Article on Rudock - Transition to Michigan and Relationship with Harbaugh

Submitted by Stay.Classy.An… on

Title thread basically sums it up, I enjoy reading anything I can about Michigan football. For those of us who have been semi-dissapointed with Rudock (I am one of those), I think we all just need to remember the unique situation he is in, as well as the dumpster fire our QB situation COULD be without him. It is also important to note that the gentleman leading our QBs is the best in the business and I have faith that through great coaching, Rudock will get this figured out! 

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/09/jake_rudock_discusses…

Have a great day everyone, forever GO BLUE!

Everyone Murders

September 23rd, 2015 at 8:52 AM ^

His season's undeniably been a disappointment so far, but "dumpster fire" seems overly harsh.  Rudock so far has been a below-average QB, but he is capable of managing the game.

Like the OP, I'm optimistic that the quarterback whisperer maniac head coach will get him on track.  It's not like Rudock hasn't shown above-average competence at Iowa.

pescadero

September 23rd, 2015 at 9:56 AM ^

Note - he said "quarterback situation"

 

That doesn't only include starters.

 

Rudock so far has been a below-average QB - and the coach says he's far and away better than anyone else on the roster.

 

So, as a whole for this year - I'd say the "quarterback situation" IS a dumpster fire.

wahooverine

September 23rd, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^

Not following. Gardener wasn't a transfer.  You evidently haven't seen OKorn's Houston tape.  He's a gunslinging athelete with accuracy and a gorgeous deep ball.  The comparison to Rudock ends at "transfer".

MGlobules

September 23rd, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^

isn't even "off track." The guy just has to eliminate the yips, keep 'em honest by completing one or two more long passes. Peyton threw 15 last year, btw, Brady 12. My point isn't that these would be great comparisons, but that QBs throw interceptions.

We had fairly high hopes for the guy, and might have beaten a very good Utah team if he had been more accurate. If he can piece together a couple of solid games, I still believe he has it in him to get us to 9 wins.

JOHNNAVARREISMYHERO

September 24th, 2015 at 4:14 AM ^

Yes finally someone says it.  Remember in 2013 how our team refused to take the easy yards.  

Gallon out wide, DB ten yards off him - never threw him a pass.

The previous two OCs refused to take easy yards.

Now people are complaining about this.

Stay.Classy.An…

September 23rd, 2015 at 8:55 AM ^

Obviously this is not the "ideal" situation for our fanbase with regard to our QB. I think every Michigan football fan wants Rudock throwing TD bombs and no interceptions. Harbaugh has been recruiting his own guys and I think next year O'Korn is going to be the real deal. For this year, we are in a "it is what it is" situation. Rudock is more than serviceable as our QB (IMO if Shane was the better player, he would be playing, Harbaugh doesn't strike me as the "play favorites" kind of guy). Would I prefer Devin still be our QB now with Harbaugh as coach? Absolutely. But that is not the situation we are currently in. Dumpster fire is a strong word to use regarding Rudock, as his play could be much worse and we as fans have seen much worse. 

Qmatic

September 23rd, 2015 at 9:07 AM ^

I too think O'Korn will be the real deal.

I wish Devin got the chance to play under Harbaugh. Remember how promising he looked in '12 before the offensive line and Hoke and co. ruined him. His performance against OSU in '13 still remains the best performance by a U-M qb ever

UMxWolverines

September 23rd, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^

So now O'Korn is the one to lead us to glory next year? The guy that got benched at Houston is the one that's going to start for us...got it. 

Boy, this fanbase sometimes and their quarterbacks. 

Earlier this year it was Malzone that was the real deal to everyone on here despite not getting any offers from any power five schools besides Michigan. 

Qmatic

September 23rd, 2015 at 11:01 AM ^

I'll tell you right now that I'd bet the house it won't be a Hoke recruit starting next year (Morris, Speight, or Malzone). Maybe Gentry pushes and unless Peters is Josh Rosen good, he'll redshirt.

Watching his film I'm pretty confident in O'Korn. Couple that with a year under Harbaugh, and yes he'll be our guy

saveferris

September 23rd, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^

Of all the guys who were ill-served by playing for Brady Hoke, Gardner is the one who stands out the most for me.  If Hoke had just brought a QB coach onto his staff instead of leaving it to Al Borges to coach them, who knows how much better Devin could've been? 

I know we all like Hoke's passion for Michigan and agree that he's a good guy, but the further that era gets in the rearview mirror, the more pissed off I find myself.

charblue.

September 23rd, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^

about the qb situation at this point. Let the kid find himself and see what he can accomplish. 

Not sure how high his ceiling is, but I think he expects he'll get better and it takes time to mesh with a new team. I mean this guy hasn't even been on campus for a year, and everyone is wanting him to play like he's been leading Iowa for the past two seasons. Just doesn't work like that. 

It takes time to your stride when you are processing a new offense, protection checks and downfield options. I think that and trying to be too precise and worried about throwing into tight windows is slowing down his instinctive decision-making as a passer. He just needs to stop worrying about the outcome of every pass and cut loose. 

Fortunately, Rudock has a coach who will be patient with him. He knows what he's going through and he can help get through this rough patch. One good game and some rhythm throws is all it will take. Harbaugh has to dial that up for him as part of this week's gameplan and see if the kid can respond. 

Rudock seems like a very smart and level-headed guy who doesn't get too up or down depending on the circumsance. So, I expect he will rebound and we should all just watch and wait for his ongoing development to occur. At this point, what other choice is there? None. As long as the team keeps winning, the effort involved in more important than pretty stats. 

True Blue Grit

September 23rd, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^

I understand Michigan fans' wanting better passing results now, but patience is going to be needed for a while longer.  Even Harbaugh can't fix the roster and coaching problems overnight that he inherited.  Harbaugh immediately recognized the post-Gardner QB situation at Michigan when he took the job and went out to get a couple experienced QB's as an interim solution (until he could recruit/develop his own players).  I think he got the two best guys out there, but it doesn't hide the fact they still have to learn a whole new offense with different teammates.  

M-Dog2020

September 23rd, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^

Dumpster fire was last year. I watched both Utah games and I would take Rudock over Gardner or Morris in a heart beat ... not even close. He has made some great quarterback plays. The best is yet to come, but will he be an Andrew Luck? Let's all take a dose of reality medicine. That isn't happening this year. But can he be a good part of a successful season ... with Harbaugh as his coach, you bet.

Muttley

September 23rd, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^

Nick Sheridan and his hair performed admirably in that game.  I remember cringing as Nick threw some downfield passes that day, only to laugh joyfully when they were successfully completed.

Another belated shout out to Nick Sheridan, the coaching-understudy who shockingly found himself on the field as our best option over scholarship QBs such as David Cone.

CompleteLunacy

September 23rd, 2015 at 9:18 AM ^

A dumpster fire is starting Shane Morris against Minnesota when you have a healthy 5th year QB on the bench and Morris struggles mightily all game long (seriously go look at his stat line...7/19 for 49 yards. Again, that's a 37% completion rate at 2.58 YPA. The fucking coaches should know better that Gardner, for all his struggles, was CLEARLY the better option.)

Than he gets injured, then incomprehensibly is left in the game, then is moved out of the pocket on his bum ankle to be vulnerable to a hit which left him with a probable mild concussion, then is put back in the game because nobody apparently saw this obvious potentially head-wringing hit.

THAT is a dumpsetr fire.

A dumpster fire would likely have been what Michigan would have looked like with Hoke as head coach and Shane Morris as literally the only viable option as a starting QB.

Rudock is a lot of things, but not a dumpster fire. For all his shortcomings thusfar (and there have been plenty), the dude has still completed 60+% of his passes every game and only been sacked once. Despite being on campus for barely 2 months. That hardly describes dumpster fire to me,

LSAClassOf2000

September 23rd, 2015 at 9:25 AM ^

See, statements like this bother me a bit because I think they  lack perspective on the issue at hand. Even as Harbaugh endorsed Rudock in his presser, you could sense a few folks around here recoiling from that statement, forgetting apparently that we could be miles worse off than we are.

It obviously hasn't been all roses at the quarterback position this year, but then 2015 was going to be the year for baselining this team with this staff and as we've seen, some gaps were filled via transfer. What that says about the state of QBs when Harbaugh arrived is open to interpretation, but when I think about what this start to the season might have looked like potentially without Rudock and having to draw from existing, less developed (and eligible) sources on the roster...yeah, I'll take this 2-1 start even if it hasn't looked pretty during certain moments in games.

jimmyshi03

September 23rd, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^

I think people will be looking back differently at these early games, particularly UNLV. If the team ends up going 9-3 o 8-4 and Rudock is solid, there may be some wistful "what might have beens" wondering just how close we were to getting Kevin Hogan, but I'd imagine there'd be saisfaction overall. 7-5 or 6-6, admittedly less likely now that we've seen more from the conference, and maybe these games are the canary in the coal mine.

alanmfrench

September 23rd, 2015 at 11:27 AM ^

Well shit, we should see nothing but QB draws from shotgun from now on then. No one wants to tackle a dumpster...especially if it's on fire!!!!! We probably don't even need the line for that. Center snaps the ball and they just get out of the way. 

Your genius level analysis has led to the discovery of our greatest weapon. Well done. 

Candor for Sale

September 23rd, 2015 at 8:49 AM ^

If anyone is going to get substantial improvement over the course of an entire season out of their quarterback, it's Harbaugh.

Also, hopefully Jake can earn the nickname "The Microwave" when he heats up and completes 15 straight passes in a row on Saturday.

The Mad Hatter

September 23rd, 2015 at 8:58 AM ^

Per coach Jim Harbaugh, he's currently throwing to 13 different receivers. And, per Rudock, he's still trying to learn all the small details about those 13 different players -- players he's known for a short period of time.

 

That seems like too many receivers to me.