Is Harbaugh's khaki's getting hot now??

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

There have been a ton of RS Freshman/Freshman to start in the last 4 seasons or so. Manziel, Winston, Barrett, Kizer, Hurts, Darnold, Browning, Rosen, Watson, Francois, Lamar Jackson, Josh Jackson, Daniel Jones, Hornibrook, Herbert, Frohm, Bentley to name a few. Playing early happens a lot these days.

Sure, there have been plenty of examples -- there have also been plenty of examples of guys who weren't ready yet. You also have to evaluate the teams those kids were on. If we had to start a redshirt Freshman on last year's Michigan team -- fine. We had a senior line, with senior receivers and a senior RB. It's totally different this year.

 

[ericd7633]

Sure, there have been plenty of examples -- there have also been plenty of examples of guys who weren't ready yet. You also have to evaluate the teams those kids were on. If we had to start a redshirt Freshman on last year's Michigan team -- fine. We had a senior line, with senior receivers and a senior RB. It's totally different this year.

That's why you play them against the likes of Air Force, Cincy, Rutgers etc. to gain some confidence. Speight is very average and O'Korn has really never been good. The fact that a Houston cast away is starting for Michigan is pretty glaring.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

That's why you play them against the likes of Air Force, Cincy, Rutgers etc. to gain some confidence. Speight is very average and O'Korn has really never been good. The fact that a Houston cast away is starting for Michigan is pretty glaring.

I'm not saying it's good -- but sometimes QB recruits are rated well because of their athletic abilities, and not because of their immediate starting potential. And you know what, sometimes recruits just don't work out. How many 4 and 5 star recruits, or RB and QB recruits specifically, never pan out? Maybe Peters is just a bust and we're waiting on McCaffery to be ready.

 

[ericd7633]

I'm not saying it's good -- but sometimes QB recruits are rated well because of their athletic abilities, and not because of their immediate starting potential. And you know what, sometimes recruits just don't work out. How many 4 and 5 star recruits, or RB and QB recruits specifically, never pan out? Maybe Peters is just a bust and we're waiting on McCaffery to be ready.

Oh yeah I get that there are busts, but we usually find out they are because of them actually playing. It is interesting that the high level recruits on offense have produced so little. I expected DPJ to have much more impact this season.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Oh yeah I get that there are busts, but we usually find out they are because of them actually playing. It is interesting that the high level recruits on offense have produced so little. I expected DPJ to have much more impact this season.

I don't know, I could be wrong -- but I rarely hear about the top WR's in a class getting to campus and making immediate impacts. It seems that position takes a lot to figure out in college. In HS, they were just the best athlete and could blow past people. But DPJ was behind Black this year until Black broke his leg. And I think that has to do with his route running and ability to get free of his cover guy.

The ultimate point being -- we're extremely young on offense and a lot of guys are trying to figure things out. There's no one that would bail out a RS freshman QB.

 

[ericd7633]

I don't know, I could be wrong -- but I rarely hear about the top WR's in a class getting to campus and making immediate impacts. It seems that position takes a lot to figure out in college. In HS, they were just the best athlete and could blow past people. But DPJ was behind Black this year until Black broke his leg. And I think that has to do with his route running and ability to get free of his cover guy.

The ultimate point being -- we're extremely young on offense and a lot of guys are trying to figure things out. There's no one that would bail out a RS freshman QB.

I just figured he'd make more an impact given how highly recruited he was. He's only got 3 catches on the season.

 

[belcherboy]

Everyone was predicting an 8 win season for us, I predicted a 10 win season....so losing 3 games wouldn't be that far off.

I still don't think our QB's are as bad as this offense makes them look. If they don't think Peters is ready, then so be it. I won't be really worried about it until next season. Again, our running backs are iffy, our WR's can't get open and drop passes and our line allows instant pressure so our QB's are running for their lives. There's no reason to rush a redshirt freshman into that mess. If Peters isn't our starter next year, then it's safe to label it a problem. Again, you don't want to ruin a QB just because you want to see something different. He's only been in the system for a year.

I understand your concern about throwing Peters in, but again, I don't think this offensive line would break him...if he is going to be a great QB. You are right though, I need to trust the coaches more on this. I'd just would have liked to have seen a decent QB from Harbaugh sometime in his first three seasons at Michigan. He really has only had two good recruiting classes at Michigan, and Michigan had two poor recruiting classes before that. So it is hard to expect a well balanced team from him yet. I'd just feel A LOT better if I could see a decent QB somewhere in the system (at least one with a lot of potential)

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

I understand your concern about throwing Peters in, but again, I don't think this offensive line would break him...if he is going to be a great QB. You are right though, I need to trust the coaches more on this. I'd just would have liked to have seen a decent QB from Harbaugh sometime in his first three seasons at Michigan. He really has only had two good recruiting classes at Michigan, and Michigan had two poor recruiting classes before that. So it is hard to expect a well balanced team from him yet. I'd just feel A LOT better if I could see a decent QB somewhere in the system (at least one with a lot of potential)

Again, to interject, Harbaugh took an Iowa reject and turned him into one of the most efficient QB's in the B10 and is currently on an NFL roster. That was year one.

 

[belcherboy]

Again, to interject, Harbaugh took an Iowa reject and turned him into one of the most efficient QB's in the B10 and is currently on an NFL roster. That was year one.

True, but he didn't develop that QB in one season. He surrounded him with a bunch of Hoke's guys. Not to say Harbaugh didn't enhance him, but if he can take a "Iowa reject" and turn him into an NFL QB in one season, why can't he do the same for a guy with MUCH more potential (at least on paper) that is sitting on his bench right now?

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

True, but he didn't develop that QB in one season. He surrounded him with a bunch of Hoke's guys. Not to say Harbaugh didn't enhance him, but if he can take a "Iowa reject" and turn him into an NFL QB, why can't he do the same for a guy with MUCH more potential (at least on paper) that is sitting on his bench right now?

Don't know. I don't think we can know that answer. It could be so many things, including the actions of the individual player. Maybe he just doesn't show up to practices or is always late? Maybe he refuses to learn the playbook to the extent he needs to? It's so hard to know. I'm not worried about finding a QB in the future. With Peters and McCaffery it's going to get better in the very near future.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

It should also be pointed out that last year, PSU went and lost to Pitt and then got blown out by Michigan -- only to go on and win the B10. I'm not saying we're going to have some miraculous turnaround and win the B10 but crazier things have happened. Michigan's offense might just be OK by the end of the year.

 

[umichgradfan]

Imagine how far he'd have taken them if he was actually focused on basketball instead of letting President Trump live in his head rent free 24/7.

Same problem w Harbaugh. Focused on the wrong stuff.

Well, then, let's just award the game to Ohio State and forget about playing the game.

 

[7Samurai13]

Again, to interject, Harbaugh took an Iowa reject and turned him into one of the most efficient QB's in the B10 and is currently on an NFL roster. That was year one.

Could it be that he surrounded a decent QB with a bunch of talent and he looked a hell of a lot better and just needed a little tweak. Hard to say he developed a guy with only one year. So far Harbaugh has only shown he can develop Andrew Luck, how mich of that was Luck and how much of it was Harbaugh?

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Could it be that he surrounded a decent QB with a bunch of talent and he looked a hell of a lot better and just needed a little tweak. Hard to say he developed a guy with only one year. So far Harbaugh has only shown he can develop Andrew Luck, how mich of that was Luck and how much of it was Harbaugh?

Iowa benched him. If he was just a grad transfer like Wilson to Wisconsin, then it might be a different argument. Iowa benched him for sucking.

 

[RobBase]

Well, then, let's just award the game to Ohio State and forget about playing the game.

Still gotta play the game. But MI will lose.

 

[7Samurai13]

Iowa benched him. If he was just a grad transfer like Wilson to Wisconsin, then it might be a different argument. Iowa benched him for sucking.

But he was an average quarterback for Iowa. You told us many times before that season that he was an average quarterback and wasn't that bad.

 

[belcherboy]

Don't know. I don't think we can know that answer. It could be so many things, including the actions of the individual player. Maybe he just doesn't show up to practices or is always late? Maybe he refuses to learn the playbook to the extent he needs to? It's so hard to know. I'm not worried about finding a QB in the future. With Peters and McCaffery it's going to get better in the very near future.

I'd feel a lot better about it if guy's like Speight and O'Korn weren't considered better options at QB right now. Especially after how poorly this offense has played this year. I sure do hope Harbaugh is simply protecting them.

I'm still optimistic, but my pessimism is growing with every snap!

 

[umichgradfan]

Still gotta play the game. But MI will lose.

I'm not so sure.

 

[belcherboy]

I'm not so sure.

I agree! It is a rivalry game and anything can happen.

I'm more worried about Michigan @ Penn St and @ Wisconsin. Regardless, this offense needs to get remarkably better, or they will lose all three games. The defense can only do so much.

 

[trojanfan12]

Something is wrong with Harbaugh he seems to leave a bad taste eventually where ever he goes.

I guess he just wears people out after a while. Some guys are like that.

I heard an interview with his brother John Harbaugh where he said that, growing up, they always seem to be moving right about the time Jim lost his last friend.

In the NBA, Phil Jackson is the same way, great coach, but things always seem to end badly with him.