Jim Harbaugh: Quarterback Hunter
There is a ton of talent returning on the 2015 Michigan Football team, albeit unbridled and raw in some spots. The ugly truth is that this team will go only as far as it's quarterback takes them. Finding the next great Michigan QB is likely a top priority, if not the top priority for Jim Harbaugh. There is little hope in 2015 outside of the committed Alex Malzone. I'm not sold that he is a truly elite quarterback that is going to lead us to the promise land but he does appear to be solid. Here's what I'm thinking for options.........
2015: Blake Barnett (5 star) 6 ft 4 198lbs - Corona, CA (Bama commit)
*Blake has the size and mobility and had Michigan Interest early.
2016: Jacob Eason (5 star) #1 player in 2016 class. 6ft5 207- Lake Stevens, WA
Kid is a future NFLer with ideal size. Georgia commit but Bobo just left so........
2016: Malik Henry (5 Star) 6 ft 2 185lbs - Westlake Village, CA
Malik has tremendous command/poise and throws Recivers open.
FSU commit but had Michigan interest earlier this year.
2016: KJ Costello (#25 player in 2016) 6ft4 218lbs - Rancho Santa Magarita, CA
Ideal size again and highly rated from that trusted Cali stock. Free Agent.
There will assuredly be some unearthed gems along the way but I think it's a safe bet that Harbaugh goes after 1 of these 4 stud QBS. Michigan now has a "rock star" coach and literally the best coach in the business. He will land his "rock star" QB, the question is merely who will it be. Why not the #1 player in the class of 2016? Mike Bobo just left Georgia and playing QB for Michigan and Jim Harbaugh seems like more of a draw than Mark Richt at Georgia. That flip is more than do-able. This is a huge priority like I said before because once Harbaugh gets his QB....it's on like Donkey Kong. Michigan will run a pro-style offense with elite coaches and a head coach that excelled at the highest level of football. Harbaugh has more connections with the NFL than any other coach in the B1G and maybe the country. If you're an elite "Pro-Style" recruit in the Mid-West....you're kind of coming to Michigan now. This is about to get fun! Thoughts??
December 30th, 2014 at 1:44 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 8:42 AM ^
Ghostbusters reference!
December 30th, 2014 at 1:44 AM ^
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December 30th, 2014 at 1:47 AM ^
Is he the next Andrew Luck? That is what I think the bar needs to be. That's what we need to beat OSU/MSU, win the B1G and become a Playoff Team. We need an absolutely ELITE quarterback. If Malzone proves to be that...awesome....but that is what we need.
December 30th, 2014 at 2:26 AM ^
I respectfully disagree. It would be awesome to have an elite QB, but it's not necessary. Harbaugh has proven he can develop quarterbacks everywhere he goes, and not every one of them is as good as brady/manning/luck. Hell, he upset USC with a 3rd string QB. At Stanford. I think Malzone will be just fine.
December 30th, 2014 at 3:31 AM ^
The problem this year wasn't the quarterbacks; it was the way they are being coached. Jim Harbaugh will be able to win with at least two out of the threesome of Malzone, Morris and Speight. Morris was thrown in before he was ready, probably due to a David Brandon fiat.
Morris may not have been ready, but he proved one thing to all of us: he is a tough QB. That is exactly what Harbaugh likes. I refuse to throw any of the 2014 QB's under the bus because it is not their fault that they were expected to make chicken soup out of chicken feathers.
One if not more than one of the current QB's is going to surprise the fuck out of those who only payed attention on a superficial level last year.
December 30th, 2014 at 3:40 AM ^
I did not see much promise out of our QBs this year. What did you see that leads you believe that we have our next great one on the roster? Morris is very careless with the football. We have been plagued by turnover prone QB play. Morris has been a turnover machine if were being honest. How much of that is placed upon the coaching is up to the powers that be to determine. Jim will certainly do what he feels is best. I would be very shocked if he doesn't look around for a top notch signal caller that can produce at the B1G level. Bellomy and Morris have yet to do that.
December 30th, 2014 at 4:26 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 6:43 AM ^
With the football because of the offense they were told to run and because the coaches tolerated it. And was it the QB' s fault the receivers weren't doing a good job getting open frequently? My point is let's not throw the current quarterbacks under the bus until we see how they respond to better coaching in a system they can succeed under.
December 30th, 2014 at 9:45 AM ^
Alex Smith was pretty much an NFL journeyman who was headed towards 'bust' territory until Harbaugh revived his NFL career.
Also, remember that in Harbaugh's first year at Stanford they upset USC when Stanford was a 41 pt dog, and Stanford did it with a 3rd string QB starting that game.
I have no idea how Morris is going to end up but I'm interested to see what Harbaugh can do with Morris and Speight.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
Smith also had 4 offensive coordinators in 5 years. Once he got some stability at the coordinator position, his career turned around.
December 30th, 2014 at 2:36 AM ^
I mean, I want a good quarterback, but Andrew Luck was a once-in-twenty-years type of prospect. That's a ludicrously high bar you've set if you're being serious.
Also, you don't need an elite quarterback to win big in college football. Obviously it's better to have one, but it's not necessary. Here's a list of QBs who have led their teams to top-4 finishes since 2010 without being quality pro prospects:
Blake Sims
Connor Shaw
Nick Marshall
AJ McCarron
Everett Golson
Braxton Miller
Darron Thomas
Jarrett Lee
Brandon Weeden
When you account for the fact that Thomas and McCarron did it multiple times, that's more than half the quarterbacks of top-4 teams in that span who weren't quality pro prospects.
December 30th, 2014 at 3:46 AM ^
The two Alabama QBs played on absolutely stacked Bama plug-n-play rosters. McCarron was a Heisman finalist and he was pretty damn good in his own right. I'd say he was college level elite. Golson/Miller/Marshall/Shaw/Thomas all played in zone read/spread systems and therefore aren't really good examples. They were very effective for their respective systems. Weeden put up monster numbers in Stillwater and had elite recievers. Michigan needs a stud QB in order to see a pro-style offense take off. I don't agree with those who say we can just get a good QB and win a title. Jim Harbaugh is a B1G title/ Playoff move from a coaching stand-point. We need a B1G title/ Playoff move in terms of QB recruiting and progression. I don't see a way around that.
December 30th, 2014 at 4:21 AM ^
a couple quality pro prospects on there. For one, Weeden was a first round draft choice, AJ McCarron was a 3rd rounder, Connor Shaw was a rookie starter in the NFL this season, and it's looking like Blake Sims could be drafted. And all of those quarterbacks, aside from Jarrett Lee, were elite in the systems they were asked to perform in. Some of the best college quarterbacks didnt have great pro prospects. They just need to be great in college
December 30th, 2014 at 7:53 AM ^
McCarron was a 5th rounder.
December 30th, 2014 at 9:16 AM ^
I'll never understand why a college qb isn't a "good" qb unless they are good in the pros. Sims IS an elite qb, 2nd best qb in the nation actually, how is that not elite? Braxton is elite also. I would rather have a great college qb like Braxton and Sims than an above average qb in college who ends up being great in the pros
December 30th, 2014 at 4:00 AM ^
Luck is a once in generation talent. If that's where your bar is set you're setting yourself up for disappointment.
December 30th, 2014 at 6:32 AM ^
Luck was a four star out of high school too. Luck was also the best pro-style college quarterback since Peyton Manning. Those guys only come around every 15 years or so. I guess what I'm saying is that they are super rare and that Luck was developed and not a can't miss prospect.
I'll take an Andrew Luck though...
December 30th, 2014 at 1:48 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 2:40 AM ^
Why would we want to trust anybody Hoke and his staff offered a scholarship to? No offense but Quarterbacks who played in Michigan High School don't usually end up being that great. We need a stud Quarterback somebody for the next 3 or 4yrs who can win us some ball games and groom the next kid after him.
December 30th, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
"No offense but Quarterbacks who played in Michigan High School don't usually end up being that great."
Our coach respectfully disagrees with this statement.
December 30th, 2014 at 1:52 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 1:58 AM ^
I still think we go after another big dog in 2016 though.
December 30th, 2014 at 2:05 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 9:52 AM ^
Just cause a guy orally committed to UM while Hoke was here doesn't mean Harbaugh is going to be keep him. With the 2015 class, since it's pretty late in the process I'm guessing Harbaugh will keep the the guys who have orally committed. However, with 2016 commits I'd think Harbaugh will evaluate them and see if he wants to keep them to go in a different direction.
December 30th, 2014 at 2:06 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 4:02 AM ^
Why, is there a law that says we are only allowed to take one QB per class? Every position should expect to have competition and QB is no different. I'm not knocking Malzone, but I dont see any reason why we would not bring in another QB, if an elite one were available.
December 30th, 2014 at 9:20 AM ^
If college QBs are like lottery tickets, why wouldn't you want as many opportunities to scratch-and-win as you can get? I'm not saying you take five QBs in a class, but two is hardly unreasonable. It's not disrespectful to Malzone, or even a knock on him. If he (or Morris or Speight) turns out to be the guy, Harbaugh will recognize it and use him.
I think it would be natural for Harbaugh to evaluate the current roster and kick the tires on some elite QB recruits to start molding the team to his vision. I mean, why would he not? Dude is a rock star, riding a wave of mass hype. According to yesterday's recruiting post, recruits and decommits are big on this hire. Why not (try to) strike while the iron's hot?
December 30th, 2014 at 1:47 AM ^
Can't remember where I read it, might have been the edge of the internet, but I read that Shea Patterson (2016) was a very viable option
December 30th, 2014 at 1:52 AM ^
He seems like a bit of a scrambler and I'm not sure that he doesn't opt for an OSU or Auburn/LSU zone-read type team. I could be wrong though.
December 30th, 2014 at 1:47 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 1:50 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 2:08 AM ^
The fact that the back ups have thrown 9 interceptions and 0 TDs combined should scare the crap out of you. Morris may have a great arm and decent mobility but his throws beyond 15 yards have all been intercepted or been close to being picked off.
December 30th, 2014 at 2:26 AM ^
It is very disconcertng to me. Russ is not even a Big 10 QB. Morris has accuracy issues.
What I'd like to see early in a QB career is good accuracy. He is going to be up and down from game to game but accuracy is accuracy. I'd take a guy who cannot throw 50 yards but can throw accurate in the 18-30 yard range all day over a guy who throws bombs but his accuracy in 30 yards and less is 40-50%. Look at a guy like Appleby which is a lower rated version of Malzone - he went vs MSU and put up 31 in his 2nd start of his career. Because he was accurate. He wasnt throwing bombs all day.
I just want to return to an era where we have QBs who you dont clench on every pass over 10 yards.
December 30th, 2014 at 2:13 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 2:14 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 2:30 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 2:39 AM ^
As someone who went to high school with Shane I can tell you he WAS more than a mac level talent when everyone started heaping insane amounts of premature praise on him. The more people worshipped him the more his game regressed. The kid was being called the next great Michigan QB after his sophmore season in high school....
Our school played in the best league in the state of Michigan by far, so I'm not sure how you can say he played in a low division of HS football. IMO, he got a bit ahead of himself thinking he was more special than he was. I still think with alot of hard work and Harbaugh/New QB coach fixing his flaws and developing his talent, he can be a good QB for us.
Who knows...I guess we'll see.
December 30th, 2014 at 2:50 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 2:50 AM ^
The Catholic League is far and away the best overall league in the state of Michigan. If you don't know that then you don't pay much attention to the topic you're speaking on....
December 30th, 2014 at 2:52 AM ^
I see you've now deleted your comment about doubting the fact that it was the best league in the state so I look like an agressive dumbass lol....
December 30th, 2014 at 2:53 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 3:02 AM ^
I'm not saying he is either. As a DLS alum I'm as disappointed as anyone with his lack of ability since getting on campus in A2. TBH I think Speight has more of what it takes at this point. Even Malzone could shoot up ahead of him, he seems to have the drive to be great and the focus Shane lacks.
December 30th, 2014 at 3:15 AM ^
I love the username. I come from a USMC family, my Grandfather survived one of the 1st waves on Iwo Jima. One of the proudest, toughest Marines you could ever imagine. Semper Fi.
December 30th, 2014 at 3:39 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 3:49 AM ^
Hoorah and Semper Fidelis Devil Dog!
December 30th, 2014 at 3:54 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 9:27 AM ^
Best league in a state not known for its HS football prowess, its all relative
December 30th, 2014 at 3:05 AM ^