Michigan Football, Team 138, 2017 Season.

[The Oracle]

You missed the story about him leaving.

[Cody_Russell]

Thanks! Completely missed that one.

[WM Wolverine]

'14 and '15 classes aren't doing their part. '14 class was one of those small classes after two excellent classes but Hoke was recruiting at a very high level in '15 till everyone figured out he was on the way out and deommitments ravaged that recruiting class.

Too bad JH could've brought back some of the talented '15 recruits that were previously committed to Hoke.

[Cody_Russell]

Yea only a handful (Kinnel, Wheatley, Higdon, & Perry) of players from 15 are contributors. Though Gentry, Runyon, Newsome, Uluzio and Jones(?) still can emerge. Given the circumstances Harbaugh had for 15, it makes sense that the class ended up like that. Getting Grant Perry (from NW) and Higdon (from Iowa) is a decent thing... but imagine how M will be in a few years when they are completely made up of full Harbaugh classes. 2020 will be the first team, really.... given 5th year players from the 16 class will be around.

[The Oracle]

Not that Im worried about the defense that much, but TVH brings up a good point....all the losses, but this is the first year since '13-14 that well have the same DC 2 years in a row. Will count for something.

[Hannibal]

The '14 class was small and it has had its share of busts on top of the best player only playing for essentially two seasons at Michigan (and no bowl games).

The '15 class was crap at the time and it has still fallen short of expectations.

[Hannibal]

Peters has apparently fallen behind McCaffrey now.

[hack]

Sounds like good news to me.

[Hannibal]

Two more years of a walk-on caliber (but highly coached up to his ceiling and maybe a bit beyond) QB is all but guaranteed, along with all of the associated negative outcomes.

[hack]

I don't agree. Speight is flawed but there are strengths that go with those weaknesses. Peters had a year to settle in, and Speight didn't have the job locked down. If Peters can't take it, let's see if there's another prospect good enough to do that.

[Hannibal]

I have a lot of sentimental like for Speight because he is such a ridiculous overachiever, but his strengths generally revolve around being a "game manager" in an offense that isn't good enough to win a conference championship with a game manager at the helm.

So let's just pray that McCaffrey pulls a Camp Sanderson and puts on the requisite 20 pounds of muscle that he needs.

And for the love of God, can we please finally get a blue-chipper athlete QB to get some good coaching and live up to his billing?

[hack]

Was Peters a blue-chip prospect? Is McCaffrey? Kinda on the fringes of that, no? I am ready for that true five-star top-10 overall prospect to sign up, that's for sure. You'd think Harbaugh will close on one within his first 3-4 years on the job. Those guys aren't there every year though.

That said though, Speight isn't nearly as bad as you're making him out to be. I don't think he'll be an effective NFL QB, but it won't be surprising if he has a good enough career to get drafted. Whether he also QBs his way to a few signature victories seems less likely than getting drafted, mind you.

[Hannibal]

Peters and McCaffrey were both Top 100 guys IIRC. Great prospects and ideal fits for Harbaugh. It would be a tremendous disappointment if at least one of those two does not lead us to a playoff berth someday.

[hack]

But not blue-chippers. High four-stars. Though I agree that if by the time both graduate there hasn't been a playoff berth/win, that's a failure.

[Cody_Russell]

Peters is still ahead of Malzone, so it might not be terrible, or bad at all.