Doogie: "Don't sleep on the possibility of Annexstad still entering the quarterback mix. It's not a stone cold lock that this is Tanner Morgan's job."

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Five Toes said:
Of course, but if PJ is true to his word it will be an open competition.
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Should be and better be. If he doesn't, then PJ will get a reputation on not playing the best players as his players would clearly know that. Regardless, it would be a shame if Morgan didn't have competition. Makes him better along with the team.
 


Tanner will be very fine with solid line play (2020 was a rotating cast) and an actual off-season to work with his receivers. Also think Sanford will have more time to get comfortable and figure out what he has to work with. Last year was a total shitshow given all the factors. I call it a wash. At least some guys got game experience
 

WriterGoph said:
Tanner will be very fine with solid line play (2020 was a rotating cast) and an actual off-season to work with his receivers. Also think Sanford will have more time to get comfortable and figure out what he has to work with. Last year was a total shitshow given all the factors. I call it a wash. At least some guys got game experience
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Exactly, Tanner’s father also got really sick, there is no telling what type of effect that had on him.
 


Did anyone actually read the OP? Doogie said Bateman brought up Annexstad on his own to make the point that the offense would be fine no matter who is at QB. Doogie is repeating what Bateman said. I think Bateman is qualified to give an opinion on QB play. If Bateman thinks Annexstad can do the job, I am inclined to agree with him.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Did anyone actually read the OP? Doogie said Bateman brought up Annexstad on his own to make the point that the offense would be fine no matter who is at QB. Doogie is repeating what Bateman said. I think Bateman is qualified to give an opinion on QB play. If Bateman thinks Annexstad can do the job, I am inclined to agree with him.
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Not sure we are arguing whether Zack CAN do the job. It was more about this bit:

"Don't sleep on the possibility of Annexstad still entering the quarterback mix. It's not a stone cold lock that this is Tanner Morgan's job."
 

What did Bateman say? I’m not going to listen to the podcast, so...
 




Oregon's starter entered the portal, both McCafery's QB entered, NDSU got a 6'4" 230 pound guy that is fast, he is a faster stronger version of Green, interesting watching all the QB's playing musical chair.
 


I would expect 'Doogie' to post money odds on who the likely starting QB for Minnesota will be, and to put his own funds on the line.

What's your personal wager for the over/under line on number of Zach Annexstad starts in 2021, 'Doogie'?
 

Morgan to me is a "system" QB and he fit what we were doing very well in 2019 with Bateman and Tyler at WR. His pinpoint accuracy is amazing. However, we have a new offensive system without the benefit of two NFL ready wide receivers (not saying we don't have NFL talent at WR, but don't think they are even close to the level those two were at in 2019). With teams taking the slant and deep outs away, we may need a QB who can transition to various routes more quickly than Morgan. Morgan's struggle to find the second and third options and the way he focuses on his primary WR is concerning. I hope that changes this year, but to think Annestad doesn't have a chance to replace Morgan naïve. Even great QB's get bumped every now and again
 



Fair points, but we don’t have any idea if Annexstad is better, based on offhand comments of his former roommate (No, still don’t know what was said). He had limited high school playing time and half of a college season and he didn’t set the world on fire at either (understandably so as a true freshman).

How do we know Morgan has hit his ceiling? That seems awfully premature to say considering the turbulence of a new coordinator, a turnover in offensive personnel, and personal life distractions. TM2 looked a little wobbly most of the season with pressing, some bad decisions, uncharacteristic accuracy issues leading to questions of possible injury...but we saw glimpses of his 2019 play in the latter half of the year and there’s every reason to think he will have a nice 2021.
 

I think there is a lot of talent behind Morgan. Annexstad, Clark and Kramer all have strengths. I don't remember the Gophers ever having this much depth and potential at QB. Given the talent already here, I think Athan will benefit from a year of study and weight training before he becomes a realistic factor. I am kind of curious about Lonenoa Faoa, 6'1" 230 lb. walk-on QB from Hawaii and Las Vegas. Looks to be an athlete. Don't see him as a factor in the QB depth chart, but might he be one of the guys in the running to replace the Green Line in Wild Cat situations? He can probably throw (HS QB), he looks strong, and he might be more mobile and shifty than Green.
 


I don’t see how anyone other than Morgan starts day one. If Morgan struggles obviously he could be replaced.
 

the only example i could think of PJ being someone who doesnt play the best player is actually with Mo. From what I saw when Mo played and both Rodney and Shannon were here, Mo was the better overall back, yet this PT was that of a 3rd string running back (minus when Rodney or Shannon were injured).

Point was proven when he won back of the year.

Beyond that, I think PJ leans towards playing the best player, but when Morgan struggled in a few games last year, i was surprised he didnt play the other QBs more, given it was a free year.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
the only example i could think of PJ being someone who doesnt play the best player is actually with Mo. From what I saw when Mo played and both Rodney and Shannon were here, Mo was the better overall back, yet this PT was that of a 3rd string running back (minus when Rodney or Shannon were injured).

Point was proven when he won back of the year.

Beyond that, I think PJ leans towards playing the best player, but when Morgan struggled in a few games last year, i was surprised he didnt play the other QBs more, given it was a free year.
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It was such a weird situation though. Like Morgan would miss. .. but then 2 guys would drop passes surrounding that miss... Mogan can't catch it for them, neither can Zack...
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
It was such a weird situation though. Like Morgan would miss. .. but then 2 guys would drop passes surrounding that miss... Mogan can't catch it for them, neither can Zack...
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that's true, there were drops for sure. I should have mentioned I was talking about games that were out of hand.

Michigan L 24-49
Illinois W 41-14
Iowa L 7-35

It was a great opportunity to give other QBs not just experience but let you see if you have any gamers.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
that's true, there were drops for sure. I should have mentioned I was talking about games that were out of hand.

Michigan L 24-49
Illinois W 41-14
Iowa L 7-35

It was a great opportunity to give other QBs not just experience but let you see if you have any gamers.
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Yeah I think we've seen over the years that PJ doesn't hand out garbage time, much at all.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I'm sleeping on it.
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I think we can safely sleep on whether Morgan will be the starter against OSU. He will, barring injury in camp.

Why any of this is interesting is that Morgan has gone about 25 games without coming off the field except for a couple of plays at the end of the Iowa game in 2019. That's a remarkable run of injury-free football. Chances are we will see at some time or another this year how good our backup is (and who it is} due to an injury of some sort.
 

Dakota2 said:
I think we can safely sleep on whether Morgan will be the starter against OSU. He will, barring injury in camp.

Why any of this is interesting is that Morgan has gone about 25 games without coming off the field except for a couple of plays at the end of the Iowa game in 2019. That's a remarkable run of injury-free football. Chances are we will see at some time or another this year how good our backup is (and who it is} due to an injury of some sort.
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I think most QBs make it a full season without missing a game due to injury.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
I expect others to do the hard work for me. 😎
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Bateman is the one who out of nowhere threw Zack into the QB mix. Topic starts at 47:40.
My guess is that Zack is a better leader than Tanner. Guys wanna battle with him.
That was demonstrated when two massive warm weather guys came to the arctic because of Zack.

We know this: If Zack doesn't win the job in fall camp, he won't play unless Tanner is carted off.
PJ does not play backups, most anywhere, but especially at QB. Zack had to go to the hospital at halftime before PJ yanked him after Zack was playing on one leg for weeks. No other QB's played last year, even in garbage time. He couldn't decide between Croft and Cretin. He couldn't decide between Tanner and Zack but he picked Zack. Zack will have to have an avalanche of team support to win the job in 2021. PJ does not like being questioned. Starting Zack opens PJ to lots of questions from fans and sports writers.
It is odd that Bateman brought it up. There has to be something behind it....but what? could be from many angles.
 

Injury to the starter or a major break down in QB play will open the possibility of a new QB upending Tanner Morgan.

There is strong team leadership and camaraderie.

PJ will only fix something that is not working.
 

Fleck works in backups and other players at most positions but for some reason has always been super resistant to playing multiple QBs, even in garbage time. In a lot of ways it feels more like the NFL mentality as opposed to the college mindset. You rarely see NFL teams pull their QB, even in blowouts.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Fleck works in backups and other players at most positions but for some reason has always been super resistant to playing multiple QBs, even in garbage time. In a lot of ways it feels more like the NFL mentality as opposed to the college mindset. You rarely see NFL teams pull their QB, even in blowouts.
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Wonder if he's afraid of any possibility of a qb controversy.
 

Word said:
Wonder if he's afraid of any possibility of a qb controversy.
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I have trouble believing he is going to make on field calls like that because he doesn't want to answer questions about it or something like that.

We're talking about this guy:

EMHJlEwU8AA4Y2M.jpg
 

Word said:
Wonder if he's afraid of any possibility of a qb controversy.
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I doubt it is that. Sure if another QB comes in during garbage time and looks good you will have some fans or media asking the questions. But I don't think that would bother someone like Fleck.

I wonder if the current transfer culture, especially at the QB position plays into it at all. Why show off a backup and run the risk of someone pursuing them. Just guessing as I have no clue what the actual reason is.

There have been numerous times where my inclination would have been to put in a backup QB only to see Fleck leave Tanner out there.
 

We've seem Kramer for a short stint when Morgan had to come out.
 

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