Amaznbluedoc

October 14th, 2017 at 4:46 PM ^

I'm wondering if it's time for his to take over the o?  Seriously, if JH doesn't edge Drevno and Pep out, I really don't know what to say.  The o is lacking fundamentals, pass/run blocking, etc.  They are seemingly unable to coach these kids and there has been little if any progression.

DJEasy12

October 14th, 2017 at 10:01 PM ^

Please tell me you're joking...

The O-line recruiting woes have been highlighted, documented, and, frankly, beaten to death already. Tl;dr: It was a mess when JH got here and it takes time and patience to fix. 

And are you actually suggesting that JH, a Pro Bowl NFL QB and an elite QB coach, is NOT telling and coaching these guys to go through progressions and get to checkdowns?! The fact that it isn't happening tells me the players just don't have the mental makeup to get it done. And, unfortunately, there are no viable alternatives. 

Finally, enough with "other schools have young QBs playing great!" line. It's a simplistic observation that offers no context or analysis. "Josh Jackson is GREAT!" the dude plays in a simplistic read-option offense where he looks at the sideline every fucking play to get the call and he only has 1-2 reads and just takes off. It looks great against the overmatched and gets waxed by anyone with a pulse. 

"Sam Darnold!!" Sam Darnold had a stud WR (Juju Smith), a stud RB (Ronald Jones) and a veteran O-Line last year. This year, he got Jones back, but the other pieces left and now he has been STRUGGLING all year (4:3 TD:Int Ratio).

"Jacob Fromm!!" I love this one! This guy has two elite, bellcow running backs and only throws ~20 passes a game for 100 - 150 ypg. 

In conclusion: When a young QB gets the start and plays well, there are usually elite RBs, WRs, and O-lines (or at least 2/3). Michigan does not have any of these things (though Higdon and the O-line were VERY good today). 

Michigan runs a complex, pro-style offense with multiple formations, reads, checks, and so forth. The reason they do this is because when this offense is executed properly, it is an absolute nightmare for college defenses to stop. But the drawback is that, yes, it takes a long time to install and learn. And JH clearly has made the decision to not simplify things any more than he already has. This is similar to Don Brown saying that he isn't just going to lay down and be in Quarters coverage because it's easy to learn; he'd rather die. And I agree with this sentiment. Crafting an overly simplified scheme that goes against what the coaches want is simply bolstering up short term gains that don't mean much (do you really think that approach is going to get us to the B1G Championship and National Title?) by sacrificing long term offensive development and stability. You want this young team to keep increasing their capabilities within Jim's offensive system. And that means yes, 2017 may in fact be a developmental year rather than a contending year. But this developmental year is setting up better years to come, and it will still be better than ANY Rich Rod year and better than 3/4 Hoke years. 

Seriously, this blog has turned into a fucking cesspool the last week with all these know-nothing, arm chair coaches acting like they're Bill Belichick. If you idiots want to live through 2008-2014 again, by all means, demand changes willy-nilly with no thought and a rudimentary understanding of the facts. Us sane people will understand that there are no easy fixes, and will continue deferring to a coach who has literally turned chicken shit into chicken salad EVERYWHERE he has gone. 

Michifornia

October 14th, 2017 at 4:47 PM ^

They were big commits and proving their worth probably a lot quicker than most expected. The swagger and confidence is only growing which is what you want from press corners. These kids are going to be All B1G!!  DEFENSE!!!!

GO BLUE!!

blueandmaizeballs

October 14th, 2017 at 5:10 PM ^

They are right about where they should be considering their recruiting profiles. I mean Bama OSU and others have true sophomore All Americans in secondaries. We at Michigan should now expect this if we get the highly regarded recruits. We have a great Defensive coaching staff which by the way is light years ahead of the offensive coaching staff.

rindyn

October 14th, 2017 at 11:00 PM ^

Still doesn't look like a natural corner tho. I look at guys like Watson, Furbush and McCray and I know they wouldn't sniff the field at places like OSU and Bama, yet I get to hear from the national media how Meyer and Saban are better coaches than Harby. Total bs. They have years of stocked talent and rarely ever play a guy that doesn't athletically look the part.