the wos

I posted several times during last season that the wos were not getting separation and were running poor routes. They also dropped a lot of balls they could have caught. I'd forgotten that UM really didn't have a wo coach last year. In hindsight JH has admitted that was a mistake. I think with McElwein and Roundtree coaching there should be vast improvement this year. Certainly the talent is there but last year the skill set was not. While QB was a big problem last year it was made much worse by the inability of the wos to consistently get open. There is always preseason hype as to how all the positions are better than last year. I can't help but think that with two coaches dedicated to coaching the wos, especially Roundtree who ran good routes got separation and made some tough catches (remember v ND and NW?) there should be big improvement at the wo position this year.

I agree. I think there is tons of room for improvement. I read somewhere (can't vouch for its accuracy), that Mich has won all of its games under JH in which our QB had at least a rating of 49.4 (which is pretty low). That has been a product of both the QB and the receivers (as well as the O-line of course).

Another huge improvement brought about by a coaching change, FBF1---at least if all the hyperbolic articles and player interviews are taken at face value---is strength coach Ben Herbert. The players not only seem to genuinely like him (and more importantly, buy into his philosophies), but praise their results under him (short/small as the 'sample size' thus far might be).

Also, Shoes: a QB rating that low (but hopefully considerably higher this year, given the anticipated (key word!) improvement from WOs and O-line) would be very, very tolerable in '18, when one considers the caliber of DEFENSE that has the their backs...

Michigan’s pass protection was just plain awful last year (although the run blocking wasn’t so bad) so the QB rating stat IMO is a little misleading however I get your point. Several factors are going to play into Michigan having a much more successful passing game this year. McElwain, Rountree, a healthy Tariq black, Patterson extending plays, etc etc. The bottom line is that Michigan is going to have a much more rounded offensive attack this year and that can only be a good thing.

Regarding strength and conditioning, I have read the exact same reports and it seems that the players are all on board. Can’t wait to see how their mental toughness is.

This is the tv sports wasteland season. World Cup? Makes baseball seem exciting by comparison. Teams play 90+ minutes and are lucky to score once in all that time. Best way to watch baseball is to watch ESPN highlights. You can see all the action in the game in a 15 second summary. Saves you 3-4 hours.

Anyway have watched a couple of the reruns on BTN of the BIG bowl games. Mainly Wisconsin, Purdue, and NW. The wo play in those games put UM to shame. Those three teams had wos getting open and making clutch catches. UM had none of that last year, especially after Black went down. Yes the OL blocking wasn't great and O'Korn in particular was awful, but UM's wos deserve a huge part of the blame for UM's terrible passing attack last year.

If UM can get average OL play, and the wos learn to get open and catch the ball, which they certainly have the talent to do but need to be proprely coached as to how to do it, the um qb, whoever it is, can certainly get the ball to them. IMO the passing game is what will make or break UM this season.

It seemed the few times they got open and the ball got to them, it was dropped.