How confident are you that QB and RT will be fixed in 2018

Honest question, no sarcasm:  What do you want to see from Harbaugh either during the year, or after the season?  Drevno and/or Hamilton and/or Jay demoted/fired?  Some other players given a shot?  Different formations (simplified) or approach?  Other than simply attaining success (which obviously would give anyone confidence that success is achievable), what, if any, steps could Harbaugh take over the next year that would give you any more confidence that success would come in the future?

The fact that we are 3 years in and other than the tail end of year one we have yet to see above average QB play does concern me. At some point we got Harbaugh just wait till next year and its all the offensive lines fault, starts ringing a little hollow.

Not even a little.

Runyan has to be In because he has done his job in there

It's a legit question and a question I'm pretty concerned about answering too. Or at least finding the answer. I just don't know what it is with Peters, and tbh I'm pretty damn frustrated we can't know why he hasn't seen the field yet. To say he isn't physically good enough is a crock of shit. We saw his abilities in the spring game and thought his summer time improvement would translate into the fall much like Speight's did in 2016. Maybe bc it's such a young cast around the qb , Harbaugh didn't want to throw another young guy out there, who apparently has his own leadership problems according to umbig11. That's my guess. Speight was supposed to hold down the fort and be that steady presence in an otherwise unsteady offense, in terms of experience at least. Well he's now hurt and didn't show those abilities while he was on there. Now we have a slightly better option playing with his own flaws that almost equal up to Speight's. Unfortunately it's been a cascading shitshow from a variety of factors starting with youth, then not up to par talent level at quarterback and running back, to Drevnos inability to teach blitz pickup, to pep Hamilton's obsession with fades and not properly using his berage of 6'6" tight ends. The big pieces left of the 2016 class better fill out and this 2017 class better show signs of hitting a homerun by next year if we want any chance of winning the conference next season.

uhhhhh how about LT... fuck.

I am very confident. This is the youngest team in the country. The right side of the line have started five fucking games together. Five. Our best WR is Perry, but there are reinforcments coming. Perry is a slot guy/situational guy, but now is the only guy really. Same with TE. The talent is showing, but still young players, who didn't get a ton of expierence because of Butt. 

When did Paul Finebaum (or as I like to call him Ol' Jug Ears) start posting on here?

Our D was gashed by IU and OSU. The outlook was pretty grim. Yet in 2016, we got a new DC, a new DB coach, and depth improved. Defense wasn't the problem in 2016 was it? The very same thing can happen on offense in 2018. However, the offense may just improve to above average or good instead of tops in the country. Lastly, look at the personel the coaches are bringing in on offense. Eventually, this will be an explosive, efficient offense.

Honestly the OL looks like it might be another 2-3 years before being "good", let alone dominant. I'm hoping QB will be better next year, speight should be healthy or maybe mcaffrey will be the truth

I knew there would be issues (different in some ways, but issues) before the season. So struggles aren't a concern, exactly. If you had asked me this Q preseason, I would have said 95% confident. Now I'm down to 55%, maybe. But: Speight is fixable. Peters may yet get it. McCaffrey could be the one we're waiting for. Good chance one of those three is at least pretty good next year. And they'll be throwing to receivers that are without exception better versions of what we have this season, a not-insignificant upgrade. So QB has a good chance of upgrading. Meanwhile, on the OL, there are some roster issues, but it's also true that Harbaugh has already begun to adjust to challenges, and another year of Frey with the same guys should result in real gains, especially since these are still young players we're talking about. Newsome is still an uncertain factor and we're looking at Ruiz coming in at center, but it's quite reasonable to expect Bredeson and Onwenu to make leaps and for whomever is at RT to step forward as well. A lot of little incremental improvements will go a long way here. Does there need to be some adjustment in coaching? Maybe, but only a fool thinks he knows what's going on in the room and can say with certainty what those changes should be. We know that in Drevno and Frey the coaching ability to upgrade the OL is there: Harbaugh must manage his staff to make that ability translate into players, and from there on to the field.

Why hasn't Bredeson been tried at OT?  He was recruited as one.  I am trying to understand why moving him outside and replacing him with Runyan (who has done well in limited snaps) isn't worth trying?  Any non-armchair experts on OT play who can explain why Bredeson isn't an option to play OT?

probably 30-35% better.

Look, we're never going to be Alabama, probably never be OSU either.  Michigan is not a hotbed of high school talent.  Ohio, the South and Texas are.  Southern kids prefer warm weather, hate snow and cold.  Most Ohio kids prefer Ohio and probably OSU.  It's an uphill climb and we're not even entering the $$ factor.

Hard to be dominant in this day and age when you follow the rules, honor scholarships as 4-year commitments, don't gray-shirt and don't entice recruits with the wrong things.  And oh yeah, girls look better to 19-20 yr olds in tank tops and shorts than winter coats and boots.

Michigan is highly unlikely to experience anything quite like this arrangement in 2018 along the OL. OL starts, practices and new recruits will fill up the depleted areas over time.

You probably forgot, but even Michigan's 2015 and 2016 tackle and center situation was a subpar patchwork creation of Tim Drevno that still somehow won 10 fucking games each.  Since 2015 Michigan has had a lot of bad luck with flame outs, injuries and graduations of players that otherwise should have redshirted under Hoke. Not the least of which are the devastating injury to Grant Newsome and the flame out of senior OT Juwan Bushell-Beatty.

Things will get better. Michigan has Jalen Mayfield and Ryan Hayes committed and will land more quality OL recruits before February.

As for quarterback, Harbaugh has a proven track record college and pro.   He inherited Speight, lost Morris and brought in O'Korn, who was explosive but also reckless down in Houston.  Harbaugh probably believed O'Korn would respond and grow.

Harbaugh has two of his own recruited QBs - Peters and McCaffrey onboard. Highly likely we see Peters under center in 2017.  Harbaugh then adds in big Joe Milton (4-star) in next year's class, plus probably one more.   2018's QB competition should be intense and offer a lot of possibilities, and that's a good thing for the offense.

 

 

We've all been expecting that the OL will get better "next year" for about ten years now. I just don't think we have the right architect to put together the offense JH wants to run. There seems to be too many fingers on the controls, unlike the defense where Brown is the clear-cut leader. Drevno needs to go. Ask Brown which OC he fears facing the most, and hire that guy. Wihtout drastic changes in the offensive coaching lkeadership, I'm not at all confident that we'll magically evolve into a good offense next year.

RT - between Steiger, Filiaga, Hudson and Ulizio (15 more LBs?), there should be a serviceable option. If Newsome is a no go, then it gets very dicey to find 2 Ts. QB - Give PEP and JH another year with Peters and McCaffrey, one of them will be good to very good. Just as important, the inside should be much better with a Bredeson-Ruiz-Onwenu/Runyan to pick up stunts and blitzes with simply more experience.

each game of this year as the season wears on, barring any injuries (knock on wood).

How much improvement? 30% or 35% more productivity?  Fact is, every single offensive lines in the Big Ten has huge flaws. I include Ohio State in that list too. 

The best Big Ten OL right now is Minnesota's in terms of sacks allowed and rushing offense productivity.

 

I am a proponent of throwing Peters into the fire as soon as it becomes evident that this team will not play in the B10 conference championsip game. We are now one conference loss away from being in that position.

Harbaugh hand-picked Peters. So I have I have to think that If BP gets enough reps in 2017, the QB position will be straightened out and stable by next season. Having Speight on the roster is also nice insurance to have but He is obviously not a long term answer given He'd be a 5th year senior. I'd love for us to have 3 good years of Peters as the starter but that is wishiful thinking and there are too many variables (O-Line, PT in 2017, coaching, HS evaluation or mis-evaluation as the case may be) that come into play. 

As for the O-Line, I am not at all confident that we can stratighten out the trenches in the immediate future. I'd be great if we could bring in a graduate transfer next year to help us transition. The OT's we've recruited in this 2018 class will need a year in the weight program at a minimum. Ekoyor is the only OL recruit who I think has a chance at playing but we are set at Guard. It's the tackles that is the problem and we are losing Mason Cole to graduation. 

competition and I hope Peters gets some meaningful snaps this season, just to see what he can do in a game situation. The 2018 oline will feature a (hopefully) healthy Newsome

Newsome Bredeson Ruiz Onwenu Steuber/Filiaga/Ulizio

I think Ruiz hasn't looked that good this season because he is playing out of position, but I hope he can make line calls.

Newsome should be at least serviceable.

Bredeson will be good/great.

Onwenu should be better than he is this season.

RT??? Has to be better right? RIGHT?

Let alone 2018.

Like we all knew, but refused to believe based on hype. We aren't as bad as we looked Saturday and we aren't as good as we looked in our minds before it.

Those who play will get better. Our offense hasn't looked this bad while Harbaugh's been here, so to me, this is clearly a youth, depth, and inexperience issue at key positions.

We don't need a guru, we have those, we need to have rationality.

may have the opportunity to grab the RT position next summer during camp? There will probably some improvement in the OL next season but we probably will not have a decent OL until 2019. QB will be fun to watch. I think McCaffrey will win over Peters and will be a good Henne like starter who will be able to throw accurate passes down field and have the escape ability in the pocket. Peters has good mechanics throwing but there are questions about his personality to become a good leader and he may need a better OL which we will not have until 2019. I really don't see Wilton in the mix. If he does come back he may become a good backup QB.

No confidence at all the OL gets better. Hasnt been good for years and shows no signs of improvement.

I don't think will be notably better. I thought that the coaching changes we had over the offseason were undewhelming and that has been reflected on the field. 

I'm worried about Indy and should not be. Just improve every week. Have not seen that yet on O. A pro Staff should be over overcome talent gaps a bit ... No? M.D. can.

Based on Greg Frey’s track record I gotta believe that the RT position will be better in 2018, but I also believe the quality of play can be improved this year by establishing a physical run game identity with some play actions, bootlegs, and the occasional deep shot when in favorable down and distance situations. The 2000 ravens and 2002 Bucs come to mind as teams we should mirror bc of our elite defense. Get the swagger back, our goals are still in front of us and we really have nothing to lose this year with such a young supporting cast.

I don’t have any confidence.

RT not at all.

QB, cautiously optimistic, peters and mcaffrey can't be worse than what we have now.