Wolverine247 Board

+1. I agree with everything you said. Bellomy should be the guy.
People are acting like Morris is already better than Bellomy, and that is just not true imo. No way a true freshman is more suited to play in Borges' offense than a QB who has been in the system for two years.

Morris should redshirt.

Morris redshirting is a good idea, but I don't see it.

Gardner has said he still wants to be the QB when Denard leaves. If he stays with that, then I think he battles it out with Bellomy and then needs to STAY at QB. But, the more likely scenario is that he just STAY at WR if he chooses that OR if he loses out to Bellomy. I don't think you can have a new starting QB who is backed up by only a part-time QB. I think they will have to keep Morris as an option and they will want to get him some game experience. I hope I am wrong, but I just can't see us affording that luxury.

I think the fact Gardner is wearing 12 this year might be a hint. Gardner was recruited as a quarterback and I think Hoke & Co will give him every chance to compete for that position.

I like Bellomy as well, guess we'll see who wins out over the off season.

I thought Gardner made some great strides in terms of maturing as a QB when he came into games in 2011. He is a very talented QB and I think he is better than Bellomy. Don't get me wrong, Bellomy has potential to be an excellent quarterback but Gardner will know the offense better as a senior next year. With Gardner's athletic ability, if he can be smart with the football, he's a really dangerous player. That being said, he might be more valuable to the team because of the lack of receivers at Michigan.

I agree with this post 99.9%.* Also, for all you people who think Gardner should stay at WR and Morris should red shirt, who do you expect to be Bellomy's backup? QBs get dinged up in games all the time. Sometimes they even run into trouble off the field or get injured in a game for the rest of the season. Or your starter throws three picks in the first quarter of a big game and you want to have another option in your back pocket.

A major program like Michigan should always have four scholarship QBs. We have skated by with three the past couple of years because we never replaced Tate. And we've been lucky. No one else got seriously injured or was suspended for off field issues or transferred. But with Denard graduating, if we permanently move Gardner to WR and seriously want Morris to red shirt, we will be down to one active scholarship QB and two sophomore walk-ons who probably are walk-ons for a reason. IMO that's crazy.

* The reason I didn't put 100% is that by next year we will have Gallon, Dileo, Jackson, Robinson, Darboh, Chesson and Funchess as WRs and TEs who can catch and have some game experience. IMO we will be ok at WR without Gardner and it is more important to have another QB to protect Morris' red shirt.

Physically, you are probably right. But Gardner is still learning the position. Someone like Darboh who played WR in HS might have some advantages in route running and technique and will be in his second year as a WR at UM just like Gardner. Also, Gallon and Dileo are very good slot guys. They are not big enough to be effective on the outside (see Roundtree) but they will be in the slot regardless of which position Gardner plays. And I am not saying Gardner wouldn't be the best WR, but at least we have a number of other solid options at the position if he plays QB. Alternatively, if he plays WR, who backs up Bellomy?

I think it should be Bellomy. I think he'll surprise people next year and Gardner will continue being a future first round WR IMO.

And Morris can back him up and still redshirt We'll hopefully not use him, but if we need a QB to come in and replace Bellomy, we can burn his RS.

The reason for DG moving to WR is because they trust Bellomy enough to be the second string if Denard goes down. Gardner will be the QB next year.

I understand Gardner's talent at WR. And maybe Gardner will decide that's where he wants to remain. But if that is the plan, then IMO the coaches and Gardner should make that decision no later than December and the coaches should try hard to add a second QB to the 2013 class. They won't get someone of Morris' caliber, but maybe they can snag a solid prospect late in the process just like they did with Bellomy. It will give us a D-1 scholarship option at QB to use to protect Morris' red shirt next year and much needed depth at the position going forward. Assuming we take another QB the following year, we will be back to four scholarship QBs by 2014.

I have the same question about Bellomy. Everyone is acting like Bellomy has done something in a game that makes them all confident that Bellomy will be good. I have not seen anything from Bellomy to make me have confidence that we should just give him the starting QB spot.

My opinion is that it should be open competition in the spring and if Gardner turns out to be the best option at QB then so be it. Best case scenario would be that Gardner can stay at WR and Bellomy turns out good enough to lead this team.

Not sure if it worked, a team just did it because that was their best option at the time. And I agree, Gardner should play QB if he is much better than Bellomy. Like I was saying, theres pros and cons of all these situations and you never know what could happen? Shane Morris could prove he's ready and start the first game of the season. You never really know.

Meh .. people can question Bellomy all they want, but you can see from his high school film that he cant make a lot of throws. I'm ok with having the playbook a bit on the conservative side in order to play to his strengths .. and by that I mean .. if its true that his arm strength lacks .. then gear the playbook towards what he can do. I by no means think we should just give him the starting spot .. but I really think Devin would have to destroy Russell in the Spring for him to go back to taking snaps full time. I just dont see it happening.

Devin being the #2 is a definite possibility, ESPECIALLY if the coaches are wanting to redshirt Shane, and Bellomy goes down. Yea, our wideouts would take a hit, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.