So, About Shea Patterson
LaQuon Treadwell rebate, come on down? [Bryan Fuller]
Yo. Bolded alter-ego. Get in here.
what
So here's this:
Multiple well-placed sources have confirmed to the Ole Miss Spirit today that quarterback Shea Patterson has been granted permission by Ole Miss to talk to other programs about potentially transferring. Patterson and Ole Miss executed what is termed a "permission to contact" form on Friday, according to those sources. ...
Well-placed sources also told the Ole Miss Spirit that Michigan is probably the favorite to land Patterson, if he does execute a transfer from Ole Miss.
FWIW, Patterson's release bars him from SEC schools and other teams on Ole Miss's schedule the next two years.
What?!
Yeah.
I have questions.
Shoot.
I thought Patterson wasn't immediately eligible?
By the letter of the law he's not. The NCAA automatically grants a free transfer to anyone whose eligibility expires before a post-season ban does, but since Ole Miss just got one extra year only their rising seniors are 100% free and clear to leave. Patterson is going to be a junior.
However, it would make zero sense for Patterson to transfer to Michigan if he did have to sit out a year. If Patterson isn't immediately eligible he'd enter 2019 as a redshirt junior at a school with an entrenched starter who's either in the same class (Peters) or younger (McCaffrey). Therefore we have to assume there's a path to immediate eligibility in the world where Patterson does come to Michigan. This section of the NCAA rulebook that comes immediately before the "if your eligibility is covered by a post-season ban you can transfer free" section might be it:
14.8.2.1 Residence Requirement. The one-year residence requirement for student-athletes may be waived under the following conditions or circumstances: (Revised: 7/24/12) ...
For a student-athlete who transfers to a member institution after loss of eligibility due to a violation of the regulation prohibiting pay for participation in intercollegiate athletics (see Bylaw 12.1.4) or a violation of recruiting regulations (see Bylaw 13.01.1), or for a student-athlete who transfers to a Division I institution after loss of eligibility due to involvement in a violation of the freshman or transfer eligibility requirements for financial aid, practice and competition set forth in Bylaws 14.3.1, 14.5.4 and 14.5.5. The Management Council may waive these requirements only upon a determination of the innocence or inadvertent involvement of the student-athlete in the violation.
I'm not sure what a "loss of eligibility" means in this context. It seems clear that this section is designed to let players leave after specific sorts of NCAA violations, as long as they're innocent of them personally. FWIW, in 2003 all Baylor basketball players were eligible to leave immediately after the Bliss scandal. That's... uh... maybe a sui generis kind of thing, but the NCAA only banned Baylor from the postseason for one year.
In this specific case, Ole Miss's desperate attempt to keep the program together might backfire on them. Safety Deontay Anderson sat this year out and is now petitioning for immediate eligibility—he's even using Houston Nutt's lawyer!—because Ole Miss lied to him about the investigation:
According to Mars, Anderson claims that both Freeze and Bjork indicated that the NCAA investigation would not have a negative impact on the football program and that the bulk of the alleged violations pre-dated Freeze’s arrival, which was proven to be false. Those statements were allegedly made both in a group setting during Anderson’s recruiting visit on Jan. 29-31, 2016, and in private meetings with Freeze, including one instance where his father Michael Anderson implored Freeze to tell the truth about the severity of the allegations and potential penalties.
Ole Miss did not publicly release its first Notice of Allegations until May of that year.
According to Mars, Anderson submitted to the NCAA that he would not have signed with Ole Miss had those statements not been made.
“...in that individual meeting with Coach Freeze on Jan. 31 Mr. Anderson very emphatically asked to just tell the truth about the nature of the allegations and what the implications could be.
“Mrs. Anderson vividly remembers that, and so does Deontay and it underscores how important it was to all these student-athletes and their parents to get a full understanding of what the situation was and it underscores how unconscionable it was for them to be told anything less than the truth.”
If—when?—Anderson gets that waiver that should open the floodgates for the entire 2016 class. If Michigan gets Shea Patterson because Hugh Freeze was lying to everyone and people, including purported journalists, believed him, you will hear the deep rumble of my evil mastermind laugh from sea to shining sea.
Uh... is Patterson going to be eligible? I mean, #1 QB in the class of 2016 decides on Ole Miss?
Patterson wasn't implicated in any of the violations. And Ole Miss hired Patterson's brother Sean immediately after Patterson committed. That, rather than some money to keep mom's lights on, was likely the impetus to go play for Hugh Freeze. These days high-end QB recruits are often from affluent families that can afford the camp-trotting and intensive coaching; the Pattersons were probably focused more on the pot of NFL gold at the end of the rainbow than anything up front.
FWIW, like Devin Bush Sr., Sean is a legitimate football coach. He had analyst/QC roles at LSU and Arizona before his move to Ole Miss, and was a three-year starter at Duquesne prior to that. I'd bet a dollar that if Patterson transfers Sean will come along in a similar non-coaching role.
And you're fine with this?
I think players should be paid. I also think people should follow the rules laid out for them, and advocate to change them if they feel the rules are wrong instead of seeking personal advantage by breaking them under the table.
But what about Peters... and McCaffrey?
The major downside of taking Patterson is what it might do to Michigan's already desperately thin collection of QBs not currently in high school. Brandon Peters had a promising start to his career, and might take badly to Harbaugh importing a guy just when the depth chart opened up for him. While Patterson's a big fish, losing Peters would be a blow. I'm not sure maybe one year of Patterson backed up by McCaffrey is preferable to certainly two and maybe three years of Peters.
Any transfer in would be a delicate situation. Michigan's best approach might be emphasizing that Patterson wants to be a one and done; if that's the case than Peters's situation is basically identical to what it was with Speight around: competing for the job and maybe getting blocked for one more year.
McCaffrey's extra year means Patterson won't be as threatening to him; don't think it would impact him much.
Any other dudes we could pirate away? Especially tackle-shaped dudes? Please tell me there's a tackle-shaped dude.
The big fish is of course Greg Little, the former five star who was PFF's third-highest-graded SEC OT as a true sophomore. Little has given no public indication that he's on his way out, has no connection to Michigan, and doesn't have a brother in coaching that helps explain why on Earth he'd go to Oxford. He is in that 2016 class that might be set free, though, and if dude is thinking about heading to the NFL after 2018... I mean. It could happen! Shut up.
We've received some intel that Michigan is interested in one of Ole Miss's wide receivers. Sophomore AJ Brown, PFF's top-rated SEC WR, led the conference with 75 catches for 1200 yards this year and is also in that 2016 class; junior DaMarkus Lodge caught 41 balls for 700 yards and is definitely free and clear to transfer as a rising senior. We think it's Brown but aren't clear on that. (Correction: we think it's Van Jefferson.) While Michigan has a lot of upcoming talent at WR they have maybe one established outside WR in Donovan Peoples-Jones and could not turn up their nose at Brown.
Michigan has no other spots of glaring need and doesn't have a lot of room to play with—this recruiting class is going to be smallish—so it's unlikely they go after anyone who doesn't directly address QB, WR, or OT.
Is this actually happening? These things get talked about all the time and they never ever happen.
This one looks like it's actually happening. Patterson and the WR in question are tentatively scheduled to be on campus this weekend. That's much farther than these rumors usually get.
December 4th, 2017 at 3:45 PM ^
Patterson isn't transferring anywhere to stand on the sidelines holding a clipboard—he's going to be solely interested in being a starter, and nobody knows if he's going to be happy if he's second or third on the depth chart. The last thing we need is anything approaching cancerous dissention in the locker room.
December 4th, 2017 at 8:27 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 9:11 AM ^
They rallied to the best QB because they want to win. They saw JOK and Peters in practice every day. Who would you rally around?. It's about time coach, know we have a chance to win.
They will rally around Shea Patterson just fine, especially the receiving corp. Seam routes to TE's seem to be almost automatic. Can someone say Mckeon and Gentry real loud. Total mismatches.
Of course people are right in questioning how Peters will handle this, but he does not see delayed blitzes real well and if he gets dinged you are know playing McCaffery. Nobody knows if he is ready to play and you would have true freshman as backup know.
If Patterson does come to Michigan and can play right away, I think Harbaugh finds a way to get both QB's playing time. Harbaugh can get both guys into the NFL and I am sure that is what both guys want, along with playing on a championship team. Also Patterson could get injured also as he has allready lost time. Enter Brandon Peters. It will all work out and Michigan snatching up Patterson is a no brainer.
We go from one good QB with no experience last year, to two good QB's with experience this year. I don't think anymore needs to be said.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:50 PM ^
Saw this after I posed my reply to your original.. as for why? Just look at this year. We lose Speight, the back-up O'Korn wasn't very good leading us to start a maybe not quite ready RS Freshman. QB depth is huge and if all this does is add another quality player that can provide depth and help raise the level of competition I'm all for it..
Like Brian said, if Speight doesn't go down and ends up returning Peters is the back-up in 2018 anyway. So yeah, we run the risk of Peters being pissed and transferring, in which case we're in the same boat (starting QB and a super young back-up) as we are if Patterson doens't come, or Peters stays and Patterson comes and we have depth. Ask OSU how important their back-up and 3rd string QB are.
Regardless, I'm not so sure why everyone thinks Patterson will automatically be the starter IF he does in fact come and is eligible right away. Yes, recruiting stars.. but watching his tape he looks like Trace McSorely 2.0 to me. Athletic as heck but not exactly an NFL passer. Peters has a major leg up in this system, my money would be on Peters winning the job regardless.
December 4th, 2017 at 3:44 PM ^
Speight this year, anyway. Certainly not a given.
December 4th, 2017 at 3:51 PM ^
I agree completely. By fall camp, Peters will have 2+ years in the system and several starts. If Patterson is more physically gifted it isn't by much, and while Patterson has more playing experience it is with a different team in a different conference running a different style of offense. So I think Peters would have to be the favorite in a head-to-head competition for the starting job.
December 5th, 2017 at 8:58 PM ^
I wouldn't say "same boat", as Patterson would be here for a year. Peters could be here three more years. That's a big thing.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:02 PM ^
Because two weeks ago, we didn't know if the presumptive starter for next year would be Speight or Peters and even then, we were looking at only OK quarterback depth. Then we lost Speight to transfer so this would only bring back an equivalent situation. Not a bad idea to make the QB situation look at least as it did 2 weeks ago.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
Timing and opportunity.
It's kind of like being at a job that you really like, and out of nowhere comes this offer to do something that you've always wanted to do for a better salary. Sure, you can stand pat, but it may be too good to pass up.
Timing and opportunity.....
December 4th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^
Rudock had already proven himself as a QB in his junior year at Iowa where he had a 133.5 rating with 16 TDs and 5 INTs (vs. his senior year at UofM where he had a 141.5 rating with 20 TDs and 9 INTs). So, JH might have tweaked him a little, but he certainly didn't develop him, as these stats show.
I don't know how you can consider JH a 'miracle' worker with Speight. He had 3 senior, NFL calibur receivers to throw to in 2016. And Speight was not at all impressive this year.
JOK has been under JH's tutelage for almost three years, so there's that to factor in as well.
JH may have done a great job developing QBs elsewhere, but I'm not impressed, at all, with what he's done with that position at UofM.
December 4th, 2017 at 2:43 PM ^
to an NFL draft pick in 7 months time. I would say that was pretty impressive.
December 4th, 2017 at 3:13 PM ^
...with letting Rudock go. Maybe similar to JH thinking JOK was a better QB than BP. I just think JH gets undeserved, over the top, credit for positive outcomes, but is spared any type of criticism or responsibility for unwanted results.
December 4th, 2017 at 3:44 PM ^
December 4th, 2017 at 3:52 PM ^
view on this site, but it is accurate. Harbaugh, in three years at Michigan, has not yet earned his "quarterback whisperer" moniker. He may become known as the guy who can get quarterbacks to transfer in (and out), but he hasn't yet proven that he can recruit and develope them. Dantonio and Meyer have done a better job of developing quarterbacks.
December 4th, 2017 at 4:30 PM ^
I love how the 10% fringe on this site do nothing but whine and complain about the team and the coaching staff and then get butt hurt at any suggestion that their views might just be a bit pessimistic and unduly negative.
Despite what you might remember about the 2014 Michigan team, Harbaugh was actually handed a deep and talented room of QBs to develop and ruined all of them.
Very similar to Urban Myer who walked into OSU with sophomores Braxton Miller / Cardale Jones and Mark D'Antonio who had a junior Brian Hoyer.
Harbaugh would have a valid claim on QB whisperer if the only reclamation project was Alex Smith who he turned from a steaming pile of irrelevant draft bust to an above average NFL QB. Let alone the other scrap heap QBs who he turned into NFL picks (I will exclude Andrew Luck given his uber talent).
December 5th, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^
Rudock got passed by a future 3rd round NFL draft pick. You make it sound like he was terrible and Iowa disliked him. That was not the case at all.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:41 PM ^
If it comes up heads a bunch of times in a row, then comes up tails once, would you claim tails has been prevelant to heads?
December 4th, 2017 at 12:44 PM ^
He turned FCS Josh Johnson into an NFL QB. He was instrumental in Andrew Luck's development. He resurrected Alex Smith's career in the NFL and catapulted Colin Kaepernick (personal beliefs aside) into a damn good NFL QB.. so yeah, I think the QB guru/whisperer title is warranted despite him not being able to turn an Al Borges recruit (Speight) or a Houston cast-off (O'Korn) into NFL level guys.
Oh yeah, he took the guy Ferentz ran out of town and helped him develop as a 5th year senior and get drafted. Harbaugh played QB in college and the NFL and has a track record of developing QB talent at both levels. You cannot hit on literally everyone, so the lack of success with Speight and O'Korn (especially given their roads to AA) should be viewed through the lens of exceptions.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^
I wouldn't write off Speight so soon. I think he will end up being drafted. The NFL loves tall QBs.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:59 PM ^
Perhaps, but he had clearly regressed since the Iowa game. And in the limited action he had this year he didn't look like his arrow was pointing up, looked like he was trending down in fact. Losing him wasn't ideal, but once Peters got his shot he was clearly an upgrade.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:05 PM ^
Don't know if he really regressed post-Iowa. Playing at probably significantly less than 100%, he had a solid performance at OSU last year for the most part (23-36, 219, 2 TD, 2 INT) though the INTs obviously hurt. He didn't play very well against FSU but we had issues with pass protection and lost Jake Butt early on.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:50 PM ^
Fair but coming into this season he did not look as good as he did last year pre-injury. At that point it's likely a mental issue. Regardless, the OL was a major cause of a lot of issues we had this year no matter who was back there. Is what it is now and Speight is gone and Peters is the man going forward. I don't think Patterson does more than just push him, IF he does come that is.
December 4th, 2017 at 2:40 PM ^
He definitely didn't look the same this year, though he only got to play 3 1/4 games. Whether that was a temporarily blip or he just never was the same guy after Iowa is hard to know.
December 5th, 2017 at 10:49 AM ^
December 4th, 2017 at 3:08 PM ^
December 4th, 2017 at 1:41 PM ^
Michigan rushed for 590 yards against UF, Cincy, AFA, and Purdue.
Michigan rushed for 923 yards against Rutgers, Minnesota, Maryland, and Wisconsin.
I think Speight would have looked really good against Rutgers, Minnesota, Maryland, and Wisconsin if he was given that kind of ground game. A 50% increase in rushing production can't be ignored.
December 4th, 2017 at 2:08 PM ^
December 4th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
I'd counter that by arguing that having a less effective running game forces you to pass more.
December 4th, 2017 at 2:55 PM ^
You could take the opposing view, but it wouldn’t be accurate. Michigan was getting nothing running the ball in those first 4 games. The running game clearly upgraded later in the year. Hopefully, it’s a great sign for the O-line.
December 5th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
We couldn't run vs Wisconsin so I don't know why you included them. Speight struggled against Florida, Cincinnati, and Air Force. Why is he going to look really good against Wisconsin? Also in these 3 early season games our run game was pretty good but we chose to call more pass plays.
In the other 3 games you metioned (not counting Wisconsin still) Speight would of looked great...handing the ball off all day. We averaged 17 passes per game in that stretch. Being generous let's say he would have completed 70% passes for 9 yards/attempt. He'd average 12 for 17 for 153 yards a game. Those would be nice stats but also the stats every Michigan starting QB SHOULD minimally have against 3 of the worst teams on the schedule.
Hypothetically assuming Speight would have done really good against those teams when he'd realistically hand the ball off all day is nothing special. Speight probably would have played similar to his Cincinnati level of play and then struggled mightly against Wisconsin because they are good. We can stop the Speight hype anytime now.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:39 PM ^
How quickly people forget how bad Speight looked before Harbaugh.
December 4th, 2017 at 3:55 PM ^
before Harbaugh?
December 4th, 2017 at 4:33 PM ^
before Harbaugh?
December 4th, 2017 at 1:17 PM ^
I think every time someone brings up his work with Alex Smith here it should also be mentioned who Smith's college coach was. Just to make sure it's clear.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
Haha, yep! Only Urban Meyer QB to have any consistent success in the NFL and that didn't even happen until he met Jim Harbaugh.
December 4th, 2017 at 4:34 PM ^
Alex Smith was a total catastrophe / draft bust for 6 years until Harbaugh took over at SF. So that kind of proves the point.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:25 PM ^
Did you forget pre-injured Speight from 2016 season? He was great (better than Rudock, I would argue).
December 4th, 2017 at 12:46 PM ^
How much of that early season stuff was on Speight? Seriously - the guy had to watch over the babies on the outside (WRs), check the line calls for the babies on the OL, make sure the RB's saw the obvious blitzer, and make sure the WRs knew thier route. And then he had to look out for himself! The team slowly improved through the season, don't delude yourself into thinking that Speight wouldn't have also improved. Besides, he was recruited be zero (0) P5 programs - there's only so much you can do with a lack of talent. He (Harbaugh) did pretty well with it in 2016.
Peters ran the scout team last year. Maybe he should have put in more effort in learning the offense so he could have beat out JOK sooner?
I get the concern over bringing in Patterson, but more depth can only be good. We don't know - despite crootin' rankings - what either Peters or McCafrey can really do, yet. And, IMHO, if adding depth bothers a player, then maybe that player should take it on himself to improve enough to beat out the new guy...
December 4th, 2017 at 1:08 PM ^
Yeah....I don't know about all that. In the first game of the year Speight overthrew a WIDE OPEN receiver streaking unmolested down the sideline for a sure walk in TD. He overthrew it so bad it looked like he was throwing the ball away out of bounds. And there was no one around Speight or the WR he was throwing it to....just chucked it OOB.
Never seen anything like it.
And it wasn't a one-off for Speight. He overthrew almost every receiver on almost every play. Rare was a pass on-time and on target that didn't take the recever off thier feet.
He will never make it in the NFL, but I wish him luck none-the-less.
December 4th, 2017 at 2:09 PM ^
example of selective memory.The majority of his throws weren't poor, it's just waht you remember. I think people need to spend more time watching full game clips of QBs who don't play for their favorite team. Tom Brady is one of the greatest, and that dude makes some horrible throws sometimes. I shouldn't even have to provide the disclaimer about making a Speight and Brady comparison, because that's not what I'm doing...... anyhow, Wilton Speight has proven he's a fine QB and very teachable. Most successful QBs would need better circumstances than what Wilton was provided with early this year.
December 4th, 2017 at 3:50 PM ^
I disagree with this.....
For a moment, Speight appeared to have many Big Ben attributes, and his pocket escapability was very good... we don't know his maturation going forward but he may be a decent NFL QB, or not make it at all.... too early to determine but he has many tools.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:56 PM ^
we really call Harbaugh a QB specialist after this year.The recency effect is strong with this one.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:09 PM ^
but you can't make him read his coverage before taking a drink
December 4th, 2017 at 1:56 PM ^
December 4th, 2017 at 1:41 PM ^
I'm guessing two main factors:
1) Work with Harbaugh would be like getting your PHD in QBing
2) Was born in Toledo, grandpa I believe played for the pistons. Guessing some or most of family likes Michigan.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:32 PM ^
December 4th, 2017 at 12:51 PM ^
EDIT: responded to wrong post.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:54 PM ^
Shea Patterson has 17 TDs and 9 INTs last year -- that's not great, but it's pretty good. However:
- 9 of those TDs (and one of those INTs) came from games against South Alabama and UT Martin.
- Against teams that mattered, he largely stunk.
1) 14-29, 165 YDs with 0 TDs and 2 INTs against Bama
2) 10-23, 116 YDs with 0 TDs and 3 INTs against LSU
3) Against Auburn, he had good stats (346 YDs, 2 TDs) but those TDs, and a lot of those yards, came after his team was down 38-3.
So, to me, he hasn't proven much beyond that's he's got potential and can dominate against the MAC-level schools of the world.
I don't see how adding all this likely drama puts us in a better situation than we are now (considering Shea would have to learn the UM offense and bringing him might very well tick off one, if not both, of our current QBs).
December 4th, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^
I think he had 50+ attempts against Auburn too so he was dropping back a ton to generate those yards.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:12 PM ^
It was garbage time stuff. Patterson literally has never had a good game against a top-25 opponent.
That's understandable, but it definitely means he is far from "proven."
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