Wilton Speight appreciation thread

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

What a journey. Congrats to Wilton. This is the Harbaugh effect.

 

What a journey. From that to starter.

Harbaugh was told something similar to when he was late to a meeting with Bo pic.twitter.com/zfS2v04nvu

— † Wolverine Devotee (@UMichWD) August 27, 2016

name redacted

August 27th, 2016 at 3:09 PM ^

Yeah! Why should we appreciate anyone who's been busting their ass in voluntary workouts all summer so your lazy ass has something entertaining to sit and get fat watching every Saturday come fall! Boo these entitled athletes until they make u feel better about ur assumed miserable life by winning a few football games!




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bluebyyou

August 27th, 2016 at 7:30 PM ^

I reward their hard work by buying four season tickets that cost a pretty penny along with an annual donation to Michigan athletics.  How about you?

Havng a bad day?  Did your lady dump you?  Did your dog pee on your foot? Anything else to contribute other than being a DB?

Get a life.

schreibee

August 27th, 2016 at 3:27 PM ^

If you were referring to Yost, that dude is gonna carry the Yolk of Negativity for awhile after he flamed umbig11 for revealing Speight as starter. That's how it works round here, miserable or not.

And if you were referring to why WD got Negged, you obviously haven't logged on too many times since 2008. That's just tradition for some here.

stephenrjking

August 27th, 2016 at 1:26 PM ^

Maybe it is because I am still a little singed from seeing backup QB meltdowns and road collapses from the Carr, RR, and Hoke eras, but that TD absolutely shocked me. I was in the Stadium and when Rudock went down I honestly thought it was over. What a gutty series.

Nate the Newt

August 27th, 2016 at 1:18 PM ^

Rewatching these highlights reminds me that Speight is no Navarre.  Meaning, he's way more mobile on his legs.  The both of his scampers show some decent speed there.  No jukes, but the ability to get to the sideline or edge with some straightline speed is just enough to keep some defenses honest and pick up a few 1st downs when the situations presents.  

Double-D

August 27th, 2016 at 1:34 PM ^

Speight may not have Denard wheels or even O'Korn wheels but he moves fine in the pocket and can take what's there with his feet. More importantly I have no doubt we will be watching a QB that does not telegraph his eyes on his target every pass. I am not saying he is Brady but I would think the style would be more comparable.

LKLIII

August 27th, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^

Yeah that's the key for QB mobility. He won't ever be a true dual threat, but being able to side step a first tackler and then pick up even just 4-6 yards in straight line speed like running for the sideline should keep defenses honest to a certain extent. He isn't Navarre level. What's this blog's term? Dilithium level? I'd say Speight is about a 3 or 4. Rudock was a 5 or 6, JOK a 6 or 7, and Navarre would've been a straight up 1.




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MgoDlu

August 27th, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^

Rewatching that his mobility kinda reminds me of Jake Rudock. If his decision making is better than O'korn and he is less turnover prone then I can see why he would win the starting job. 

Going against which string defense caveats applied, watching the spring game Wilton looks much more calm and collected while O'korn kinda looks jittery imho 

Har-Boner

August 27th, 2016 at 3:07 PM ^

That's a very important point and really what I've been worried about all along. O'Korn likes to run... that's only a hop, skip, and a jump away from LOVING to run. I'm not sure I can stomach an entire season of our QB bailing out of the pocket after 1.5 seconds (see Devin Gardner most recently). 

Ronnie Kaye

August 27th, 2016 at 3:48 PM ^

If we ever have a quarterback again with the physical measureables of John Navarre, it will suck. It wasn't just that he was no threat to run forward. He couldn't even do a sidestep to avoid pressure. Truly an oak tree back there. 

And don't even get me started on how low the trajectory on his mid-range throws were. 6'6" and it was a constant battle to elevate his passes above where DL could knock them down.

Some fans are fond of him because he won the B1G as a senior but I consider the Navarre era a sneak preview of our dark days.

OwenGoBlue

August 27th, 2016 at 4:09 PM ^

Navarre was a hell of a player but beyond slow. I camped at M while he was there and they had player times posted - he was over 5 seconds.

Amazing to overcome that (especially given that he was too slow to boot on core Lloyd plays) and perform as well as he did in college and sticking around the NFL. 

Wolverine Devotee

August 27th, 2016 at 1:06 PM ^

He was rumored to be a player that was thinking about transferring at the start of Fall camp last season due to his spot on the depth chart.

He worked his way out of it, wound up winning us a game and then beating out the presumed starter that 99.9% of us fans thought would be starting 2016 the minute Rudock played his last game here.

Mr. Yost

August 27th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^

I wouldn't go that far...a lot of people said Speight in the 3-4 prediction threads we've had since the season ended. Especially after spring camp and then REALLY especially after the spring game.

I think there were some that love JO'K's athleticism and wouldn't let that go. Some love Shane's HS hype and wouldn't let that go. But there were more than a few thinking Speight was the one.

It's been said on this board a few times that Speight soaked up everything he could from Rudock and kind of became the new dad or grandpa. Just a steady, focused mentality and approach.

Not saying O'Korn didn't, but you'd see the tweets and the Lion King thing...young men being young men and having fun - nothing wrong with it. But it wasn't "Rudockian" and that seemed to be Speight's lane if you believe some of the insiders. 

Wolverine Devotee

August 27th, 2016 at 1:27 PM ^

I didn't say after spring practice, though. Most people (including myself) assumed it would be O'Korn based on the practice hype he was getting during his redshirt season. 

This was after the bowl game when the season ended.