Speight is a dude

Submitted by Alumnus93 on

I am beginning to think that we are witnessing the next Qb to continue the line of Michigan Qbs starting in the NFL....  Of all the success recently with the wins and such, the biggest revelation, by far, is the improvement and rise of Wilton Speight.  I've been watching him intently on every play....and am floored what Harbaugh has done here... this trumps his mentoring of Rich Gannon, a career journeyman turned top fantasy mvp star under Harbaugh. QB Whisperer, AMEN...  Speight is pulling a ton of tricks and moves from nowhere, eluding pressure at an NFL level like Big Ben, continuing plays he had no business doing a year ago, just incredibly heady play all around. His pocket presence is fantastic.  When I read he was way ahead of Rudock, I didn't believe it... fact is, it is not even close.  Going forward, even on a low improvement level, we are looking at a starting NFL Qb in Speight, especially with another year here.   His story may parallel Brady's time here somewhat.... was on the verge of transferring, behind the newcomer, yet perservered, and playing on Sundays.  

Sure, I may be getting too forward on my skis here, but I cannot imagine I'm the only one who noticed the extremely proper Qb play by Speight in all facets, especially at eluding pressure.

MGoBoard
Football

The Fan in Fargo

September 25th, 2016 at 12:18 AM ^

Yep, time for the o-line to get their heads out of their asses too and dominate. They pretty much own the outcome of the game next week. At least just as much as any other position group on the team. Thank gawd for the chance of Pep on offense though. He'll shred them bitches no matter what. Book it! If the LSU defense can hold the bed shitters to 16 points at Lambeau, then so can Michigan in The Big House. I'd say less.

Joined: 09/04/2016

MGoPoints: 1877

bdneely4

September 24th, 2016 at 11:59 PM ^

I came away from this game no more positive about Speight than when the game started. He handles himself well and had limited TOs but he needs to make more of the routine throws.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 01/06/2009

MGoPoints: 13938

Michiganguy19

September 25th, 2016 at 12:07 AM ^

His first year with Harbaugh was his 4th consecitive Pro Bowl... and coming off 3 years with QB guru John Gruden who helped him become a first time Pro Bowler and numerous other accolades. I am all for loving Coach Harbaugh but this one feels like causation/correlation confusion.

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 1496

93Grad

September 25th, 2016 at 12:16 AM ^

He was a little erratic today. He just seemed off on a lot of passes including some completions that would have gone for way more yards had the ball been placed better by Speight.

Joined: 07/26/2011

MGoPoints: 13786

Mr. Yost

September 25th, 2016 at 12:22 AM ^

Speight hasn't done anything special all year...not sure where this is coming from.

At the same time, he hasn't done anything to hurt us, and that's just what we need.

He's doing his job and doing it well. He's not the Jabrill Peppers or Jake Butt of the QB position.

Just get managing the offense and getting us in the right plays and move the ball down the field in the endzone. Let the playmakers make plays and don't do anything stupid.

He's been good at that thus far...going to need him to do it all year.

Joined: 07/25/2011

MGoPoints: -9898220

Wolfman

September 25th, 2016 at 12:28 AM ^

His stats are probably well above average, but he's made a lot of mistakes. He underthrows a percentage of the time; most often w/o pressure. Such was the case again today when a well thrown ball would have led Chesson to the end zone. He picked up the first down, but with every unnecessary down in a drive, you have another chance for a turnover. 

He seems best when he has no time to think and has to zip the ball. He has to get in a comfort zone where he can make this type of throw when there is no pressure on. I think he'll get there. He is, after all, only four games into his career. However, I've seen enough good about him and a large number of other players on the team that we needn't declare anyone a dude yet until they've deserve it. The D-Li ne has quite a few dudes. Wilton hopefully finds himself progressing to that level, but Dude? Not quite yet. 

Joined: 07/23/2008

MGoPoints: 8259

Mr. Yost

September 25th, 2016 at 12:34 AM ^

Greg McElroy

AJ McCarron

Jacob Coker

 

...you don't have to be a world beater to win a national championship. But if you have playmakers, distribute the ball, get the offense in and out of the huddle, lead the team, do your job.

That's all we need Speight to do. Just do your job and let everyone else do the rest.

Joined: 07/25/2011

MGoPoints: -9898220

WSU to Blue

September 25th, 2016 at 12:48 AM ^

I would heep the praise on right now. There was a lot of missed throws today, and throughout the season that were off target or misplaced by him. Granted there were some drops as well. Hopefully he saves his best for last, but next week is going to be a pretty good test for him. As of right now I think hes performed as expected.

Joined: 09/03/2016

MGoPoints: 22

Year of Revenge II

September 25th, 2016 at 1:01 AM ^

His pocket awareness is improving with experience, and he is a good to excellent decision maker. Otherwise, your points either reflect you are in serious need of assistance, or you are watching the wrong game.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 11/12/2013

MGoPoints: 9188

CLord

September 25th, 2016 at 1:13 AM ^

Ped State's D is horrible.  Drawing conclusions on Speigh based on his performance against any of the D's we've seen so far is absurd.  Let's see how he performs against real linebackers dropping in coverage and blitzing.  His season will be judged on how he does vs MSU OSU Iowa Wisconsin pretty much.

Joined: 09/11/2011

MGoPoints: -6341

JamieH

September 25th, 2016 at 1:29 AM ^

Started his career going 15-19 for 265 and 4TDs against Bowling green and then came back and went 10-15 with 3TD against Rice before crashing to the earth in a road game against UCLA. Now, do I think Speight is better than Navarre? Yeah, if for nothing else than he isn't a complete statue. But he hasn't yet played on the road, and he hasn't yet played a really good team, though Colorado may be better than we think.

Speight has been just fine. He hasn't thrown a pick since his first pass, he's completing 58% of his throws, he making plays with his feet, and in general, is playing winning football. But right now, I think it's silly to be more just happy that he is good. Talking about NFL for him just yet is silly. After he drops 250+ on back-to-back top 20 defenses like Rudock did at the end of last year, we can start talking NFL.

Remember, even with his slow start, Rudock completed 64% of his throws last year, and only had 3 games all year where he completed lesss than 60% (and NO games under 50%). 

Joined: 09/05/2009

MGoPoints: 28331

CorkyCole

September 25th, 2016 at 9:17 AM ^

So this is dumber than the article from a bunch of PSU folks saying they wouldnt trade James Franklin for any other coach in the universe, especially Jim Harbaugh? In the same article, they also made a statement that they would never want to sell their soul to have Jim Harbaugh as head coach. That was really dumb at the time I read it, and even worse now. While this thread was over the top and unnecessary it doesn't make me laugh out of stupidity like that article did. It is not that stupid, no.

Joined: 06/13/2011

MGoPoints: 4498

CoverZero

September 25th, 2016 at 2:04 AM ^

I concur with a lot of what Alumnus 93 has said.  Wilton Speight has played well and he has shown an incredibly nifty knack in the pocket.  He is a tough kid to bring down and is elusive in stepping up to avoid a rush. 

That TD pass which was called due to a Hold by Smith was a thing of beauty.  People will forget about that play because it was called back, but it was a great display of athleticism combined with a laser arm.

If the name Henson was on the back of the jersey on some of these plays....then perhaps some Michigan fans would react more favorably. 

Speight is coming along just fine.  Once he gets more of a feel for his WRs and more confidence in stepping up and letting some of those throws rip, he is going to be great...not good...a great college QB.

With him, O'Korn, Shane and Peters on the roster...this is the best QB roster since the late 90s with Griese, Brady, Kapsner etc.

Joined: 08/30/2014

MGoPoints: 14571

I Want To Believe

September 25th, 2016 at 5:17 AM ^

When Michigan first landed Speight I was very high on him after seeing his film due to his sneaky good pocket presence. I see Wilton improving every week. The biggest improvement from week 3 to week 4 was Wilton's blitz pickup and rush avoidance.

Last week vs Colorado Speight didn't even notice an obvious corner blitz, and as a result got blew up and put in a 14-0 hole. Yesterday I watched Wilton look for that very blitz on nearly every passing down. As football is a copycat sport, PSU ran the same blitz that Colorado got home with, but Speight was two steps ahead and the ball was already out. I honestly expect Wilton to continue to rise throughout the year. A win vs Wisconsin and we should be able to win out til OSU.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 05/05/2016

MGoPoints: -999254

UMForLife

September 25th, 2016 at 7:16 AM ^

Last week's stat, I think it was from Brian, showed he is extremely comfortable under pressure. For some reason, he misses easy throws. His pitch under pressure, which I have seen him do twice, is such a Favre kind of play. His deep ball is getting better but still needs more timing. In yesterday's game, he was definitely reading the defense well. PSU was short handed but they have some good athletes. Speight did really well against a decent defense. Another thing I was looking for yesterday was if he is going to his second or third option if the first one is taken away. He did that yesterday. He is not going to face too many good corners. Iowa has one. OSU seems have two, but we need to see more on that. MSU corners are not very good yet and they may not be given how much they have developed since last year. So, Speight may have a good shot at having some great performances. But, he has not shown the level yet for NFL. I agree though that he has a promising resume so far.

Joined: 11/04/2013

MGoPoints: 63393

andidklein

September 25th, 2016 at 7:31 AM ^

Speight looked better today in shedding a tackle and pocket presence. He still needs to work on his touch (some of those passes yesterday came in WAY TOO HOTTTT) on the short routes and were a little short on the long routes. He seems more comfortable with Darboh than Chesson, I'd like to see him spread it around more to stretch the field more, but maybe that's not in his skill set, I don't know.

NFL ready? No, not at this time. But as long as he doesn't screw things up, I'm fine with him where he's at.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 11/18/2015

MGoPoints: 10599

SD Larry

September 25th, 2016 at 8:52 AM ^

of taking care of the football so far,  and he has made some plays, including a nice TD pass to Asiasi yesterday.   Colorado has a great secondary.  Don't know if some of Speight's underthrows are his way of throwing passes that can't be picked or related to the big hit on the shoulder he took in the Colorado game that let to the fumble/TD.   Big test next week, but if he continues to progress at half the rate Jake did last year, he and we will be fine imho.

Joined: 10/05/2014

MGoPoints: 41033

HenneGivenSunday

September 25th, 2016 at 9:31 AM ^

I don't get the Speight Hate from some around here. He's been mostly above average this season so far, competition caveats apply. However, he can only play who they have on the schedule. To my eyes, he's been calm and collected with good pocket presence and awareness. Indeed, his completion % is not 100% so he must be awful.....



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 10/24/2011

MGoPoints: 10983