pay attention to meeeeeeeeeeeee

I don't know if you're being serious or not.

You don't think most everyone know the dangers of football? Do you think a large majority if they knew they would have problems later would still sign up to play?

Are you really saying a LOI is anything close to signing something that looks like this....

"If you play play football you will likely experience the following"

- Loss of emotional control
- Depression
- Severe Depresion
- Increased risk of parkinsons
- Increased risk of ALS
- Memory loss
- Suicidal thoughts
- Suicide attempts

I'm guessing, no.

RG,
I still watch and enjoy knowing full well the current crop of players are the most informed that have ever played football

ILP,
What elite defenses are on the schedule this year? MSU probably the best because McDowell and their LBs

You're wading into ILP waters stating absolutes here. None of us really know a ****ing thing about our QB situation except HARBAUGH and the fact that HARBAUGH, Drevno, and anybody else who has talked about our QBs have clearly stated that Speight and O'Korn are better than Rudock was at this point last season. I don't know why anyone would be shocked right now. It should have been clear after watching the spring game that Speight had a solid shot at starting this fall.

If you look at our roster and our coaching staff and don't think that's good enough to potentially beat any team in the country, then I don't know what to ****ing tell you ladies.

Like 95% I'm going to Wisconsin.

I'm saying the players have been told and know about this now and they don't care, instead of quiting football they are signing on to play at the next level. You think if the NCAA says guys you have to sign this waiver or you can't sign your LOI, how many don't sign? Signing a LOI is about as close as saying I now the risks and still want to play waiver form.

What I'm saying is even if they say they know the risks, they obviously don't on any real meaningful level. An institute of higher education offering football in 2016, with all the data out there, seems borderline unreal.

Let me know if it happens. Would love to meet up

We need a thread meet up this season.

AFAICT there are none, which is why I said that 11 wins or a season like Michigan State had last year is still in the cards. But if we make the playoffs, chances are we will run into a real defense and then they're gonna cheat like hell and tee off on Speight and then we're ****ed.

That's just BS coach speak that isn't worth taking seriously. What matters is this: the odds of Speight being better than Rudock this year are pretty slim. I haven't checked out the stats thoroughly, but Rudock just had one of the best statistical seasons in Michigan history. I mean seriously, choose the stat of your liking and compare him to past Michigan QBs. You'll see what I'm talking about. The fact that you seem to take that statement seriously makes me wonder if you have the ability to think for yourself or if you have a clue how good Rudock was last year.

Please tell us something we don't know. We all followed Michigan in the spring. We all know that O'korn didn't look good. No one is shocked right now. That doesn't change that fact that we all should be disappointed that Speight beat out O'korn.

It's not good enough. Plain and simple. I mean we were arguably a year away even if JOK was legit, but now that he's not this team has a definite ceiling. In order to beat the heavy weights that we'd surely meet in the playoffs, we needed a dynamic QB that could move the chains with his arm and feet. Maybe soon when we're stockpiled with NFL talent everywhere that won't be the case, one can dream, but that's the situation now.

With Speight as our best QB we're not winning @OSU let alone vs an elite defense in the playoffs.

lol @ this team being a year away "even if JOK was legit"

the idea that this team was somehow going to be even better in 2017 is ridiculous

the ghost of ikes is screaming "because football is a game played by a QB and a coach" right now

and i'm well aware of what rudock did last year

Then don't bother watching.

The notion of O'Korn's upside vs. Speight has been exaggerated. All things being equal, physical tools of mobility, or arm strength are great, but there's so much more to being an efficient QB than that. Several all-time greats including Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning excelled without being physically dominant. Drew Henson would definitely have been tagged as having more upside when competing with Brady for reps at UM, but we know now he was the lesser QB.

And as far as BS coach speak goes: context. My default assumption is that it's usually just coach speak, too, in a vacuum. In this instance, though, this wasn't a coach giving your typical vague "they're doing great, throwing really well, etc." Harbaugh and Drevno (among others) each made a comparison to Rudock at this point last year. I see no reason why they would bother to give such a definitive answer if this weren't the case.

You have a point there. Maybe "2+ years away" is better.

We're not a good enough team to beat an Alabama/Clemson type team with a QB that can't run for first downs. Maybe down the road we will be.

Don't be dumb. Seeing this team win 11 games this year will be special.

Still not relevant. The odds Speight will be better than Rudock this year are still slim to none. Even if we grant that the coaches are serious, who cares who's better in August. Rudock just turned in one of the best years in Michigan history. By the end of the year he was in such a zone it seemed like he was making the exact right decision with his arm and feet every time.

Well the fantasy was that we'd have every bit the passer as Speight along with the mobility--the kind've combo that could keep an elite defense honest. As Heater correctly pointed out, that fantasy started to crumble during spring, but you know, there was still room for some healthy delusion that O'Korn could turn it around. Well it didn't happen. So yeah, "the notion of O'Korn's upside vs Speight has [indeed] been exaggerated". In fact it now looks like all it ever was, was a fantasy that was born in fall practice last year and has now officially died this year. No big deal, we're still a damn good team in contention for a B1G championship, but to now act like we are still legit national title contenders is a bit too delusional for my tastes but to each his own.

We have a potentially historically great defense coupled with a whole lot of offense returning. If that's not a legit national title contender, I don't know what is.

Yep. And it's looking like our starting QB is going to start out this season even better than Rudock began last year. How exciting!

Except Rudock was not very good at the beginning of last year...

I mean we could always run good vs a super elite team but I think we are not a top 5 team in the country talent wise. I actually think the combo of iffy offensive line play with iffy QB play is what holds us back with the offensive line being way more important than the QB. If you look at teams that play at an elite level despite a mediocre QB they all had amazing offensive lines.

If Rudock was still our QB or O'Korn was legit we would be. Not with Speight. 11 wins is still a nice ceiling.

Meh.

you guys get all that out of your system yet?