Nico Collins (image via Detroit Free Press)
I was otherwise engaged all day Saturday, so I didn’t finish watching the DVRed Michigan game until 12:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Here are just a few takeaways from the game.
Shea Patterson (image via Maize ‘n’ Brew)
Same old, same old. From the very first offensive series, I started thinking, “Nothing has changed.” Michigan’s offense didn’t evolve over the off-season with a new offensive line coach, a new wide receivers coach, and a new quarterback. The formations are the same. The alignments are the same. The personnel is mostly the same. The lack of tempo is the same. The confusion and lack of urgency late in games is the same.
Hit the jump for a bunch of other depressing takeaways.
Nico Collins (image via Twitter)
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LEADING RUSHER
Karan Higdon emerged from last season as the de facto starting running back, and there’s no reason to think he’ll lose that job now, especially after adding about 15 lbs. of muscle in the off-season. Chris Evans projects to be the #2 guy.
Prediction: Karan Higdon, 1100 yards
LEADING RECEIVER
The wide receiver position is a huge mess right now after the transfers of Eddie McDoom, Drake Harris, Maurice Ways, and Kekoa Crawford . . . and, oh yeah, the injury to Tarik Black’s foot. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a tight end lead the team in receiving yards, but I’ll go with Donovan Peoples-Jones. He’s one of four healthy scholarship receivers on the roster, along with Grant Perry, Oliver Martin, Ronnie Bell, and Nico Collins.
Prediction: Donovan Peoples-Jones, 750 yards
Hit the jump for the rest of the season predictions.
Shea Patterson (image via MLive)
Name: Shea Patterson
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 205 lbs.
High school: Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy
Position: Quarterback
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #2
Last year: I did not rank Patterson. He was a part-time starter at Ole Miss and was 166/260 (63.8%) for 2,259 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions.
TTB Rating: N/A
So much has been said about Patterson that there’s not much left. He was the starter at Ole Miss last year before getting injured, and then there was a whole bunch of idiocy going on at Ole Miss, and he got out of town (as did several of his teammates). He passed for 300+ yards in five out of seven games, and he had 400+ passing yards twice. In the two games where he was below 300 yards, he completed fewer than 50% of his passes, threw 0 touchdowns, and threw 5 interceptions; those games came against #1 Alabama and #18 LSU. Was that a function of those teams being very good? Was it because Ole Miss wasn’t good? Does Patterson just fold in big games? It’s hard to say.
One thing is for sure, though: there are going to be plenty of big games for Patterson to prove himself at Michigan, whether it’s Michigan State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Wisconsin, or Ohio State. I initially thought Patterson would have a great season this year with all the tools available to him, including a few good tight ends and a bunch of talented wide receivers like Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black, Eddie McDoom, Grant Perry, Nico Collins, etc. Unfortunately, McDoom transferred and Black is on the shelf with a broken foot. I think Patterson’s season may be trending downward, but if I could put him even higher on this list, I would. With every receiver that drops out of the picture, that raises the importance of having Patterson healthy. Patterson is a guy who can extend plays, which can help guys with maybe a little less talent get open. Michigan is undoubtedly going to roll out some walk-ons or young guys who aren’t quite ready, but that’s the nature of the game sometimes. I expect Michigan’s offense to evolve a little bit this year, become a little more up-tempo, and become more spread-oriented. Patterson is likely going to throw some silly interceptions and take care of the ball less than what we want as fans, but sometimes his gambles will pay off in big ways, too.
Prediction: Starting quarterback; 3100 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions
I have a wee bit of time and an inkling to do an X’s and O’s post, which I rarely find the time to do. So let’s enjoy it while we can.
The hot thing in college football the past few years has been the RPO (a.k.a. Run-Pass Option), a different take on the old double or triple options that have been run for years. RPOs aren’t new to football, but they did disappear from the mainstream for a little while, and the new-ish emphasis on passing the ball has opened things up for offenses. The RPO discussion really ramped up during the Philadelphia Eagles’ run to the Super Bowl championship in the 2017-2018 season, because the Eagles run a fair number of them.
Hit the jump for more on Shea Patterson and RPOs.