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 4:45 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 11:07 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
Rudock is who he is--an average, at best, quarterback.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
2 things
1. Rudock unshackled is pretty much the game he's playing right now. He's not going to turn into Chad Henne or Brian Griese overnight because of different play calling.
2. I think what you're saying is you want him to throw the ball down the field more? IMO he has to be more consistent with short/mid-range before we open it up like that. And the turnovers. Those will kill us against NW, MSU and OSU.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 12:47 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
Getting sick of these Rudock threads people need to get off his jock.
He's got the best coach in history of the universe in Jim Harbaugh. He will be the best possible QB he can be and our staff will work to his strengths. He has weaknesses, just like everybody else, and those will be coached up over time.
Michigan is beating just about everyone's expectations, and Rudock is doing the most important thing a QB should do which is to advance the ball down the field and win games.
Will he struggle against higher caliber defenses? Maybe but so what Michigan is not a one dimensional team. Man people need to count the abundance of blessings that we have with this team instead of focusing on a single player.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:11 PM ^
Amen UMProud!
October 4th, 2015 at 10:31 PM ^
Agreed. Rudock so far hasn't proved he can carry the team.
But think if he didn't transfer here? We should thank him for coming.
Were there other QB's in the country who had elegibility to come in and play right away?
Would you rather take your chances with Morris?
Would you take your chances with a true freshman or Speight? Even 5 star recruit Josh Rosen at UCLA has shown potential, but also been rocky.
Trust Harbaugh that Ruddock is the best option we have. It is what it is.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^
Rudock can play better, for sure, but coaches are trying to win the games, and they have succeeded in all but game #1, which hardly anybody expected us to win, and in which we had our chances.
Not a question of "shackling" Rudock, but establishing our base power game, off of which the bigger plays are schemed.
He is getting more comfortable and better with his reads by the game. They are not shackling him, they are playing to his strengths, a strategy that escaped the former regime here.
The way NW and MSU play defense, I suspect the more creative downfield stuff will be on greater display.
Hopefully Rudock can get it downfield better than he could against Utah, but in a way, it was his best intermediate to long passing day. He missed a couple of potential long TD's, but I suspect they are going to come.
More to the point though IMO, line has to play well, backs have to block well when there is pressure, and receivers need to make plays when they have opportunity. It is a team sport, and especially against good teams, a whole team effort is required to win.
If Rudock can step it up a little, we are going to be very tough to beat.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
One thing I noticed from Rudock is that I wish he would give our big ass wide recievers and tight end the chance to make plays on the ball. Instead of trying to float balls down field and making our big receivers run under him I wish he would do what Henne used to do with our huge receivers under Lloyd Carr, throw it high and a little short give them a chance to go up and make a play. Thats why Chesson and Darboh have trouble on the deep passes they arent the type of receiver to make adjustments on sailed balls.
Reference the play Butt made against Utah, a high thrown ball that Butt had a chance to get his hips around and box out several defenders and go up and get the ball. Id like to see more of those.
October 4th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
Dude, we just got off of GARDNER. Just thank your lucky stars we aren't still averaging 3 picks a game.
October 4th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 2:32 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 5:57 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:00 PM ^
because he's been "shackled" by Jim Harbaugh?
This makes as much sense as the notion that Taysom Hill will be our QB next year.
Crikey.
October 4th, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
I feel like Rudock is somewhat self limiting. Possibly trying to compensate for obvious shortcomings.Saying that, I'm still happy to have him.
October 4th, 2015 at 1:02 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:06 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:12 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
In the grand scheme of things, how much meaning did that season really have? I mean, I guess if it kept Hoke alive an extra year, allowing the stars to align perfectly for Harbaugh to come here, then maybe it was a great thing. But other than that...
October 4th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
"Let him play loose throwing to receivers even though there may be good coverage AND not be handcuffed to one read and then run."
So you honestly think that he has the ability to make 3-4 progression reads but our staff has instructed him to instead lock onto one read then tuck and run if it isn't open? That is absolutely absurd.
You also think it's a good idea for him to start throwing to receivers that are well covered? Doubly absurd....
This is the type of post material that is best left at the Sunday morning hungover breakfast table IMO.
October 4th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
Can we stop with the Rudock threads already? What we've seen so far in the the first 4 games is what we can expect going forward. Rudock didn't have a great game yesterday, but he wasn't atrocious either. Let's not forget that outside of Chesson's long rushing TD, the run game pretty much didn't show up to play (against a pretty poor run defense).
The bottom line is that this Defense is going to keep Michigan in EVERY game it plays from here on out. That is the constant. The variables are: 1) Will the run game be able to produce against quality opponents? 2) Which QB shows up, Rudock or Ghost of Rudock? 3) Can the defense produce more turnovers (I know they got 3 yesterday, but outside of that, turning the ball over has not been an area of strength)?
This teams success going forward is not going to hinge entirely on Rudock.
October 4th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
.... are pretty.
October 4th, 2015 at 1:15 PM ^
I don't think he's leashed, I think his upside is just not very high. It's just not random that Ferentz cut him loose, let him go anywhere, and Iowa is undefeated with Beathard.
We'll have a QB in the next year or two who can take us into the top 5. Rudock ain't that QB, though.
Our offense is going to hold us back this year. Period. That said, our defense is considerably better than I expected and both ohio and msu are worse than I expected, so I think we will compete in those games.
October 4th, 2015 at 1:33 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 1:42 PM ^
but according to the OP his DOES have vision but the staff won't let him use it past the first read then tuck and run.....
October 4th, 2015 at 2:28 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 6:25 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 3:29 PM ^
All we want, or could even ask for, is "Iowa Rudock" as defined in a previous post by Brian's UFR's. He hasn't been that. Consistent Iowa Rudock would make this team pretty elite given all it's other strengths.
October 4th, 2015 at 1:22 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 1:27 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:32 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 1:32 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:36 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:37 PM ^
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October 4th, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^
October 4th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^
it might be possible for him to learn to think more quickly, within the limitations of his own capacities.
The process reminds me of playing golf. When you are learning a stroke or changing it, you have to think what you are doing--and that often makes you even worse. In FB, it also probably makes your reads slower. That is because the neural circuits in the brain that control consicious intention notn only operate more slowly but may actually interfere with those that promote smooth, automatic movements. To an extent, that could be happeninng with Rudock in the process of learning from Harbaugh and getting accustomed to a new scheme. But a lot of practice and intense motivation could help speed up the process of making his "reads" more automatic, faster, and more accurate.
Tom Brady has a clinic devoted to teaching athletes about methods to speed up these processes.(the TB12 center in Foxboro, ma).