MMQB w/ Devin Gardner, Indiana Edition

Good job AAC.

Injury tent or not for Cade, I liked that JJ got a full drive to establish a rhythm - it can't be easy to constantly sub in and out like that for just one play at a time. The arm talent is there, but every play can't be a Johnny Manziel scramble around type play... I like the take about how reps will iron this out. More film to work with, etc. 

Talking up JJ isn’t saying he should take Cade’s job, it’s saying he brings something to the team and Michigan should continue to find a role for both in an integrated fashion.

Yes.

I admittedly know nothing about QB mechanics but I think Cades height (or lack) is a primary reason why he doesn’t step into more throws.  To get the ball over your oline and the dline he probably gets stuck releasing off his back foot because he feels he needs to give it that upward trajectory to not have it batted down.  

As far as I can tell, the coaches, McNamara, and McCarthy have all handled the QB situation really well.  McCarthy is getting meaningful reps.  And McNamara doesn't seem to mind.  It's hard to point to a misstep by anyone given that McNamara was in the injury tent during McCarthy's misfired handoff against MSU (which may have been on Corum anyway).

I haven't listened to it, and I'm sure Gardner has forgotten more football than I've ever known, but I'm not sure I'd characterize JJ's play as "good"

My recollection was bailing out of pockets, a few good throws, and a few inadvisable ones, and a general reinforcement of the feeling that Cade is the starter for good reason

As least Gardner isn't calling McNamara "Shea" anymore, so I'll take it.

I do think the offense looked solid against a decent IU defense and while the numbers weren't great in the passing game it was also the type of game where you took your shots and then just tried to run the clock out.  I do think McCarthy looked a bit rattled at times and while that will settle down somewhat with reps he may also be running into defenses that have some gameplan for him and he's having to adjust.

Sounds same as last week...good play by Cade, but he's probably leaving too many points out there to be great and will need to improve to beat good teams.

I don't want JJ to transfer, but judging by how well Cade has done so far this year, I imagine he's the starter next year, as well. While we sat around mooning over JJ, we might have had Harbaugh's ideal QB finally gestating in Cade. A kid who's hitting 65-74% of his throws this year is going to be very, very good behind a better team next year. 

And while I am all for JJ getting reps in garbage time, I would beg the coaches not to keep marring Cade's rhythm with these miserable In-N-Out burgers. 

A lot of the self-styled experts here this year have ended up looking silly when it came to Cade v JJ.  

great show. I believe they mentioned Dante Moore too. I realize the summary above was non exhaustive, but he is worth a click. 

https://247sports.com/player/dante-moore-46084709/

There's some talk about Cade's willingness or unwillingness to throw into the middle against zone defense.

That's interesting, because before MSU Michigan QBs weren't throwing there at all unless it was something like a TE left all alone. I saw Cade make a really nice pass or two in the middle Saturday, and he was doing it very well against MSU all game long.

...But if he were really comfortable with it, I imagine we'd have seen more of it for more of the season. 

So I think we actually have a situation where some combination of Cade and the coaches have been uncomfortable attacking the middle of zones and we're actually seeing growth here, growth which plateaued a bit this week as they'd want to limit risky passes in a should-win game against Indiana. 

I have discussed extensively my complaints that the Harbaugh regime seems to develop tentative QBs, particularly in this area of mid-range throwing over the middle of the field where you're attacking gaps in zone coverage. Some of that may be (and I tend to believe is) coaching. But there's also a system effect, one that Harbaugh actually stated explicitly in 2017 after Speight's pick-sixes against Florida: Michigan didn't practice against zone much when Don Brown was the DC. And when they did see it, the zones weren't high-quality.

That would also help explain why Rudock has turned out to be exception to the regressing QB trend, since he spent four years practicing against one of the best zone defenses in college football at Iowa before coming here. 

Well, Michigan has real zone defenses now. And while it may be taking time, perhaps we are seeing the gradual growth of our QBs attacking those defenses as they see more, better ones in practice. We can hope. 

Say, how is Joe Milton doing in TN?

Quite appropriate. He certainly knows a thing or two about beating Indiana.

So much fun. I keep chuckling as I watch.

JJ needs developed and that is series and opening the offense for him.  He needs to run the offense with control, seeing the field.  Not panicking under pressure but seeing his progression and making the right read and throws. 

Has to graduate from the hero ball make a huge play out of nothing every time a pass play is called.  That's going to get him injured, picked off and possibly cost points.  None of that is good just because he has had some success.  Has to learn to throw on time to the open rec that requires seeing the field.  As he gets better get more freedom to pull, run and throw. 

JJ is very fast and the arm is amazing.  He will progress, but right now it looks to me like he is still trying to play like he is in high school.  He is up with the big boys now.  

Cade will not be giving up his job anytime soon.