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 1:14 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 2:18 PM ^
The 2009 NC year was McElroy's 1st year as a starter. He was a RS Junior. He had played in 8 games and thrown 20 passes.
The 2011 NC year was McCarron's 1st year as a starter. He was a RS sophomore. He had played in 13 games and thrown 48 passes.
2016 was Wilton Speight's 1st year as a starter. He was a RS sophomore. He had played in 5 games and thrown 25 passes.
I'm not sure how that is, to any appreciable degree, "younger than those QBs in terms of time playing college football".
September 15th, 2017 at 8:10 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 9:55 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:35 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 8:12 AM ^
2012 AJ McCarron: 211-314 67.2% 2933 yards 9.3 Y/A 30 TD 3 INT
2016 Wilton Speight: 204-331 61.6% 2538 yards 7.7 Y/A 18 TD 7 INT
I don't think it's an outrageous idea that Speight could improve modestly to a level similar to those two Bama QBs.
Ummm... that would be a lot more than "modest" improvement. Getting to 2012 McElroy levels would be HUGE improvement.
September 15th, 2017 at 8:30 AM ^
The latest example of a terrible QB winning a Super Bowl behind an amazing defense was the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning.
September 15th, 2017 at 8:58 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 9:09 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 9:34 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 9:03 AM ^
Is the absolute exception, not the rule. Trent Diler's defense was historically good.
Unless your name is Alabama, you need your QB to be pretty damn good.
September 15th, 2017 at 9:12 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^
A historically elite program.
You can try and argue this all day. There are rare cases when you can get by with an adequate QB. Ultimately, the guy needs to be good.
September 15th, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:34 AM ^
Use some sentence spacing, period, commas, etc.
And by the way, do not sell Bama's championship QBs short. McCarron was an absolute beast, and Jake Coker was pretty damn good too.
September 15th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
Downvote for use of, "Natty."
September 15th, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
Exactly. Add Doug Williams to that list.
And Griese at QB won us a NC. Just play average - do not F up, and let the defense and stars around you win the game.
September 15th, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^
September 14th, 2017 at 11:08 PM ^
He will get better as the season progresses. He'll make some more head scratching plays this season but for the most part he'll do fine.
September 15th, 2017 at 9:35 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 9:55 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:19 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:24 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:43 AM ^
Here is Speight's chart from the UFR:
His DSR scores have been a bit lower than his 2016 average. But he hasn't recorded a single bad read in 2017 and he's had 4 DOs in both games. The entire "regression" seems to be accounted for in his accuracay numbers, were in 2016 he averaged 3.8 INs per game and this season he's averaging 5 (through two games). That's a pretty miniscule difference. And that's with inferior pass protection and all new receivers.
In other words, if Speight makes about 1.2 fewer inaccurate throws per game, he'll be no less inaccurate than 2016--if he makes two or three fewer inaccurate throws per game, he'll have gotten better (to say nothing of his improved reads).
Speigh obviously hasn't hit his stride yet for 2016 and needs to take better care of the ball on handoffs. But to me, when you say a player has "regressed," that means he's actually gotten worse. I don't think there is much of an argument for that.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:02 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 2:18 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^
September 14th, 2017 at 11:12 PM ^
Hand off to Ty Isaac and the other RB's, and don't turn the ball over. Harbaugh's offense will always be a pro style, run first, we don't need Speight to be Jake Rudock, we just need him to be reliable and error-free.
September 15th, 2017 at 12:33 AM ^
We actually do need him to be Jake Rudock, unless you like 3rd place for the 3rd year in a row.
Game managing is not fumbling near your goal line, throwing pick 6s and being too inconsistent with his accuracy.
I think Speight will improve,
but the current level of play is still shy of "win the B10 with a Game Manager QB" level.
September 15th, 2017 at 12:39 AM ^
Game managing is the opposite of fumbling near the goal-line and throwing pick 6s. The whole point of a "game manager" QB paradigm is to field a guy who makes good decisions and avoids mistakes, occasionally making an important play, allowing the team's superiority in other areas to win the game.
A game manager performance in Columbus puts Michigan in the B1G title game. I'm not a Sph8r. I like him and I like what he brings to the table and I believe he'll improve, but what he is right now is a mistake-prone playmaker.
September 15th, 2017 at 6:53 AM ^
September 14th, 2017 at 11:16 PM ^
His miscues come from readily correctable technique issues, things that can (will?!) be fixed in relatively short order.
His strengths -- understanding what he surveys across the line of scrimmage, his command of offensive alternatives to be deployed in response to pre-snap defensive adjustments, and his coolness under pocket pressure are advantages not easily developed in quarterbacks who lack them at the start of a season.
Keep him in there and hope/expect his miscues diminish. He will win some games for us.
September 14th, 2017 at 11:16 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 1:02 PM ^
September 14th, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^
September 14th, 2017 at 11:21 PM ^
That's not on him though. Defense had a real tough 1st half, especially first 5-7 minutes, if I'm remembering correctly.
September 15th, 2017 at 4:33 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 9:40 AM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 1:03 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 10:18 AM ^
You might want to go back and read the UFR from that game... you may not be remembering it correctly.
Oddly however, Brian even called out how much better Speight was when facing some pressure and having to move around; he became much more accurate passing the ball. Seems like the opposite of this year, when apparently we can only expect him to complete a pass when the offensive line keeps everyone at least 5 yards away from him. Is some of this mental? Does he have some kind of PTSD from the injury last year?
September 14th, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^
September 14th, 2017 at 11:49 PM ^
down the middle, left or right. Just not high over the heads of our tall, athletic receivers into the arms of the other teams safety.
My bet is Speight will be fine.
September 15th, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^
September 14th, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^
can't even believe how much conversation has been generated already.
September 15th, 2017 at 7:36 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 2:08 AM ^
Some people have stated "if" he goes pro etc... I'm thinking, does next year he still win the job or does he get faded out?