The Case for Speight
I realize that the anti-Speight movement isn't as strong here as in other venues, but I still thought that this column was worth a read. He isn't perfect but last year was pretty good, and he was a big part of wins against Colorado, Penn State and Wisconsin.
https://www.michigandaily.com/section/football/kevin-santo-case-wilton-…
September 15th, 2017 at 4:09 AM ^
In retrospect, there were a number signs that Brady was a special player when he was at Michigan. But a lot of idiots couldn't see past Henson's 5 starzzzzz.
Thus far, Speight hasn't lost us any games. If anything, he's won us a few.
@ the "Speight sucks" crowd.
I hyperlinked the video. Go ahead and try to explain to mw how that well thrown ball which resulted in an interption is Speight's fault.
Was it Speight's fault that the reliable Darboh didn't hang on to a perfectly thrown ball which would've ended the Iowa game?
Btw, everyone wants to blame Speight for the pick 6 against Ohio State but I never see anyone mention that De'Veon Smith whiffed on a block in the endzone which allowed Raekwon McMillan to blitz untouched at Speight who felt the heat and was forced to get rid of the ball sooner than he wanted to.
And the anti-Speight morons won't bother to mention that Speight seems to have a knack for making the perfect pass when we absolutely have to have it.
Minnesota 2015 TD plus 2 point conversion.
Wisconins 2016 immediately comes to mind.
And there are exceedingly few better examples of clutch than converting a 4th and Goal from the 5 yard line in overtime of THE GAME while down 24-17 with a potential spot in the CFB Playoff hanging in the balance.
Speight isn't perfect. He isn't Sam Darnold. He isn't Deshaun Watson. He's not even Deshone Kizer (the QB Hoke passed on to take Speight). But Speight has some intangible things to him that can win us a National Championship.
For starters, his deep ball has been on point through 2 games this season. If we can cut down on the turnovers, we will be a complete team.
September 15th, 2017 at 4:15 AM ^
"Thus far, Speight hasn't lost us any games." 2016 OSU would like a word with you.
September 15th, 2017 at 4:18 AM ^
He made just as many plays to give us the lead (and tie the game in overtime) as he made mistakes. People focus on the mistakes but forget the positive plays.
No one talks about Speight leading us down the field on a long TD drive after the pick 6 to give us the lead before halftime.
If you want to be fair, talk about the good and the bad. Don't simply harp on the bad.
September 15th, 2017 at 11:58 AM ^
If you think a QB who makes as many plays as he makes mistakes is good then you're content with 3-5 losses per year. If a QB throws 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in the same game you can focus on the positive plays while ingnoring the picks all you want. But your starting QB must always make more good plays then poor plays.
September 15th, 2017 at 5:54 PM ^
If your QB has a 4:4 td/int output in any given game and that is literally the only data point you are looking at then you've almost certainly won the game with a score of possibly 24/0.
But that's not how football works because it's a team game. Even if your QB has 4td's and 4 pick sixes he's still just a wash at best. Then it comes down to your running game (ol and rb's) to score and your defense to stop the opposing teams.
Everyone says "well speight lost the game for us in 2016". Speight didn't fail to run in a touchdown, speight didn't fail to block a Dlineman, speight didn't give up touchdowns on defense. Speight made mistakes, big ones, but lots of other people made mistakes that would've otherwise won us the game too.
No one player costs or wins a game for you, no one bad call from a ref costs or wins a game from you. I'm all for bitching about the terrible reffing, but if our D doesn't give up a TD to ohio state, if the running game doesn't fail to get first downs, then we aren't even looking at 4th down in OT.
September 15th, 2017 at 4:28 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 7:49 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 8:18 AM ^
Did you not read what was written, or did your blind hate get in the way? Smith completely whiffed on McMillan in the end zone on the pick 6. The fumble wa sa mistake - fair to call it out. But do you also recognize the OT TD on 4th down? Or the TD drive after the pick 6? Or the fact that Speight was still injured, yet still the QB that gave us the best chance to win?
Didn't think so... Haters gonna hate.
September 15th, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
Smith doesn't whiff. He doesn't even attempt to block him because he'd already ran by McMillan before noticing him. That is terrible. Still this play should not be an interception however. The pressure came directly to Speights face and Smith was so far off it was obvious to Speight its soon to be 1 on 1. Speight vs McMillan. There is a full 6-7 yards between Speight and a guy coming directly at him. If this was a blindside hit and his arm is hit during the pass this is a different story. That is not the case. For a guy many claim has NFL pocket awareness it would of been nice on this play. Things to do when you see a unblocked blitzer coming at you 6 yards away...
1. Throw it away! For those who claim this would likely be intentional grounding, he could of literally spiked the ball right at eligible receiver Smith's feet in the endzone about 3 feet in front of him. Or he could of attempted to throw it away in the area of his other WRs. I am not sure on all their routes but this would have been more difficult, but still doable.
2. You see the pressure coming...make a move! Speight has a sneaky first step when he dodging sacks from his drop back. With a defender coming directly at your face this is not easy but Speight has done it multiple times before.
3. This is what most pocket passes do and what I think Speight was attemping. You know the route. Throw the ball where the route is supposed to end up before he breaks and before you get hit. When doing this it usually leads to an incomplete pass because of the guesitmation. However, Speight hesitated and didn't release the ball quick enough for this attempt.
4. Take a safety. Ignore number 4. Terrible life choice.
What happened that was not good on him...
He waited until the contact happened to throw the ball. Maybe he thought his drop was deep enough he could get away with it. Maybe he thought the blitzer was slower. I don't see a way that he did not see it coming when his facemake was pointing directly at a free blitzter from 6-7 yards away. When this is your decision you HAVE to step into your throw and take the hit. Speight stepped wide left with his front drive foot and twisted his body when releasing the ball to protect himself from the hit. This, even if his arm doesn't get hit, will decrease velocity and accuracy.
If he threw the ball a half second sooner and stepped into his throw this play has a much different outcome. Clearly Smith earned a big negative on this play but for those who act like this pick 6 was inevitable due to a missed block, get real. Not all QBs in this exact situation throw a pick 6.
September 15th, 2017 at 10:54 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 8:31 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 3:06 PM ^
September 16th, 2017 at 11:57 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 5:56 PM ^
And if the defense stops a TD or a RB breaks a tackle and scores a TD then it's not OT either.
September 15th, 2017 at 7:23 AM ^
...is a maddening game at times. It's one of the few sports where you can dominate an opponent 90% of the game, and still lose because of an odd, unlikely play or two. (Or worse, a poor play call or two by the zebras.) That's why most of us are on the edge of our seats until the fat lady sings.
Regarding Speight, I think he will settle in and be fine and quite serviceable. I also think he may still be internalizing about his injury last year and processing through that a bit. That may be causing him to hurry a few throws as well.
September 15th, 2017 at 8:39 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 9:48 AM ^
and at Ohio State, if a few things go our way, and not because of Speight who was in recovery mode from his performance at Iowa where again plays not made and passes not completed were an impact but not the reason for those losses.
Quarterbacks are always the trigger and the target for blame when things don't work out. But I certainly put winning ahead of anything else regardless of individual performance. It's a team game. Yes, Speight isn't the best qb in college football.
He is the best one Michigan has at the moment, and why is that, because everyone else who is available to challenge him and win the job has failed to take his job. If you trust the coaches to make other team decisions, then you ought to be able to trust the head coach in making this choice, because he's the one deciding that. And he has done nothing but elevate this program to rightful football pre-eminece since his much sought-after arrival. He does nothing but make players and his team better. All the evidence supports that, from the competitive nature and Michigan values instilled in his players as they perform for themselves and us each week to the team's steady climb in the rankings.
And he is the one addressing the very issues that the haters raise as reasons for replacing Speight even though the critics choice for replacement is an untested, inexperienced kid whom they haven't even seen play in a regular season game. Not that the kid won't be ready when when his name is called. Just not now.
And once you replace the starter with another guy, there is nowwhere to go with criticism about the position except to do damage to your team internally. Changing qbs should be done when warranted as in the Florida game, but not after last week's win over Cincinnati. Let's fix the mistakes and move on.
September 15th, 2017 at 7:46 AM ^
If you read my post as an attack on Speight then you need some thicker skin, you must be fun on political boards.
What does Tom Brady have to do with anything?
Yeah Speight makes some great ones along with some of his horrible ones, we call that being inconsistent. I'd trade a couple great plays for a couple awful ones.
I also notice you that you agreed with me, giving the other team points is really the only no-no rule that a decent QB has to live by.
You said "If we can cut down on the turnovers, we will be a complete team."
Isn't that EXACTLY what I said about no giving the other team points? Who's been the one involved in the turnovers so far this year? . . .
Get that fixed (& his footwork I'd say) and we can win a lot with Speight. Keep some of this sloppy shit up, and we'll be looking at that 3rd place trophy again.
September 15th, 2017 at 9:19 AM ^
I think we need to coin a new term here on MGoBlog that's analogous to Godwin's Law: "As an MGoBoard discussion about quarterbacks grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Tom Brady approaches."
September 15th, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^
So you just want to completly ignore the fact the ball was a little late and behind Chesson? The ball should have been 2-3 yards closer to the sideline thus assuring the DB has no play on the ball. This is a catchable ball. But clealy it was catchable for the defense too. His location forced Chesson to stop his route momentum and lean back to make a tough catch attempt instead of finishing his route. In regards to accuracy 2-3 yards behind a WR is not a small miss.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^
Really, 3 yards would have put it out of bounds. 1 yard to the right would have been great, 2 yards would have been hard, but catchable.
September 15th, 2017 at 6:01 PM ^
from UFR: Rather sums up the night, this. Chesson breaks open and has the first down and many yards of buffer upfield and outside. Speight throws the ball way too far inside and upfield.
September 16th, 2017 at 9:05 AM ^
September 16th, 2017 at 9:05 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 1:57 AM ^
get to throw behind NFL offensive lines to guys like Amari Cooper and Julio Jones. Their numbers are inflated (just like their RB numbers).
The reason we think those QBs weren't that good is because they've never sniffed a regular NFL job. Hard to tell how good they actually were.
But agree that regardless of how easy it was for McCarron in 2012, he at least didn't screw it up and had great numbers.
Coker's numbers were fairly mediocre for a P5 QB. His title was certainly a gift from the defense and running game. Correction: getting to the title game was a gift, he actually played great and mostly won them that game.
Slightly more accurate than Wilton was really the only difference. And we were literally inches away from being undefeated...sigh.
This defense probably isn't going to be quite as good as last years, so we'd need a good step forward for him (which he certainly hasn't taken yet).
September 15th, 2017 at 2:39 AM ^
"Bama QBs get to throw behind NFL offensive lines to guys like Amari Cooper and Julio Jones."
Indeed. Given that Michigan's offensive talent is not yet on that level, we need Speight to be even better, I would think. Or, at least, on par with those guys.
Thing is, I think he can.
Oddly, I'm coming to the conclusion that Speight isn't the "conservative" pick for Harbaugh. He's the ceiling guy. It seems backwards, since O'Korn and Peters appear to have better physical tools, but playing either of those guys requires Harbaugh to field a much more limited offense. Limited reads, limited playbook.
To do everything in the offense that Harbaugh/Drev/Pep want, they need the guy who knows the whole playbook. And that's Speight.
Reaching the ceiling requires making the right reads and executing the throws. He already makes the right reads; he is inconsistent with the throws. But only one guy can make the Harbaughffense hum, and that's Speight, if he can hit those throws consistently.
If.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:59 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 3:36 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 7:19 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 8:35 AM ^
Probably for the same reason that people thought there was some conspiracy to start Speight over O'Korn last year. (But O'Korn throws a prettier spiral, so he should start, some people here said.) That went away after O'Korn's performance in the Indiana game. Last year.
September 15th, 2017 at 8:49 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^
You win the "Poster with the Bunchiest Panties Award"
Your hyoperbole is getting very tiresome. Upward on this thread you claim that "people act like he's absolute garbage" and now people "think that Harbaugh is just flat out wrong."
Do they? Why don't you show us examples of these pitchfork carrying troglodytes?
Go ahaed, copy and past all these horrible attrack on poor Wilton . . .
Don't forget to list everyone in this thread that has insisted that Okorn and Peters should be starting . . .
Waiting.
I think most people in this thread and the 17 other Speight threads have ackmoledged a few things.
1. Speight is capable of some awesome playmaking.
2. The entire team makes mistakes that contribute to losses.
3. Speight has some very valuable QB skills (that are often praised.)
4. Speight has been selected by this coaching staff to start at QB and they are better judges of this than anyone on this board.
Since these are all pretty much accepted as fact, that leaves the gray (& not so gray) areas where Speight has had problems with his footwork, his throwing, his ball handling, etc. The reasons behind them and speculation of how soon (if at all) he'll be able to correct them.
Discussing these things doesn't make someone a hater, and you'd be taken a bit more seriously if you'd remember that before getting triggered.
September 15th, 2017 at 12:53 PM ^
I haven't heard people think there is a conspiracy. Who thinks this?
September 15th, 2017 at 8:28 AM ^
Knowing the playbook is not the same as executing the plays. O'Korn has no pocket presence - that has been proven everytime he enters a game. Every time! Without poise in the pocket, he'll never get through progressions or wait for routes downfield to develop. We're told Peters doesn't have huddle presence, that he just hasn't asserted himself as the leader. If the QB isn't the leader in the huddle, the offense will go nowhere.
Even with his known limitations, Speight seems the best value of the various tradeoffs. Why can't we just stop pining for someone else and live with what we have for the time being? There's no sense in anguishing over something we don't have.
September 15th, 2017 at 8:46 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 9:58 AM ^
I still think part of the playbook isn't being used, particularly all the quick passes; whether they be slants, WR screens, etc. Someone on the "quick passes" thread the other day said it was because Speight couldn't get the ball out fast enough and the D would thus have time to react and disrupt the play (straight from Drevno if I recall correctly). I think they can compensate for that in other ways, especially with the talent we have at WR now, but I still hold that it's hurting the offense by not being able to have those plays at their disposal.
September 15th, 2017 at 10:43 AM ^
I'll agree and add more. Michigan has huge receivers and even "huger" TE's that should be deadly in the red zone. If you go up high to Gentry or Wheatly or Bunting or even Black or DPJ, there isn't much a defender can do about it. I remember seeing Funchess catch a pass in the end zone with an OSU defensive back right there and exasperated because he was right there and still coudn't stop it. But with Speight, Michigan doesn't do this. Do they not trust any of those receivers/TEs to make the catch? Or do they not trust Speight to make the throw. Someone recently said that fades are basically out of the playbook with Speight at QB. I don't know if that's true, but it's unfortunate if it is.
September 15th, 2017 at 11:51 AM ^
is this really confusing? dude throws many balls on those fades that have a 0% chance of completion.
i'd stop calling them too.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:24 AM ^
Wilton doesn't start the rest of the year if he doesn't protect the ball. I'd imagine he's been carrying a football all week. If he was a RB... he wouldn't play this week period.
He is our best shot at this point. If other QBs were getting more snaps in practice there would be more buzz. There is no controversy.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:32 AM ^
Alabama fumbles - lost 2016 ==> Hurts 11-5. Thats not 2 per game but ... I'm wrong.
Always google before posting / spewing BS.
September 15th, 2017 at 3:01 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 8:57 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 8:10 AM ^
"It is also true that teams have won in college without transendent QBs. Alabama is an example."
Can we quit acting like Alabama title teams had poor QBs? They didn't win with scrubs.
Outside of Coker in 2015 - Alabama has had QBs BETTER than Speight for each of their title runs... and McCarron was basically an elite college QB the years they won titles.
2009: Greg McElroy - #17 QBR
2011: AJ McCarron - #8 QBR
2012: AJ McCarron - #3 QBR
2015: Jake Coker - #32 QBR
September 15th, 2017 at 9:04 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:16 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
"Why didn't you list Speight?"
Because I was pointing out that Alabama didn't win with garbage QBs....
They won with either good (McCarron) or average (McElroy & Coker) QBs.
Speight - like McElroy and Coker - is an average P5 QB.
You can win with an average P5 QB - but if you want to win NC's, you either need a really good QB... or everything else Alabama has.
September 15th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 11:00 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 12:23 PM ^
by calling him a sophomore in the post I responded to when in fact he was a RS sophomore who played an extra year of HS. The fact is Wilton is old for where he is. Which leads me to question whether or not his mechanics issues can be corrected.