Michigan Football: Mailbag question — You not like Steven Threet?

Posted at 6:00am — 2/1/2008

Michigan Football: Mailbag question — You not like Steven Threet?

Hello Guys,

During the hiring of Coach Rod and Mallett leaving you seem to not like Steven Threet?

Why is that and why don’t you think he is a good fit for this new Michigan offense? Another question is that Threet might leave after spring ball? I have seen you use 70% that Coach Rod will only be able to use his offense, etc. So what gives?

Thanks for taking the questions.
James

————————————

GBMWolverine Response:
Well thanks for the questions, but honestly, Threet is not the ideal quarterback for a Coach Rod offense. People keep bringing up when he was the offensive coordinator at Tulane and Shaun King. Well remember he wasn’t the head coach and the head coach has control over the team and who it recruits, what offense and defense you run, etc. Coach Rod was at West Virginia for seven years out of those seven years as head coach how many of them were with a running style quarterback and how many were with a pro style quarterback.

If you really look at the quarterbacks that Coach Rod is recruiting you can see he wants a running style quarterback that is at least a dual threat. Meaning he wants to run his run option spread read offense where he uses the option run scheme. With Threet he will not be able to run that part of the offense. Is that a knock on Threet? No, it is what it is, Threet cannot change the type of quarterback he is, and Michigan cannot just go to something without that quarterback so they will adapt to what they have for now. If they had their choice Pryor would be the quarterback from day one and that is the offense that Coach Rod would want to run, but I don’t see Pryor coming here unless several things change and he ignores his family situation.

Another thing to remember that people said if Mallett does not want to be here that is fine we will just get Pryor. Well when all that talk came out we was telling people at that time he was “REALLY” looking to be going to Ohio State and don’t ASSuME just because Mallett leaves that Pryor automatically will come to Michigan because we believe he goes to Ohio State. He has a great relationship with several Ohio State recruits and now current players that have bonded with them for quite awhile. At Michigan Coach Rod is telling him that the offense would be his if he came to Michigan and would probably start from day one.

Regarding Threet and transferring. Well he is not going anywhere right now because he is got thrown into the starting roll when Mallett gave him a gift by leaving. Threet cannot transfer to another division one program since he has already so that would mean he would have to go to a lower division to play. Why would he leave now anyways since he is the starter? The people that thought Threet would battle Mallett this spring for the starting job have not really watched practices or have read e-mail reports about the two quarterbacks. Right now, there is no reason for Threet to leave. If Pryor would somehow come to Michigan, now then you might question what might happen with Threet. We think a two-quarterback system might still be used until we see how Pryor throws the ball. If he comes in and starts from day one and Threet does not play then you might start thinking he will go to a lower division like what “Gutz” did so he could play football.

We will go back to our other article about Threet and what “other” people I trust their opinions. Steven Threet is going into spring football as the leading candidate for the quarterback job on the current roster right now. We have no idea right now what is going to happen in recruiting and who Michigan might land for that position, but talking with a couple of people we have talked with regarding Threet they have given me their impressions on him positively and also his negatives. Two separate comments and both seem the same.

What are the positives on Threet right now?
Good size and arm strength. Good ball handler who rides his fakes well, hides the ball with easy, and delivers the ball out of fakes. Stands tall in the pocket and sees entire field. Throws ball with nice touch that is very easy to catch. Shows some pocket presence and moves “OK” in pocket. Steps up nicely in the pocket and shows nice throws on short passing game. Did run QB read and option off it a little bit. Reads it well and showed nice pitch on the option.

He does not seem to have bad feet as far as in the pocket type of feet. He does okay feet wise inside the pocket. He throws well, much better job throwing the ball inside, slants, deep posts. He seems to have decent touch on the little passes to running backs. Kids seem to really like him since he has or was stuck behind Mallet and only really looked to be a sub while Mallett would have been here.

What are the negatives or things he needs to work on?
He needs to do with more consistency. Stronger runner, who is never going to be excellent sprinter, He needs improvement on boots and roll-outs needs to get his front shoulder around and feet parallel to line of scrimmage. This leads him to throw boots behind the receivers. Would like to see his elbow and back shoulder a tad higher. Also needs to be more consistent stepping into passes and using his nice crow step. Sometimes delivers ball flat-footed. He needs to improve his foot quickness and agility.

He is a quiet kid. Running wise I would considered him slow. When he gets outside the pocket, he struggles. Kind of Navarre like when it comes to that. He has a tendency to stand up he looks stiff stands erect no bending knees type of quarterback. He is robotic in his movements no great confidence throwing deep out running post. He has a tendency to always look at the primary receiver and at times force it to the primary receiver instead of checking off, but that might be a confidence thing. He felt like here is the play and this is where he was supposed to throw it instead of looking around. As the year went on, he seemed to get better and better with the scout team. Running post like Michigan has in past.

How will the Wide Receivers be at Michigan with Threet or Pryor?
Michigan WR’s will not be like in the old system. The new Michigan offense will be quick passing and WR’s screens. WR’s group Clemons and Hemingway they both came on at the end of the year. It is not going be the same. Butler if he makes if through the S&C he will be unstoppable. Webb could play WR if makes if through S&C as well. This S&C is a new ball game and will be interesting to see how the players react to it after the “honeymoon” wears off.

Just a reminder, you must be a member to participate on the free Message Board. Here is the link for the registration page for those people interested in becoming a GBMWolverine member of our message board. GBMWolverine Register.

Please comment on our GBMWolverine Message Board about this article and read what others comment.

You can contact us at our e-mail address: GBMWolverine

Please follow us on Twitter: @GBMWolverine

Written by GBMWolverine Staff

Go Blue — Wear Maize!