Wilton Speight

Wilton Speight
Michigan Wolverines No. 3
Position Quarterback
Class Junior
Career history
College
High school Collegiate (Richmond, VA)
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-12-06) December 6, 1994
Place of birth Henrico County, Virginia
Height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight 243 lb (110 kg)
Career highlights and awards

Robert Wilton Speight III (born December 6, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines. After redshirting in 2014, he was Michigan's backup quarterback in 2015 and led the Wolverines to a fourth quarter comeback against Minnesota. As a redshirt sophomore in 2016, he started 12 games and earned third-team All-Big Ten honors. Speight was selected by ESPN.com as the seventh best high school quarterback and played in the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game. His grandfather is 1953 basketball All-American Bobby Speight.

Early years

Speight was born in 1994 in Henrico County, Virginia.[1] His father, Robert Wilton Speight, Jr., played basketball, and his grandfather, Robert Wilton Speight, Sr., was a second-team All-American basketball player in 1953 who later had his jersey retired at NC State.[2] Speight is the oldest of three brothers; his younger brothers are Griffin and Jess.[2]

Speight played high school football for Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia.[3] He was a highly recruited Virginia high school athlete who was being recruited by the likes of Virginia Tech until a severe collarbone injury during the first game of his fall 2011 junior season that required a metal plate and eight screws to repair caused most schools to lose interest in him.[4] Speight had previously had a medial collateral ligament injury.[2] Speight hired quarterback guru Steve Clarkson to help him regain his form and posted 2,900 yards and 32 touchdowns in 10 games during the 2012 season.[5] He was unranked by most services at the time.[6] A few months later after player rankings were reassessed following his second chance at his junior season in 2012, he was the number 7 ranked quarterback in the national class of 2014 according to ESPN.[7] Other ratings services also returned him to their class of 2014 rankings: 16 by Rivals.com and 21 by Scout.com following his reclassification.[6] Speight appeared in the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game, completing two of six passes for 63 yards.[8][9] He started at quarterback and served as team captain.[10]

In 2014, Speight was named the Collegiate School's Outstanding Senior Athlete, an award which had been shared by NFL quarterback Russell Wilson in 2007.[11]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
Wilton Speight
QB		 Richmond, Virginia Collegiate (VA) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 4.73 Feb 6, 2013 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:4/5 stars   ESPN grade: 82
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 27 (VA)  ESPN: 257 (national), 13 (QB, pocket passer), 8 (VA)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

University of Michigan

Commitment and redshirt season

In early February 2013, Speight received a scholarship offer, and promptly verbally committed, to play college football at the University of Michigan.[12] On October 16, 2013, he signed his early enrollment letter.[13] In January 2014, he enrolled early at Michigan.[14][15] He attended Michigan's spring camp in March 2014 under coach Brady Hoke.[16] Speight redshirted his entire freshman season for the 2014 Wolverines as fifth-year senior Devin Gardner led the team.[17]

2015 season

As a redshirt freshman for the 2015 Wolverines, Speight began the season as a backup to Jake Rudock and Shane Morris. Speight made his Michigan debut on September 12, 2015, taking kneel-down snaps in the closing minutes of a victory over Oregon State. Asked why he played Speight instead of Morris at the end of the Oregon State game, head coach Jim Harbaugh explained that he did not want to burn Morris's redshirt year on a meaningless snap, emphasizing that Morris remained his No. 2 quarterback.[17]

Harbaugh ultimately decided to redshirt Morris during the 2015 season, resulting in Speight seeing playing time as Rudock's principal backup. Speight failed to complete a pass in three attempts against UNLV on September 19 and in his only pass attempt against Maryland on October 3, 2015.[18]

Speight received his first significant playing time on October 31, 2015, in the Little Brown Jug rivalry game against Minnesota. After Rudock was injured in the third quarter, Speight came into the game. With five minutes remaining and Michigan trailing 26-21, Speight led Michigan on a game-winning drive culminating in 12-yard pass to Jehu Chesson and a pass to Amara Darboh for a two-point conversion. Speight completed three of six passes for 29 yards and one rush for six yards.[19][20] The two-point conversion gave Michigan a three-point lead that forced Minnesota into a decision to attempt to score a touchdown on the goal line as time expired.[21] Speight had not completed any passes prior to that game.[22] Harbaugh explained that Speight had earned the backup role in practice in the preceding weeks.[23]

Speight next saw significant playing time against Ohio State on November 28, 2015. After Rudock was injured on a sack by Joey Bosa, Speight came into the game and completed six of 14 passes for 44 yards, but also threw his first college interception on a pass tipped and caught by Bosa.[18][24] Speight finished his redshirt freshman season with nine completions in 25 attempts, one interception, one touchdown pass, 145 passing yards, and a 36% completion percentage.[18]

2016 season

John O'Korn and Speight (right) were part of a preseason quarterback battle

Michigan's 2016 spring practice featured a quarterback battle between Speight, redshirt junior John O'Korn, redshirt junior Shane Morris, true freshman Brandon Peters and redshirt freshman Alex Malzone.[25][26] After spring practice, press reports indicated that Speight, O'Korn and Morris were leading the competition, in that order.[27][28] O'Korn and Speight were the starters in the April 1 spring game.[29] Speight passed for a touchdown and ran for another leading his team to a 14–13 win.[30][31]

In August 2016, Speight and O'Korn entered training camp as Michigan's quarterback frontrunners.[32] Coach Harbaugh refused to reveal the identity of his starting quarterback prior to the opening game. On September 3, 2016, Speight was named the starting quarterback.[33] In the opening game, Speight led Michigan to a 63–3 victory over Hawaii. On Michigan's first play from scrimmage, Speight threw an interception on an attempted screen pass to Jake Butt. For the game, he completed 10 of 13 passes for 145 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception.[34][35] In his second start on September 10 against UCF, Speight completed 25 of 37 passes for 312 yards with four touchdown passes and no interceptions to earn Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors.[36][37] On October 1, Speight's tiebreaking fourth quarter touchdown pass to Amara Darboh against #8-ranked Wisconsin lifted Michigan to its first win against a top-10 opponent since the 2008 Wolverines beat the 2008 Badgers,[38] ending a streak of 12 consecutive such losses.[39] After leading Michigan to a 9–0 start, Speight and Michigan lost to Iowa 14–13 on November 12.[40] Two days later, it was reported that Speight had endured a broken collarbone during the game and was feared lost for the rest of the season.[41] However, after missing one game against Indiana, Speight returned to the lineup to start against Ohio State in the rivalry game. He posted 2 touchdowns, but had 2 interceptions and a critical fumble in the double-overtime loss.[42][43] Following the season, Speight was the third team All-Big Ten quarterback selection by both the coaches and the media (behind J. T. Barrett and Trace McSorley).[44][45]

During the 2017 Capital One Orange Bowl, Speight and the Michigan offense struggled to generate offense against a dominant Florida State Defensive line. Michigan managed just 6 points in the first half on two field goals from kicker, Kenny Allen. Michigan rallied late in the game, including Speight's only throwing touchdown of the night, eventually taking a 30-27 lead with 1:57 remaining in the game. The lead was short-lived as Michigan gave up the game winning touchdown with just 36 seconds remaining in the game. The ensuing Michigan possession ended with Florida State intercepting a Speight pass and running out the clock for a Florida State victory (33–32).[46][47] For the game, Speight completed 21 of 38 passes (55.3%) for 163 yards with one touchdown and one interception.[18] In 12 starts, Speight finished the year with 2,538 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, and completed 61.6 percent of his passes.[48][49]

2017 season

Speight entered training camp in a QB battle with his primary competition being redshirt senior O'Korn and redshirt freshman Peters and additional competition from true freshman Dylan McCaffrey, redshirt sophomore Alex Malzone, and Mike Sessa.[50]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Wilton Speight biography". Mgoblue.com. University of Michigan. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Adam Biggers, Senior Analyst (May 7, 2013). "Michigan Football Recruiting: Getting to Know Wolverines 2014 QB Wilton Speight". Bleacher Report.
  3. ↑ Greer, Joel (February 20, 2013). "Michigan Football Recruiting: 2014 QB Commit Wilton Speight Making Waves". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  4. ↑ Meinke, Kyle (February 19, 2013). "Michigan QB commit Wilton Speight overcomes major injury to earn scholarship". MLive.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ Meinke, Kyle (February 19, 2013). "Michigan QB commit Wilton Speight overcomes major injury to earn scholarship". MLive.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Meinke, Kyle (April 18, 2013). "Michigan QB recruit Wilton Speight soars in ESPN rankings". MLive.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ Luginbill, Tom (April 17, 2013). "QB class down a little this year" (subscription required). ESPN. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ Logan, Tom (January 10, 2014). "Michigan Football: Examining Wilton Speight's Play at the UA All-American Game". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  9. ↑ Long, Corey (January 2, 2014). "Under Armour All-America Game: Michigan commits Jabrill Peppers, Wilton Speight see solid playing time". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Wilton Speight". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Outstanding Senior Athlete". Collegiate School. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  12. ↑ "With little drama left for '13 class, work focuses immediately on 2014". Detroit Free Press. February 7, 2013. p. C2.
  13. ↑ Baumgardner, Nick (October 16, 2013). "Four 2014 Michigan recruits, including QB Wilton Speight, sign early enrollment letters". MLive.com. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  14. ↑ Mark Snyder (January 13, 2014). "Nussmeier to study quarterbacks". Detroit Free Press. p. B2.
  15. ↑ "QB among 6 players enrolling at Michigan". The Times Herald (Port Huron, MI). January 7, 2014. p. B2.
  16. ↑ Meinke, Kyle (March 21, 2014). "Freshman QB Wilton Speight, WR Freddy Canteen turn heads during first half of Michigan's spring camp". MLive.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Baumgardner, Nick (September 13, 2015). "Jim Harbaugh explains why Wilton Speight took snaps over Shane Morris on Saturday". MLive.com. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "MGOBLUE.COM University of Michigan Official Athletic Site". statsarchive.ath.umich.edu. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  19. ↑ "No. 15 Michigan 29, Minnesota 26". Detroit Free Press. November 2, 2015. p. B4.
  20. ↑ "No. 15 Michigan stuffs Minnesota at 1-yard line as time expires". ESPN. October 31, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  21. ↑ Newkirk, Josh (October 31, 2015). "Michigan backup QB Wilton Speight throws winning touchdown coming off the bench". The Michigan Insider. Scout.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  22. ↑ Baumgardner, Nick (November 1, 2015). "Michigan's Wilton Speight settles in, steps up and earns plenty of firsts at Minnesota". MLive.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  23. ↑ Baumgardner, Nick (November 1, 2015). "Wilton Speight now Michigan's No. 2 quarterback, Shane Morris is third string". MLive.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Rudock rocked, injured: Quarterback hurt left shoulder". Detroit Free Press. November 29, 2015. p. D6.
  25. ↑ Kercheval, Ben (February 24, 2016). "Who Has the Edge in Michigan's Quarterback Battle?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  26. ↑ Baumgardner, Nick (February 22, 2016). "John O'Korn, Shane Morris, someone else? Michigan's QB 'cage match' set to begin". MLive.com. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  27. ↑ Baumgardner, Nick (March 26, 2016). "Wilton Speight, John O'Korn, Shane Morris are Michigan's top QBs, but no one has pulled away". MLive.com. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  28. ↑ Baumgardner, Nick (March 29, 2016). "Michigan's top three QBs all want to start, but say the competition is far from over". MLive.com. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Spring Fling". MLive.com. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  30. ↑ Wells, Adam (April 1, 2016). "Michigan Spring Game 2016: Recap, Highlights and Twitter Reaction". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  31. ↑ Snyder, Mark (April 2, 2016). "Wilton Speight best of QBs, leads 2 TD drives in Michigan spring game". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  32. ↑ Nick Baumgardner (August 7, 2016). "Wilton Speight or John O'Korn? Michigan's QB battle starts over again Monday". Mlive.com.
  33. ↑ Foltin, Lindsey (September 3, 2016). "Jim Harbaugh had a strange way of pumping up Michigan's new QB". FOX Sports. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  34. ↑ Anthony Broome (September 5, 2016). "U-M's Wilton Speight shows why he's No. 1 quarterback". Detroit Free Press.
  35. ↑ Dan Murphy (September 3, 2016). "Wilton Speight starts for Michigan, opens with interception". ESPN.com.
  36. ↑ "Big Ten Football Players of the Week: Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Rutgers standouts claim honors". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. September 12, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  37. ↑ "Awards and Honors: Speight Earns B1G Player of the Week Honors". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. September 12, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  38. ↑ "No. 4 Michigan beats No. 8 Wisconsin 14-7, stays undefeated". ESPN. October 1, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  39. ↑ "'Top Ten Throwdown:' How rare are three top-10 games in one week?". ESPN. September 30, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  40. ↑ "Iowa upsets No. 3 Michigan 14-13 on last-second field goal". ESPN. Associated Press. November 12, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  41. ↑ Goodbread, Chase (November 14, 2016). "Reports: Michigan QB Wilton Speight has broken collarbone". NFL.com. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  42. ↑ "Curtis Samuel's TD lifts Buckeyes over rival Wolverines in 2OT". ESPN. Associated Press. November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  43. ↑ Baumgardner, Nick (November 27, 2016). "Wilton Speight fights off injury, but critical mistakes hurt Michigan in loss". MLive.com. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  44. ↑ "2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners" (PDF). CSTV.com. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  45. ↑ "Butt Repeats as Big Ten's Tight End of the Year". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  46. ↑ "Orange Bowl 2016 recap: Michigan falls 33-32 to Florida State". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  47. ↑ "Capital One Orange Bowl: Florida State 33, Michigan 32". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  48. ↑ McGuire, Kevin (April 19, 2017). "Jim Harbaugh: Wilton Speight starter for now; competition still on". NBCSports.com. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  49. ↑ Snyder, Mark (April 19, 2017). "Michigan's Jim Harbaugh: Wilton Speight No. 1 QB but competition remains". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  50. ↑ McMann, Aaron (May 26, 2017). "Jim Harbaugh 'rooting for all 3' in Michigan's QB competition". MLive.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
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