Posted at 8:00am -- 4/15/2010Mailbag question: The short passing game we keep hearing about?
To what extent do you think that Tate and Denard are throwing short passes because the short passing game is what the coaching staff has been putting in this spring.
My hope is that Tate is looking short, or wide because that’s what the play calling has called for.
I didn't see any hesitation in looking down field on the part of Tate last fall.
M. David Z.
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Thanks for the question.
Usually when you see a team work as hard as Michigan did in any phase of the game it indicates something the staff feels needs improvement.
It also may be a game phase the staff thinks fits well with the skill set of their personnel. It also indicates to us that the defense was giving reads that could lead to Michigan using the short passing game.
The one concern we have right now is it seems like Devin Gardner looks down field more that Tate or Denard, so there is doubt as to whether the staff is focusing on the short passing game just with those two.
Also, we have observed the coaches telling the quarterbacks that the deeper receiver was open, but the quarterbacks didn't get the ball to them.
Another problem for Tate and Denard might be they cannot see the open receivers down field as much because of their height, where Devin has a clear advantage and being able to see over the top to get the ball to the tight end and split ends. Tate and Denard seem to scramble out a lot more than the coaches probably want and this team needs for them to hit the wideouts or even the slots and tight end downfield.
In some ways it almost seems like Tate and Denard are just trying to get rid of the ball as quick as they can, where Devin seems to look around more and look down field. He seems to look at the tight end over the middle and down the seam, and also looks for the split end more as well.
Written by GBMW Staff
Go Blue -- Wear Maize!
Devin can probably be more effective down field because he is going against the 3rd team defense. This is the 3rd team defense for the worst pass defense in the Big Ten. Devin will struggle mightily if he is pressed into service during conference play.
ReplyDeleteThat might be the case, but we saw him do it against the second team defense in three straight practices as well. Most of the time Devin took snaps it was against the 2nd group. Yes sometimes the 3rd group as well.
ReplyDeleteWe even seen him do it against the first group defense in last saturdays scrimmage a couple of times.
Fair enough, but I think that speaks more to the weakness of the pass defense, a well known and established issue for this team.
ReplyDeleteThe kids are practicing hard and Devin especially, but I fear it is going to be another long season.
Either way, your blog is fantastic and worth the read. The banter is appreciated.
Yes we agree that it is important to take into consideration the level of competition when grading a players performance. You can still get a decent read about a QBs skills and how he handles a game. Reading through the progressions and seeing the entire field is something that we see in gardner at this point aginst all levels of comp he was faced.
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