Should Patterson have Even Played Today?
So first off this is not a critique on Patterson or a bench him thread, but given the fact that he was clearly instructed to hand it off on reads because of his injuru why even play him today? He was grimancing and wincing frequently. They bailed Army out by not making them have to respect the edge and the keep and allowed them to plug the middle. The playcalling and the decision to play him both seemed idiotic today.
September 7th, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
Yes, and he is now 12-3 as a starter. More wins to come too...
September 7th, 2019 at 4:01 PM ^
Did you the miss part where I said it was not a thread to criticize Patterson? It was a question of if the coaches should have sat him because reads are supposed to be the whole crux of the new offense and his injury caused them to run non existent run reads
September 7th, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
I agree with you. I didn’t get to watch a whole lot of the game, but what I did see I’d say he looked hurt and maybe he would have been better off sitting out.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:56 PM ^
Yeah, I just don't get it.
After gushing about McCaffrey all offseason, and insisting that he'd start on many D5 teams, they decided to bench him in favor of an obviously injured and ineffective Patterson. If I'm McCaffrey I'm pissed. If I'm the team I'm pissed.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:16 PM ^
It is a fair question, but the coaches chose him for a reason. And he got the job done. Maybe what you observed has more clout than what the coaches observed. But maybe, just maybe, the coaches made the right decision.
2-0 is a good start to the season.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:35 PM ^
Same coach thst stsrted Okorn over Peters.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:53 PM ^
They choose him because they are idiots. That much should be obvious by now. Year 5 and JH still doing the same stupid shit.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:51 PM ^
Totally agree. If Shea is too injured to pull the ball, play McCaffery.
September 7th, 2019 at 11:56 PM ^
Ah yes and 3 of those losses were more important than the 12. So sorry if I don't dance and click my heels but him beating unranked teams and losing and playing like shit in the big ones doesn't seem like something to get all pumped about
September 7th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
Brutal
September 7th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
piss off, and take W.
September 7th, 2019 at 3:58 PM ^
The edge was there multiple times. This was a fail by the coaches. Dylan could have shredded these guys on the edge but he didn’t run there either for the couple times he was in.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:03 PM ^
His first play after Shea was injured on the last series he could have waltzed for 20 yards on the right side.
September 7th, 2019 at 3:59 PM ^
I wonder the same thing. He's clearly hurting.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^
The bigger issue is his poor decision making in the run game due to the injury. He won't keep.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
We don't know that he has the option to
September 7th, 2019 at 4:22 PM ^
Exactly, I find it hard to believe a guy who has primarily run a spread in HS and college is that bad at reads. I'm going to give Patterson more credit than that and assume he has been instructed by the coaches to do so.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:03 PM ^
He should not have played. I said the same thing to my wife when I heard towards the end that he had an oblique issue..."Army is supposed to be a cake game... yeah, we might still lose but going in to it, this is the kind of game we would cover and is a good game for him to rest, leading in to the bye."
Hindsight.. crap game, almost lost, blah blah...
But leading in to it, he should've sat if he was injured... And it was apparent given the play calls.
Whatever whatever. A win is a win... ish.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:03 PM ^
We need to get healthy. Good time for a bye week.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:04 PM ^
Good news is we have a bye week, which turns out to be timed perfectly
September 7th, 2019 at 4:05 PM ^
M
A
Y
B
E
September 7th, 2019 at 4:05 PM ^
Acres of space on nearly every play if the ball was kept.
On one hand, perhaps the coaches instructed him not to keep. But there were also a smattering of designed runs for him, which pokes a hole in that theory. I'm a staunch Shea supporter, but if he is not making the right reads, it's on the coaches to bring it to his attention. If he continues to make mistakes, the coaches need to make a change.
Not to be all doom and gloom, but the cynic in me thinks that the unwillingness to switch to Dylan in spite of Shea's performance/potentially injury may be signal that the coaches may not trust Dylan's ability to throw the ball.
Anyway, a win is a win. Get healthy, regroup, improve.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:11 PM ^
I think you're right on McCaffrey. I don't think the coaches trust McCaffrey to throw the ball, and believe that even an injured Patterson who can't run is better than McCaffrey.
That doesn't excuse the fumbles though.
Thank goodness for an early Labor Day and a late Thanksgiving, which gives every college football team two bye weeks. Michigan desperately needs one.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:41 PM ^
If Dylan isnt ready then holy hell...2+ years in now. When will he be ready/trustworthy? Rhetorical questions and you guys may be right but we're never going to fucking have an elite offense if it takes Aaron Rodgers level of sitting behind Favre to finally be ready to play.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:48 PM ^
That's what worries me. Seems like every season we need multiple quarterbacks due to injuries. And if a broken Patterson is better than a healthy McCaffrey, we are fucked.
McCaffrey is fast in a straight line. But he's skinny and the coaches clearly don't trust him to pass.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^
In the type of offense they want to run, if Shea is unable to run the full playbook (or what is ready to this point) because of injury, then the next best and healthy QB needs to play. They're calling option reads where he is always handing it off where Army was just sitting on it because he either can't take the hit on a run or is doing everything he can to avoid it.
If he's not healthy enough for Wisconsin, then McCaffrey need to start.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
Exactly my thinking
September 7th, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^
I honestly don't know what to think. The bottom line is Harbaugh and Co. have not lived up to their football genius "moniker".
I am disappointed overall.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^
I honestly don't know what to think. The bottom line is Harbaugh and Co. have not lived up to their football genius "moniker".
I am disappointed overall.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:09 PM ^
"Today"?
September 7th, 2019 at 4:09 PM ^
I agree with this analysis. There was zero qb threat to have a successful run. If Mcaffrey can play, then why not?
September 7th, 2019 at 4:20 PM ^
Because why play McCaffrey for his success in running 5% of QB duties if Shea is the better QB in the other 95%?
You just have to call the right plays for your circumstances. If Shea is hurt and not allowed to run, why would you call plays that include a QB run option?
September 7th, 2019 at 4:31 PM ^
This is I agree with it, it still would have been fine to play Patterson with a more passing oriented gameplay. But emphasizing a run option as your bread and butter play when he wasn't going to keep made no sense to me.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:21 PM ^
I don't think the coaches trust him to throw.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:11 PM ^
He was just "off" in all facets of the game today. This was supposed to be the offense he excels at. He is not excelling. I think it's very questionable why he is put in position to do read options if he is zero threat to pull (whether by design or injury).
To his defense, if he has a pulled oblique, I can relate. 2 weeks ago I broke my rib and strained an oblique. Granted, I am 40 years old, and overweight rather than a college athlete, but I'm still maybe 50%. I can feel the pain in my oblique just about any time I move, even as simple as standing from a chair or turning over in bed. Coughing or sneezing causes me to double over in a fit of curse words.
This injury i dealing with is the 2nd most painful thing I have felt, just after passing a kidney stone. So if this is what She has, I totally empathize.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^
Most of us do (empathize). But if McCaffrey isnt ready to play/isnt trusted yet then this is further red flag-level coaching by this staff.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
Was pissed we had a bye in week 3 when the schedule was announced.
Not now. LT looked rough without Runyan. Patterson had problems throwing to the right. We desperately need DPJ. Our interior DL looks sketchy without Dwumfur.
Yay bye week!
September 7th, 2019 at 4:18 PM ^
Army isn’t a good gauge of our interior DL. Their run game is predicated on submarining that DL and diving for those 3-4 yard gains. It’s hard to gauge our interior with Jeter and Dwumfour missing MTSU (with the exception of a couple snaps for Dwumfour) and playing this Army team in game 2.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
I think both qbs were instructed to hand off or there are major issues with reading defenses, which I dont think is correct. Because Patterson is hurt they dont want to run McCaffrey either. My only issue is that it is a pointless offense to run a read option if the qb hands off every time
September 7th, 2019 at 4:16 PM ^
Exactly. If there’s no option for the QB to run, stop running the option. Just straight up hand it off, pass it or run an RPO without a QB run option. There’s no logical explanation for running a read-option.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:42 PM ^
Precisely where my head is at.
September 7th, 2019 at 11:51 PM ^
It is not only bad play-calling, it is also likely to get a RB hurt too as the emphasis is to put an unblocked defensive player in limbo trying to decide who to pursue. In this case they were not only unblocked but simply crashed on the RB, good thing it didnt also lead to losing the RB.
September 7th, 2019 at 11:51 PM ^
It is not only bad play-calling, it is also likely to get a RB hurt too as the emphasis is to put an unblocked defensive player in limbo trying to decide who to pursue. In this case they were not only unblocked but simply crashed on the RB, good thing it didnt also lead to losing the RB.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:22 PM ^
Agree with this as well. It's bad playcalling to run a read option where there's no read.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:15 PM ^
yes, I think you absolutely play him. He was, for the most part, unaffected by his injury.
In regards to him running, you have to question the play-calling when you’re running read-option with a QB who has been instructed to avoid running it. But that’s a coaching issue, not a player issue.
There is a plethora of plays available that don’t include a designed QB run option that the team can go to. Including a large number of RPOs.
Shea is the better option on about 95% of the QB duties than McCaffrey. You simply have to call the right offense for the situation in terms of your personnel and your injury status.
September 7th, 2019 at 4:20 PM ^
LMMFAO this is the funniest things I’ve heard in awhile ... Shea isn’t better than Dylan at ANYTHING ... If Harbaugh had a pair he would have started Dylan last year but he promised Shea the starting job if he transferred
September 7th, 2019 at 4:15 PM ^
Whatever his issue is, Shea is not good
September 7th, 2019 at 4:19 PM ^
He should never play .... In tired of him and his fan boys who think he can do no wrong ... He is TRASH
September 7th, 2019 at 4:22 PM ^
I said as much in the pointless game thread. But yea. Leaving free yards on the field running plays designed get those yards....is so fucking backwards. What is this programs issue, good lord.
* I'm on team whoever wins us the most and biggest games. Right now we dont know who that truly is but if it isnt Shea then get Dylan in there