NFL quality QBs past 20 years
UM's last NFL quality QBs prior to JJ were Henne and Mallett in 2007.
QB is the most important position (arguably) in any sport.
We finally have an NFL quality QB and it's great! We are contenders.
But why over 7 years has Harbaugh not recruited/developed an NCAA champ level QB or NFL caliber QB during his reign?
October 18th, 2023 at 9:40 PM ^
Rudddddddddddock was drafted…
also jj this year. Milton may be drafted.
October 18th, 2023 at 9:45 PM ^
Because you touch yourself at night.
In all seriousness, the Michigan offense is not an attractive option for potential high quality NFL caliber QBs. We run the ball far too much. We’ll still get a guy like JJ every now and then but for the most part, these guys want to go somewhere where their arms are showcased. They want to throw the ball 30+ times a game, they want to put up gaudy stats. It is what it is.
I don’t know your definition of “NFL quality” but Rudock was drafted in the 6th round and stuck around as a backup for a couple years as well.
October 18th, 2023 at 9:52 PM ^
idk probably because he touches himself at night
October 18th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
When he thinks about Ruddock?*
*The extra 'D' is for deeeelicious.
October 19th, 2023 at 11:00 AM ^
"I don't want anybody else. When I think about you... "
johnnyg, probably
October 18th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
I'd add that Michigan has also had hilariously bad luck with QBs. Shea Patterson was a five-star coming out of high school and the top transfer in the portal in his year. Dylan McCaffrey, who would later go on to be a genuinely bad FCS quarterback (seriously; look up his stats), was also highly regarded. We started Joe Milton before he was ready to be an at least decent P5 starter. Brandon Peters was a borderline five-star. In fact, once we landed Shea, Michigan had at one point rostered two of the top three pro-style QBs in the 2016 class according to 247 (Peters and Patterson).
Prior to Cade McNamara, the only QB under Harbaugh who was initially recruited by the Wolverines and who matched or exceeded recruiting expectations during his time at Michigan was Wilton Speight, and that's only because he was a relatively nondescript three-star
Are Michigan, Harbaugh, and his various assistants partly to blame for not developing these guys correctly and putting them in positions to succeed? I'm sure that's the case, tho it's hard to find commonalities among all the guys described above, beyond Michigan simply not running a QB-friendly system by contemporary standards. Have to conclude bad luck played a meaningful role, as it did with our inability to beat OSU in Harbaugh's first six years
October 18th, 2023 at 10:54 PM ^
Meh. No bad luck. Coaches need to scout and develop.
The OP itself is preposterous anyway. NFL factory is not the goal.
I’d say from 2015-2023 the only years we’ve had debilitatingly ineffective quarterbacking were 2017 and 2020.
2017 Speight got injured (so, there’s some of your bad luck I guess) and then Harbaugh was slow to switch from O’Korn to Peters who proved more effective. Then I believe Peters got hurt and we had to go back to O’Korn.
2020, again, slow to switch to Cade who was better than Milton. At least in our offense and in 2020.
Both those years had problems beyond just the QB.
October 19th, 2023 at 1:43 AM ^
I still believe that McCaffrey would have been a very solid QB at Michigan. I admit his stats were terrible at Northern Colorado but I thought he looked very promising in his limited time here. I don’t know what happened that caused him to leave but that felt like a missed opportunity.
Anyway, I’m glad we’ve got JJ.
October 19th, 2023 at 7:34 AM ^
Matt Gutierrez had bad stats after transferring to Idaho State and he spent a couple years hanging around the NFL.
Transferring to an FCS team doesn't mean a QB will put up gaudy stats. The olines and receivers are bad. An average P5 QB will put up bad stats on a bad FCS team. Would McCaffrey have made the NFL from Michigan? Nope. But it's possible he could have been as competent as Speight or Shea. His Northern Colorado stats are irrelevant to what he may have done at UM.
October 19th, 2023 at 9:51 AM ^
I have a problem with Shea and competent in the same sentence. I thought his give a shit level was woefully low.
October 19th, 2023 at 9:12 AM ^
I think DCaff was never quite right after the concussion he suffered in 2019 against Wisconsin. He outplayed Patterson and I think he very well would've been the starter the next game had it not been for that. Who knows what would've actually happened had he been full time starter, but I agree he looked very promising up to that point.
October 19th, 2023 at 9:42 AM ^
Agree - he would have been the starter going forward had he not been blatantly head-hunted - TWICE. I think his recovery took so long that he just got woefully behind Peters and couldn't catch up. That off-season, he probably thought he 'deserved' his #1 spot back without having earned it. <-- That last line is pure speculation on my part, and may not be fair to DCaff! I was a big fan of his and thought he was going to out-play Patterson by a mile. Nonetheless, something happened that off-season that soured things between the McCaffrey family and UM.
October 19th, 2023 at 11:38 AM ^
McCaffrey would have never completed a season. And did nothing elsewhere.
Had he stuck around I thought Wilton Speight had a good shot to make the pros and stick. He had the size and was getting better and better and still bummed we went with Shea, but the coach knows better than I.
October 21st, 2023 at 1:01 PM ^
Speight was never the same QB following his injury against Iowa. 6 TDs and 5 picks in the 5 games following his first injury at Michigan. Then of course he had the spinal injury early in that 6th game against Purdue and he was done.
So I don’t really know what you were seeing in Speight that tells you he was getting better and better or that he was an NFL QB. Shea had his issues, but he was clearly better than Speight.
October 18th, 2023 at 9:50 PM ^
I think part of it is that though the game has changed in most places, Michigan continues to employ a much more run heavy offense than most schools, which isn’t as attractive to most of the most talented HS QBs. McCarthy was an exception. Davis may be another. If the success continues, which will be in question if Harbaugh leaves, maybe even more will start to see the upside of coming to Michigan.
October 18th, 2023 at 10:01 PM ^
OP is a Sparty troll
October 18th, 2023 at 10:04 PM ^
TROLL!
October 19th, 2023 at 5:21 AM ^
that's a bingo. total troll.
October 19th, 2023 at 10:34 AM ^
His history certainly seems to fit the troll profile.
October 18th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
Crootin
October 18th, 2023 at 10:04 PM ^
Is this some kind of MSU week troll job?
October 18th, 2023 at 10:18 PM ^
Posting history says yes.
October 18th, 2023 at 10:46 PM ^
?? I see this in one of his last posts.
As a devoted UM fan and UT grad currently living in Austin, please let this series be cancelled. I am still hurting from that 2005 Rose Bowl. Nothing good can come of my two teams playing each other.
Go Blue and Hook 'em!
October 18th, 2023 at 11:04 PM ^
Well it’s on the internet so it must be true.
He brings up the 2005 Rose Bowl which was a super painful loss. That comment alone wouldn’t mean much but the other posts were mocking Donovan Edwards’ speaking ability and also fighting with people that Juwan was an embarrassment who should be fired and not merely suspended for “punching” the Wisconsin assistant coach.
In response to the question “What’s your favorite Devin Gardner play?” he responded “Definitely not this” and tried to link a video of DG throwing the pick 6 in the end zone to Notre Dame.
I didn’t read all of his TCU game comments but all were negative from what I saw. As were all comments about games, everything is terrible, humiliated on national TV again, etc.
A comment with concern trolling about Harbaugh and concern trolling about why is everyone leaving the team (including those who went pro) in 2020 it can’t all be covid is it institutional.
And here is an OP lamenting our lack of NFL QB development in the midst of possibly our greatest season under Harbaugh leading up to this year’s biggest game to date.
Literally every comment about the team or program is negative. Dude’s not even trying.
If he’s not a literal MSU troll he’s a self-loathing Michigan troll, a distinction without a difference.
October 19th, 2023 at 8:40 AM ^
Wow! So many of you people are just toxic jack asses. Anyone who criticizes the program is an MSU troll?!?!
Not only that, but you couldn't be more wrong about where my allegiances lie. I have been following UM football passionately for 50 years.
This board is a mess.
October 19th, 2023 at 8:48 AM ^
Double down there troll, your posting history doesn't lie. It's there for everyone to see!!!
October 19th, 2023 at 9:04 AM ^
I'm willing to go with you here and take you at your word that you're not a troll. But you might want to open yourself up to the idea that the single most popular fan "blog" of its type for any school may not be the problem. And sharing a widely unpopular opinion may not be the fault of a 'toxic jack asses' or the 'board is a mess'.
Just a note, take the feedback as a guide. Maybe sometimes just because you have a thought, doesn't mean you have to say it outloud. Call it an inside thought. And if you REALLY have to get it out, don't be so surprised if people aren't ready for you Tesla.
October 19th, 2023 at 9:39 AM ^
My comment to JohnnyG, if I were to take him seriously and at his word as you are, would be to point out that the issue is not any one particular comment (except the one about Donovan Edwards). Many of us remember and discuss the bad times, are critical of the program, the players, the coaches, and negatively overreact during games.
But we also, at times, are optimistic, complimentary, and nostalgic for the good times.
JohnnyG's posting history literally has none of that. His posting history is small enough that you can still view back to January 2018 which is just a couple months after his join date.
So, as I noted above, MSU troll or UM fan troll, it's all trolling.
October 19th, 2023 at 11:05 AM ^
I mean, dudes a big negative Nellie, but I know Michigan fans like that who can just never see the bright/positive side of things.
October 18th, 2023 at 10:46 PM ^
Got excited and hit the button twice
October 18th, 2023 at 10:13 PM ^
wow great thread
did you get this idea from einstein
or some other smart guy?
October 18th, 2023 at 10:19 PM ^
didn't Tate get drafted in the first round after winning the September Heisman?
October 18th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
Because Taylor Swift didn’t allow it
October 18th, 2023 at 10:40 PM ^
Don't forget Jake Rudddockkkkkkk! Drafted in the 6th round.
October 19th, 2023 at 6:10 AM ^
Roodawq
October 18th, 2023 at 10:42 PM ^
Looking at you posting history, you are a troll, go away!
October 18th, 2023 at 10:47 PM ^
< nvm >
October 18th, 2023 at 10:54 PM ^
"NFL-quality" is pretty subjective. But leaving that aside, there's 32 teams, most only carry 2 QBs on the roster (and a third "emergency" QB for game days). So that's 96 QBs, being generous. About 10-13 QBs get drafted each year, so that's a baseline. UM *generally* has QBs that play for multiple years, so the years when the UM QB doesn't declare, obviously not drafted. And finally, there hasn't been a really great QB at UM in Harbaugh's tenure until JJ.
Hope that helps.
October 18th, 2023 at 10:56 PM ^
this post stinks.
October 18th, 2023 at 11:12 PM ^
We definitely need to catch up with The Ohio on NFL QB's.
October 19th, 2023 at 5:29 AM ^
We’ve just exited a decade+ of abject mediocrity while ohio is perhaps off the most bountiful 15 years in their program’s existence. Justin fields will complain all the way to early retirement and stroud is allowed to be good because he couldn’t beat us. Shame about dwayne haskins but their QB curse in the nfl seems like it’s still a thing
October 18th, 2023 at 11:34 PM ^
don't worry, OP, I'm sure Connor Cook will get drafted. some day
October 19th, 2023 at 8:25 AM ^
Connor Cook did go in the fourth to Oakland. Although to be fair in retrospect that was too high.
October 20th, 2023 at 4:12 PM ^
thatsthejokedotgif
October 19th, 2023 at 12:00 AM ^
OP is definitely a troll. Dude was commenting like a loon during the 2020 covid year mostly talking shit about the team and then mysteriously went radio silent during the 2021 and 2022 regular seasons only to show back up when the team lost games. Not sure if he’s a Sparty or not but for sure a snake in the grass.
October 19th, 2023 at 12:25 AM ^
A few years ago Harbaugh recruited a QB .. but, that QB - like other players who were deciding between Michigan and another school chose the other school.
One example is a young man named… uhhhh.. Tua Tagovailoa. Have you heard of him? His decision was Bama or Michigan. Perhaps Bama’s brown bag program influenced his decision.
Maybe the number of transfers when Carr retired impacted it too..Mallett was on the roster for a few minutes around the time Rich Rod was hired. And, of course, don’t forget about the Hoke years either.
October 19th, 2023 at 11:43 AM ^
The one I wanted to see play here that got away was Taysom Hill.
Others here wanted Vicious Victor Viramontes.
October 19th, 2023 at 1:17 AM ^
Gross negligence. Fire harbaugh!