Denard: Quarterback 2.0

Dude can make plays.  These next two weeks he'll need some rest BUT he still needs time to polish his deep pass and correct some reads.  I hope he only gets 6-8 carries but stays in the game so he can be sharp for Big Ten play.  The o-line better make sure he can stay in the game and not get touched once.  Denard is trying to turn this whole shit storm around by himself.  Hold em' if you got to boys!!!

The article basically says that we've never seen his type behind center.  For real. 

Great article. i love the fact that we've got the coach willing to pioneer this scheme. Give RR an honorary PhD in football. Also: Shoelace!

I am wondering if RR and Michigan will become a coach and school where "NFL QB's need not apply."  The major benefit of this is that if RR adds "elite athlete at QB" to his "Godfather of the..." title, Michigan will be a "destinitaion school" for dual-threat, extremely fast QB's. 

Also, if RR's choice of Denard evolves and influences the game yet again, and as many coaches copy him in that respect as have copied his spread option, the NFL is going to have to either change or look for a new "farm system" for QB's like Ryan Mallett.  Speaking of Mallett, wouldn't it be delicious irony if Denard somehow did get the Heisman this year, beating out Mallett?

This jumped out at me:

The key to all of this is his dramatic improvement as a passer.  Two games in, he is completing 69 percent of his throws for 430 yards and has yet to throw an interception in 62 attempts.  This is not a matter of a running quarterback hitting a few passes to keep the defenses honest–his arm actually complements his running and is a threat unto itself.

And it did so because, as I was driving to the sports bar on Saturday to watch the game, I was forced to listen to the ND radio pre-game with Don Criqui and Allen Pinkett (because I live in Chicagoland and can't really get much of the U-M radio network).  During the five minutes that I was listening, Pinkett said that Denard is a running back trying to play QB.  I noted the quote on the spot, thinking that Pinkett was more interested in thumping his ND chest and disrespecting the opponent than offering an enlightened analysis of what's really happening on the field.

I'd be interested to hear if he reiterated that opinion during the post-game show.

From the article...

"What we are seeing is evidence of what can happen when you take a truly elite athlete and put him at the quarterback position in the spread offense and let him touch the ball on every down.  We’ve never seen a quarterback do something quite like this before because it’s never really been tried. " 

Does Michael Vick not qualify as a truly elite athlete at the quarterback position in the spread offense? He played exclusively out of the shotgun at VA Tech. 

There have been elite athletes at the QB in college position since football existed.

That’s because both Tebow and Young possessed skill sets that 10 or 15 years ago would have been applied toward other positions.

Like when Mike Vick was playing or when Tommy Frazier was playing, Antwan Randall-El, Eric Crouch, Tony Rice, Charlie Ward, Kordell Stewart etc., 

It does seem that the read-run option is better suited to show off both the QB as both a runner and passer.

Shoelace already has a PhD in "making defenders look foolish"