Speight's Odds of Winning Heisman: 75-1

Submitted by BursleyHall82 on

Interesting list from Vegas bookie William Hill US. They list the 2017 Heisman odds for 30-some players. Wilton Speight comes in at 75-to-1, tied for 25th place on their list. He's the only Michigan player listed.

Hey, I'll bet Lamar Jackson's odds were worse than 75-to-1 at the beginning of last season, so you never know!

http://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/18690743/college-football-full-lis…

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MGoStrength

February 20th, 2017 at 3:01 PM ^

This is the classic "next exciting recruit or young guy on the bench is better than the current starter who is not as good as we want all the time" logic.

 

None of the guys on the roster have given us any evidence from game snaps at UM that they are likely to fare better than Speight...like not even a speck of arguable evidence in college football games played at UM.  And, there are way too many factors left that we don't understand to make good judgements on Speight's late season struggles.  We do know there were bright spots and we also know it's generally expected that the 1st to 2nd year of starting play is likely to see a jump in production. 

 

I'm pretty certain Speight is our QB until Peters or McCaffrey show something in a game.  And, I'm also pretty sure that everyone else on the roster will never be a productive starting QB at UM.

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Pkf97

February 20th, 2017 at 2:07 PM ^

At his absolute peak, let's call that the first-half v. Maryland, it doesn't look all that implausible.

He's also going to have an absolutely loaded roster of talented (if not very young) receivers at his disposal. It's obviously a massive long-shot (75-1) but I don't think it's worth laughing off as impossible.

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uncle leo

February 20th, 2017 at 12:09 PM ^

That will allow him to win a heisman. There's too much balance and they don't ask him to make mistakes. 

That, and I don't think he's good enough to do it, but that's just me. Very fine QB, but won't do enough eye-popping stuff to get to NY.

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Perkis-Size Me

February 20th, 2017 at 2:07 PM ^

I guess you're disregarding that previous Harbaugh QBs (Kaepernick and Luck) were not game managers and weren't asked to solely "not make mistakes." Those were guys Harbaugh trusted to hoist the rest of the team on their backs and win the game.

Its part of why Luck was a Heisman runner up two years in a row and a #1 overall pick, and why Harbaugh made Kaepernick into a $100 million dollar man. (His current status in the league notwithstanding, doesn't change what he did under Harbaugh's tutelage).

Also, AJ McCarron was a Heisman finalist, and he's the epitome of a real game manager. Speight will have to do a lot of things right, but there is nothing preventing him from getting to NY. 

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The Fan in Fargo

February 20th, 2017 at 2:25 PM ^

When Speight starts slinging it around the field like a man and similar to how Henne used to, then I'll buy into the Heisman talk. Needs to grow a set like Henne too. I wasn't always a fan of Henne but he did turn into this guy. Chad Henne is made of tornadoes and thunderstorms. Bolts of lightning up your ass.

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bronxblue

February 20th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^

I'd actually like his chances of he wasn't breaking in a billion new receivers as starters. The Heisman usually either goes to a great individual performer or a name on a marquee program. I doubt Speight will ever put up big numbers, though, because the offense is still focused on the run and a lot of those TDS mobile QBs vulture near the goal line will go to the backs.

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