Who's the best QB in the Big 10 West?

Best Big 10 West QB

  • Mitch Leidner-MN

    Votes: 35 32.7%

  • Joel Stave-WI

    Votes: 9 8.4%

  • CJ Beathard-IA

    Votes: 1 0.9%

  • Wes Lunt-IL

    Votes: 34 31.8%

  • Tommie Armstong-NE

    Votes: 14 13.1%

  • Clayton Thorson-NW

    Votes: 1 0.9%

  • Austin Appelby-PU

    Votes: 12 11.2%

  • Other

    Votes: 1 0.9%
  • Total voters
    107
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Breakin' The Plane

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Just wondering what the consensus would be on this. Ohio State's 3rd stringer would win this hands down.
 

Has to be Wes Lunt. He was averaging over 300 passing yards a game before he got hurt.
 


That is a pretty unimpressive list of QB's. Lunt strikes me as the only one that seems like he might have a shot to play at the next level. The good news for us is that Mitch is probably one of the better options in this bunch.
 

Bryan Cupito is likely cursing his parents for not waiting 10 years before having kids.
 



If Leidner is the best in the West, it's going to be a bad year for the division.
 

Ski U Master said:
If Leidner is the best in the West, it's going to be a bad year for the division.
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Oh, I don't know. For the most part, this is a pretty inexperienced group of players, even though due to redshirt seasons or transfer seasons, it is a relatively older group. Stave, the only senior in the bunch will be 23 this Sept., while Armstrong, Appleby, Beathard and Lunt will all be turning 22 either prior to the season or during it. Stave has by far the most number of starts in his career, and I would consider him to be a pretty steady college quarterback. He's nothing earth-shattering, but he doesn't have to be, nor is he often asked to be. Anyway, it seems he can make most of the throws without too much trouble. Armstrong, like Leidner, I really admire due to his toughness factor, as holy crud did he take an absolute beating last year behind what was an unusually poor Nebraska offensive line (compounded by even worse 'blocking' from Ameer Abdullah, which was simply embarrassingly bad). Lunt, the jury is out due to not a whole lot being known beyond the fact that he has a really, really big arm. He certainly had his moments as a freshman at Oklahoma State, then he sat out the 2013 season due to transferring, and then missed much of 2014 due to injury. Appleby (7 career starts), Beathard (1 career start), who knows- although I do love Appleby's size. And Thorson? C'mon, man. Very highly regarded, but a true freshman.

My guess is that somebody (or somebodies) amongst this group of very inexperienced players (including Leidner) will step up and have a breakout season, as someone nearly almost always does.
 

IMHO, what is a more intriguing story for the Gophers is the steady progression of the backups Streveler, Perra, and Rhoda.
 





Lets wait to see what SonnyG thinks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

hungan1 said:
IMHO, what is a more intriguing story for the Gophers is the steady progression of the backups Streveler, Perra, and Rhoda.
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Until they get a chance to prove it in a game it is tough to put a lot of faith in the progression of any of the backups. Everyone always loves the backup QB/QBs. Based on the reports out of spring ball it seemed like Perra was pushing Streveler for the backup role but didn't really seem like either of them was viewed as a threat to overtake Leidner. Mitch is definitely a serviceable Big Ten QB but he also hasn't done enough to be viewed as untouchable in the starters role if one of the backups is good enough to beat him out.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Until they get a chance to prove it in a game it is tough to put a lot of faith in the progression of any of the backups. Everyone always loves the backup QB/QBs. Based on the reports out of spring ball it seemed like Perra was pushing Streveler for the backup role but didn't really seem like either of them was viewed as a threat to overtake Leidner. Mitch is definitely a serviceable Big Ten QB but he also hasn't done enough to be viewed as untouchable in the starters role if one of the backups is good enough to beat him out.
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I really expect one or more of the back-ups to get a fair amount of snaps(maybe a lot) this season. Kill has often run 2 qb's and ML is by no means untouchable.
 




Am I the only one looking at the poll results and laughing? Please tell me I'm not the only one. It's a pretty underwhelming list of quarterbacks, but Leidner over Lunt? Lunt is in a different class and he didn't even have the luxury of a top 10 RB in the country last year.

64% completion? 14 TDs and 3 INTs? 212 YPG? Sign me up. If that was Leidner's line in 2015, I'd be ecstatic.

I'd take Tommy Armstrong too. Mitch is comfortably number 3 for me.

How does Appleby have 11 votes? You could argue he's the worst in the division. How does Stave have ANY votes? You could make the same argument for him. What planet am I on?
 

mnsportsgeek said:
Am I the only one looking at the poll results and laughing? Please tell me I'm not the only one. It's a pretty underwhelming list of quarterbacks, but Leidner over Lunt? Lunt is in a different class and he didn't even have the luxury of a top 10 RB in the country last year.

64% completion? 14 TDs and 3 INTs? 212 YPG? Sign me up. If that was Leidner's line in 2015, I'd be ecstatic.

I'd take Tommy Armstrong too. Mitch is comfortably number 3 for me.

How does Appleby have 11 votes? You could argue he's the worst in the division. How does Stave have ANY votes? You could make the same argument for him. What planet am I on?
Click to expand...

I voted for Lunt, but it's not a huge difference. Lunt was pretty bad when he came back last year. Now, that could have been rust or better competition, but he's going to have to prove something this year. Ripping apart Texas State doesn't do much for me.
 

mnsportsgeek said:
Am I the only one looking at the poll results and laughing? Please tell me I'm not the only one. It's a pretty underwhelming list of quarterbacks, but Leidner over Lunt? Lunt is in a different class and he didn't even have the luxury of a top 10 RB in the country last year.

64% completion? 14 TDs and 3 INTs? 212 YPG? Sign me up. If that was Leidner's line in 2015, I'd be ecstatic.

I'd take Tommy Armstrong too. Mitch is comfortably number 3 for me.

How does Appleby have 11 votes? You could argue he's the worst in the division. How does Stave have ANY votes? You could make the same argument for him. What planet am I on?
Click to expand...

I think you can make a case for Stave who had a very nice year in 2013. 2,494 passing yards, 22 TDs to 13 INTs and a 62% completion percentage. He is also easily the most experienced and this will be his 4th year starting, third as a full time starter. I did of course vote Lunt and I might add that he not only was averaging over 300 yards a game before his injury but he was actually leading the Big Ten in passing yards ahead of both Connor Cook and JT Barrett. And yes, I do find it ridiculous how many votes Mitch has.
 


mnsportsgeek said:
Am I the only one looking at the poll results and laughing? Please tell me I'm not the only one. It's a pretty underwhelming list of quarterbacks, but Leidner over Lunt? Lunt is in a different class and he didn't even have the luxury of a top 10 RB in the country last year.

64% completion? 14 TDs and 3 INTs? 212 YPG? Sign me up. If that was Leidner's line in 2015, I'd be ecstatic.

I'd take Tommy Armstrong too. Mitch is comfortably number 3 for me.

How does Appleby have 11 votes? You could argue he's the worst in the division. How does Stave have ANY votes? You could make the same argument for him. What planet am I on?
Click to expand...

I'd take Mitch any day over the other guys. He can be a punishing bull moose as a rusher and account for a large chunk of the total offense.

Appleby and Lunt may be good, but Leidner has won eight games.
 

mnsportsgeek said:
Am I the only one looking at the poll results and laughing? Please tell me I'm not the only one. It's a pretty underwhelming list of quarterbacks, but Leidner over Lunt? Lunt is in a different class and he didn't even have the luxury of a top 10 RB in the country last year.

64% completion? 14 TDs and 3 INTs? 212 YPG? Sign me up. If that was Leidner's line in 2015, I'd be ecstatic.

I'd take Tommy Armstrong too. Mitch is comfortably number 3 for me.

How does Appleby have 11 votes? You could argue he's the worst in the division. How does Stave have ANY votes? You could make the same argument for him. What planet am I on?
Click to expand...

285 and 4 TDs vs 0 Ints vs mighty Youngstown State
456 and 3 TDs vs 1 Int vs equally solid Western Kentucky
230 and 2 TDs vs 1 Int (for 6) vs Washington
266 and 2 TDs vs 1 Int vs Texas State
DNP vs Nebraska
332 and 2 TDs vs 0 Int vs Purdue
DNP vs Wisconsin
DNP vs Minnesota
DNP vs OSU
102 yards and 1 TD vs 0 Int vs Iowa
58 yards and 0 TD vs 0 Int vs PSU
DNP vs NW
34 yards and 0 TDs vs 0 Int vs La Tech

So big games against YSU, WKU, and Purdue coupled with negative season rushing yards is what you want? I don't get the obsession with Lunt. He had some early big games and comebacks and got hyped up. Then never showed much more due to his injuries. Plus he didn't play against arguably the top 4 pass D's on his schedule. Can understand Armstrong being a pick. But to say Lunt is in a different class than Leidner is pretty ridiculous.
 

upnorthkid said:
285 and 4 TDs vs 0 Ints vs mighty Youngstown State
456 and 3 TDs vs 1 Int vs equally solid Western Kentucky
230 and 2 TDs vs 1 Int (for 6) vs Washington
266 and 2 TDs vs 1 Int vs Texas State
DNP vs Nebraska
332 and 2 TDs vs 0 Int vs Purdue
DNP vs Wisconsin
DNP vs Minnesota
DNP vs OSU
102 yards and 1 TD vs 0 Int vs Iowa
58 yards and 0 TD vs 0 Int vs PSU
DNP vs NW
34 yards and 0 TDs vs 0 Int vs La Tech

So big games against YSU, WKU, and Purdue coupled with negative season rushing yards is what you want? I don't get the obsession with Lunt. He had some early big games and comebacks and got hyped up. Then never showed much more due to his injuries. Plus he didn't play against arguably the top 4 pass D's on his schedule. Can understand Armstrong being a pick. But to say Lunt is in a different class than Leidner is pretty ridiculous.
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A lot better than Leidner did against EIU, MTSU, SJSU in 2013 etc.
 

die hard gopher said:
A lot better than Leidner did against EIU, MTSU, SJSU in 2013 etc.
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Just for curiosity, but what season are you referencing? We played EIU, MTSU, TCU, and SJSU (Mitch was out for SJSU) in 2014 and Mitch played against WIU and SJSU in 2013. Just want to know where the argument is coming from because Leidner's freshman starts (WIU and SJSU) wouldn't really be comparable to a RS SO starting IMO but his numbers from this year would be more so. And those numbers in the non conf schedule were poor. But he came on as the competition got tougher where Lunt (was it injuries, increased competition) seemed to fade. I'm just saying he's not in a different class than Leidner, that's all.
 

die hard gopher said:
I think you can make a case for Stave who had a very nice year in 2013. 2,494 passing yards, 22 TDs to 13 INTs and a 62% completion percentage. He is also easily the most experienced and this will be his 4th year starting, third as a full time starter. I did of course vote Lunt and I might add that he not only was averaging over 300 yards a game before his injury but he was actually leading the Big Ten in passing yards ahead of both Connor Cook and JT Barrett. And yes, I do find it ridiculous how many votes Mitch has.
Click to expand...

RE: Stave, yeah, that's how I'm looking at it. His 2013 season was excellent, good enough to get him named to the 2014 preseason Davey O'Brien Award watch list. And he had big games against big teams, especially Ohio State, Penn State (whom he absolutely shredded), and South Carolina and Jadaveon Clowney in the Cap One Bowl prior to injuring the shoulder in the second half of that game. He struggled to get back on track in 2014 due to the lingering after-effects of that AC joint injury as well as the loss of Abbrederis from their offense (huge, huge loss).

Eww, why am I bothering to defend a Sconnie QB (and do I need to have my head examined, or go immediately shower, or go piss up a rope, or all of the above)? I don't know, but it's just my honest opinion. He's pretty much a lightning-rod for criticism from his own team's fans (somewhat Leidner-esque like that), but viewing him from an objective distance I think he's a fine college quarterback, with his best aspect being his deep ball (and yes, he can throw a spiral!). I guess I believe in what he's all about, an unheralded two star of whom little to nothing was expected, and as a member of the All Academic B10 team, one of those players who puts the 'student' into the whole student-athlete equation.
 

Looking at common opponents (which is not perfect but better than comparing cupcakes):

Purdue:
Lunt: 332 yards passing 2 TDs and 0 int RUSHING -17
Leidner: 165 yards passing 2 TDs and 0 int RUSHING +84

Iowa:
Lunt: 102 yards passing 1 TD and 0 int RUSHING -5
Leidner: 138 yards passing 4 TD and 0 int RUSHING +78

Kind of interesting. I'll take Leidner and give you Lunt. Leidner brings in the rushing aspect that is as important as passing.

The tight spiral test: Lunt gets the nod.
 

He is a TE playing QB.

'Kind of interesting. I'll take Leidner and give you Lunt. Leidner brings in the rushing aspect that is as important as passing.'

Mitcheroo is mediocre at best. It's ok, he knows that he is mediocre, the coaches know he is mediocre and his teammates know he is mediocre. reads defenses well enough and hands the ball off cleanly to keep his job.
 


Rescooter said:
Looking at common opponents (which is not perfect but better than comparing cupcakes):

Purdue:
Lunt: 332 yards passing 2 TDs and 0 int RUSHING -17
Leidner: 165 yards passing 2 TDs and 0 int RUSHING +84

Iowa:
Lunt: 102 yards passing 1 TD and 0 int RUSHING -5
Leidner: 138 yards passing 4 TD and 0 int RUSHING +78

Kind of interesting. I'll take Leidner and give you Lunt. Leidner brings in the rushing aspect that is as important as passing.

The tight spiral test: Lunt gets the nod.
Click to expand...

Of the QB's on this list Mitch is one of if not the best fits for the offense we run so saying you would take him over Lunt is not shocking because the rushing game is important. This is part of the reason why I don't understand the Perra love because by all accounts he is a good passer but not a good runner.

Saying which player is the best is subjective but for something like this in my opinion you need to look at NFL prospects as a common measuring stick as opposed to how they fit in a specific college system. Of this group Lunt would seem like the one with the most upside for the next level. Mitch on the other hand while being a decent fit for our offense strikes me as someone with almost no shot of playing on Sundays.
 

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