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I think this tweet is only…

I think this tweet is only significant in the context of a previous tweet from JUB indicating that Warde was strongly leaning toward bringing him back. So this could indicate that the tide is turning.

He's in a pretty unique…

He's in a pretty unique situation with regard to draft status. He obviously has all the physical tools, and if he had played for any other team, he would have been the focal point of the offense and throwing 35-40 times per game. That isn't necessarily a better way to prepare for the NFL, as JJ arguably played in a more pro-style offense and threw fewer screens and junk passes than most college QBs. But that does mean that teams need to do some projection based on his ability rather than just his raw stats.

The good news is that teams seem to be willing to do this, so I think he'll be drafted in the top 10. If Trey Lance can go top-3 with almost zero resume, JJ can certainly convince a team that he's a franchise QB (not implying he'll end up like Lance, only that a long college resume isn't necessary to be drafted highly). And a franchise QB on a rookie contract is the single most valuable thing an NFL team can have, so it's worth a shot.

I think the best situation…

I think the best situation any QB has been drafted into in the past generation is Pat Mahomes. He landed on a team with an excellent coach and an experienced veteran QB who was good, but not great. He didn't play until the final game of his rookie year and took over as the unquestioned starter in his second year in a great offensive scheme with good weapons.

Realistically, there are…

Realistically, there are very few situations where a rookie QB can land with a chance to start AND a chance to contend right away. For every QB like Mahomes, Jackson, or Purdy who experiences almost instant success due to the right system, there are far more who land on a team that either needs to build along with them, or where they won't get a chance to play right away (in which case the current state of the team isn't relevant).

Denver will be out from under Wilson's dead money in two years, and they have all their own picks going forward. The bigger question is whether Denver's front office is capable of building a good team, but the Wilson trade shouldn't be a huge consideration for an incoming rookie QB.

Gotta admit, reading these…

Gotta admit, reading these previews, I’m getting a good feeling about the 2023 season. 

Hot take: Mullings will run…

Hot take: Mullings will run for more than 1,000 yards and Edwards will have more than 1,000 rushing/receiving.

If we wind back the tape to…

If we wind back the tape to 2020, Manuel slashed Harbaugh’s contract after the worst season of Michigan football since John F. Kennedy was president.

I just realized that anyone writing for the Michigan Daily now was probably around five years old during the 2008 season.

Saban is 72 years old, there…

Saban is 72 years old, there isn't an obvious successor being groomed to take over, and expectations will be insanely high for whoever does take over. I think you're right that Alabama's day iscoming soon.

That was my thought as well…

That was my thought as well. Also, the first play on that embedded video clip shows a false start, which isn't directly due to coaching. A coaching error is more like sending 10 guys out, like Hoke used to do.

In the words of Professor…

In the words of Professor Farnsworth, "This is not a business. I always thought of it more as a cheap source of labor, like a family."

Having a 5* freshman as your…

Having a 5* freshman as your backup QB is a pretty big luxury, even if he's completely unproven and not a generational prospect. See: Michigan 2021.

I'm glad to see Nebraska…

I'm glad to see Nebraska back on the upswing. I don't know how far this will take them, but the B1G is more fun when its traditional power programs with large fanbases are doing well.

Supported! My daughters were…

Supported! My daughters were very helpful in picking out a few items.

Iowa coaches freaking out…

Iowa coaches freaking out and getting penalized against Michigan is this season's hot new trend!

After all, there's a proud…

After all, there's a proud tradition of Maryland linebackers playing QB.

He's up there with virtually…

He's up there with virtually every OSU OL of recent vintage.

Being an All-American is…

Being an All-American is almost always a combination of skill and contributions. A guy who punts 8 times a game has a lot more chance to make contributions than a guy who punts 3 times a game. It's like if you have a RB who averages 6.5 yards per carry but only gets 150 carries, he isn't making AA over a guy who averaged 5.0 yards per carry on 300 carries.

Plus, it's really funny for Iowa to have the first-team AA punter.

I don't have any opinion on…

I don't have any opinion on the finalists, but I agree that Michigan doesn't deserve to be among them this year. The running game has been extremely inconsistent all year, and we've seen pass protection issues against teams with competent edge rushers like Purdue and PSU. I don't know what the cause is, but the results aren't Joe Moore-worthy.

I also like wearing the all…

I also like wearing the all-whites against a team like Iowa that has a dark helmet and dark jersey. The navy pants don't pop as much against a team like that.

I think he's most likely to…

I think he's most likely to go to Oregon. He was committed there before he flipped to UCLA, and now they have an opening with Bo Nix leaving. And now that Oregon is in the B1G, he'd even get to play games in and around his home state of Michigan. Oregon did a great job developing Nix after he looked shaky at Auburn, so they can certainly pitch Moore on that.

I had that same thought…

I had that same thought. Jonathan Smith is a former QB and did a nice job last year getting far more out of DJU than he had shown at Clemson. And Moore would be basically guaranteed the starting job, since literally everyone else has left. But on the downside, they have a bad line and no WRs, so it could be a rough transition.

True freshman QBs almost…

True freshman QBs almost always suck, unless they're generational prospects like Trevor Lawrence or Chad Henne, or unless they're scrambly guys who can lean on their athleticism like Caleb Williams. Moore is neither.

He's now gotten valuable experience and hopefully will be much improved at his next stop.

Chip Kelly has always been a…

Chip Kelly has always been a love-him-or-hate-him type of coach. I don't think you can read too much into a freshman player from across the country not loving Chip.

What's the downside of bringing Moore in? If he doesn't buy in, then presumably he'll transfer out after a year or two. But if he comes back to life, he could be a valuable bridge to the Jadyn Davis era.

You're totally right…

You're totally right. Michigan failed to produce NFL QBs during the RichRod and Brady Hoke/Al Borges eras, coaches who are renowned for their sophisticated NFL schemes and development of QBs.

Under Harbaugh, Michigan has (1) produced an NFL draft pick out of Jake Rudock, who was a backup at Iowa, (2) produced a third-team all-B1G season out of Wilton Speight, who was a three-star recruit, and likely would have been an NFL draft pick but for his severe back injury, (3) gotten two decent seasons out of Shea Patterson, who mostly wanted to work on his golf game; (4) won a B1G championship with Cade McNamara, who was a 3/4 star prospect, and (5) developed JJ McCarthy, who was snubbed by OSU, into a likely 1st-round pick.

Even if you call Shea Patterson a coaching failure, that's still a pretty decent track record with a bunch of guys who weren't blue-chip recruits, other than JJ who is living up to it.

Score at least once.

Score at least once.

I see Indiana and Syracuse…

I see Indiana and Syracuse as roughly equivalent jobs. It might be a little easier to win at Syracuse, because the ACC is pretty bad beyond its top two teams, but Indiana has that sweet B1G money. My point was that if Hart stays at Michigan a bit longer, he should be able to do better than an Indiana/Syracuse-level job.

Hart is 37 and has never…

Hart is 37 and has never even been a coordinator. It's almost certainly in his best interest to build up a resume within a highly-regarded coaching staff a little further than to jump at the first opportunity. There's a decent likelihood that Harbaugh and/or Moore leave within the next couple years, at which point Hart would likely become our OC. After a couple years at that, he could be one of the hottest coaching candidates in the country and could get a HC job at an opportunity much better than Indiana, and he'd still only be in his mid-40s.

There are tons of competent…

There are tons of competent passing QBs out there, though. If TCU, SMU, Texas Tech, Kansas, and Iowa State can find great QBs (and all have in recent years), there isn't any reason why Nebraska can't. I actually think it's more difficult to find a decent option QB, because any kid with a lick of passing talent is going to want to go to a school where he can throw the ball a little. Georgia Tech really struggled to recruit decent QBs when Paul Johnson was there because of this reason.

I don't think I've ever, in…

I don't think I've ever, in my 15+ years of reading MGoBlog, seen that much cyan on an offense (including on our annual nonconference tomato cans). Or that many stars on a defense.

Also, I think this has been posted here, but Iowa's over/under for points in each half is 0.5:

https://twitter.com/jared_leeper/status/1729527702196039976

I agree with you - I think…

I agree with you - I think going for it on 4th there would have been preferable. Get it and you end the game, OSU never gets back on offense. And the only difference if we fail is that OSU can tie with a FG.

But I think the bigger strategic error was calling a straightforward run on 3rd down. OSU didn't call timeout after second down, which was an error on their part. Even if we threw incomplete, letting OSU have a timeout on offense isn't a big deal, as it would probably only save them 10-15 seconds. But again, a completed pass ends the game. Or even if you don't want to risk a pass, a fly sweep or a JJ keep probably has a better chance of getting the first down than pounding Corum up the gut again. A gain of 3 and a loss of 3 are pretty much the same result, because either way we're kicking a mid-length FG.

Is he a great schemer? I…

Is he a great schemer? I feel like OSU has a competent spread passing offense, but I rarely see a play of theirs that is an obvious RPS win, to use MGoBlog terminology. It doesn't take an offensive genius to create a great offense out of one of the best rookie QBs in NFL history and four first-round WRs. And once their QB talent took a dip this year, the offense looked pretty ordinary against competent opponents (which were pretty much limited to ND, PSU, and Michigan).

Exactly. It doesn't matter…

Exactly. It doesn't matter if Denzel Burke takes the fetus after she crosses the line.

Michigan and Indiana shouldn…

Michigan and Indiana shouldn't be in the market for the same RB regardless of who is coaching where.

Because Nebraska still…

Because Nebraska still imagines itself as a national contender with the right coaching hire, and nobody has been a national contender running an option offense since... well, Nebraska 30 years ago.

I think the benefit to the…

I think the benefit to the current East/West split is that it doesn't create the possibility of a UM-OSU rematch in the championship game. Conferences that just pick the top two teams, like the Big 12 and Pac-12, often have championship game rematches, which significantly devalues the regular season.

But I'm disappointed the B1G didn't choose the solution that was right in front of them - just adding USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington to the B1G West, and shifting Northwestern and Purdue to the East. That would allow the former Pac teams to maintain their rivalries, and create a new center of power to balance UM/OSU/PSU in the East. I'm sure the other B1G West teams would have been pissed at having half their division 2000 miles away, but they're lucky to be getting B1G money with CUSA performance, so who cares?

It's wild that not only is…

It's wild that not only is Nebraska first in wins-under-expectation, but UCF is second. It must take a while to get the Frost stink out of the furniture.

I remember it well - I was…

I remember it well - I was at that game. And I agree. While I think PSU is a solid team and this will be a close game, I'm not worried about Franklin out-strategizing Michigan.

Except these aren't two-bit…

Except these aren't two-bit PI lawyers.

The letter is very clear that IF the B1G takes the actions it's publicly contemplating, THEN Michigan will take appropriate legal action (i.e., legally nuking the B1G and making Tony Pettiti permanently unemployable).

Let's be reasonable. I'm…

Let's be reasonable. I'm sure a used vacuum cleaner salesman with a side gig starting fraudulent LLCs is an expert in filmmaking.

Conclusion: UMass's defense…

Conclusion: UMass's defense is highly susceptible to mesh routes.

This rundown of highlights…

This rundown of highlights is pretty good, but it leaves out my two favorites:

We have not seen or been provided virtually any of the evidence on which you purport to rely in your email. We also have not seen any of the videos allegedly taken for scouting purposes-and as far as we can glean from your email, you have not seen them either.

and

In addition, there is simply no evidence that Stalions's actions had a material effect upon any of Michigan's games this season. What we do know is that Michigan won its closest game this season by 24 points, and its average margin of victory is 34 points. Since Stalions was suspended, Michigan's average margin of victory has been 38 points, including one 49-point victory and another 28-point victory without
Stalions on the sideline.

I think "as far as we are…

I think "as far as we are aware" is intended to be a reference to how the B1G has, to this point, provided virtually no evidence of wrongdoing. It's not up to Michigan to provide evidence of its own wrongdoing, and Michigan doesn't need to try to prove a negative (that there is no evidence) when the "positive" evidence hasn't even been presented by the accuser.

The letter is basically saying, show us some evidence, and then we'll respond accordingly... which is the nature of due process.

By hiring the country's most…

By hiring the country's most prestigious litigators to dunk them through the core of the Earth?

The three things you note in…

The three things you note in your first paragraph - that Stalions was a UM employee who was supposed to analyze signs and who was on the UM sidelines - aren't against the rules.

I think Pettiti thought he…

I think Pettiti thought he was Roger Goodell and has discretionary disciplinary authority over member teams. He doesn't.

Reading things and signing…

Reading things and signing them seems to be Warde's M.O., unfortunately, which is the reason we hired guys like Stalions and Shemy in the first place.

James Franklin seems like a…

James Franklin seems like a good recruiter, and he may be a good CEO-type (when he had Joe Moorhead as OC, the team was quite good). But at this point in his career, I think it's apparent that he isn't a good offensive strategist and doesn't make good in-game decisions. This puts a hard ceiling on how good PSU can be, unless he has stud coordinators to whom he can hand responsibility. Mike Yurcich doesn't appear to be that guy.

Helmet radios cost about …

Helmet radios cost about $100 per helmet. Does anybody know if the B1G's TV deals would cover that?

That's true, but it's also…

That's true, but it's also true that he had a constantly recurring shoulder injury at Michigan, and was rarely close to 100%.

I had just assumed that …

I had just assumed that "Connor Stalions" was an alias used for espionage, porn, and other dubious activities.