September 10th, 2010 at 5:14 PM ^
My guess is we are going to see the Wolverine offense with all three QB's on the field at the same time with Devin as the center QB and Denard and Tate as his flankers.
September 10th, 2010 at 5:35 PM ^
I'm guessing Tate is going to play, and possibly even in the first or second series.
September 10th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^
This is just putting this out there for those that have spoken of Denard's accuracy in glowing terms...
First off, I love Denard, and am absolutely stoked. I was there at the game, and he electirifed the crowd and put on a show. I was amazed at his passing improvements, and ecstatic for the rest of the season with him at the helm giving opposing def coord's fits.
However, after watching the game when i got back home and paying attention to the finer things, he just about got Roundtree killed and is not nearly as skilled a passer as Tate is. This is fact. It is not speculation. The little things like leading receivers perfectly, perfect accuracy on bubble screens, reading complex defenses and going to 2nd, 3rd and evern 4th reads have not been displayed by him yet. I'm not saying he can't do it. I'm not saying he won't do it. But those who look at his completion percentage and claim him to be deadly accurate are just wrong.
The thing he brings to the table is his lightning fast speed. This opens up more room for error for him in the passing game, which he takes advantage of and succeeds. This is fine, i'm not ripping it at all, it is awesome. I'm just saying that completion percentage in one game where the defense is scared shitless of him running all over them does not mean he has morphed into a deadly accurate passing qb.
But what he is, is damn good, and poses a major threat to the defense, and i'm damn glad i'm not a big ten defensive coordinator, cuz this kid would get me fired.
Just had to get that all off my chest. that is all.
September 10th, 2010 at 6:47 PM ^
The little things like leading receivers perfectly, perfect accuracy on bubble screens, reading complex defenses and going to 2nd, 3rd and evern 4th reads have not been displayed by him yet.
Denard looked just as, or at least nearly as, accurate on short passes and screens against UConn as Tate did last year.
Also, I'm befuddled as to where you've seen Tate read defenses with such acumen. Did you read it on QBForce? After all, he has been groomed to be a star QB since birth. Just ask Mike!
Snark aside, I'll grant you that the jury is out on Denard's skill as a passer - dude's only been a starter for one game. But bringing up the Roundtree hospital ball doesn't really help your case - show me one game where Tate only made one major mistake throwing the ball last year. Hell, show me an example of Tate finding his fourth read - it may have happened, but I don't recall it. What does seem indisputable (read: fact not speculation) is that Denard has a much stronger arm than Tate, which is certainly one of those key passing skills.
At any rate, it's silly to compare Tate's ability to read defenses with Denard's, since as you say, Denard's threat to score a TD every time he takes off radically simplifies his reads. Also, he is a threat to score a TD every time he takes off. Which is nice.
I don't know, I'm just not sure what the point of trying to knock Denard's skill as a passer in relation to Tate is. It's a weird segment of the fan base that pokes holes in the game of a QB who just played statistically one of the truly outstanding games in CFB history Until he falters, he's got my benefit of the doubt.
September 10th, 2010 at 7:44 PM ^
Great job Denard. You played the best game in the history of Michigan quarterbacks in your first start, but you don't get the nod tomorrow... Seriously guys?