Question about Peters’ usage
One thing that I can’t figure out this season is Harbaugh’s strange usage of Brandon Peters. Last season, we watched the offense look like a dumpster fire and it was clear that Peters was Harbaugh’s last choice. He played him only when he had no other option. But when he played, our offense was the most effective and productive. Even then, it just felt like Harbaugh would have prefer to roll with JOK.
Fast forward to this season - I get having D. McCaffrey as the number 2 and heir apparent to Shea. When DM has been in, he has looked awesome and his ceiling is as high as any QB out there. BUT, with DM going down for the season, we needed a competent backup. Do we want (a) the guy that looked really good last year and has experience in the system, or (b) the freshman with a cannon for an arm that EVERYONE has said is raw and needs refinement? Given that we are (until around the fourth quarter yesterday) in a playoff race, I can’t see any reason not to have the best backup possible and to give 100% of the backup reps to thst guy so that he is ready to come in. It’s just common sense. But even in garbage time, Harbaugh has thrown Peters a snap here or there and then immediately inserted Milton. I don’t get it. If Shea were to have gone down during the season, did Harbaugh really think that Milton was our best option to continue our playoff run??
Even yesterday, Peters came in and threw a TD pass, only to be promptly replaced by Milton (who threw a pick immediately after). What gives? Peters comes on and throws a TD - why would you ever replace him when the game was technically within reach? I am asking seriously - does anyone have any insight into Harbaugh’s apparent dislike of playing Peters? Did Brandon hit on Sarah or something? Is he a vegan? Does he now show enough enthusiasm?
November 25th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^
I would be willing to bet Harbaugh is sending a message to Peters to transfer. At least that's how he's treating him. Call it the James Hudson effect...
November 25th, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^
I think you are spot on. Peters looked good last year not because he was a great QB, but because he wasn't the absolute dumpster fire that JOK was at times. Peters was never going to be the guy who could actually win you games.
It is clear that the only two QB's we have who have proved / somewhat proved they can lead our team and win games is Patterson and McCaffrey.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:10 PM ^
Peters doesn't need the message to be sent. He's already got it.
November 25th, 2018 at 7:13 PM ^
That implies that we wanted Hudson to transfer, that is contrary to what every single person in and around the program has said.
November 25th, 2018 at 7:33 PM ^
The message to transfer seems insane.
You owe it to your team and the fans to play to win. If Peters is the better option he should play. If not Milton should play.
But to play Peters and have success and then bench him. It seems the most bizarre coaching decision Harbaugh has made.
Peters can still transfer if he is behind Dylan. Hell if he ups his stock it’s good for everyone.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
Milton felt like a “fuck it, we’ve already lost. Just go throw the ball far” decision yesterday.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it led to points.
Who would’ve thought that targeting a highly touted receiving corps would work out.
Need MOAR RUNS.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:25 PM ^
I thought that was the whole point of getting giant WR's to play last couple of years of PSU ball. With the refs actually calling DPI and the secondary being one of OSU's weaknesses, I would have pretty much launched it everytime I see a one on one.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
Very good question!!
November 25th, 2018 at 1:02 PM ^
My guess is that Peters has already informed the coaching staff that he is transferring. They gave him some work to reward him and put down some tape but they have to prepare the QBs that are staying (DMac, Milton).
November 25th, 2018 at 1:53 PM ^
I agree this is the only thing that makes sense.
November 25th, 2018 at 9:53 PM ^
Yep, that actually does make sense. However, since he's still here, why not keep him in the game if he's throwing well? Putting Milton in is basically saying he's giving up.
November 26th, 2018 at 10:48 AM ^
No idea if this is true or not, but it may be plausible.
Harbaugh's handling of Peters both last year and this year is one of the most puzzling of his tenure (Ulizio is probably number 1), even if it's not terribly consequential.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^
I was a little confused as to why Peters made one throw and then was replaced. Maybe to get them both the ol "big game experience". That's all I got. Also was wondering where that puts Milton for games played. He has to be close or over the redshirt 4 games limit.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:26 PM ^
He's played in 3, so he can play in the bowl game too Shrewd moves by Harbaugh to avoid those conference championship and CFP roster dilemmas.
November 26th, 2018 at 7:45 PM ^
I laughed, but now I feel bad. It reminds me of talking about the lions.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
No clue, but I bet Peters stars at his next destination. It's obvious he and Harbaugh have not been on the same page since the day he stepped on campus.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^
That's for sure - it took a horrific JOK performance vs. Rutgers to finally insert him.
I'm not sure he stars but he will start, ala Morris at CMU. He has 2 years to play.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
Game still had a chance when he trotted a banged up rattled Patterson out there. Patterson noodle arms another one and gets yanked... & then he trots Milton out there. Doesn't make sense after Peters comes in there & throws a perfect td pass...! Still was a slim chance at that point...!
November 25th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^
He had a good throw to Evans.
I like Evans skill set but is it me or does he never get a chance to run a option route vs a Linebacker?
November 25th, 2018 at 1:51 PM ^
I completely agree with this. Evans is smart and athletic enough to do this on most linebackers. It should be considered next year alot. Make him even more of a weapon in space. There's no one tougher to stop on this team in space and with the ball than Chris Evans.
November 25th, 2018 at 9:50 PM ^
Why do that when you can throw a screen to a 6'5", 250 lb. tight end?
November 25th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^
Even transferring ...play to win - Wtf.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:08 PM ^
I think it was a passing down.
I'm not so sure we don't have Shea / DM / Milton all back next year.
Peters can transfer to another school, probably MAC.
Don't forget we even had Jeff George's kid for a few weeks too.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:12 PM ^
They apparently have given up on Peters. Its too bad, because he has untapped potential. I could see him transferring to a school like Wisconsin and tearing it up.
November 25th, 2018 at 6:17 PM ^
Hope for our sake that doesn't happen! Everyone can see how Dmac could take the number 2 spot, and Joe Milton, he's got a lot of potential too. We probably got another talented guy coming in from Georgia and there's only one ball to go 'round, ya know...
November 25th, 2018 at 1:16 PM ^
So long BP.
Best of luck.
I still think you will make the nfl.
Hang in there.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:22 PM ^
Ala Thomas Rawls.
I hope he does.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:30 PM ^
Wouldn't be surprised if he does his grad transfer and turns into a pretty good QB by the end of his remaining 2 years. He certainly has the arm and his accuracy seems ok. Whatever he did to get so far into the doghouse, I still can't fathom why he was ever behind O'Korn.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^
I wouldn't be surprised if Peters is good somewhere else either, but I don't think we know it was a doghouse situation vs just getting beat out.
He could have won the job in '17 but it sounds like he didn't have the playbook down early. Late when he had the chance to put an early stake in the 2018 job he played poorly vs South Carolina and it's not like he was lights out vs Wisconsin before he was injured. This year he was beaten out by two guys.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:52 PM ^
Sure, you can make that point regarding 2018 and Patterson, McCaffrey, and even Milton and I don't disagree. I get why Harbaugh stuck with Speight until he got injured too, even when it was obvious his ceiling was low and he was dependent on skill position talent from 2016 that was gone in 2017. But still, ok, proven adequate starter.
However, I don't really see any plausible argument for saying that O'Korn beat him out. Not that Peters was anything more than a raw serviceable-at-best quarterback last year, but he had obvious potential and O'Korn was not a B1G caliber QB. I just don't see how you play O'Korn over Peters unless Peters really rubbed Harbaugh the wrong way with his makeup, parents, playbook knowledge, or whatever.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:22 PM ^
I mean if a player just flat doesn't know the playbook enough to execute it, it's real hard to play him.
That's really the only explanation that makes sense to me given what we know and don't know. I can't imagine Harbaugh not playing the guy he thinks gives him the best chance to win over personality differences.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:33 PM ^
Peters is running 3rd and likely to transfer given the #2 is a year younger. Milton is running 4th and can use the redshirt-allowed seasoning.
Harbaugh wants to get Peters a bit of time but also wants to develop Milton.
This has mostly looked odd because there aren't a whole lot of snaps available there. Against Rutgers, Harbaugh pulled Peters when he pulled the starting OL which makes sense given the depth chart. That was one play because Evans broke it. In other games the 4th quarter has seen backup D give up long drives to shrink the number of snaps available to either.
Peters' usage had 0 impact on the results of the season either way.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:35 PM ^
I was pleased that both Peters and Milton got TDs on the Buckeyes. Not a win, obviously, but satisfying to see.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:41 PM ^
Good question. Sadly agree with most of the comments posted on this thread.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:47 PM ^
I think he wanted to get Milton some game action in the Shoe as there is a good chance he could be the starter when we go back in two years. Get him acclimated a bit to the field, stadium, crowd etc.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:56 PM ^
If I'm Peters I put my name out there on the market and go to a team that will let him sling the rock around.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:00 PM ^
He's gone and Harbaugh knows it....why waste in game reps on a QB that is not going to be here next year - that's the only thing I can think of.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:01 PM ^
Easy answer. Our head coach is an idiot. His stubbornness and offensive philosophy doesn’t make sense. 8 Minutes left, down 23 (3 scores) you take out your best passer healthy who was 1-1 with a really good throw to Evans.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
It’s been known Peters was gone after this year ... It was also known Patterson was going to start this year
November 25th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
Peters need to go to Wisconsin or to the Big 12 ... Let him showcase his throwing talents ...
November 25th, 2018 at 3:02 PM ^
Did you really say showcase his throwing talents and Wisconsin in the same post? Their offense is more old school than ours.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^
So Peters was his first QB recruit and he's basically been pushing him out for past two years. Questions about his personality have always been interesting to me because the amount of time they spend recruiting these kids, you ahould have seen this or the players should have seen it when he visited. I can't wait for the story to come out on this. This isnt just about his laid back approach.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:28 PM ^
Quick score- onside kick - quick score with Peters . That's assuming we don't huddle & burn 30 seconds with every play like we were doing but...
Nah let's trot Milton out there to heave up a pick & give osu another td to humiliate us even more ...& propel Osu right into the playoffs with a blowout win...
November 25th, 2018 at 9:30 PM ^
Agreed, not a Milton fan. Player profile is too volatile. I thought we could have made some progress with Peters as a change of pace. But nope.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:44 PM ^
Peters would have been a good game manager if Harbaugh liked him.
Accurate passes when protected just aren't enough apparently.
Lookin' for that razzle-dazzle in between predictable runs up the middle
seems to be Harbaugh's thing.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
It was even more inexplicable last year. This year I think they tweaked the offense to be even less of a match with his skill set.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:58 PM ^
Players knew he bagged it with 8 min ago also then. A raw freshman has almost zero chance of a big rally in the Shoe.
November 25th, 2018 at 7:11 PM ^
Peters was too lazy to learn the playbook in the first year and a half. So Peters was 3rd behind okorn and speight. So Peters pouted and threw in the towel and continued to not learn the playbook. We had to play Peters finally and he didn't know the playbook and sucked. DM is better and not a headcase so he's 2nd this year. Peters is clearly going to transfer. The game was well over when Peters came in yesterday, he got a drive, and then Milton got to play. Who cares how the 3rd and 4th string qb situation is handled when in garbage time? Milton still has his redshirt intact. Everything makes sense.
November 25th, 2018 at 8:44 PM ^
I wouldn't learn the playbook if i was Peters either. Soon as i seen the fade routes drawn up for Mcdoom i would of tossed it.
November 25th, 2018 at 9:05 PM ^
What is so hard about learning to hand the ball off for up the middle runs and drop back to throw underneath passes? Seems like if you know two plays, you have half the playbook figure out.