Athlon: College Football's 1-128 Starting QB Rankings for 2016 (#42. Mitch Leidner)

Donate To GopherHole

So he is a Power 5 QB based on this ranking.
 

BleedGopher said:
per Athlon:

42. Mitch Leidner, Minnesota

Leidner showed improvement as a passer in 2015 and finished the season on a high note (223 yards, 1 TD) against Central Michigan. How big of a difference will new coordinator Jay Johnson make with this offense next season?

http://athlonsports.com/college-foo...ring-1-128-starting-quarterback-rankings-2016

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
I have no idea on some of these rankings. The one that caught my eye at #22 is Cooper Rush. I thought he was the weakest quarterback the Gophers played all year.
 

Athlon stopped being a meaningful publication about the time the internet was invented.
 





I'm looking forward to seeing him in a new offense.

He looked different to my eye after Tracy took over and in the bowl game.
 





Interesting that only 3 B1G quarterbacks are rated higher by this publication going in.
Accuracy of the rankings be damned, but it is nice to see Mitch get the respect.
 

I'll wait! to form an opinion. There are a few resident experts that need to weigh in first.
 




Vandy said:
Interesting that only 3 B1G quarterbacks are rated higher by this publication going in.
Accuracy of the rankings be damned, but it is nice to see Mitch get the respect.
Click to expand...

The list, if taken seriously, is not too kind to newcomers. Chances are that one of the MSU, Wisky, Michigan, maybe even Indiana guys takes a leap. That's not to say that Leidner couldn't also exceed expectations.
 

How many people would take any of the QB's ranked below ML7? I don't think I would.
 


GophersInIowa said:
Trevor Knight is pretty dreamy.
Click to expand...

He probably is on the same level as Mitch as a passer. Knights stats weren't world beaters in 2014 with going 179/316 for 2300 yrds, 56.6% Comp with 14 TD's/12 Ints. (Granted that is pretty close to ML7's 2015 numbers, his best year). I would argue that Knight's performance is pretty bad given the offensive talent OU typically has. Especially with what Baker Mayfield accomplished this year.

I would still take Mitch over Knight as I remember watching him with OU and wasn't overly impressed. Granted he did help OU win a big bowl game until Mayfield beat him out in every aspect of being a QB for the 2015 season.
 

CWCWCW said:
I have no idea on some of these rankings. The one that caught my eye at #22 is Cooper Rush. I thought he was the weakest quarterback the Gophers played all year.
Click to expand...

Not weakest, but close to the most over-rated. The guy that took #1 for me and is #19 on
this list, is CJ Beat-Hard....I do not get the hype on this kid. He played no one and did nothing
notable. The few good teams they went up against, they got rocked.
 

e.bigelow said:
How many people would take any of the QB's ranked below ML7? I don't think I would.
Click to expand...

Good Question. I looked through the list and here are the guys I have seen play that I like better than ML7.
There are also some guys that didn't play last year that I would bet will have better seasons than mitch (Some due to being surrounded by immense talent)

Chase Litton - Marshall
Logan Woodside - Toledo (and I don't remember him that well, so I could be very wrong on him but I think I remember I liked him)


There just aren't very many good returning quarterbacks that I have seen. Hard to make a list of 129 when 50+ guys weren't starters last year.
 

Gopher028 said:
Not weakest, but close to the most over-rated. The guy that took #1 for me and is #19 on
this list, is CJ Beat-Hard....I do not get the hype on this kid. He played no one and did nothing
notable. The few good teams they went up against, they got rocked.
Click to expand...

Yeah well, he reminded Matt Millen of Joe Montana, so there's that.
 

Gopher028 said:
Not weakest, but close to the most over-rated. The guy that took #1 for me and is #19 on
this list, is CJ Beat-Hard....I do not get the hype on this kid. He played no one and did nothing
notable. The few good teams they went up against, they got rocked.
Click to expand...


While Iowa as a whole was horribly overrated, and it pains me to write this CJ Beathard is legit and I would take him in a heartbeat. He will be a high draft pick. He has uncanny pocket awareness, mobility; he can make the throws, good decision-making. Iowa doesn't go close to undefeated without CJ.

Damn it. As far as Leidner it is hard to argue. He's made strides and made better decisions and throws toward the end of the season. He may not be the promised one for our program but he is serviceable enough to win with a decent defense.

If he regains the mobility he lost after the injuries in 2014 and Moose re-emerges in 2016 he could have a really, really impressive year.
 

if Leidner doesn't have the 'system' totally changed up on him and Miller proves to be a little more dynamic and freelance, I think Leidner will have a spectacular year especially given the softer schedule compared to 2015
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom