Forget DR and DG; bring on Bellomy!

Submitted by artds on

Just kidding. But at times like these when we lose a game in part because we could only complete 30-40% of our passes (which seems to happen more and more these days), it does comfort me to know that we have a pure passer on the roster who could be a realistic option in 2012.

Russell Bellomy senior highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4om8v56FCw

 

615Wolverine

November 6th, 2011 at 11:20 AM ^

I think only playing time he gets is when Shane Morris is up 58-0 vs Minnesota. I like his hightlight video but hes at wrong spot wrong time. DR one more year, DG two years pending medical rs. Then Shane Morris will be RS sophmore

artds

November 6th, 2011 at 11:29 AM ^

Well Bellomy will be a 3rd year player by the time Shane Morris arrives in A2 as a true freshman. I'm aware of all the hype surrounding Shane, but it's not unrealistic to think that Bellomy could compete for the starting job in 2013 and win it out over DG and Morris that year. 

JohnnyBlue

November 6th, 2011 at 11:53 AM ^

i'm guessing this is more likely than people relize, West Coast passing schemes are more complicated then many relize, denard is only getting a limited sample of it now and struggling, while if needed i'm sure shane could start, I do think belomy may be a better option shanes freshmen year and maybe even sophmore year, if he was really the sleeper people made him out to be

kingrichardx

November 6th, 2011 at 1:45 PM ^

The last few years have gotten us all thinking that starting very young qb's is a good thing. We didn't choose that though. It was by necessity. 

Assuming that DG doesn't get his medical redshirt, we're actually set up to not have to deal with young qb brain farts for a while if Bellomy develops. When DG graduates it would be a choice of Bellomy entering his fourth year vs. Morris entering his second. I'd rather not have to force a young QB in there if we don't have to. If Bellomy is good than Morris only plays if he's really good. 

Best case scenario, he redshirts his freshman year, backs up Bellomy in year 2 and then takes over in year three. That way you get him starting for three years and he doesn't play until he and Borges are very familiar with each other. 

Bellomy being good enough to bridge the gap between DG and SM is by far the best case scenario IMO.

evenyoubrutus

November 6th, 2011 at 11:22 AM ^

I remember getting so frustrated with Lloyd because it seemed like he watered down his playbook against weaker competition and limited his players opportunities to make plays as a result. Here, it seems as though they do the opposite and shut down when they play tougher competition.

dieseljr32

November 6th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^

I don't know if they "shut down" when playing tougher competition but there seems to be a definite change in playcalling.  Sometime in the 2nd half when Borges dialed up what seemed to be like 3 straight deep go routes, I became frustrated because he should know Denard hasn't been able to hit a man downfield that far in...ever.

With that being said, they need to run Fitz more against tougher competition. 

Jasper

November 6th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^

AFAICS, Bellomy looks more like a RichRod recruit than a MANBALL artillery piece (as it might be put on the 'blog).

When I watched his highlights I saw really impressive wheels and questionable (at least at the high D-1 level) passing ability.

It's early. Physically he looks like a young kid who could develop considerably over a few years (legs way ahead of upper body ... you know the type). Still, I'd be surprised if he displaced DG.

icefins26

November 6th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^

The knock on Bellomy in high school was that he was a "tweeter" and ran a spread offense in high school - therefore he was likely ranked as a dual-threat/balanced QB as opposed to a pro-style QB. He has the size and arm to be more of a pocket QB. It will be fun to watch him progress.

NOLA Wolverine

November 6th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^

Why not? We've all but abolished Denard's runnning privaledges, and that's about the only reason to put him out there at QB. Get Fitz back and let's just run the Florida State freshman QB offense. Either that, or you know, continue the shotgun based package with Denard the whole game. 

MGoBeer

November 6th, 2011 at 11:29 AM ^

Ha, I jokingly said the same thing somewhere around the fifth overthrown deep ball.  I knew it wasn't right but it's so tough to watch those balls sail out of bounds. Here's hoping it gets better over the offseason. We all remember the ducks Denard threw up his freshman year

Sione's Flow

November 6th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^

I think Bellomy could push for the starting spot in the next two years.  He's got the ability and based on his attitude in interviews I've seen, I'm betting he takes coaching real well, so he may progress faster than most of us armchair QBs imagine.

EZ Bud

November 6th, 2011 at 11:43 AM ^

Not sure what you guys all watched last year, but Denard threw up ducks against all the upper-echelon B1G opponents. His marquee game (Notre Dame) this season is a game where he threw ducks that happened to be underthrown and our receivers made stellar catches. Maybe I'm still upset, maybe I'm a pessimist, but I see a kid who is gifted with his legs, but below average with his arm and footwork. Do yourself a favor and watch some video of Navarre, Henne, Brady, or Griese. When they planted their feet, you just knew there was a 15+ yard gain on the other end.

mgowill

November 6th, 2011 at 11:51 AM ^

Mitch McGary at QB or GTFO.

Seriously though I am looking for some improvement from the receivers and Denard when the get more familiar with the play book. Gardner gets 2 years to learn it and 1 or 2 years to execute it (pendin medical redshirt).

FingerMustache

November 6th, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^

he looks like a bit of a gunslinger. even a couple of those completed passes probably shouldnt have been thrown (3:26 is a glaring example). but overall that film is extremely impressive.

aside from the fact that he has a tendency to lift his back foot when he throws from the pocket, his footwork looks solid. i definitely like his ability to throw a tight and accurate ball while on the run. call me crazy, but he looks about as athletic as gardner (granted hes 1 inch shorter and 20 lbs lighter), and rivals lists his 40 time as 4.63, which is very impressive if true.

to me the kid seems like a gamer. i would not be at all suprised/disappointed if he pushed for snaps in 2012 and the starting job in 2013.

KC Wolve

November 6th, 2011 at 12:15 PM ^

After last night's game, I did think about a "what if" Tate was still around scenario.  I had pretty much forgotten about him.  Since they are taking the wheels off of Denard, Tate's passing and his ability/willingness to run and take the 5 yeards when the play breaks down would be nice to have around.  

Sgt.Rock

November 6th, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^

highlight tape I wonder why he wasn't more highly recruited/ But I think he orginally was a Purdue commit and they have had a decent history of top notch QB's.  If he develops, I see him getting PT at some point in his career.  Seems comfortable in the pocket or on the run. 

TSimpson77

November 6th, 2011 at 1:22 PM ^

Nice little joke, but seriously this is a team effort. From the coaches to the players if they can't get on the same page it's going to be a 8-4 year. But really what did we expect, 12-0? Our OL is banged up and that scares me against the rest of our schedule, Illinois DL is pretty darn good especially on the edges. IMO we should definately look into practicing outside if we aren't already, we had the same problem last season with the receivers dropping pass after pass and killing drives.

griesecheeks

November 6th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^

I've thought about this more than once. Just having that QB with sound throwing fundamentals to spell Denard here or there/ push him for the job.

 

I refuse to "blame" anyone in this situation, truthfully. Denard has earned the opportunity to start. I mean, the guy fucking threw for 2500, ran for almost 1800 last year. Borges is put in a bind much of the time because denard is a total loose cannon => that rare combination of extreme athleticism mixed with abominable fundamentals with a dash of the brain farts mixed in for good measure. Denard is, and is until proven otherwise, Denard. He will make his plays throughout the course of the game, but it's only a matter of time until the crippling mistake. Every time he puts the ball in the air, there are essentially equal chances of completion/incompletion and TD/INT. Rich Rodriguez made his name out of tinkering with athletic, quarterback-ish substance guys at the helm of his offense. That is what he does. I can not expect every OC that comes around to have that same skillset. All they can do is learn  and teach what they know. Complain about Borges all you want, but he's called plays that have gotten people open - just haven't hit (or even found) them. I'd love for Fitz's emergence to be a real thing, but I have doubts that our line is built to sustain the hope of a 25 carry, 125 yard back per game.

But hey, we're 7-2 with an insanely rootable group of guys, an actual-ish Defense (Mattison has been astounding given the scrapheap he inherited). Our offense has no identity beyond hoping for that elusive big-play td from Denard's feet or the jump ball. What we do know is that our best chance to win a game rests on #16. You can't take his production off the field.

We could lose out. We could win out. Let's just see what happens and try to keep in mind that this is year 1 in a transition to another direction, and largely, things are fine.

 

cjm

November 6th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^

I watched Russell play two years here in Arlington and know him well. He is a great learner and unbelievably hard worker and these two attributes will serve him (and us) well. He has proven hat by continually asking to lead the scout team and get more reps. He will be better than expected. Borges picked him for a reason.

Taps

November 6th, 2011 at 4:01 PM ^

During the worst of yesterday I found myself thinking: "if Bellomy can't pass better than this, it may be time to place him in the Vlad Emilien/J.T. Turner category of if we haven't seen 'em yet, this is a real bad sign."

NoMoPincherBug

November 6th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^

Bellomy has monster athletic ability and throws accurately.  He is also a very very smart kid and a competitor.

He is the type of QB that youd see go to a place like Texas Tech and just light up the college football world in a spread system.

I do think he could be a huge factor and push Devin hard next year, if given a chance.

Save me the Shane Morris hype BTW...the kid may be good, maybe great... but Im old enough to remember Drew Henson, who was not ready to play at Michigan until his Jr. year.

Bellomy can easily play at Michigan, if he is given a true opportunity.