Jim Harbaugh Anxious To See How QBs Have Improved
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has a number of options at quarterback this year and has remained steadfast that any of a handful could start for the Wolverines this fall. The one who does will probably be the one who improved the most this summer.
Redshirt junior John O’Korn and redshirt sophomore Wilton Speight appeared to be the two who stood out coming out of spring, with redshirt junior Shane Morris and freshman Brandon Peters also in the mix.
“We’ll throw the balls out Aug. 8 and let them compete for it … no tricks, politics or games,” Harbaugh said. “We want a guy that can move our team downfield and get our team into the end zone … not one drive move the team and score, the next drive throw an interception for touchdown.
“It’s a sliding scale there. Who does that the best is what we’re looking for, and that will be the difference -- who gives our team the best chance to do that, move the team and put the ball into end zone.”
The slate is clean and open, he added. All the quarterbacks have been working with receivers during informal 7-on-7s this year, and fifth-year senior Amara Darboh insisted all have had their moments.
“I’ve always truly experienced and believed that at the quarterback position you go through spring ball and there’s an order … good, better, best,” Harbaugh said. “Somebody is 1, 2, 3. After spring, those four months, a quarterback can improve or not improve. You see the result of that Aug. 8.
“The quarterback position is like kicker or punter; they can actually go out and throw into a net. You can get better as a quarterback working on drops, ball handling if you don't have anybody else, whereas with the offensive line it’s hard to work at football technique as much as quarterback, kicker and punter.”
NOTES
• Harbaugh said his entire team, not just the quarterbacks, has been working hard on their own this summer.
“The great thing about football … at receiver [for example], no matter what you did whether it’s you split, your route, your move, the way you caught the ball, the way you tucked it and got yards after the catch, there’s always something you can coach or tell yourself you could have done better,” he said. “You could have put the ball in a better place as a back, could have seen the hole, gotten better leverage on the block.
“But that applies to every position. O-line play it’s steps and hand placement. It’s get off on the D-line, it’s pushback, eyes in the secondary, peddle, instinct. As a football player and as a team, there is every way, every play a way to improve and get better. So we’re chasing all that. We’re chasing every single possible way to improve.”