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Ogee Ogilthorpe

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With there being a game tomorrow and all, why not a brief discussion about football?

Sooooo, the company line coming out of Kill and staff appears to be this: Gray has been dinged up for a number of weeks now and he has been practicing quite a bit at WR. Coaching staff says it's largely because practices for Gray at WR are not as taxing or physically demanding than they would be at QB (I'm paraphrasing, bear with me).

Is WR really that much easier on Gray for practice? Or does the staff just plain think the offense is better with Gray at WR and Shortell at QB? I have to admit, the opening drive for the offense, with this situation, looked pretty good for the most part; 12 plays, 76 yards, ending in a short FG. Two plays into the next series, due to injury, the Gophers aren't able to run another play with both players on the field at the same time for the remainder of the game, IIRC.

So which scenario are you buying? Practice is easier at WR, or the offense is better with Gray at WR?

It seems odd this hasn't been mentioned all week, at least not that I've seen....
 

Doesn't make sense to me that practicing at WR would be easier on an ankle than QB. Running routes, making cuts, getting tangled up blocking DBs, jumping for balls? Sounds a lot worse for the ankle than dropping back to pass and practicing the occasional QB draw. Sounds like either more gamesmanship-trying to disguise where or how much Gray will be playing-or they truly don't know what they are going to do with him at this point.
 

Neither, they don't want anyone to know Gray's status or where he is going to play.

The answer to your question is if Gray plays primarily wr. If he plays a mixture or mostly QB then it is spin.

If he doesn't play then he is actually injured.
 

Agree with Catechol that WR practice would be far worse on an ankle then QB practice so that doesn't make a lot of sense.

They definitely want to keep Wisonsin guessing as to what they are going to do with Gray because let's face it he is the only athlete in this offense that a defensive coordinator would even give a seond thought to. Right now I really feel like the offensive side of the ball does not have a gameplan based on injuries and poor execution. they are looking for a spark and if that means playing Gray at WR some to try and add some playmaking ability to the WR corps they may consider it. Right now they just have to figure out some way to get points on the board because they have looked terrible in Big Ten play through 2 weeks.

So to answer the question I don't buy that WR practice is easier physically for Gray however it would be easier mentally.
 

I also suspect Gray's conditioning may not be where it should be. By playing at WR he can play/contribute as his conditioning allows him to do so. It also might be safer for him as a part time WR but that may be just wishful thinking on my part.
 


Whether it's easier or tougher in practice to play WR than QB is beside the point. If the offense is better with Gray at WR than QB the time to find that out was LAST SPRING. A position change for a starting QB in the middle of the season is almost unheard of. If it's true, then to me that is a terrible job by the coaching staff. I fully expect Gray to be QB. He may line up at WR for a few plays and mix things up and that's alright but his primary position is QB and when he's healthy enough to play it, the job is his.
 

I also suspect Gray's conditioning may not be where it should be. By playing at WR he can play/contribute as his conditioning allows him to do so. It also might be safer for him as a part time WR but that may be just wishful thinking on my part.

The quotes I saw was that he could test his ankle more by practicing at WR. If healthy I think we see him at both QB and WR.
 


Sid was saying on WCCO that Philip Nelson is going to lose his red shirt tomorrow.

In the same week that fans complain about the NC game being dropped they will complain that the coach is trying to win games, if true.
 



Sid was saying on WCCO that Philip Nelson is going to lose his red shirt tomorrow.

That would be an absolutely terrible decision to have your 18 year old future starting QB play a few snaps against Wisconsin in camp randall. That's a disaster waiting to happen.
 

That would be an absolutely terrible decision to have your 18 year old future starting QB play a few snaps against Wisconsin in camp randall. That's a disaster waiting to happen.

Or maybe a star is born, Coach Kill would look like a genius if this move gets us a victory.
 

Sid was saying on WCCO that Philip Nelson is going to lose his red shirt tomorrow.

While it is possible that due to injury and poor play the coaches could elect to toss Nelson out there but I would be amazed that they would want his first taste of game action to be on the road in a very hostile environment. I just don't see them putting Nelson in there unless there are no other options. This did come from Sid so it has to be taken with a grain of salt. Who knows where he got the idea from hell he could have gotten it off of gopherhole for all we know. Sid was a great reporter and still serves a purpose but his best days are behind him and understandably so given how old he is.
 

Or maybe a star is born, Coach Kill would look like a genius if this move gets us a victory.

If that happens then consider myself wrong, but I think it's far more likely that putting him in is a step back in development than a step forward.

I still think both Shortell and Gray are better than him. That's not to say that Nelson can't be great, it just means that the 18 year old kid is not as good as the 20 and 22 (almost 23 year old).
 



Coach Kill will know by halftime. MN goes down by 21 in 15 min nothing changes. If by hook/crook MN is up 3 with 1 qtr then who knows. Kill can beat Bielema at clock management and it's not even close. Kill is world class in clock management.
 

If that happens then consider myself wrong, but I think it's far more likely that putting him in is a step back in development than a step forward.

I still think both Shortell and Gray are better than him. That's not to say that Nelson can't be great, it just means that the 18 year old kid is not as good as the 20 and 22 (almost 23 year old).

Careful. Saying Nelson is not going to be great the moment he steps onto the field is like pointing out Joe Mauer's flaws to a Twins fan.
 

If that happens then consider myself wrong, but I think it's far more likely that putting him in is a step back in development than a step forward.

I still think both Shortell and Gray are better than him. That's not to say that Nelson can't be great, it just means that the 18 year old kid is not as good as the 20 and 22 (almost 23 year old).

I agree but it would make a great story!
 

With there being a game tomorrow and all, why not a brief discussion about football?

Sooooo, the company line coming out of Kill and staff appears to be this: Gray has been dinged up for a number of weeks now and he has been practicing quite a bit at WR. Coaching staff says it's largely because practices for Gray at WR are not as taxing or physically demanding than they would be at QB (I'm paraphrasing, bear with me).

Is WR really that much easier on Gray for practice? Or does the staff just plain think the offense is better with Gray at WR and Shortell at QB? I have to admit, the opening drive for the offense, with this situation, looked pretty good for the most part; 12 plays, 76 yards, ending in a short FG. Two plays into the next series, due to injury, the Gophers aren't able to run another play with both players on the field at the same time for the remainder of the game, IIRC.

So which scenario are you buying? Practice is easier at WR, or the offense is better with Gray at WR?

It seems odd this hasn't been mentioned all week, at least not that I've seen....

I think you are overstating the first drive, if memory serves Gray was only out there for 1-2 plays. I noticed him the first time and it might have been a run away from him, the second time he caught a pass.

The offense is better with him at QB, needs to have the ball in his hands as much as possible. I'd avoid runs directly up the middle, too crowded and likely to twist his ankle in a pile up.
 




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