2016 Season Countdown: #62 Shane Morris

Tag: Shane Morris


10Jul 2016
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2016 Season Countdown: #62 Shane Morris

Shane Morris

Name: Shane Morris
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 208 lbs.
High school: Warren (MI) De La Salle
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #7
Last year: I ranked Morris #30 and said he would be the backup quarterback (LINK). He redshirted.

Well, aside from anointing Jake Rudock as last year’s starter, I royally screwed up the quarterback situation. I ranked Morris #30 and said he would be the backup QB. Instead, he redshirted while Wilton Speight was the #2 guy. I also thought Zach Gentry would play some, but he redshirted, too. Rudock was good enough to have clearly earned the #1 job, so that seemed like a no-brainer. Jim Harbaugh seemed to want to preserve Morris’s eligibility for an extra year, even though he started off the year as the #2 guy. By midway through the season, Harbaugh told the media that Speight had surpassed Morris. Whether that was coachspeak to support Speight or whether it was the truth, maybe we’ll never know.

What we do know is that Speight has thrown a touchdown in his career, something Morris has yet to accomplish.

This spring, with Rudock gone, the starting job was a battle between Speight and John O’Korn. I like O’Korn’s upside better because he can run and has a better arm, but the story is that Speight makes fewer mistakes. At this point I don’t have much faith in Morris’s future. He has been passed by younger guys and keeps getting pushed farther down the depth chart. What I do potentially find intriguing is Morris’s athleticism. He was playing a fair amount of receiver this spring, and he even threw a touchdown pass to Drake Johnson in the spring game on a double-pass from the WR spot. Of course, Michigan had some depth issues at wideout in the spring, but Morris’s good size and decent athleticism maybe puts him in a spot where he can be used in certain situations.

I have doubts about whether Morris will take even one snap at QB this season, but I wouldn’t put it past Jim Harbaugh to throw him out there. There are some creative ways to use a package of, say, Wilton Speight at QB, Drake Johnson at RB, Jabrill Peppers at slot receiver, and Morris at WR. Or Speight at QB, Peppers at RB, and Morris at slot receiver. Harbaugh and his crew did a nice job of putting together creative formations and personnel packages last year, and maybe Morris can be a part of that this season. This might also be his chance to audition for a graduate transfer in 2017, because I don’t foresee him surpassing O’Korn or Speight.

Prediction: Backup quarterback/receiver

27Mar 2016
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Ford Field Open Practice: Offense, Injuries, Walk-ons

Wilton Speight 792x

Wilton Speight

Happy Easter Sunday, everybody! Along with a few thousand other fans, I made my way to Ford Field on Saturday. I sat in the stands, ate a hot dog, and watched Captain Khaki run practice. I chose not to live tweet it because, well, it was nice to sit back, relax, and watch a well run practice. Below are my thoughts on some roster news and the various positions:

ROSTER NEWS

  • WR/CB Freddy Canteen is not on the roster and his status is unclear.
  • WR Jehu Chesson was doing work on the sideline and on the bike, wearing a brace on his knee.
  • RB Kingston Davis was in shorts without a helmet and running steps. Lots and lots of steps.
  • OG David Dawson was wearing a sling on his left arm and did not participate.
  • CB Reon Dawson and WR Jaron Dukes have left the football program and are exploring medical scholarships.
  • DT Ryan Glasgow was in shorts and a helmet going through some non-contact drills, but then ran steps with Davis for a big chunk of practice.
  • RB Karan Higdon was in street clothes. No injury was apparent.
  • DE Shelton Johnson was not visible to me. I looked for him extensively and never saw him. Sam Webb tweeted that he was on the sideline in street clothes.

Hit the jump for a position-by-position breakdown of the offense.

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27Mar 2016
Blog, homepage no comments

Ford Field Open Practice: Offense, Injuries, Walk-ons

Wilton Speight 792x

Wilton Speight

Happy Easter Sunday, everybody! Along with a few thousand other fans, I made my way to Ford Field on Saturday. I sat in the stands, ate a hot dog, and watched Captain Khaki run practice. I chose not to live tweet it because, well, it was nice to sit back, relax, and watch a well run practice. Below are my thoughts on some roster news and the various positions:

ROSTER NEWS

  • WR/CB Freddy Canteen is not on the roster and his status is unclear.
  • WR Jehu Chesson was doing work on the sideline and on the bike, wearing a brace on his knee.
  • RB Kingston Davis was in shorts without a helmet and running steps. Lots and lots of steps.
  • OG David Dawson was wearing a sling on his left arm and did not participate.
  • CB Reon Dawson and WR Jaron Dukes have left the football program and are exploring medical scholarships.
  • DT Ryan Glasgow was in shorts and a helmet going through some non-contact drills, but then ran steps with Davis for a big chunk of practice.
  • RB Karan Higdon was in street clothes. No injury was apparent.
  • DE Shelton Johnson was not visible to me. I looked for him extensively and never saw him. Sam Webb tweeted that he was on the sideline in street clothes.

Hit the jump for a position-by-position breakdown of the offense.

read more

23Feb 2016
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Spring Football Preview: Quarterbacks

John O'Korn 725x

John O’Korn

Projected starter: Redshirt junior John O’Korn. The buzz from last year suggested that O’Korn would have been starting over Jake Rudock if not for the fact that Rudock had the slight advantage of being eligible to play. The 6’4″, 220 lb. O’Korn is bigger, possesses a stronger arm, and is perhaps a little more athletic than Rudock. We have yet to see O’Korn do anything in a Michigan uniform, so this spring will be exciting.

Departures from last year: Rudock (64% completions, 3017 yards, 20 TDs, 9 INTs) started every game last season but graduated and is trying to slip into the NFL Draft. Redshirt freshman Zach Gentry is transitioning to tight end.

Backup battle: The battle to be #2 is wide-open. Last year’s primary backup was Wilton Speight, who will be a redshirt sophomore in the fall. Speight had one good series when he led the team to a game-winning touchdown against Minnesota, but otherwise, he did not instill observers with much confidence (36% completions, 1 TD, 1 INT altogether). The coaching staff openly admitted that they were trying to redshirt Shane Morris, but Jim Harbaugh also said that Speight legitimately passed up Morris on the depth chart a few weeks into the season. We have heard standard off-season rumblings about Morris improving, maturing, etc., but those stories rarely seem to come to fruition. Redshirt freshman Alex Malzone started for one of the spring game squads last April, but he’s not on the same level physically as Speight or Morris, and he’s less experienced. True freshman Brandon Peters enrolled early in January. He’s the highest touted recruit of the whole group, but he’s just a pup; the last time we saw him, he was going 4/16 in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He’s probably bound for a redshirt this year.

#1 thing to watch: If O’Korn isn’t the starter in the fall, it will be a major surprise. So I’m most interested to see who the #2 guy is coming out of the spring. Speight wasn’t very good as a backup last year, but Morris has been pretty lousy in more extended playing time during his career. At some point during the season, the backup typically has to come in during at least one important moment. If Morris is #3 on the depth chart after the spring, I would not be surprised to see him transfer, even though he said he wanted to remain at Michigan next year.