New Shane Morris Highlight Video
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:41 PM ^
I'm not sure what the holes in his game are.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:46 PM ^
It's a highlight reel. They don't show any bad plays.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:54 PM ^
Oh sweet! Thanks, bro! Again, I'm not sure what holes in his game he has. He threw a good short, intermediate and deep ball, good slants and good out routes along with some good swings and has good enough speed to not be a Navarre back there. I know it is a highlight film, I know he had bad plays last year and I'm sure some things he needs to work on. There is a difference between having to work on some stuff and having holes in his game. I'm saying he doesn't really have any holes that will keep him from being a star he just needs to get everything tuned up as all players have (most freshman QBs have holes that keep them from the field early in their career). Nothing needs to be developed/ made from scratch, just enhanced. Tate didn't have much of a deep ball, Denard couldnt throw, Threet couldnt run. Those are holes in their game that took years of developing and could still get much better.
February 23rd, 2012 at 4:05 PM ^
I wasn't trying to be snarky. People just have a tendency to watch the highlight reel and think that's what they are getting and your comment kind of implied that thought process. I'm just trying to temper expectations.
My point, though, is that he could have very poor decision making skills or other such holes that wouldn't show up in a highlight reel. I did notice a few plays that made me cringe because he made passes that would get picked off in the NCAA. He also threw to receivers that were either well-covered or double-covered when there were other wide-open receivers underneath that receiver a few times.
February 23rd, 2012 at 4:32 PM ^
I saw several plays he passed to well defended receivers. However, on the ones I saw, he made pin point throws where only the receiver could go get it. It's called throwing a receiver open. And that my friend, is a good thing.
February 23rd, 2012 at 4:58 PM ^
but I will say that seems like a lot of impressive highlights from what I understand is a pretty limited pass offense.
On a side note, that's a very well put together highlight film.
February 23rd, 2012 at 6:03 PM ^
February 24th, 2012 at 2:56 AM ^
he delivers the ball too low. think navarre and henne, they were both giants but had a bad habit of getting balls knocked down because of a low delivery. you can get away with it in high school and against some mac schools, but not in the big ten. he will have to work on bringing his arm up. other than that, he looks very capable to make all the throws and reads he needs to make, as well as being nimble enough to escape pressure should he ever get it behind that brick wall of an o-line he will have in front of him.
February 24th, 2012 at 10:38 AM ^
Completely agree. Get that hand above your ear on your release! He will also gain some velocity as his release extends. Its easier when you get older to throw with a high release because you gain the muscle needed to avoid the "shot put" method. I bet the coaches get him fixed really quick, and they probably have 2 years to fix it before he goes prime time. The otherstuff looks good. I think he leaves his feet way too much when running. He will get injured if he tries that stuff in the B1G. Excellent ability to sense pocket pressure while keeping eyes downfield. Can't wait to see him on campus!
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:33 PM ^
Excited to see him in the Maize and Blue!
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:42 PM ^
Man oh man is he good... Every single one of those highlight passes was thrown to the exact right spot. 5:49 in particular... He saw the bracket coverage over top and did the smart thing by not leading the receiver, bc that would have led to an interception. Instead he threw a back-shoulder jump ball which is the correct thing to do. Imagine, with such a terrible offensive line that he had then coming to Michigan with our boss 2013 offensive line class, Shane is going to be a monster.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:47 PM ^
yeah, especially the pass to the tight end with no one within 15 yards of him and yet he had to turn completely around to catch the ball.
yes, he's good, but let's not start throwing out Fred Jackson-esqe comments left and right.
keep it in your pants.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:53 PM ^
Excuse me... it's a tight end for christ's sake. If it was a wide receiver, by all means, throw in front. But you never want to overthrow a wide open receiver/TE. If a receiver is wide open, you ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS throw it to a place that you are SURE the guy can catch it. I'm not sure if Morris threw it in front of the TE that he could run and catch it. It's always better to throw to safe spots than always in front of a guy.
There are 1230948230 other highlights in there of him throwing to receivers in stride, so I'm fairly confident he did that on purpose.
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:44 PM ^
Haha he sure does like that hurdle move.
February 23rd, 2012 at 4:11 PM ^
Haha I was thinking the same thing.Tim Tebow he is not when running the football.
Then again, Tim Tebow he is not when throwing the football which seems the be the key thing to focus on here.
February 24th, 2012 at 12:11 AM ^
Shane pulled a Sam.
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:45 PM ^
Kid's good (I know, huge understatement). I'm excited to see him suit up for us.
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:46 PM ^
He does not suck, at all.
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:48 PM ^
Also, in his "Hello from the Future" post, we gave him 3 fakes out of 5 on his listed 4.6 40-yard dash time. In this video, he still lists a 4.63 40. Anyone know how realistic that is? He looked pretty good on those scrambles.
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:52 PM ^
Tom said he ran a 4.7 at a recent combine
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:58 PM ^
I missed that. Thanks for letting me know.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:18 PM ^
Shane looked like Colt McCoy on those runs in the first section of the video.
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:53 PM ^
Obvious highlight caveat is obvious, but I would like to hear from someone with a lot more football knowledge than me, critique/praise his throwing motion, footwork, and vision.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:01 PM ^
OK, I'm a lifelong soccer player, but it seems that on some throws he doens't quite square his shoulders, but relies instead on his arm strength. When he's running to his right, that's to be expected, but there are times where he seems to have time to gather himself and he doens't.
There are also a couple instances where he's leaning back before he has to because of the pass rush. Coaches would probably want him to stand stronger in the pocket. Some of these throws were completed for big gains because the corner made a bad read/angle or mistimed a jump. Ohio State's corners won't make those mistakes.
Shane Morris is universally considered within the top 5 QBs in the country, so it will be hard to find any big flaws in his game, but those are some things that I have noticed.
Anyone who knows more about this stuff have anything else, or different, to say?
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:09 PM ^
It is my understanding tha Shane Morris' team doesn't offer him much to work with offensively in the way of protection or skill players. I think he's used to spending his time dodging rushers than having time to step up in the pocket and survey the field.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:26 PM ^
That's kind of what it looks like becuase he's getting pressured in almost every clip. No wonder he's so excited about this upcoming offensive line!
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:58 PM ^
Send this to Treadwell, stat.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:02 PM ^
Seriously... took the words right out of my mouth. With this QB playing behind our up and coming O-Line, how could elite WRs resist... I 've got to think we will get one or two in this class.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:17 PM ^
Throwing screen passes to Ty Isaac.
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:59 PM ^
Dude has the best arm I've seen, size you've got to love, AND he scrambles like Tate.
Oh yeah... plus he recruits.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:15 PM ^
My first thought when watching him is how much he reminds me of Tate, only with a better arm. Which is saying something, since Tate was the most accurate QB in his class.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:22 PM ^
And much bigger.
February 23rd, 2012 at 4:09 PM ^
He's better than Forcier overall, but I don't think he's as good of a runner.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:03 PM ^
He's like Michael Vick...with ups.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:05 PM ^
thats all i have to say when i watch this kid... he always seems to have a feel for pressure(maybe because he is always in trouble in his backfield) and knows when to get the ball out. Kid is an absolute talent.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:53 AM ^
Yeah, look how well he does in the red zone. Very Brady-esqe.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:08 PM ^
would want to come to Michigan to play with someone like that. He makes everyone around him look so much better, like Aaron Rodgers except faster.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:09 PM ^
Why is he not listed as a dual-threat quarterback?
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:11 PM ^
Why is Wes Welker "gritty"? (It's the same reason)
February 23rd, 2012 at 9:40 PM ^
THATS RACIST. YOU'RE RACIST.
I always thought it was because they were left-handed.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:14 PM ^
This kid's got a rifle for a cannon.
/oldschoolESPN'd
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:14 PM ^
an arm like that! From the back of the end zone to the 45 with out much effort! He has decent speed that's for sure.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:19 PM ^
Goddamn is he good. Borges has to be as giddy as a schoolgirl to get him in the offense. It's a shame he can't enroll early - I think he has a very good shot at starting from Day 1 over Devin.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:46 PM ^
I hope you're wrong. I hope they have no plans of starting him of Devin on day 1. I know he is incredible gifted but freshmanz iz freshmanz and we have had to many freshman starters in the recent past.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:51 PM ^
Lets slow it down a bit. I would be concerned if he comes in and starts from day 1 for any other reason than Devin is injured and badly. The kid is really really good no doubt but you don't want him starting from day 1 unless you have no other choice. At the next level the game is going to be really fast for him and it isn't a knock against him it is just a fact. Michigan is blessed to have a QB like Gardner to step in after Denard leaves so that we don't have to start a freshman QB again.
Trust me I am as excited as the next guy about this kid because he looks like he will be the next great Michigan QB but lets not throw him to the wolves because he has a nice highlight tape.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:20 PM ^
I never realized how mobile he is. This kid could really be great.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:20 PM ^
The dude has a serious cannon.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:38 PM ^
and pick defenses apart. It should really help open up the running game as well.
February 23rd, 2012 at 4:38 PM ^
I be like dang. There are times that it looks like he's about to just unleash the dragon, but then the ball ends up being dead on to a guy way downfield. Also, he has quite a bit of zip on his out routes. Dude is good.