

Denard                                                                                        Cam

Rushing   3 nationally  141.70 y/game                           ranks 8    117.91 y/g

passing   59 nationally 199.0 y/g                                     ranks 69  185.3 y/g

total offense 2 nationally 340.7 y/g                                  ranks 12 303.2 y/g  

Not sure why cam shows up under denards, the stats on the right are cam newtons     

As of this moment, Denard has a higher passer rating this season than any year of Chad Henne's career (though that could of course change over the next two games).

And he's also the leading rusher in the Big 10 and has all but sewn up the league rushing title (he leads 2nd place Mikel LeShoure by 376 yards with just two games remaining). 

The kid is the truth and is only going to get better going forward.

My critique: label your columns.

I don't get why you post this here Ziff, just about everyone here's on board for Denard. If you have beef with what's being said on talk radio don't listen or call up and try to convince them otherwise. Posting this here is preaching to the choir. (Not that Denard is above criticism).

if DRob is finding out here first that he's thrown a lot of INTs recently and he needs to make better decisions, than i think our entire coaching staff does indeed need to go.

most reasonable people realize that DRob is a true Soph and will improve.  i think pointing out areas of improvement (wish list) is not off base here.

Denard has already:

-Rushed for more yards than Pat White's best rushing season

-Passed for more yards than Pat White's best passing season

And that's with two regular season games left! 

Seriously, you can check it out for yourself.

Pat White '07: 1,335 rushing yards

Denard: 1,417 rushing yards

Pat White '08: 1,842 passing yards

Denard: 1,990 passing yards

He's also going to set the rushing record for a season for the QB position.  This has been one of the greatest performances in college football and he's got a great shot at eclipsing 4,000 yards of offense.  As a first year starter.  That's insanely good.

But I have followed M from Dreisbach, to Henne, to now.  One of the saddest moments in the Big House was hearing fans boo senior Henne for frosh Mallett.  The QB position will always be critiqued, especially by at least some of our critical thinking alumni.