Dante Moore example is why U-M fans shouldn't give up on Bryce Underwood

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The narrative surrounding Michigan football quarterback Bryce Underwood before and after the spring game has been a tale of two thought processes. Before the spring game, it was how much can he improve upon an up-and-down freshman season? After, it was is he even capable?

The flames were fanned when former NFL star safety Eric Weddle shared that he had visited a Wolverines spring practice and proclaimed that Underwood would soon be benched for a backup. Even many Michigan football fans joined in the consternation.

However, in a conversation with former Michigan QB David Cone, On3 analyst J.D. PicKell gave an excellent example why you don't give up on a five-star quarterback after his first year in college football.

"You talk about the Bryce Underwood skill set. For me, it's almost more risky to, at this point after one year of starting, say, no, I'm good," PicKell said. "No, he can't throw. Can't play the position. I'm like, I don't know. Even if that's true, 13 games is all you need to see with a head coach that seemingly can't put his phone down and won't let his offensive coordinator be his offensive coordinator. I'm like, OK, maybe we get some adults in the building. We'll let Bryce play a full year of college football and see how much better he can be from that. 

"You made a great point about guys playing, or not having to play early, rather. We saw Dante Moore, who's maybe going to be the first round pick or the overall first pick in next year's NFL draft at UCLA, wanted to play as a freshman. Same deal as Bryce. I want to play. I want to play a competitor. Great. Goes to UCLA. It was not good. It was turbulent. It was ugly. So much so to where Dante Moore says, hey, I need to go sit for a year somewhere. Goes and sits for a year. You see the dividends of Oregon, where he's maybe going to, again, be a guy that has a bunch of opportunities to win the Heisman Trophy or win a national championship and be the first overall pick in next year's draft.

"So, Bryce not having to figure it out on a really visible stage for the entire college football world to watch as he's figuring it out on the fly with not a lot of help. It just feels way too early to punt on anything that he could be when it's all said and done in his time."

Cone also mentioned how most top-tier quarterbacks don't see the field in their first year, pointing to Ohio State QB Julian Sayin (the same could be said of former Buckeyes' star C.J. Stroud).

But players aren't their worst moments either behind the scenes or in spring games — they're evaluated on what they do in the season. And certainly, a player like Underwood hasn't hit his ceiling after just one year of college football.

If Underwood plays and continues to struggle, showing little or no development, once the season arrives, then would be a time to have consternation. But even then, as a sophomore, he's still young, he still has time to develop. Michigan has surrounded him with receiver talent this offseason, and there are new coaches across the board to help him and the offense become better than they had been.

PicKell's point on Dante Moore is salient, as he played nine games as a starter for the Bruins, completing 53.5% of his passes for 1,610 yards with 11 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. This past year, at Oregon, he completed 71.8% of his passes for 3,565 yards, with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Time on task and development are key, so to eschew Underwood for yet another project would be foolish, to say the least, because he has the physical tools to be among the top signal callers in the country. And we've seen before, more often than not, that it takes some time for quarterbacks — or even players in college football, regardless of position — to hit their stride.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: On3 makes perfect case on why people should give up on Bryce Underwood

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