A comment on the Gardner video now posted
I am confident that this kid will turn out to be a good QB for Michigan, but this video should quiet those people who believe he will be starting next year. I know that it was posted as an example of the kids skills, but he looked EXTREMELY raw to me. His passes were not accurate and his delivery was slow and labored. I think the last couple of years have made people forget that starting a freshman QB is rare and risky. Bring him in, sit him for a few years of seasoning, and let him start for the first time as a redshirt junior. Tate is not as big, but he is an accurate passer who should get better over the next few years and be an above average big ten QB. Robinson will be the backup again next year while Gardner redshirts and then move to the slot the year after. IME
November 17th, 2009 at 10:06 AM ^
Let's give DG time to mature and develop his skills. No college coach in his right mind ever WANTS to start a pure freshman at QB if he can avoid it, and RR needs another season with a pure rookie at QB like he needs a hole in the head. The only way I can see DG getting any PT next year is if both Tate and DR are injured or transfer or for some reason regress significantly. The last two are highly, highly unlikely to occur, and we just have to keep our fingers crossed that injuries don't happen.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:41 AM ^
Honestly, I'd rather see Coner in there if both Tate and Denard got hurt next year.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:04 PM ^
I don't know if the Coner will have a chance to make it to the games on Saturdays. He'll probably be touring with Jay-Z.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:33 AM ^
Huge upside, but he needs time to develop.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^
Tate's accuracy is overrated, he's not Steven Threet, we get it. He's also not Drew Breese. Gardner's passes aren't that bad, some you have to blame on him throwing to HS athletes, i've seen a ton of his passes that a college receiver makes a play on. He has some ducks, i've seen those as well, but what's promising is the ducks are in the ground, and not overthrown where they can be picked.
Gardner can run like a football player, Denard can just run, and Tate just has scrambling ability. We need a runningback in our QB position if we want Rod to succeed like he did at WVU. So many times against Wisconsin we could have pulled the football, and if a runningback was at QB, he could have gone a long ways. You want to keep the best athlete on the team off the field for FOUR YEARS? Gardner should be competing for the job by year two. You have to remember that Tate is basically maxed out his physical ability, there's not much room to grow. On the other hand, Gardner has a huge frame and is a freak athlete.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:24 PM ^
I think you need a running QB, but not a running back. Denard is finding that out looking at 8-9 guys in the box every play he runs. If you can't make the defense respect the throw, you are not going to run very well. If we ran some kind of power wishbone we could run every play and get away with it, but the spread relies too much on defenses playing extra defensive backs and keeping them wide.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:27 PM ^
Pat White was a runningback who can throw (Exceptionally well i might add). I dont want a QB who can run, we already have one. I want a QB who runs like a runningback. I dont want us to run the zone read like Georgia did, have the qb run 4 yards and slide. I want to see it like WVU, where you had a good chance of getting killed by either runningback (Quarterback who runs like a runningback) on either edge. Then the bubble opens up, then the deep ball opens, your whole offense opens up and you eat up clock, letting the defense catch their breath.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:36 PM ^
OK, I agree with the premise that a QB who runs like Adrian Peterson and throws like Drew Brees would be nice. My point is that right now Gardner and Denard appear to run like decent big ten running backs and throw like a decent intramural QB. That is not good enough. You are correct in saying that Pat White and Vince Young before him eventually could throw very well. When one of those two gets to that stage they should play. UNtil then, though, I would like to see a QB who can throw the ball 20 yads and not have it intercepted. If not, you might as well play Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown together in the backfield because both run better than Denard or Tate.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:47 PM ^
Dont put Gardner and Denard on the same level, Devin Gardner is the #1 QB recruit in the country. The dude can throw, he can place the ball deep better than Tate and Denard, and shows flashes (More often than not) of passing on the run. Dont take my post way out of context. No im not expecting Rodriguez to find superman and put him at QB, i want a guy who can run like a runningback and make the necessary throws, like, gasp, Devin Gardner. Chances are he'll have a two route progression off of play action, which he can handle just fine. Denard does not run like a decent Big Ten runningback, he runs like a track athlete, ever hear the adage "Track guy who plays football?" Thats Denard.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:16 PM ^
I am not taking your post out of context, and am not adamantly disagreeing with you. My original point was that I was dissapointed in the passing ability of Gardner and just said that he needs a couple of years of improvement before he is ready. If I saw what you descibed, "The dude can throw, he can place the ball deep better than Tate and Denard, and shows flashes (More often than not) of passing on the run." then I would agree that he would be a better option. What I saw, though, was a guy who can't throw a ten yard out and hit a reciever in the numbers. That is not to say he never will, just that he can't yet. He is a guy who runs like a running back, but can't yet make all of the necessary throws. As for Denard, it is rehashing old arguments, but I am not a believer in track guys who play football. I think they run extremely fast into the waiting lineman and are immediately tackled. In space he could be a weapon, but right now he is a waste of a down. In the past we always had a 4-5 star guy in the wings wating for his chance to play and improving. My point was, in a perfect world, I would love to see Garder improve for a few years before he takes over.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:25 PM ^
The AP/Drew Breese comment was taking my expectations out of context, but its irelevant to the discussion so it doesnt matter. In the past we had talented upper classman for the young guys to wait behind, now (even at QB in the following year) that is not the case. I don't know how much you watched WVU in the past, but i believe with slight improvements Gardner can make all of the throws that Pat White had to. Im assuming that this offense turns into the WVU version when he plays. But you're right, if he was stuck into the gameplan we have now, he would struggle, and I would not want him to start in this offense right away. In a perfect world for me, I would like to see him run the Pat White offense ASAP.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:29 PM ^
Fair enough
November 17th, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^
It's funny -- I think he could make an immediate contribution as a wide receiver. As a QB, though, I agree with the others here. For now, a diamond in the rough.