Tarik Black's limited role vs. Rutgers?

He came off the field in pain on 1 play so he may have got dinged.  Looked like his fingers or hand.

Black did start the game.  Michigan's first offensive play was a 1 receiver set.  Black was that receiver. 

He did not get the majority of snaps on offense, but did did get some.

He is very talented, so I am sure we are going to see him make important catches in the final three games (and then the playoff). 

Even though Docs have given him the 'all clear,' it has to take time to get 100% re-integrated in the offense.  But it will happen.  Too much talent there for it not to happen. 

He had a broken foot 8 weeks ago.  Give it time and he will be playing more and at an elite level.  While he was out, our WRs began to gel with Shea so they will without question continue to get their reps.

I think he’s frustrated but views it as a compliment. This team is super close. He just got baptized with a bunch of the guys Friday night in jersey. They all really seem to like one another.

I also think harbaugh is big on practice and just because you’re a super star doesn’t mean you jump the depth chart you still gotta earn your way up. 

I also think they don’t wanna over work him as their trying to look out for his future. 

I bet you see him more against IU. 

Thst game was about player development as much as anything. 

Maybe Nico and DPJ have made just that much more progress. Tarik has missed a ton of practice time and he might be limited relative to the playbook, thus limiting his snaps to what he knows well enough to run it in a game.  His snaps will go up as he gets more practice reps.  During the week, they now only get 20 hours of practice time which is mostly spent installing that week's gameplan.  

Mr. Black is being saved for The_Game when all hell will be unleashed

Is this the 'Tarik Black isn't living up to his 4-star status' thread?  Bullshit...

Lets go back to the crootin days with them - Black was a much more polished route runner coming out of HS than either Collins, or DPJ.  For that matter, Collins was better than DPJ!  DPJ's HS route "tree" consisted of 'go deep, fast' every play.  When they got to Michigan, Black stood out because he was the better route runner - DPJ had to learn how to run routes from scratch.  Collins redshirted because numbers.

As it turned out, we ended up with DPJ learning on the fly last year, and it didn't look particularly good (no WR coach, either).  This year, learning from an experienced coach, DPJ is putting it all together.  Black has had the better part of two years off - he still has to put it together.

I wouldn't say that Black is the 'best' WR on the team today, but I would agree 100% that he was the most ready to play last year.  In any case, he's going to be the same sized monster that DPJ and Collins are (and will be). 

I don't know what the reason Black hasn't gotten more targets is.  But it seems like if there was a risk of re-injuring the foot, he wouldn't be out there at all.  It's probably running and planting on the foot that stresses the bone--not being hit or tackled.  So I am skeptical about that explanation.

The timing thing could have some merit.  But Black worked with Patterson throughout the year and through fall camp before the injury, and returned to practice before the MSU game.  So that's quite a bit of time to work on the timing--four weeks leading up to the Rutgers kickoff.  I'm skeptical of that explanation as well.

One thing I've noticed about Harbaugh's offense is that he seems to have different "packages" that feature particular players.  Perhaps since Black was out for so many games, the staff hasn't developed as large of a package for Black as for some of the other guys?

Maybe it's just sort of happenstance?  If you look at DPJ's stat line, for instance, he's had four games in which he caught 4+ receptions.  But he's also had three games with just one catch and against Northwestern he had two receptions for just 14 yards.  And it's not like DPJ has put up big numbers against bad teams and vice-versa; he had his season-high in catches against ND, while having one reception against Nebraska and one against Maryland.  Black's only been back for really two games (against MSU he only played a couple of snaps) and would have had a catch against Penn State if not for the holding call--so if DPJ's numbers are a guide it's not that surprising he's gone a couple games with just the one target.  That's especially true when you consider that the ball is being spread around to a lot more guys now, with Black and Evans back in the lineup, Eubanks getting more targets, and coaches seemingly making an effort to get Martin and Bell involved against Rutgers.  

Yeah, I was a little disappointed that Tarik wasn't targeted.  Seems like even just a few simple routes and catches would help build his confidence and experience from missing so much action over the past two seasons.  But whatever.  It'll all work out.  You know he has to be frustrated with the situation.

The talent this year at outside WR is unbelievable.  DPJ, Collins and Black are about as good as it gets.

When Black stays healthy for a stretch, he will be a beast.  That young man looks the part of an elite receiver every time he is on field.  Missing almost two years due to injury, there is no need to rush him full go when you have 4 games to work him into game speed and shape prior to OSU.

Don't look now, but a healthy Black, DPJ, Nico, Perry, Bell, Oliver, Eubanks and Gentry might just be the most combined receiver talent Michigan has had on field in many years.  Get Shea dealing like he was on Saturday and OSU will have their hands full.

Oliver was great -- but man, if that endzone throw happens in Columbus (the first one), Oliver, YA GOTTA CATCH THAT, MAN. But yeah, he looked really, really good! 

I think....it is exactly what you said, and what everyone else said on this board. In unisome. 

I mean there can be a lot of reasons a WR doesn't get any attention.  In this situation though, its Rutgers, Collins and DPJ are both legit and catching everything right now.  Lots of back up WR that are playing great, no need to risk an injury vs a crappy team like Rutgers.  

The last thing he should be doing is "liking" twitter posts that complaining he isn't getting the ball, and maybe realize the team had to go two years without him, regardless of it not being his fault getting hurt.. Bitching about it is putting himself above the team, and I don't like that, at all.

And to respond to the eventual sob sisters here who will think akin to "well, he just wants to the ball, which is a good thing", I say think again...for that is the road to dissent...

Based upon how many times Shea has throw long to a well covered DPJ, you can tell this is his preferred target. 

Why do you want Michigan to go 100% against Rutgers??? Does that make any damn sense to you?

Progress in the passing game is very encouraging, especially since we were expecting great things from Shea and Black at the start of the season. Much depends upon pass protection, however, which was very good against Rutgers. Shea is good at scrambling and the coaches mix up the plays to try to keep defenses honest, but we lost at ND where pass protection was at its least effective. 

If the O line can give Shea time, we have the weapons to do the job against OSU.

Go Blue!

Not even close to worried, just happy we’re able to slowly start working him in against lower tier teams. I think by conference championship week, or even OSU if we are lucky, he should be ready to actually make some impact.

Oliver Martin was featured and played well too

That recruiting class at WR is just great

The most likely explanation is he's not in game shape yet.   Due to missing so many practices his route tree is likely limited and we saw Patterson really develop some chemistry with DPJ, Collins and Gentry (Martin too) last Saturday.   Black is most likely behind in that regard.  

He's not some secret weapon that Harbaugh is trying to keep under wraps.  He has missed most of the season.   There is no easy way to integrate him into the offense this late.  

The Rutgers game was weird.   Here is a list of receivers that I don't recall being targeted even once:

Black

Perry

Eubanks

McKeon

All RB's FB's not named Evans

Think about how much time he missed. I'm guessing they're putting him through a good month of practices to get him 110% ready for The Game and potentially anything after. Let him iron out the kinks and make sure he's 100% healthy

He was wide open on a 10 yard out that ended up going to Gentry across the middle. 

Looks like that thread was heavily downvoted (rightfully so), and you choose to post it here? Can people enjoy the success without garbage like stalking our players twitters looking for discontent? JFC.

Black could be a huge weapon for us in Columbus. We will have two huge receivers on the outside and DPJ in the slot. I think he can be a huge weapon with more production there, and he showed it with his catch from the slot against Rutgers

My guess is they're just trying to ease him back into the rotation, avoiding any potential re-injury. No point in giving him a heavy load against Rutgers or Indiana when you don't need to. 

My guess is we'll see a much heavier dose of passes thrown Tarik's way in 12 days. There's not a lot of film on Tarik to begin with, and most of the film on him is from last season. I wouldn't doubt Harbaugh throwing in a few wrinkles against OSU, just for Tarik, that have not been shown in the offense just yet. 

His twitter doesn't make it seem like he is thrilled. Would be good to see him get some real run against Indiana. If timing is the thing holding him back the best thing for that is live reps.

Don't read too much into Twitter. His foot has been aggravated and sore. He isn't mad at JH, JM, or Pep. More like the trainers and medical staff holding him back.