Rudock Watch
August 13th, 2017 at 2:47 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 2:48 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 2:48 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 2:49 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 2:51 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 2:48 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 2:55 PM ^
Jake looks solid - some minor mistakes, but damn the touch on most of throws look absolutely fantastic. Some great decisions too - running and sliding for first downs when the pocket collapses. Well done. Colts look awful.
August 13th, 2017 at 2:55 PM ^
Colts *backups* look awful.
August 13th, 2017 at 2:58 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 3:09 PM ^
Ha good point. I am just trying to temper my expectations for my Lions!
August 13th, 2017 at 3:38 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 4:21 PM ^
I remember! I'm also a lifelong Lions fan and suffer from LIONS FANDOM SYNDROME - once I get optimistic, the Lions choke. It's a defense mechanism. That being said, Lions looked good today.
August 14th, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^
Playoffs last year so we shouldn't expect more than 6 wins this year.
August 13th, 2017 at 2:58 PM ^
Not watching, but I'm sure he does.
In contrast, I re-watched the PSU game from last year. I lost count of how many throws were over the head of, behind, at the feet of, or nowhere near our receivers. Fourth game of the season, before injury, after "early season jitters". In fact, the only one I saw hit a recevier in stride was a longish TD pass that was called back for holding.
August 13th, 2017 at 3:28 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 3:57 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 4:16 PM ^
Exactly.
I don't get the "You can't count the early games because jitters. And games Colorado to Iowa don't count because injury. And Iowa to the bowl game because alsoinjury" position. Nothing apparently counts unless it supports the preferred version of reality.
I'm sure he's a fine person and he seems cool-headed, but he's not a good running QB and I'm still waiting for empirical evidence that he's more than a middling passer. And unlike Rudock (back on topic) he did not improve through the course of last season.
Hoping that somehow after 31 unimpressive months with Harbaugh the light suddenly goes on for him in the next couple weeks.
August 13th, 2017 at 4:19 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 4:31 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 5:01 PM ^
OL was the weak link and has been for way too long now.
August 13th, 2017 at 5:10 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 6:44 PM ^
If the line was good enough we would've run out the clock at Iowa and won that game. Same thing at OSU.
August 13th, 2017 at 8:24 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 8:58 PM ^
And without Speight we would have lost by 30 with any other QB on our roster.
August 13th, 2017 at 10:02 PM ^
but he wasn't the weak link last year. It's clearly the running game. I don't know where you get off thinking the run blocking was good. If it was good, we beat Iowa and OSU and FSU.
Speight wasn't great in any of those games, but we ran for 2.8, 2.1, and 2.5 ypc in our last 3 games. I thought Speight was actually pretty good in Columbus covering for the run games complete inability to do anything. 23-36 for 219, 2 TD, 2 INT with absolutely no help from the run game at the #2 team in the country. Are we supposed to just ignore that and blame Speight for not throwing for 500 yards to cover for the horrible running attack? Speight was good enough to win it all, the run blocking clearly was not
August 14th, 2017 at 7:08 AM ^
Nothing can make a QB look worse than bad O-line play compounded by an injury to the QB's throwing shoulder. The O-line that just graduated is a big reason the pundits are saying that the inexperience won't be a bitter pill because the kids coming in are an improvement over the line that just left. I believe one of the things we heard (from the pundits) was addition by subtraction.
August 13th, 2017 at 11:06 PM ^
Both games could have been salted away with 1 first down which we were unable to get because we could not run block well enough. Any O-line should be measure on whether or not they can run block effectively in obvious running situations. We couldn't last year and haven't been able to for a while. Go back and watch UM/OSU game in 86 or the Biakabatuka game in 9? Superlative O-line performance in each game.. OSU could not stop our running game even when they knew we were running the ball. We could have given them the play and it wouldnt have helped. Watch Wilcher's 7 yd TD in the 4th quarter in 86. No attempt to disguise a straight ahead run and he was essentially untouched into the end zone. When we can do that again to maintain possession and run out the clock we will be back.
August 13th, 2017 at 7:10 PM ^
"...because we talk about reality. Speight was the weak link in 2016 in my opinion."
You want to talk about reality, then go on to give your opinion. You know that those two aren't necessarily the same thing, right?
There are people (like you, I suspect) who get tired of people being upbeat and positive about their team. There are many more of us who get tired of people who can't seem to be positive about our team if their lives depended upon it.
Those people often don't want to admit that they're cynics. Their go-to line is "Hey, I'm just being real) or something to that effect. No, you're being cynical and shit-talking a team/player that you're supposedly supporting.
August 14th, 2017 at 11:44 AM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 4:50 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 5:53 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 6:06 PM ^
Im in the pro-Speight camp, but his performances bring back PTSD from the RichRod years where the offense would look unstoppable against garbage defenses and then look completely lost against good defenses.
August 13th, 2017 at 7:04 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 4:17 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 7:48 PM ^
avatar checks out
August 14th, 2017 at 9:25 AM ^
Rudock carried the team on his back in 2015. Our worse loss of the Harbaugh era came when Rudock went out injured against OSU and the entire stadium knew that we were done.
Speight hasn't shown the ability to carry a team like Rudock. He needs a solid running game, which we haven't had since 2011 IMO, in order to work effectively.
August 13th, 2017 at 2:58 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 3:03 PM ^
to Citrus Bowl MVP to an NFL roster. It's just a guess, but I'm thinking transferring to Michigan for Harbaugh was one of the best decisions he ever made.
August 13th, 2017 at 3:09 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 3:13 PM ^
Lol what was that FG attempt?? I was hoping they'd try a fake for the sake of practicing it in a real-time game situation. Maybe that kick was the fake. Looked fake.
August 13th, 2017 at 3:10 PM ^
Ya know Tom Brady was in his second year when he took over for #1 draft pick Drew Bledsoe.
August 13th, 2017 at 3:14 PM ^
May not be the Lions and he may not be HOF and all but he's constantly improving and he very well may step up to start for someone someday soon.
August 14th, 2017 at 7:33 AM ^
Brady jumped at that opportunity and never looked back. Aron Shea said he knew Tommy would never give Bledsoe another chance, he was right as sunshine.
Just saying when your filling in for a qb who is injured you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder after every incomplete pass.
August 14th, 2017 at 9:31 AM ^
But the attitude of always looking over your shoulder every day is what makes Brady the GOAT. He treats every year like it is 1999 and the coaches are looking for any excuse to bench him in favor of Henson.
August 13th, 2017 at 3:37 PM ^
Not as good as a Rolex but way better than a Seiko.
August 13th, 2017 at 4:14 PM ^
At that rate, Wilton Speight is a Timex. He keeps ticking, but we're not really having a great time.
To be fair, he's a competitior and has courage. But his throwing mechanics? Sad. He aims the ball like a dart.
Fling the ball. Let the damn thing roll off your fingertips, Wilton!
August 13th, 2017 at 4:34 PM ^
August 13th, 2017 at 5:17 PM ^
We have two coaches who can teach him that. Which doesn't necessarily mean he will learn. The spring game didn't show improvement.
Time will tell. I'm hoping for the best.
August 13th, 2017 at 5:04 PM ^
is less than classic. Often drops elbow low like John Navarre. Takes that 6'6" frame it makes himself 6'2" at times. Not pretty to look at. But he had some games last year where he was dropping dimes on people. He's capable of it. We've seen it, haven't we?
Iowa second half, he fell apart and obviously. And spring game was a little concerning. But I love his pocket presence, his ability to side step a rush and keep his eyes downfield. He's not a dynamic athlete, and he's not a Sam Darnold level passer, but he's much more than a game manager in my opinion. He's made clutch throws at crunch time. Minnesota 2015. 4th Down throw to Darboh at OSU in OT last year. If if he gets a little help from his receivers at Iowa -- have a teammate make a play and pick him up when he's struggling -- Michigan is probably in the B10 championship game, regardless of the OSU outcome.
August 13th, 2017 at 5:18 PM ^
You might remember the Iowa game when Speight overthrew a wide open touchdown. He walked back past Coach Harbaugh like he was looking for consolation. Harbaugh totally ignored him. No pat on the helmet, not a glance, nothing.
Watch the video if you're curious. That was a bad sign.
I'm hoping Speight will improve. He has courage and other good qualities. The spring game didn't show much improvement. It just makes sense to have a quarterback who can deliver the ball on target.