Shane Morris-Redshirt or not??

Submitted by DemetriusBrown on

Will he or not?  I think he plays next season and beats out Bellomy as the backup.  

Mlaw2010

February 8th, 2013 at 5:36 PM ^

I'd be very surprised if he is not redshirted.  Assuming DG gets his redshirt, why would you want only 2 years of Shane when you could have 3?  If he's pressed into action due to injury so be it but he has a lot of learning to do and a reshirt year would be very good for him.

 

Now, if DG doesn't get his redshirt and Shane would need to start next year it's a different story.  Then you may want to get Shane out there for some garbage time so that he's comfortable and has some experience next year.

Mlaw2010

February 8th, 2013 at 7:58 PM ^

Look at this year's O-line situation.  There is no doubt in my mind that Kalis could have started from at least the middle of the season on but the coaches decided not to burn his redshirt.  If Michigan can get to the middle of the season without any injuries, then Bellomy will get first crack.  If he fails again, then they might burn Shane's redshirt.   As for the idea that he could be injured - of course that's a possibility, but I don't know if I'd expect it.  He is not a running quarterback, he's a quarterback who can run when plays break down.  You'd better believe the coaches are going to admonish him to get down or get out of bounds before taking hits.  As it is, I expect the O-line to be good enough to keep him off his back most of the time.  I'm being very optimistic here, but I'm not going to factor in an injury yet.  If he does get hurt, Bellomy has to be the next option, and then Shane (at this point, if Shane can pass Bellomy on the depth chart, then of course it would be okay for him to be the backup and burn a redshirt.

jmblue

February 8th, 2013 at 5:57 PM ^

Reasons:

1.  Gardner may not get that redshirt.

2.  Even if he gets it, he might elect to go pro if he has a strong 2013 season

3.  If the difference in talent between Morris and Bellomy is great, playing Morris may be the best move for the team.  We don't want to be in another Nebraska 2012 situation.

 

Mlaw2010

February 8th, 2013 at 7:55 PM ^

1.  According to coaches and the media, the school will know before the season whether or not Gardner will get his redshirt (they keep saying they should know soon).

 

2.  While it wouldn't be out of the question for DG to go to the NFL, he was very, very, very far from being a high enough pick to consider coming out early this year.  He was good, but far from great - we were just over excited by a guy who could actually make throws.  If he makes the leap that would be required to be a first or second round pick, then Michigan will deal with it when they get to that point. 

 

3.  You're again making a big jump.  i was super-excited by Shane for a long time, but the fact of the matter is that he has a lot of work to do to be college-ready.  He is not nearly accurate enough, he needs to learn how to put more touch on the ball, and he needs to learn an offense.  To put it bluntly, he just isn't ready to be a starting QB at the college level (and there's nothing wrong with that, very few kids coming out of high school are).  I'd take Bellomy and the potential that is Michigan's running game over Shane at this point.  If Bellomy doesn't improve, however, yes - you would have to at lesat consider giving Shane a shot.

jmblue

February 8th, 2013 at 8:14 PM ^

Re #2, Someone (I think it was Sam Webb) stated that the redshirt might be a moot point because he got the sense that Gardner would consider going pro regardless.  Keep in mind, by the end of next season he'll have 18 or 19 starts under his belt, assuming he stays healthy, and he reportedly is on pace to graduate on time. 

Re: #3, I'm not predicting that Morris will beat out Bellomy - but it's not out of the question.

 

 

Mlaw2010

February 9th, 2013 at 1:56 AM ^

I live in NY and the WTKA site never plays on my computer, so I haven't listened to Sam Webb since graduating.  If he thinks DG may go pro after next year (which, unless there is a vast improvement is a mistake) then I take it back.  In that case, Shane is going to need to see the field some this year (at least in a mop up role) just so that he has some on-field experience before taking the reigns next year.  I really do hope that DG reconsiders because 2 years of him would be ideal.

Wolfman

February 9th, 2013 at 4:59 AM ^

If  DG, after just a couple of games played while DR was injured is suddelnly NFL worthy, then what would we gain by not RSing this kid. It is tantamount to saying we red-shirted DG until we no longer could, and now he's NFL ready. Ain't buying it. DG needs another, maybe two years under the lights until he proves to the nation he's ready, and  you can do the math from there. If DG gets a RS, he will not go pro, and Shane will not go without a rs tag.

jmblue

February 9th, 2013 at 9:53 AM ^

Gardner's 2012 season (which I thought was very good given the craziness of a midseason switch from WR to QB) bears little relevance to where his draft status might be in 2014.  Give the guy a whole offseason to prepare as our #1 QB and watch him next fall.  

Webb (I think it was him) didn't say it was assured or anything, but that he thought Gardner would consider leaving if he had a good year.  It wouldn't be shocking if that were the case.  By then he'd have been here four years and started 1 1/2 of them.  

 

snowcrash

February 8th, 2013 at 5:38 PM ^

If so, redshirt even if he beats out Bellomy . If not, he'll probably play unless Bellomy gets a lot better.

No player should burn a redshirt just to play in garbage time or in a special teams role that could easily be filled by someone else.

jdon

February 8th, 2013 at 9:22 PM ^

 honestly I think that if Forcier had been shown some support, even tough love, he would have succeeded here.

 

I always think of the Justin Turner scene in 3 and out.  Those coaches wanted to break that kid.  It was almost like they were sacrificing him to prove to the rest of the team just how serious they are...

Then I think of hoke when our kicker fucked up and how supportive he was which has lead to a completely different environment/results.

I am a teacher and I have to use multiple techniques with my learners, it is just like coaching, and I have never, ever, sought to destroy someone in the hopes of 'building them back up'.

pathetic.

jdon

 

jmblue

February 8th, 2013 at 6:00 PM ^

We had two proven commodities at QB at the beginning of that season (Forcier and Robinson).  Redshirting Gardner was a luxury we could afford.  It was only because Forcier was in the doghouse that we played him.

This year we have only one proven commodity (Gardner).  If Bellomy makes a big leap in the offseason and becomes a guy we can have faith in as our #2 QB, then we can redshirt Morris, but if not, I don't think we can or will.

 

 

Fuzzy Dunlop

February 8th, 2013 at 5:42 PM ^

This is a silly question.  Even if he is the second best QB on the team -- which he obviously will be -- the coaches aren't going to burn his redshirt just to give him garbage time plays against EMU.  As long as Gardner is healthy, they will preserve his redshirt.  If Gardner goes down and they need Shane to play, his redshirt will be burned.  It's not a matter of choice.

WolvinLA2

February 8th, 2013 at 6:24 PM ^

I agree completely.  The latest on Shane is that he has a rocket, and needs a lot of polish.  He is also not enrolling early, so he won't have a great handle on much of the playbook for most if not all of the season.  Bellomy, meanwhile, will get lots of reps all spring and all of the second team reps in fall camp.  Shane will need to show up greatly improved to pass Bellomy yet this year.

razor93

February 8th, 2013 at 5:42 PM ^

I know cool story bro is coming at me, but Shane has told me personally he is getting the red shirt unless there is some craziness like injuries, tranfers, or a Y2K event.

turtleboy

February 8th, 2013 at 5:44 PM ^

Not, hopefully. I remember Devin Gardner being significantly improved in his first start last year over his few snaps as a limited backup the years before, so I'm not ready to write off Bellomy as a Junior/Senior potential starter just because he got thrown to the wolves as a RS freshman. Shane will need time, too. I hope he gets as much as he needs.

Sideline

February 8th, 2013 at 6:52 PM ^

Bellomy is not that bad. He had a terrible game, yes. But he was a 3-star QB from Texas, in his RS-Fr year, in a hostile environment for, what I believe, was his first meaningful amount of playing time.

I guarantee he's much better next year than he was this year...

Lionsfan

February 8th, 2013 at 6:17 PM ^

Bellomy was also a Redshirt Freshman playing his first real snaps. On the road. At a pretty raucous stadium. At night. With no run game to speak of.

It was the perfect storm for a disaster, and I don't think that game is a indicator of his ability. He's not going to set the world on fire, but he's not that bad either

TruBluMich

February 8th, 2013 at 10:37 PM ^

I'm sure Bellomy has the ability to be a descent QB.  But he evidently went to Nebraska unprepared.  Just because he's the backup does not mean you don't practice like your the starter, watch film like your the starter and stand on the sidelines and act like your the starter.  He went into that game and looked lost.  Ya, some of that is on the coaches but more of that falls on his shoulders.  It does not boad well for his confidence at all either.  I'm not sure if Bellomy seen any meaningful playing time he would be able to shake that uncomfortable feeling of the last time he played.  Maybe he can, but Im not to confident.

superstringer

February 8th, 2013 at 6:25 PM ^

Maybe you don't remember Brian Griese's debut season.  Got a few games in, like against Northwestern.  At home.  We lost.  He couldn't throw 5 yards past the LOS.

Couple years later, he was winning the national championship for us.

Point is:  Kids are kids.  Will do as kids do.  Not saying Bellomy is Griese 2.0, but, a really poor outing that one time does not condemn him to eternal uselessness for the next three years.

Unless, of course, when Hoke said he was suffering from a "condition" he meant "condition, as in, lacks talent."

AZBlue

February 9th, 2013 at 12:30 AM ^

Because he wasn't taking many/any QB reps so he could learn the receiver position. This was a calculated risk by the coaches and I bet there would have been a decent chance that DG would have been the QB in the games after Denard's injury even if Bellomy didn't have the issues we saw at Nebraska.



This will not be the case with Shane, and if burning a RS is required due to a major injury to DG it will happen if Shane is the better #2 option. If DG has to come out for a series or mop-up duty is required, I think you will see the coaches protect Shane's RS for the long-term benefit of Shane and the team.



Pro-tip -- google the word "costed" (the more you know...)

Caveman Bob

February 8th, 2013 at 5:48 PM ^

If Shane is substantially better than Bellomy AND Gardner gets a serious injury -- something that would keep him out of a large portion of an important game -- then let's burn the redshirt. Otherwise, I want to see the kid play with the rest of the class when they've fully matured in 2017.

jmblue

February 8th, 2013 at 6:05 PM ^

Two potential issues with this kind of reasoning:

1) The coaches don't necessarily know right off the bat how serious a player's injury can be.  Sometimes a guy is in pain but is able to return after a series or two.  Sometimes he can't go at all.  When your QB comes out of the game, someone's got to come in there, and that guy may have to play the remainder of the game.   

2) Any Big Ten game is important.  Take away our starting QB and suddenly a game against Purdue/Illinois/etc. becomes much more loseable.