A lot has been written about Patterson and the possible effect he will have on Michigan's season. Like Hunter Johnson, he was a five star recruit. Patterson was rated #1 among Pro Style QB's in his initial recruiting year. I was able to see Patterson play in Berkeley last year against Cal, and had a strong impression of his strengths and weaknesses coming out of that game, which Cal won 27-16. I recently found a video compilation of the Mississippi offensive plays in that game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylf7PUmOVHg.
The video pretty much confirmed what I thought I saw in person. First of all, Patterson has an incredible arm. Watching Cal games for a number of years, I have seen some terrific college QB's who went on to success in the NFL (Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff among them), but I think Patterson's arm may be the best if not one of the best I have ever seen. He also has a good set of wheels, and will punish any team that does not contain him in its pass rush. Against Cal, Patterson threw 44 times, completing 26 for 363 yards. He also was the ball carrier 13 times.
Despite his physical talents, however, he did not have a very good game that day. He was sacked 5 times, threw 3 interceptions, had a QB rating of 27.5 and Ole Miss scored 12 fewer that what Cal gave up on average, despite the fact that they are from the SEC, and as we all know, their skill players have speed no other conference can touch.
What I did notice about Patterson may have as much to do with the facts that the Mississippi coaching staff was in disarray a good part of last year, and that it was early season and Cal had completely changed its defense, and there was not much tape for Ole Miss to prepare with. Having said that, though, here are a few observations on how he played that day:
1) He tried to rely on his physical gifts to force plays. It appeared to me that he was used to being able to throw the ball into tight windows and scramble for big yards when threatened. Cal had a great game plan, and their DB's got some good breaks on the ball. They also really contained the scrambles.
2) He did not make productive pre-snap and early reads. Cal varied their pass rush, and Patterson did not recognize, check off to the vacated area and make Cal pay for their blitzes. Instead, he almost immediately broke off and scrambled, with the result that Cal was disrupting the Mississippi offense without negative consequence. Patterson made some big throws off of scrambles, but he was generally playing playground ball rather than using his designed offense.
3) When he did stay in the pocket, he did not go quickly through his progressions. Generally he either delivered to his primary receiver or he broke off the play.
4) He is not as tall as the ideal modern pocket passer. He lists at 6'2", but I would not be surprised if he is an inch or two shorter than that.
With all of that said, Harbaugh and the Michigan staff may well be able to bring him along quickly, but they will have some work to do. I also wonder how good he is as a fit for the offense JH likes to run. If he does stay primarily in the pocket, I imagine he will throw an above average number of tipped balls. On the other hand, if he does learn pocket discipline and how to look to his second and third receiver, he will be deadly. He delivers the ball quickly with great velocity, and any time he recognizes separation, he will make the defense pay.
It will be an interesting year for Michigan; if Patterson is not as quick a study as he needs to be, Harbaugh's temper might come out and his job could be on the line. If he is a quick study, Michigan, with its solid supporting offensive cast, could be a really tough team for anyone to beat, and this could be their year.
The video pretty much confirmed what I thought I saw in person. First of all, Patterson has an incredible arm. Watching Cal games for a number of years, I have seen some terrific college QB's who went on to success in the NFL (Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff among them), but I think Patterson's arm may be the best if not one of the best I have ever seen. He also has a good set of wheels, and will punish any team that does not contain him in its pass rush. Against Cal, Patterson threw 44 times, completing 26 for 363 yards. He also was the ball carrier 13 times.
Despite his physical talents, however, he did not have a very good game that day. He was sacked 5 times, threw 3 interceptions, had a QB rating of 27.5 and Ole Miss scored 12 fewer that what Cal gave up on average, despite the fact that they are from the SEC, and as we all know, their skill players have speed no other conference can touch.
What I did notice about Patterson may have as much to do with the facts that the Mississippi coaching staff was in disarray a good part of last year, and that it was early season and Cal had completely changed its defense, and there was not much tape for Ole Miss to prepare with. Having said that, though, here are a few observations on how he played that day:
1) He tried to rely on his physical gifts to force plays. It appeared to me that he was used to being able to throw the ball into tight windows and scramble for big yards when threatened. Cal had a great game plan, and their DB's got some good breaks on the ball. They also really contained the scrambles.
2) He did not make productive pre-snap and early reads. Cal varied their pass rush, and Patterson did not recognize, check off to the vacated area and make Cal pay for their blitzes. Instead, he almost immediately broke off and scrambled, with the result that Cal was disrupting the Mississippi offense without negative consequence. Patterson made some big throws off of scrambles, but he was generally playing playground ball rather than using his designed offense.
3) When he did stay in the pocket, he did not go quickly through his progressions. Generally he either delivered to his primary receiver or he broke off the play.
4) He is not as tall as the ideal modern pocket passer. He lists at 6'2", but I would not be surprised if he is an inch or two shorter than that.
With all of that said, Harbaugh and the Michigan staff may well be able to bring him along quickly, but they will have some work to do. I also wonder how good he is as a fit for the offense JH likes to run. If he does stay primarily in the pocket, I imagine he will throw an above average number of tipped balls. On the other hand, if he does learn pocket discipline and how to look to his second and third receiver, he will be deadly. He delivers the ball quickly with great velocity, and any time he recognizes separation, he will make the defense pay.
It will be an interesting year for Michigan; if Patterson is not as quick a study as he needs to be, Harbaugh's temper might come out and his job could be on the line. If he is a quick study, Michigan, with its solid supporting offensive cast, could be a really tough team for anyone to beat, and this could be their year.
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