Tate the Great
I feel the Newsome exit is a blessing. Yes he is increadibly talented. Yes most UM fans including myself were salivating over this prospect. But what I failed to realize and consider is what would be best for the program and this offense. I concluded that the ideal QB for the system that Rich will run here involves a mobile, highly accurate QB. Having a very accurate QB forces the defense to play a little tighter in coverage with maybe less zone and will allow a guy like Tate who can move but is not a burner to be very effective with their feet. I for one am now salivating over the fact that the number 1 rated QB for accuracy is all but committed to UM and he WANTS to compete. Beaver is also extremely talented and both are putting the team first. I prefer to see Michigan pulling in the big WR recruits and throwing the football around and with Forcier that is more of a possibility than with Knew. So in conclusion, tho nothing is guaranteed, I would like to see a Forcier Beaver class over a Newsome Beaver (although Newsome Beaver is a great adult film star name).
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:45 PM ^
Guys with Mormon tendencies - Alex Smith and Steve Young.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:58 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:03 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:09 PM ^
voice this concern in a different thread? You know...one about this season perhaps?
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:37 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:41 PM ^
OK. Perhaps I was harsh on the race thing. But after reading people compare, without irony, Tate Forcier to Steve Young and Kevin Newsome to MICHAEL VICK, my sensors are all out of whack.
That said, I think Newsome projects to be a good passer - he has the physical tools already. Forcier seems like he has more polish, but he's also played laughably bad competition.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:02 PM ^
Some other thread talks about Tate's competition. It wasn't that he always played against bad competition, but his team lost terribly to the good teams they played. It still doesn't mean Tate is bad (he can't be that bad playing against teams he lost to 5-55 and only threw 5 picks all season...that's actually amazing). There's also the factor that he may be playing with less talented teammates (skill and lineman) as well.
How good is Kevin's competition at his old school? Watching Miramar's games (Eugene Smith) vs. Kevin's games, Kevin's looked significantly slower. He'd just stand there for 3 seconds without any rush and then pass the ball, whereas Smith had to constantly avoid 1-2 second rushes after the snap. Watch both Rivals vids of Newsome & Smith's and tell me if you see the same time of speed difference.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:49 PM ^
RR has stated that the spread adjusts to two things: Our talent and the defense.
If we have a QB who can throw darts deep and wideouts that can get open, we'll chuck the ball down field any time we can.
Consistently showing our opponents we can burn them deep will force defenses to keep safeties out of the box, and take out linebackers in favor of DBs. Fewer guys in the box, leads to a few big gains on the ground, then they put more guys back in, and we burn them deep again.
The spread is a complex system that can take advantage of different types of talent. (Shaun King anyone?). If White had been a fantastic passer, and WVU had Stonum-like WRs, you think RR WOULDN'T have taken shots downfield?
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:53 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:51 PM ^
FWIW, when RR did have an elite receiver (Chris Henry), Henry had over 2000 yards in his two season, averaging over 18 yards per reception.
And KGH - when I said Tate was faster, I was looking at Rivals, then, before you pointed it out, I saw Scout. I've determined both are useless, maybe? They both said Henne ran a 4.5.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:47 PM ^
I remember both of them saying that Henne ran a 4.6 (granted, not a huge difference, but still) -- and I thought Henne ran track in high school from what I remember, too.
I'll still maintain to this day that the three reasons Henne was not a threat with his mobility in college are (a) he put on about 30 pounds in college (b) he had poor acceleration (c) he had a poor sense of when the pocket was collapsing, and would stand with the ball for far too long.
Honestly, Henne's speed wasn't even that bad in college -- watch old videos of him running the bootleg (he looks fine) -- the problem is that speed didn't translate to him being a mobile threat on the field.
Tate, regardless of competition, at least seems to have good peripheral vision and a good sense of when to get moving in the pocket.
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:14 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:18 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:59 PM ^
how certain can we be that Tate will commit to UM?
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:07 PM ^
The last article I read on Newsome was that he had ironed out the mechanics issues since the end of track season, which gave him time to focus on football.
Let's get the time line out regarding Newsome's progression. And please comment on where I am incorrect. (not that this group needs an invite to do that)
KN shows up to a camp at the end of last football season and puts on a show. Everyone raves about him with one issue, he has a long release.
Motivated (I like the idea of Newsome as a recruit, so I use unmerited terms such as motivated) athlete decides to alter his mechanics to eliminate the one identified short coming.
KN with work in process mechanics enters track season and does not have time to finish the mechanics project.
KN attends camps during track season and his lack of practice and incomplete mechanics overhaul look poor relative to the competition. Recruiting services say KN is something along the lines of a "project"
KN completes track season and focuses on football. Fixes the issues with his mechanics and shows up to another camp. At said camp, he puts on a show.
Please comment on my recollection if it is not correct. I have no other facts about Newsome's ability to throw, but let's make sure that we are all on the same page.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:19 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:57 PM ^
I'm not entirely sure that you can be sacked repeatedly in high school and be considered a "dual threat QB" by multiple recruiting service.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:23 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:44 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:03 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:09 PM ^
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:22 PM ^
August 24th, 2008 at 3:44 PM ^
Yes, it all comes back to him....
You guys seem to know what level of competition these highschoolers play. What was McGuffies? I've heard it was some of the best. To put up those numbers, against the best competition, all we need to do is hand it off to him, right?!
August 24th, 2008 at 4:42 PM ^