Breakdown Sports

I'll get into more things later, but wanted to at least give a brief primer on Michigan's new Head Coach, Jim Harbaugh. Gregory Shamus, Getty Images Jim Harbaugh, throughout his coaching tenure, has ran a predominately West Coast Offense based offense. He prefers to be a bit more run heavy than many of the WCO predecessors, but he's willing to mix it up. He favors FBs and H-Backs and loves to utilize a variety of man blocking schemes with them to make it more difficult to key on players as a defense. Pulls, short traps, long traps, whams, leads, kicks, seals, he'll use whatever he can to give a different look to the defense. The Key Play

Originally posted at Bucky's 5th Quarter on Oct 3, 2013 Because Wisconsin has such run game prowess, many of its passing concepts attack the sidelines, away from the box area. In this area, the Badgers will often run "route adjustments" depending on the coverage. These adjustments allow the Wisconsin offense to attack multiple coverages with limited receivers, as other eligible receivers tend to be used to sell the run fake or help out in pass protection. They rely on the quarterback and receiver seeing the same thing, and if they don't, it often leads to bad things. In this post, I'm going to try to piece together where these issues were made and talk about why you have these adjustments within your offense.

cbssports Introduction The scramble, or as Borges calls it, the third play has been a huge asset at times to Michigan this year, as well as a liability at other times. In this article, we are going to discuss some scramble rules. This includes how to the QB can utilize different escape moves, how the QB will throw on the run, and how the WRs react to QB movement. Escaping the Pocket First, let’s get a basic thing out of the way as far as pocket movement. This is not an escape move, but climbing in the pocket does a few things: it helps a pocket naturally form around the QB; it makes the QB into a non-stationary target; and it helps guide the QB’s eyes and timing. Some will call this “hitch stepping”, I prefer to call it “climbing the ladder” or “climbing in the pocket”. In my opinion, the hitch step is the weight transfer at the end of the drop in which your weight goes from your front foot and you hitch both feet forward to transfer the weight onto your back foot to prep...

Introduction Michigan ran a two plays last Saturday against Notre Dame that where the same exact concept. Intended to take advantage or the Irish getting lost in zone or getting rubbed in man, these two plays are the Y-Stick concept and the Z-Snag concept. Both are essentially the same play but with different receivers running extremely similar routes to similar parts of the field. Michigan would run it once early to see what Notre Dame was giving them. They’d run it a second time but get presented with a different look. They’d run it a third time for a huge pick up as they saw what they originally saw early in the game. Then they’d run it a fourth time, or, they’d present it a fourth time, but then run something very different for an easy TD. Y-Stick Pass Concept The Y-Stick Pass concept is relatively new as far as concepts go, but also fairly common. A staple within most West Coast Offenses and Air Raid Offenses, it provides the QB with simple reads and can attack both man and zo...

Over at MGoBlog, I have a post detailing the progression of a QB (in this case Devin Gardner) and detail how a combination of game speed slowing down and footwork dictating reads can greatly improve QB play. LINK Also of note for additional viewing:

Omissions Wisconsin Commit D.J. Gillins supposedly used to have about a 13 minute highlight tape. Unfortunately that got taken down and no subsequent highlight film has been uploaded onto the internet. Therefore, he goes unranked here, though he sounds like a good player. Iowa also does not currently have a QB commit for the '14 class from my understanding. Baseline Rank Chris Durkin - Michigan St - 6.5 Will Ulmer - Maryland - 6.25 Zack Darlington - Nebraska - 6.25 Wilton Speight - Michigan - 6.0 Michael O'Connor - Penn St - 6.0 Clayton Thorson - Northwestern - 6.0 Tyler Wiegers - Rutgers - 6.0 David Blough - Purdue - 5.5 Chayce Crouch - Illinois - 5.5 Stephen Collier - Ohio State - 5.0 Dimonic McKinzy - Minnesota - 4.75 Alex Diamont - Indiana - 4.25 Ceiling Rank Chris Durkin - Michigan St - 8.25 Wilton Speight - Michigan - 8.25 David Blough - Purdue - 8.25 Michael O'Connor - Penn St - 8.0 Will Ulmer - Maryland - 8.0 Clayton ...

Ceiling: 8               Ranking: 6                  Floor: 3.75 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Detroit Country Day (Franklin, MI) Size: 6'3" - 200 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, 0.8697 ,  #25 Pro #476 Overall 247 : 3 Star, 83, #55 Pro Rivals : 4 Star, 5.8, #7 Pro, #180 Overall Scout : 3 Star, #35 QB Favorites:  Rutgers (Commit) Others:  Iowa, CMU, WMU Strengths Gets the ball deep and is a great passer on throws 10+ yards (particularly post patterns) Very comfortable throwing on the run, particularly moving right Keeps his eyes down field and gets the ball into the hands of his play makers. Can really push the ball deep by having good arm strength and a nice flight trajectory. Ball drops in pretty well and he allows for his WRs to make plays. Good throwing power on intermediate routes, gets good height and zip on his post and dig type routes, really steps in an...

Ceiling: 8               Ranking: 6.25                  Floor: 4.5 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: St John's College (Washington, DC) Size: 6'0" - 190 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, 0.8747 ,  #10 Dual, #417 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 90, #15 Dual. #238 Overall Rivals : 3 Star, 5.7 Scout : 3 Star, #37 QB Favorites:  Maryland (Commit) Others: Arizona, Arizona St, Arkansas, Boston College, Cincinnati, Florida St, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Miami (FL), Michigan St, NC State, Ohio St, Rutgers, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin Strengths Good trajectory to throw into the seam or over opening between CBs and safeties in a cover 2 Fast and quick runner that can take it for a TD at any time Gets low behind the LOS and sets up blockers well to get into the second level Decent throwing strength. While he struggles to push the ball deep and doesn't have pure arm strength,...

Ceiling: 8.25                 Ranking: 5.5                  Floor: 3 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Creekview (Charrollton, TX) Size: 6'1" - 185 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, 0.8498 ,  #40 Pro, #821 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 90, #15 Pro. #238 Overall Rivals : 3 Star, 5.5 Scout : 3 Star, #38 QB Favorites:  Purdue (Commit) Strengths Very good quick release with great arm and wrist snap for good ball velocity Capable of putting the ball over top of the defense and drop the ball in a barrel with little wasted hang time Moves well within the pocket and has good footwork at this stage Very good at stepping up into the pocket and escaping out of the natural lanes that form by pass rushers getting up field. Little wasted movement going from read to throwing motion; ball doesn't extend much behind helmet and is snapped forward quickly at a height just about at the top of his...

Ceiling: 8                 Ranking: 6                  Floor: 3.5 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) Size: 6'5" - 215 lbs. Composite: 4 Star, 0.9020 ,  #13 Pro, #251 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 90, #16 Pro Rivals : 4 Star, 5.8, #8 Pro, #188 Overall Scout : 3 Star, #28 QB Favorites: Penn State (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Michigan State, Miss St, Mizzou, Rutgers, South Florida, Vandy Strengths Very quick, compact release leaves little time for defenders to anticipate throws Capable of switching up trajectories with good touch Size allows him to see field and go through progressions well at this stage Has a nice, quick, compact release, finishes with his arm releasing to throwing hand side. Capable of switching up ball flight trajectory and applying touch for different types of throws. Has great height and size for a QB. Is able to...

Ceiling: 7                 Ranking: 5                  Floor: 3 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Lee County (Leesburg, GA) Size: 6'4" - 210 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, 0.8461 ,  #24 Dual, #891 Overall 247 : 3 Star, 89, #10 Dual Rivals : 2 Star, 5.4, Pro Scout : 3 Star, #57 QB Favorites:  Ohio State (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Boston College, Cincinnati, Wake Forest Strengths Great size for the QB position Shows flashes of potential when technique improves Strong runner that breaks arm tackles and keeps legs moving on contact Great size for a QB. Sees the field pretty well. Has the capability of putting some air under the ball and going deep. Shows flashes of potential. When he gets proper technique he can deliver the ball better and more on a line. When he delivers the ball over top of his shoulder and finishes toward the target and combines some low...

Ceiling: 8                 Ranking: 6                  Floor: 3.75 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Wheaton North (Wheaton, IL) Size: 6'4" - 195 lbs. Composite: 4 Star, 0.8973 ,  #15 Pro, #271 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 92, #11 Pro Rivals : 4 Star, 5.8, #7 Pro Scout : 3 Star, #43 Pro Favorites:  Northwestern (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, NC State, Ole Miss, Penn St, Syracuse Strengths Strong arm on short passes, capable of firing ball in quickly Quick release and good at moving the pocket Underrated athlete that can keep defenses honest with his feet Strong arm, can really rocket a ball in there. Displays the ability to put some air on the ball and throw over top of defenses. Good height. Has a release point above his helmet, while still not with full arm extension, still gives him a high release point...

Ceiling: 8.25                 Ranking: 6.5                  Floor: 5 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Ursuline (Youngstown, OH) Size: 6'4" - 230 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, 0. 8877,  #16 Pro, #319 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 90, #17 Pro Rivals : 3 Star, 5.7, #15 Pro Scout : 4 Star, #14 Pro, #239 Overall Favorites:  Michigan State (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Cal, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern Strengths Ball velocity and rotation, putting the ball on receivers fast Very good running ability Capable of threatening every area of the field with arm Has the ability to make throws to every part of the field. Has good pure arm strength and releases the ball with good arm and wrist snap, giving the ball pretty good velocity and puts it on the receiver fast. Quick release allows him to get the ball out of his hands fast. Capable of putting the ball in all areas of t...