Is it time to unshackle Rudock?
Let's face it, Rudock is playing not to make a mistake and as a result playing tight and frankly not effectively. The only time he will throw a pass is if the receiver is WIDE open and even then he tries to directly the pass rather than letting his natural instincts throw the ball. As a result often his passes are off the mark, late or though catchable doesn't afford his receivers any room to run after the catch. Good defense will have tight coverages on receivers and good QB's nevertheless throw to those receivers allowing them to make plays (Butts catch in the the endzone against Utah had double coverage and Darboh's catch against perfect coverage by BYU gave the team a needed boost).
Without a passing threat the running game will be neutralized. We can get away with this playing inferior teams but as we get into the meat of the schedule, Rudock needs to play to win and not play not to make mistakes. Football is won by scoring points.
My thought is this. We have an outstanding defense which most of the time will cover up for offensive mistakes. WE can not beat NW, MSU and OSU with only good defense. We need a QB who will play to win games even though like all QB's he will make an occasion mistake. Let him play loose throwing to receivers even though there may be good coverage AND not be handcuffed to one read and then run.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^
FREE RUDOCK!
October 4th, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:00 PM ^
Game planning, in-game adjustments, and play calling are getting the O 10 - 14 points more than talent and matchups would "naturally" achieve. I want whatever JH wants. I want it when he wants it.
Harbaugh is aware of everything regarding Rudock and his decisions will be as good as you can hope. They won't always work because Rudock is limited, but we'll see the best Rudock he can be over the course of the year...whatever that is.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
Let Rudock be Rudock!
October 4th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
As long as the games are in control theres no need to go crazy with the passing game. The run games been a B- thru 5 games which is better then what i expected at this point. If michigan gets down in a game (hopefully this doesnt happen) then Harbaugh will be forced to open up the paly book a little more and trust Ruddock to make the throws. The next 2 games will tell us a lot about our defense and how good Ruddock really is before going into the BYE week
October 4th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
Wait.....he's been shackled?!?
October 4th, 2015 at 1:02 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
The moral of the story is, you can't trust the system.
October 4th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
I'M AN ADULT!
October 4th, 2015 at 6:05 PM ^
Why did his dad call her cell phone? Doesn't he have one?
October 4th, 2015 at 7:52 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
Harbaugh knows what he's doing.
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October 4th, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^
Harbaugh knows quarterbacks. No offense to your post. I simply don't agree with it. JH knows what Ruddock is capable of and what he is not. Letting Ruddock fling it at will is not his strong suit. This kid needs structure.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
Rud^(3)ock**
October 4th, 2015 at 12:52 PM ^
If you're out there Mr. Rudock I appologize. I can't spell. Nor am I your coach so who gives a damn what I think.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
While I don't doubt there will be a few wrinkles for MSU and later OSU (how great it feels to finally have a coach we can say that about!), I don't think Harbaugh was trying to keep Rudock on a significantly shorter leash than he otherwise would, unless he's also psychic and knew the D was going to allow 14 points in four games. During games is the best time to work kinks out, so you'd want to just let him play. If you're right then this really has been one of the great coaching rope-a-dopes of all time.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:37 PM ^
These last four games we have been able to rely on our running game without forcing anything. I really wish we saw more deep shots taken just to practice them, but maybe Harbaugh values the surprise air assault as more valuable than the couple game completions we would get in a blowout win
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October 4th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^
We threw it 43 times at Utah because we were behind. We threw what, eight passes during that two-minute drill?
Rudock passed 32 times yesterday in 3.5 quarters - not that different from Utah up to that point in the game.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
You think this is him playing shackled? This is simply Jake Rudock the quarterback.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
You think this is him playing shackled? This is simply Jake Rudock the quarterback.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^
Between Jedd Fisch and Jim Harbaugh I think we have the QB coaching thing pretty much covered. I think they are aware that JR is missing on the downfield stuff and I'm going to trust this staff to find the answers.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
game planning. And setting up, then going against tendencies. And adjustments. And not repeating the same things over and over hoping for different results.
This coaching thing. I like it.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
Rudock cant see the entire field and go through progressions. If the first options isnt wide open he is pretty much sol and its going to be incomplete or a pick.
Suffice to say what we got is what we got, but teams have won national titles with bad QB's and I trust in Harbaugh to throw in enough rinkles to keep defenses off balance, im just worried that we dont face another defense like Utah that can exploit Rudock.
October 4th, 2015 at 2:50 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 12:35 PM ^
Tell Brian to pick up the red emegency direct phone line to Harbaugh STAT! Harbaugh must be informed asap that there is a poster on mgoblog he can learn from!!
October 4th, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 9:22 PM ^
It's not that the coaching staff is shackling Rudock, which by the way implies that the kid is better than Harbaugh & Co. are allowing him to be. The problem is that despite Jake Rudock being Michigan's best option at QB, he's just not very good.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:37 PM ^
The gameplans and play-calling have been excellent. He's had so many opportunities and still can't hit the deep ball for whatever reason. I don't see what else the coaches can do for him.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
So Rudock has multiple check downs, doesnt look past his first read, and that's coaching? If that were coaching, why would they create the other options?
October 4th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:44 PM ^
cbs650, please don't recycle Matt Millen's crappy "analysis" about how he thinks our QB is being coached.
October 4th, 2015 at 6:38 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:27 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^
He's built habits and tendencies as a result of playing in an offense that doesn't throw the ball deeper than 5 yards. That's doesn't get fixed overnight.
October 4th, 2015 at 2:48 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 4:42 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^