Was pulling Demry Croft's redshirt a good decision?

Was pulling Demry Croft's RS a good decision?

  • Yes, he got valuable snaps that helped push Leidner, and prepared Croft for the future.

    Votes: 18 21.2%

  • No, he did not benefit from his snaps and I'd rather he had 4 years eligibility left.

    Votes: 67 78.8%
  • Total voters
    85
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Demry saw action in 3 games this year. He was 7/17 passing for 34 yards. He rushed the all 9 times for 38 yards. Was pulling his RS a good decision?
 


It's pretty easy to second guess now isn't it?
 


mkAz said:
It's pretty easy to second guess now isn't it?
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Ahh, yes. That's what the poll asks. That's what post-game analysis is. It's second guessing. A case can be made that getting snaps was beneficial. That is also second guessing. The same poll was asked when his RS was pulled and it was split opinions. Curious to see how this differs.
 


Once the redshirt was pulled, Croft should have been given some reps through the rest of the season. It's not like Mitch was playing great football. If Croft becomes a good QB, the coaching decision will be further scrutinized. If Croft doesn't develop, no one will care.
 

ol jerry kill went nuts and put the kid in...probably one of the many reasons he saw his coaching/med problem as a concern. oh well...what're you gonna do?
 

WTF did they do with their hand picked back up Strevler?
 

Streveler has been MIA which is too bad. Thought he could help us as a receiver with his bulk and speed. He was fun to watch with the ball in his hands. Much better runner than Leidner.

Streveler, gentry, jones have been mysteries, medical or not. We need that sort of talent on the field on some capacity
 



If they weren't going to play Croft when disaster struck, like today, then it was largely a wasted season. He had what, 20-30 snaps?

Mitch was so off kilter today Croft should have been inserted in the third quarter. Maybe his legs, his arm, or his decision making could have helped us before the last 5 minutes of regulation.
 

wait!what? said:
ol jerry kill went nuts and put the kid in...probably one of the many reasons he saw his coaching/med problem as a concern. oh well...what're you gonna do?
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Watch it. killme is going to be all over you for that insinuation.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Streveler has been MIA which is too bad. Thought he could help us as a receiver with his bulk and speed. He was fun to watch with the ball in his hands. Much better runner than Leidner.

Streveler, gentry, jones have been mysteries, medical or not. We need that sort of talent on the field on some capacity
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Streveler is Exhibit A as to why I'm concerned about the current staff's evaluation of QB prospects.
 

Who cares? On the list of things to worry about this season, Croft's RS registers somewhere in the 20's for me. Does he strike anyone as a program changer? Seems like a nice player. All indications are Poljian is pretty good too. I'm hoping they get someone even better in 2017. But yeah, if Croft is the starting QB in 3 years and the program would've benefited from him RS this year, I guess we can all look back and say how dumb it was to play him this year. I doubt that happens, but that's just my opinion.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 



This question cannot possibly be answered until 2019. The most likely answer? It didn't make any difference. See Nelson, Phillip 2012.
 

MGGopher said:
Who cares? On the list of things to worry about this season, Croft's RS registers somewhere in the 20's for me. Does he strike anyone as a program changer? Seems like a nice player. All indications are Poljian is pretty good too. I'm hoping they get someone even better in 2017. But yeah, if Croft is the starting QB in 3 years and the program would've benefited from him RS this year, I guess we can all look back and say how dumb it was to play him this year. I doubt that happens, but that's just my opinion.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
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Agree. The other important point is that supposedly Mitch felt some heat from Demry and then played his best football the next few games.
 

In hindsight - yeah it was probably was a mistake to play him

At the time - made sense to play him because it looked like we would need a backup ready to go

Long term - Probably doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things but as others have said we won't really know until 2018 or so anyway.
 


John Galt said:
Agree. The other important point is that supposedly Mitch felt some heat from Demry and then played his best football the next few games.
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^This.

Mitch started playing better when he knew there was some competition behind him.
 

Are we sold that Croft is the future? Perhaps this is Tony Pojlan's team..
 

Gopher028 said:
Are we sold that Croft is the future? Perhaps this is Tony Pojlan's team..
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The honest answer to your question is that at this point we have no clue who is the future at the QB position. Way too early to write off Croft, also silly to bank everything on Pojlan as well before he even gets here. Recruiting is a crap shoot in a lot of ways, but I know I would feel a lot better overall about our incoming QB recruits if they were getting more then just MAC offers.

Finding under the radar guys can work at a lot of positions on the football field but QB is one where it would be nice to get that guy who other Big Ten schools are after as well.

Until this staff shows they can recruit/develop a top flight QB here it is tough to put a ton of faith in any of the options available. Mitch played better down the stretch but I am still looking forward to the day when we have someone on the roster that can beat him out because the reality for Mitch is that he is a game manager who can be capable but is never going to be elite at the QB position.

Don't get me wrong, you can win to a point with guys like Mitch at QB (and can go far if they are surrounded by great players) but to really take that next step you need more from the most important position on the field.
 

MNVCGUY said:
The honest answer to your question is that at this point we have no clue who is the future at the QB position. Way too early to write off Croft, also silly to bank everything on Pojlan as well before he even gets here. Recruiting is a crap shoot in a lot of ways, but I know I would feel a lot better overall about our incoming QB recruits if they were getting more then just MAC offers.

Finding under the radar guys can work at a lot of positions on the football field but QB is one where it would be nice to get that guy who other Big Ten schools are after as well.

Until this staff shows they can recruit/develop a top flight QB here it is tough to put a ton of faith in any of the options available. Mitch played better down the stretch but I am still looking forward to the day when we have someone on the roster that can beat him out because the reality for Mitch is that he is a game manager who can be capable but is never going to be elite at the QB position.

Don't get me wrong, you can win to a point with guys like Mitch at QB (and can go far if they are surrounded by great players) but to really take that next step you need more from the most important position on the field.
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I think this ^^^ sums it up well.
 

there wasn't a third option of
it just doesn't matter because the future Gopher QB to take us to the next level hasn't been born yet
 

I posted this in another spot and maybe it should have been here ... I think if by crazy chance they do get offered a bowl game. Then they should play Croft about half the snaps at least as some payback for burning his redshirt and just to see if he can do the job.
 

I wouldn't get overly discouraged by the QB prospects. It truly is a crapshoot. Undersized or under recruited players like Case Keenum, Kellen Moore, Alex Carder, Garrett Grayson are out there and are program changers. There are many, many others over the years.

Sometimes I feel like the emphasis on measurable is overdone, rather than looking at thing like production, mental acuity, performance under pressure etc. Little nuggets like being the son of a coach (Kellen Moore) usually show a high football IQ. I get nervous when we recruit guys that have only played football for a few years or are big and tall but slow or have low production numbers.

If the staff whiffs on the development of Croft and Poljan, in addition to all the others in recent years that's a real cause for concern. I happen to really like Poljan, I'm not sold on Croft yet which is why I'd like to have seen more development for him this year. The noncon offensive scheme/debacle was exasperating to say the least.
 

howeda7 said:
This question cannot possibly be answered until 2019. The most likely answer? It didn't make any difference. See Nelson, Phillip 2012.
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100% correct

Ideally we will have recruited more quality quarterbacks at that point and 4 years from now we will be able to play a good quarterback regardless of Croft's status.
 

I don't care about redshirts on quarterbacks. The only places where I really value redshirts is on the offensive and defensive line.
 

It was a terrible decision... You can't use the "hindsight" excuse because we all knew and hoped that once they burned Croft's redshirt, that they should incorporate him into the games, and never did. Anyone fan knows you don't burn a redshirt for a few plays. You might say "oh we never had a good opportunity." But I don't see any issue in putting him in a series or two in each game. Even the close ones. Truth is, they were just too scared to use him. Now you've ruined a whole year of eligibility for him. Poor poor coaching decision. Dunno who's it was... but this was like Cobb's redshirt also.
 


Another point worth considering is once you redshirt a player, they are unlikely to transfer. Hopefully doesn't happen but now Croft can look around and not have it affect his eligibility. Gopher need to get to point where they have 3-4 legitimate D-1 QBs. Been a long time since our third string QB was a viable emergency option.
 

Winnipegopher said:
Another point worth considering is once you redshirt a player, they are unlikely to transfer. Hopefully doesn't happen but now Croft can look around and not have it affect his eligibility. Gopher need to get to point where they have 3-4 legitimate D-1 QBs. Been a long time since our third string QB was a viable emergency option.
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Except when they become seniors because they can transfer wherever they want and not have to sit out.
 

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