How Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan is now joining the spread offense world
Good article on the transition to the spread. Calls out the offensive tackles for not being good enough.
OP, your title is stating something we all knew months ago.
this is... weak sauce.
So your saying Michigan is going to try ‘speed on space’? You have proven to be quite the timely and reliable source for breaking news! /s
It's the title of the article, written today by Ian Boyd, who knows a thing or two about football. But thanks for chiming in and with this observation while simultaneously letting everyone know you didn't bother to read a word of what he wrote. At least one football person familiar to this site can appreciate the perspective...
Really nice read here. Focuses on how Gattis can implement his style w/o Michigan losing their identity and what they are primarily built for. Evolving into more RPO doesn't mean completely eliminating much of what has given them success recently, just molding it to fit together https://t.co/xdh9Y4nAcU
— Space Coyote (@SpaceCoyoteBDS) May 9, 2019
For the record, I read the whole article before posting. It was superficial acknowledgment of the new reality under Gattis - old news with misrepresentation by 1201...
The down votes that I have received are further evidence that 1201 may be the most accurate self given moniker yet, 1,201 accounts attempting to spread a message of negativity...
I did read it, and Boyd does not call out the tackles for not being good enough. He does say that if they improve in pass pro, the offense could take off even more. There's a big difference in what he actually said, and in how you relayed what he said. I'm not surprised by that, it is you, and Runyan was a 3-star, after all...
Indy Pete was right - this is weak sauce... Good story, but no news whatsoever.
It seems like we’ve been here before. If only we had some of Ms. Rita’s nacho dip...
There is a small part of me that hates everything.
That part of me really misses those days
Rita's nacho dip lol.
It allowed a modest 21 sacks of Patterson, but those included three against both Notre Dame and Ohio State and five against Florida in the Peach Bowl. When the Wolverines faced better defensive ends, their tackles were exposed and their offense had to play with a governor.
Only VaBlue could interpret "their tackles were exposed" and "his (Patterson) line was a big part of the problem" as anything other than being called out for not being good enough.
What’s the consensus for the O tackle positions in 2019? Are they generally expected to improve significantly, remain the same or somewhere in between?
Objectively, the O line appeared to be the most improved position group last year. If they make similar strides again this year that would alleviate many of the OT concerns.
LOL!!! Is this 'calling them out', or simply reiterating the very same things everyone was saying during the season last year, and exactly what Boyd said earlier in the story - that they need to improve in pass pro?
You are just an awful person. I really don't understand how people can function when being so negative about everything, all the time...
This is Maizen letting everyone know HE is calling out the tackles for not being good enough, because of course, Jim Harbaugh signs too many three stars.
You're arguing semantics and taking personal shots in the process. That you're this worked up over such an innocuous post really says a lot about you. Sad.
Man, you are a mystery to me. If you aren't a troll, then how do you spin all the criticism? Do you tell yourself you're just a hard-boiled messenger of the truth in a world too soft to handle it? That you're the prophet of a 5-star gospel that the masses will thank you for, someday, after they've crucified you? My god, you're getting told every day, all the time, that the manner in which you present information is terrible, and yet still you soldier on with this godforsaken crusade. Lots of people critique the program here and don't get crucified for it -- look at yourself, Maizen, my dude, and consider why you, specifically, do. Sports fandom, at its heart, is about hope.
I think it’s interesting how he talks about the importance of the interior offensive line for teams. Getting that push so a quarterback (especially with how it seems Harbaugh teaches his QBs) to be able to step up in the pocket. Bredeson, Ruiz and Owenu showed they can do that. RPOs won’t work if the interior line is getting pushed back into the QB/RB mesh.
Ian Boyd: This philosophy should help Michigan close the talent gap, especially if they develop their tackles.
1201: Ian Boyd calls out Michigan tackles for not being good enough.
1201(later in the thread): Jeez guys, why does everyone think I'm a negative Nancy:(
Also Ian Boyd: "Their tackles were exposed."
Keep on keepin on though.
I didn't see any WERE in your title.
"Were" is old offense last year, this article is about new hotness.
And guess what Nancy, even if you weren't being disingenuous by paring last years tackle weakness with this years new offense in the title, you're still taking a positive article and focusing on the NEGATIVE ..........NANCY.
So don't go "crying home to momma" next time someone calls you a debbie downer.
The only thing that makes me want to cry is your willingness to perform these type of mental gymnastics just so you can find a way to argue with and insult me. I've exercised a lot of patience when it comes to your daily whiney bitchassness but I'm done wasting keystrokes on someone that goes to these lengths to misinterpret, misrepresent, and distract at every turn.
"I'm done wasting keystrokes on someone that goes to these lengths to misinterpret, misrepresent, and distract at every turn."
So you're going to stop talking to yourself?
Lolololol.
Guy who types 1,234,567,890 words each thread to defend himself says "imma stop defending myself."
Lolololol.
Hey man, in all honesty, you might wanna follow up on this. Just let people say their "stupid shit" and move on. Its ok to let someone be wrong.
You know you only get this rep because you keep fighting back so hard, right? Like, 90% of the time your initial posts are good/decent. Its just the 20th reply in the thread that um. . . leads to bad things.
It doesn't matter whether I start ignoring it or not because it won't change anything. People will continue to hear only what they want to hear and will react accordingly. It doesn't matter that I posted an article on UM's offense. It doesn't matter that I called it good. It only matters that I (accurately) brought up Boyd's characterization of the OL even though it was a big talking point in the article. Predictably the board's resident bitchasses latched onto that and spun it into something negative about me to distract from the commentary about the OL. If you were in my shoes that would get old. It's a form of online bullying and shouldn't be allowed here frankly. But not gonna let that stop me from giving my takes and interacting with the people who do appreciate what I have to say.
I agree it Doesn't matter. So like, why fight it? It it just leads to their bitching, then like. . . feels kinda sisyphian -- if you cannot change something, why be angry that it is that way?
Like, I wish I had angel wings. (Id be the highest 5* -- try tackling that!) But I don't. And I can't get them. So like, I don't bitch. .
What are you trying to prove...we all know you do a negative news search on Michigan football daily. No posts or threads with any type of positivity just backhanded compliments daily...fuck off...seriously...you’re pathetic
Someone with this posting history wants to talk about positivity? Take your own advice and gtfoh.
HOLY SHIT HOW DO WE NOT HAVE AN IGNORE USER BUTTON YET!?
ITS COMING NEXT OFFSEASON!!!
(And in 2020, it'll be scheduled for next off season. And in 2021 it'll be scheduled for next off season. And so on until the 4 horsemen appear.)
Post all of your other account’s histories.
I’ll do my best to stop being a salty b*tch after this post, but if more people were granted access to post there may be other viewpoints on the board. I don’t see anything wrong with this post from 1201, 1201 was granted the ability to post by those who run the board so clearly this is the content they want, not that there is anything wrong with it. Link
Unless I missed it, I don’t see any posts on the Jordan Morant announcement today, you’d think that was board worthy considering he is a top target, so I’ll assume I’m just not seeing the post. Even the Chris Steel story is relevant to a degree.
This will be the last time I whine about new posters other than 1201 not being able to generate discussion topics, we are getting the topics that those who control the board want us to have. With that being said having new voices doesn’t seem like a horrible idea.
From the article:
“His Wolverines have struggled to put together an offensive line like that”
“Patterson’s first year wasn’t all Michigan could’ve hoped for when it picked him from the wreckage of Ole Miss. His line was a big part of the problem.”
“When the Wolverines faced better defensive ends, their tackles were exposed”
“The scare with the spread is if Michigan’s tackles can hold up without extra blockers to help.”
”It poses risks if Michigan’s tackles don’t improve in pass protection, however”
”If the Wolverines can start to develop tackles more consistently”
Taken together, I don’t know how anybody can construe these comments as anything other than somewhat critical of our OL in general and our tackles in particular. It’s not savage criticism but neither is it remotely laudatory.
Conclusion of linked article:
BUT THERE'S REASON TO BE HOPEFUL, if the wolverines can start to develop tackles more consistently and integrate skilled hybrids at fb/te into rpo, THEY CAN GAIN AN EXTRA GEAR.
I don't care that this concern troll is a negative Nancy, I just will call him out when he whines about the negdown.
Yeah I don't get the Maizen hate here (though I certainly do get it overall). Boyd notes what all Michigan fans who kept yelling the very, very obvious "open up the offense!" last year never understood: they couldn't because the tackles were unreliable in pass pro. Patterson would have gotten killed, and any chance to win the B1G gone. The offense HAD to be built around what the OL did well, a bruising run game. Yes, even with DPJ, Black, and Collins.
Yeah, Ian and I were twitter DM'ing back and forth because he was scouting for this post and I was scouting for my HTTV article on Gattis's offense, Runyan got beat up at the end of the UF game. Runyan's never going to have the size to deal with a Jachai Polite when Michigan's shelved the running game.
Stueber also had some breakdowns late in that game and OSU. Before that I thought he was fine.
Brian's writing the OL preview of HTTV this week so all the scouting's fresh right now. The general take is Runyan is close to his low ceiling, and for a Big Ten offensive tackle you'll take that any day! Guy was All Big Ten last year (I woulda had him 2nd team). Stueber or Mayfield will be good eventually--there's a LOT to think about when you're playing OT and neither are at the point where everything comes naturally.
Pep did the OTs no favors in 2017 with long-developing routes designed to make his QBs' reads easier, but that was a necessity with O'Korn and Peters. Shea and Gattis both take some pressure off the OL.
By the way: Onwenu's pass protection is underrated.
My issue with 1201's take is that he only highlighted the negative part, while claiming it was some new version of knowledgeable football guy saying the line sucked. Boyd rightly explained the pass pro issues against better DE's - which is something we all knew about last year, during the season. Nobody has ever denied that! Nobody has ever said Runyan was on par with Lewan as a LT - but here is Maizen throwing yet more shit at a kid working his ass off, and trying to pass it off as new information.
Boyd did a credible job in explaining the issues we saw last year, and what Harbaugh/Gattis are trying to do this year, without unnecessarily shitting on a kid trying his best. The article itself is positive about where the offense is going and how its going to get there - and how it can be even better.
Maizen highlighted the negative parts to shit on the players.
Well of course he did, that's what he does. I do wonder what psychological problems cause such behavior, maybe just extremely low self esteem? Whatever it is, Michigan football is not the problem.
You have an issue with me saying "Good article on the transition to the spread. Calls out the offensive tackles for not being good enough."
I didn't highlight anything, I summed up the article in two sentences. What I said is accurate. The fact that something like this upsets you and you feel the need to go on a multi paragraph diatribe about it is frankly quite pathetic.
Our tackles are still an issue. Runyan is adequate and not a true LT and everyone should be concerned with RT. This can be true and still have hope that the line play will improve this year.
Once again it is not about the line being good against most of the conference. We all need them to be great in the big time games against the best talent. That did not happen last year for whatever reason.
Bingo.
I also don't buy from this article that Michigan couldn't open up the offense because of the tackles either. They didn't open it up because that wasn't/isn't Jim's philosophy.
People want to make things more difficult than it really is with Michigan football. They scapegoat a ton of people while the issue is staring us all in our face. We didn't pass/get the WR the ball because the objective was to wear down the other team by the 4th quarter while trying to out execute(11 men doing their job to perfection) a defense instead of out scheming(Finding the weakness and attack only that). That mean't the Ole Michigan tradition since the 70's "Establish the run"
#BodyBlows
I think while Pep did have too many long developing plays in the playbook and that didn't do the OT's any favors the fact is they still as Boyd points out got exposed vs the good teams on the schedule. The ND, OSU, and UF games were downright horrifying.
Now this is a valid point without shitting on the players! I will wholeheartedly agree that Pep's playbook didn't do anyone any favors, nor did the tendency to go more conservative as a tight game wore on. (Going conservative in close games is a Michigan hallmark since Bo was around - even the wide open Gary Moeller offenses went that way in tight games...)
Exhibit #1,233,999,445 of what I say above about not understanding football.
Sadly, we are still trying to dig our way out of the wreckage of 2 consecutive head coaches and their inexplicable loyalty to terrible O line coaches. JH with Drevno, and Clappy with Funk. In the words of Rich Rocket Scientist, "it doesn't get fixed overnight".
it’s a big shift and if you scan the programs that made the switch it’s rarely an overnight fix.
This offense needs very athletic OL, typically they’re smaller/faster than what Harbaugh recruited.
There needs to be a versatile RB who knows the nuance of the system. Gattis has Barkley at PSU and a truckload of NFL talent at Bama. We don’t have an established RB. A true FR could have a nice year but FR Barkley wasn’t JR Barkley.
Receivers and Patterson should have a good transition. Our guys block well which is key if we’re playing speed in space. Patterson is mobile enough.
This offense lives or dies with the ability to run and that hinges on the OL getting a lot better and a RB emerging. Until that happens pump the damn brakes.
There are advantages and disadvantages to most everything. This will be a new offense for Michigan and there will be some growing pains. However, they should get better and add to it as the season progresses. The opposition will have little as far as tendencies or even strengths and weaknesses to go on.
Both offensively and defensively this team should ascend as the seasons progresses.
I’m in the camp of this offense will need a transition year to be really good, but we will see some flashes during the season.
I don't disagree, but I hope this transition year looks a lot like Don Brown's transition year did...
That would be fantastic, but Brown was more proven than Gattis is. Gattis will be running his own offense for the first time. Gattis is proven as a WR coach though and I expect him to take our WRs to the next level right away. And I have faith that Shea can pick up the offense quickly. I think the lines and the backs will be the key to how good it can be. Those are the positions where the players have to be able to react quickly in the new offense. And the Tackles will be alone 1 on 1 with DEs more often, that is an area they will have to improve in as the article states.