Wilton Speight 2016 highlights
With all the critiques of Speight’s play over the past two weeks (which has been warranted imo) I thought it would be useful to remind everyone what he’s capable of when he and his WRs/O-line are clicking, and why he won this job in the first place! With the way last season ended and the offense’s rough start to 2017, it’s easy to forget how well Wilton performed for most of last year.
Hopefully he can get back to this form soon! Go blue!
September 11th, 2017 at 12:46 PM ^
Man, this place is petulant and brutal. OP's gets negged for what? He stated that QB play (so far) this year is not up to snuff, a claim I think we'd all agree with. He's not being an ass. He's just calmly showing that Speight has a limited history of good games. Jesus. Anything posted here that's not hyper-critical or pessimistic about our QB situation is negged. Boooo!
September 11th, 2017 at 8:11 PM ^
Also makes you think about how good Amarah Darboh was last year.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^
Dont show his 2016 highlights.
Show O'Korn's 2016 highlights. Cause that's who will be coming in to replace him.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:19 PM ^
September 11th, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^
Talented young man of high character. Always about The Team. Full speed ahead.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^
but everyone's highlight reel looks good. When Wilt is on his game, he can look great, but he still air mails a ton of throws. I feel like half the time I see Lil' Ben Roethslisberger on the field and the other half of the time I'm thinking "Is this seriously the best QB on our roster?"
September 11th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
There have definitely been some clear overthrows from Speight 2 games into the season, but I also noticed a couple that looked like he put it in a good spot, but the receiver ran a more shallow route than he expected. Has anyone else noticed this at all? One that stuck out was a route by DPJ against Cincinnati...
Hopefully in the games prior to Penn State, Speight & this young cast of receivers can improve their chemistry. Some frustrating moments for sure, but I'm not writing off Speight just yet.
September 11th, 2017 at 1:18 PM ^
Notably, freshman Grant Perry made Rudock look worse than he really was by running some terrible routes @Utah so it's fair to wonder whether Wilt has been sabotaged a few times by a bunch of underclassman WRs running iffy routes. That's debateable. Wilton throwing fade routes 2-3 yards OOB has less room for discussion
September 11th, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^
You could take 2017 and make a pretty damn good highlight reel for Speight. He has dropped some really nice passes in the first two games.
It's the frequency of the bad passes that everyone is pissed about. We know Speight can hit some nice throws, we want them to outnumber the bad throws.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
Speight kinda reminds me of a comment that went around in the early 80's about Doug Williams - he's the only man capable of overthrowing the Ayatollah.
(BTW: you could apply this 'joke' to modern despots - Putin, Kim, etc. So go on and impress your couch buddies this saturday).
(I love you, Wilton. No worries.)
September 11th, 2017 at 12:47 PM ^
Spit out my coffee all over the screen. Nice one.
No politics!...... unless the ball falls harmlessly to the ground incomplete or there is another flag on the play.
The Ayatollah
September 11th, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^
here are only his good plays
September 11th, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^
Maybe just shaking off the cobwebs from the off-season? He was never a gunslinger, but he was pretty efficient before he got hurt. I wonder if the overthrowing issue doesn't have something to do with his injury. I don't remember that standing out as an issue last season.
But I'm usually high, so correct me if I'm wrong.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
was pretty accurate last year before his injury, I believe, with the exception of deep throws where he regularly overthrew his receivers. He just doesn't look like the same QB right now. I think a lot of it has to do with his comfort level with his receivers and all the new targets he is throwing to as opposed to the injury. I also think he appears to be waiting for the right side of the OL to cave in on itself and is never really comfortable in the pocket. I was anxiously awaiting a Pep Hamilton influenced kind of spread and shred that was discussed so much this off-season that could have possibly negated some of the offensive line issues. What I have seen instead is...... not that.
September 11th, 2017 at 1:16 PM ^
the deep ball was always a concern, but he was a laser in short / mid-range shots most of the time. Maybe it's just the yips. Hopefully they'll get it figured out soon. At least we have some time before PSU.
September 11th, 2017 at 1:07 PM ^
One other thing I noticed is his grip gets funky. There was that play against Florida where he looked like he glitched out and threw it as hard as he could into the turf.
Not sure if he's trying to throw too hard or what. The issues with the handoffs this game showed that too where he seemed to just drop the ball. Is he too over excited, or maybe there was some nerve damage or something during his surgery. It's a big stretch, but hey we're on the internet so why not speculate.
September 11th, 2017 at 1:28 PM ^
there might be something to that. Either the injury fucked up his mechanics, or maybe there's a little PTSD there. After being 3rd on the depth chart, and a QB that the entire fanbase had left for dead, he rose to take the starting job and won a lot of games. Those visions of the NFL are probably dancing in his head now, and he's worried about getting hurt.
Having the right side of the line being what it is can't be helping anything either.
September 12th, 2017 at 9:44 AM ^
September 11th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^
The divisive nature of the quarterback position is ridiculous (not you OP, just the blog in general). It's not black and white.
I can fully trust that Harbaugh is playing the best quarterback, while saying that he has severely underperformed. He has to improve if we want to make a championship run, and I'm confident that he will, but let's not pretend the flaws aren't there.
The whole "you have to either be pro or anti-Speight" is nauseating.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
The sentiment seems to be more "Speight is terrible and we are doomed" and "he's not that bad." I've not seen anyone call him a superstar but I have absolutely seen people claim he's the only thing holding back this team from being a conference champion. There just seems to be this narrative around him (which admittedly this blog helped to create) that he's a "Borges guy" and all Borges guys suck, so despite all evidence to the contrary that he's not a bad QB, some people reflexively assume he's terrible forever and always.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:37 PM ^
guess at this point, my biggest question is why will Harbaugh not give Peters a quarter? Hell, even a couple of series? The argument that "Peters is not ready yet" does not really hold up because that assumes that he is getting ready for something, when the reality is if Harbaugh is rolling with redshirt junior Speight he is almost certainly rolling with redshirt senior Speight as well. Peters came in as a high four star recruit. Is is realistic that he is on campus for three full years before he sees the field? I don't know about that. If Speight would have come out this year and played really good (or even just good) through two games, I would understand things a little bit better, but keeping Peters out of the mix entirely for the Speight we have seen so far? I can't say I understand that as much. I was really disappointed with what I saw from the offense on Saturday.
September 12th, 2017 at 9:48 AM ^
September 11th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
But I'm happy to look at the full body of work (including last year's OSU and FSU games, where he was pretty dinged up, but persevered) and his potential, and conclude that with the excellent coaching he is getting he is far and away our best option.
Throwing a proven starter under the bus for some early season miscues is a sure way to sow team and fanbase discord. At least the coaching staff doesn't treat playing time like a fantasy football game
September 11th, 2017 at 12:50 PM ^
"The whole 'you have to either be pro or anti-Speight' is nauseating."
September 11th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
Last week v Kansas alone, Shane Morris had more yards passing (467) and TD throws (5) than Wilson Speight has had in two games total (402 and 3, respectively).
Too soon?
Really - I hope Wilson shakes it off and gets back on track...
September 11th, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
September 11th, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
September 11th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
I always get the two mixed up...
September 11th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
Maybe it's the Ruddock vs Rudock split personality scenario.
Wilson is the shitty turnover machine, while Wilton is the QB that plays lights out.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
If you're going to rag on a guy by making an unfair comparison, at least get his name right!
September 11th, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^
Shane Morris had his chance.
And when given the opportunity, he not only couldn't hit a barn door, he couldn't hit the barn.
September 11th, 2017 at 1:29 PM ^
if he fell out of a fuckin boat....meat....
September 11th, 2017 at 12:38 PM ^
I'm not trying to bag on Shane Morris, who gave it his all while he was here and was an excellent teammate throughout some very rough times, but his game last week against Kansas was literally the first good game of his 4+-year college career. Comparing him to Speight (whom Morris had ample opportunity to beat out last year) is silly.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
Let's not even go there. Wish Morris luck in the directional Michigan rankings, and hope he can be at least a practice squad QB in the NFL. But let's not go there.
September 11th, 2017 at 1:06 PM ^
You realize Kansas is one of the worst Power 5 teams, if not THE worst Power 5 team, of the last decade, right? They haven't won more than 3 games in a year since 2009. Speight played against a very talented Florida defense and an uber-motivated Cincinatti team that has a head coach with a wealth of experience and personal motivation against Michigan. Morris has played an FCS team and the worst Power 5 team in recent memory. Apples to oranges, pal.
Happy that Shane seems to have finally found his footing, and I wish him luck at CMU. But he had his chance to beat out Speight for two straight years and he could never do it. I hope both have a chance to make it in the NFL, but they are not the same.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
in 2016 was against Maryland. It was a game where Speight showed what he could do when he puts it all together.
Step 1: Get back to that level against the lesser and mediocre teams in 2017 (such as this weekend against AF and next against Purdue).
Step 2: Have a strong game against a good opponent. That would be the Penn State game.
Despite the hiccups in the first two games (and maybe in part becasue of them) I am almost certain that Speight will accomplish step 1.
As for step 2....it is a step by step process, so check back later...
September 11th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
See, to me I thought his best game was against FSU. He was getting hammered every time he dropped back, the running backs couldn't get anything going save for one Evans run, he lost his AA TE midway through the first half...and he still almost won that game. People keep talking about him not showing up against big opponents, but he was the only offense Michigan could sustain against both OSU and FSU. He's not going to carry your team against top-flight teams when nothing else is working, but he's way better than people give him credit.
September 11th, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^
to agree with you on that one. Speight had only 163 passing yards against FSU. OTOH FSU had a great D, and it is true that the offense in general was not productive.
To me he was very accurate and almost mistake free against Maryland. I think some hoped that we would see that sort of performance against UC. He has done it, so it is just a matter of getting the the level of doing it consistently.
He has to be consistently very good against mediocre and weak teams before we can realistically expect him to become the sort of QB that takes over a game against a good team (which he did not do against FSU, even if he was decent in the face of a lot of pressure from the FSU D).
September 11th, 2017 at 1:14 PM ^
The person in that video is not Wilton Speight.
It may have been him at one time, but the player in that video is gone.
Edit: let me say, however, that I full support Wilton Speight as long as he is on the field. And I also believe that Harbaugh can get him back where he needs to be. Just fixing his footwork would help. He clearly sees the field and has a full command of the offense.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^
Man, if only 2016 had anything to do with 2017.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:42 PM ^
I'm no expert, but it seems on almost all his throws this year, he looks like he's aiming the pass and using funky mechanics. When he steps in, he's usually good, but even on good throws at times it reminds me of shotputting.
My hope is that he rounds into form much like Rudock did, and I have a lot of hope that he will. He's never going to be a world-beater or consistently squeeze passes into tight windows--even the highlight reel is mostly wide open receivers and long passes (on which, he's quite good). Right now, he's putting a lot of pressure on the running game and our defense, but if he gets his mind right, this team could be hard to beat.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:46 PM ^
Wilton has one more year of eligibility left. Unless we win the CFP, we're going to have this same conversation next year if he's still the starting QB. I can hardly wait.
Considering OSU went to the CFP last year and their fans are slamming JT now, I worry about the pitchforks being sharpened for our college football QB.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:50 PM ^
September 11th, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
Against Hawaii, Colorado, MSU, Maryland, and Illinois
September 11th, 2017 at 12:54 PM ^
"what he’s capable of when he and his WRs/O-line are clicking" I think the OP subtly hit on an important point. Maybe Wilton is still getting in sync with his offensive team mates and maybe its not all Wilton. Look at Rudock in '15. Throughout the season, he got more in sync with his team and he markedly improved.
September 11th, 2017 at 12:59 PM ^
There are some examples of this, but from the limited two game sample size I have to respectfully disagree thus far.
He has shown he can hit the deep ball multiple times already this year. However, throwing the fade route 5 yards out of bounds over and over has nothing to do with route timing.
September 11th, 2017 at 2:06 PM ^
The impacts of working to get in sync could be more subtle than route timing. For example, Wilton had to motion a receiver to line up differently on Saturday. If he knows they aren't lined up properly, does he trust them enough to run the right routes, go up and fight and win for "50/50" balls... Further, what does that do to his timing, does he then have to read the defense faster and does this manifest itself by Wilton feeling a little rushed and hurrying throws...
September 11th, 2017 at 2:52 PM ^
Wilton had all spring, summer, and fall to get in sync with his primary WRs as they were all on campus. The one he seems to have the best chemistry with was suspended all spring and summer. Last year, he was without Chesson (knee injury) all spring and summer before his first year starting.
Every QB in history at one time or another has had to get another player to line up properly. It should have no baring on his confidence in them. On the other hand, Saturday was the first time in my lifetime I have seen a QB fumble the ball away while trying to make a handoff without a bit of contact. Far worse than Mark Sanchez's butt fumble. Maybe worse than Dan O running out the back of the back of the EZ for a safety during his first stint with the Lions.
Hopefully things get better, but WS seems to be regressing not progressing.
September 11th, 2017 at 9:19 PM ^