Speight is a dude

Submitted by Alumnus93 on

I am beginning to think that we are witnessing the next Qb to continue the line of Michigan Qbs starting in the NFL....  Of all the success recently with the wins and such, the biggest revelation, by far, is the improvement and rise of Wilton Speight.  I've been watching him intently on every play....and am floored what Harbaugh has done here... this trumps his mentoring of Rich Gannon, a career journeyman turned top fantasy mvp star under Harbaugh. QB Whisperer, AMEN...  Speight is pulling a ton of tricks and moves from nowhere, eluding pressure at an NFL level like Big Ben, continuing plays he had no business doing a year ago, just incredibly heady play all around. His pocket presence is fantastic.  When I read he was way ahead of Rudock, I didn't believe it... fact is, it is not even close.  Going forward, even on a low improvement level, we are looking at a starting NFL Qb in Speight, especially with another year here.   His story may parallel Brady's time here somewhat.... was on the verge of transferring, behind the newcomer, yet perservered, and playing on Sundays.  

Sure, I may be getting too forward on my skis here, but I cannot imagine I'm the only one who noticed the extremely proper Qb play by Speight in all facets, especially at eluding pressure.

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HarmonHowardWoodson

September 25th, 2016 at 10:30 AM ^

I was at the game yesterday and haven't watched the replay, but it seemed like Wilton was only pedestrian with his throws. There were lots of missed throws both short and deep. I'll give you the other stuff, like pocket presence and scrambling when necessary, but I'd like to see the throws become much more consistent.

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Albatross

September 25th, 2016 at 10:31 AM ^

I almost thought this tread was meant to be tongue in cheek. I am not disparaging Speight but I think he would even tell you he didn't play well yesterday. Sure he made some throws and took advantage of great third down play calls that gave him easy conversions, but if you watched his total quality of passes. He was consistently throwing behind guys, bounced a pass (which should never happen unless you get hit) and on at least two occasions led his receivers into defenders, which could have gotten them seriously hurt. If I was to compare him to Ruddock at this point, Ruddock was more consistent in his short to intermediate throws but couldn't connect on his long passes. Speight is still a work in progress and will have to play better if we expect to beat the better teams.

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Carcajou

September 25th, 2016 at 2:11 PM ^

I definitely agree with the Big Ben analogy, at least his eagerness to extend plays and find receivers in what look like they might be dangerous throws as he is going down. Some of these have been coming on early downs, when most QBs are taught to just throw it away or run if nothing is open. Speight isn't nearly as physically strong or sturdy as Roethlisberger, however. Or as experienced.

So far, it has worked out well for him. I just hope when facing more talented defenses, he doesn't try to do too much, or get baited into doing something stupid. Would  hate to see it become a costly turnover, when getting rid of the ball mught be the prudent thing to do.

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