2014 Gardner = 2015 Rudock?

I honestly believe Gardner would have turned out to be a much better QB had he not had to run for his life on almost every down. He made poor decision after poor decision but had he had the protection he needed and the time in the pocket that Rudock usually has, I believe he wouldn't have made nearly as many mistakes as he did. The dude was shell shocked from being pummeled on a regular basis.

 

God I hope not or we're getting our ass kicked.

Numbers hardly ever tell the whole story. Perfect example here....

Rudocks line is obviously better when looking at the two. Plus, Rudock has been playing better as of late.

never had a run game nor a coherent offensive strategy to work with.  He was really failed by the coaching staff IMO. 

That being said, he still made some poor decisions with the ball at times.  I think under the right circumstances he could have been really good, but he never really was put into a position to succeed.

We saw glimpses of what he could be vs OSU that year.  I don't think Rudock will ever be that good.  But hopefully we'll never had to see Rudock play as poorly as Gardner did last year after he had been battered to bits either. 

So your saying that Harbaugh isn't a QB Savant?

I don't think the TD/INT projection for "Player B" will hold true. The trajectory of Rudock's season looks to be trending toward less interceptions. The 3 INT game in game 1 skews things a bit.

Admittedly, it is an interesting exercise to pose all these hypothetical "what if" scenarios. There are at least a couple more of these I'll throw out there . . . 

"What if" Rudock had had 5 years under Harbaugh? Where would he be now in terms of development?

"What if" Harbaugh had evaluated Gardner and Rudock against each other? Is it a foregone conclusion that Gardner would have won out?

I would contend that what makes Rudock so boring is also what makes him so valuable. He does an incredible job of reading the defense and taking what they give. More simply, Rudock is an excellent decision maker. Pejoratively, "game manager." You can blame Gardner's (lack of) development on the coaching, and his failures on the Offensive Line, but I'm not so sure those aren't just easy excuses. I loved Gardner, have no desire to diss him, but I really dislike Rudock being dissed as people moan "if only Gardner was the quarterback."

Edit:  and because Rudock takes what he is given, I won't be shocked if he burns MSU over the top with long passes.

Harbaugh Effect. And I think Gardner would have flourished under Coach Harbaugh.

I prefer to let any disappointment in Devin Gardner's performance as a football player be vastly outweighed by his performance as a human being.

He earned two degrees from the University of Michigan; always represented himself, his family, his team and his university with dignity; and if he's never remembered as a great football player, but enjoys a great career making valuable contributions to his community as a social worker, then that ought to be something worth remembering him for.

And if Jake Rudock never receives great accolades for his performance as a football player, but he graduates from the University of Michigan's Medical School and becomes a great pediatrician, then that will be worth remembering him for.

And maybe someday, at CS Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Dr. Jake Rudock's patients also will be helped by social worker Devin Gardner.

The run game and negative plays. When Jake gets sacked, it's probably a 6-7 yard loss max. When Devin got sacked he was the master of turning a 5-6 yard loss into 12-15 (I love him dearly too, just facts). 2nd & 16 can turn into 3rd & 8 which is a feasible conversion. Last year it'd be 2nd & 22, the team might get it to a 3rd & 15 and Dev with the defense with their ears pinned back had virtually no shot. Plus I imagine he fumbled much more as well.

I like the Brian Griese "game manager" comparison better because we had a lights out D with a star in the secondary. Big, sure handed, WRs. Multiple TEs and FBs used heavily in the offense, and a 2 back combo that got the job done on the ground. Plus the magical NC run!

2014 Gardner to 2015 Rudock is meaningless comparison IMO.  

Gardner clearly has more athletic ability, but becuase of the state of our program, he was unable to develop it as well as it perhaps could have been developed.  I will always admire him for his team play, and his loyalty.  1st class guy, and I wish him all the best in life.

Rudock has the benefit of better coaching this year, and a program on the rise.  I believe he is a better decision-maker than Gardner, and that is no knock on Gardner.  Many times, Gardner was running for his life the blocking was so bad.

We will find out more about Rudock on Saturday, because we are likely going to need him to make some intermediate to long completions in order to win.  Rudock has been doing the most important thing in football---WIN.  

We are lucky to have him, though I believe Morris has potential also.  Rudock has experience, a good head on his shoulders, and a leadership ability this team needed.  He was a man in the right place in the right time.  

The fact that their lines are statistically similar but the results are dramatically different so far leads to one and only one insightful conclusion -COACHING.

Besides that, I don't much want to compare numbers. They're two completely different QBs under dramatically different coaches. I don't know what the hell else we can say other than "damn I wish Gardner had had better coaching..."

I would rather compare Rudock to 1997 Brian Griese. What you have extrapolated for Rudock for a season is similar to Griese... We all know how the 1997 season ended. I refuse to recognize any other comparison.