ESPN Q&A: Minnesota QB Mitch Leidner

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BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

What stood out to you about the wide receivers this spring?

ML: It was good for a couple of the younger guys. Donovahn Jones hadn't had a spring ball and even during fall camp last year, he was playing quarterback most of the time. He eventually got moved to receiver and really had never played receiver before. A couple other younger guys like Eric Carter stepped up, and KJ [Maye] played well, too.

What are the main goals for the offense?

ML: We want to put up a lot of points every game. We want to be explosive, make big plays. It's really exciting to be part of the Gopher offense right now.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/100464/qa-minnesota-qb-mitch-leidner

Go Gophers!!
 

We are going to score a lot more points this year. A lot more.
 

If we can just manage to count on at least 20 in most games (in particular against the good comp), then we'll be in good shape. 7 v. Iowa, 13 against Mich, 0 against Wisconsin on offense, and then 3 @ MSU...that cannot keep happening anymore. Put a couple TDs on the board in those games and they take on a lot different shape.
 

diehard said:
We are going to score a lot more points this year. A lot more.
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What, besides wishful thinking, would lead you to this conclusion? You don't put up lots of points when you don't have a quarterback on the roster who is good at completing passes. Our offense will be very similar to last year, underwhelming.

Some of you are discounting ML's performance in the spring game; however, the SG was the closest simulation to a real game he had all spring..... and he laid a giant turd. Most of his passes weren't even catchable, that's what concerns me. We all heard how good Nelson was in practice, unfortunately you have to be able to complete passes in game situations.
 

Monty519 said:
If we can just manage to count on at least 20 in most games (in particular against the good comp), then we'll be in good shape. 7 v. Iowa, 13 against Mich, 0 against Wisconsin on offense, and then 3 @ MSU...that cannot keep happening anymore. Put a couple TDs on the board in those games and they take on a lot different shape.
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Absolutely correct. Those games are brutal for fans.
 


stcgopher said:
What, besides wishful thinking, would lead you to this conclusion? You don't put up lots of points when you don't have a quarterback on the roster who is good at completing passes. Our offense will be very similar to last year, underwhelming.

Some of you are discounting ML's performance in the spring game; however, the SG was the closest simulation to a real game he had all spring..... and he laid a giant turd. Most of his passes weren't even catchable, that's what concerns me. We all heard how good Nelson was in practice, unfortunately you have to be able to complete passes in game situations.
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What leads him to this conclusion? umm, maybe the fact that we return 9 starters on O, 10 if you considered Leidner starter last year. Engel is really the only guy we lose and he didn't even play in the last 3 games. Mike Henry too but FB is an easy position to replace. We will have plenty of talented skill position guys coming like Berkley, Jeff Jones and Melvin Holland that will make this offense instantly more explosive on an O that lacked playmakers last year. 3 of our top 4 receivers from last year will be sophomores instead of freshman and we will have more depth at the position with 3 freshman coming in and Eric Carter as well. The QB will have another year of experience under his belt and will not be a freshman in his first year anymore. By all accounts he has gotten much better from last spring to this spring and that consensus is formed by guys who have watched all 14 spring practices or however many it is, not just a fan who watched him take 10 or so snaps in a measly spring game. The O-line should be even better with everybody coming back and Pirsig, a 225 athletic lineman will presumably starting at RT which enables us to put 226 pounder Josh Campion at OG. We will have 3 guys on the O-line over 220 and another guy at 215.

If you can't see that with you're own eyes then there is nothing I can do to help you. I am actually more concerned about our OLB and DT situation then i am about the O since i know they will be vastly improved. I don't understand how some people think just because a particular player or position didn't have a very good year then they or them will always be bad and never improve while the better more accomplished individual will only get better and better. Its the worse opposite. The worse less experienced player or position group will only get better while the better one will usually have maxed out their potential and will have no room for improvement. Leidner will at least be better then last year and no, he won't always stay bad. You would think that you would be more concerned about a D that will have to replace two top draft picks and 5 total seniors instead of an O that returns practically everybody and had their best recruiting class in years on that side of the ball. To each his own i guess.
 

die hard gopher said:
What leads him to this conclusion? umm, maybe the fact that we return 9 starters on O, 10 if you considered Leidner starter last year. Engel is really the only guy we lose and he didn't even play in the last 3 games. Mike Henry too but FB is an easy position to replace. We will have plenty of talented skill position guys coming like Berkley, Jeff Jones and Melvin Holland that will make this offense instantly more explosive on an O that lacked playmakers last year. 3 of our top 4 receivers from last year will be sophomores instead of freshman and we will have more depth at the position with 3 freshman coming in and Eric Carter as well. The QB will have another year of experience under his belt and will not be a freshman in his first year anymore. By all accounts he has gotten much better from last spring to this spring and that consensus is formed by guys who have watched all 14 spring practices or however many it is, not just a fan who watched him take 10 or so snaps in a measly spring game. The O-line should be even better with everybody coming back and Pirsig, a 225 athletic lineman will presumably starting at RT which enables us to put 226 pounder Josh Campion at OG. We will have 3 guys on the O-line over 220 and another guy at 215.

If you can't see that with you're own eyes then there is nothing I can do to help you. I am actually more concerned about our OLB and DT situation then i am about the O since i know they will be vastly improved. I don't understand how some people think just because a particular player or position didn't have a very good year then they or them will always be bad and never improve while the better more accomplished individual will only get better and better. Its the worse opposite. The worse less experienced player or position group will only get better while the better one will usually have maxed out their potential and will have no room for improvement. Leidner will at least be better then last year and no, he won't always stay bad. You would think that you would be more concerned about a D that will have to replace two top draft picks and 5 total seniors instead of an O that returns practically everybody and had their best recruiting class in years on that side of the ball. To each his own i guess.
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Not that I agree with the person you responded to but you're basically making the same argument, in reverse. If a player was terrible one year just because they are a year older doesn't mean they'll improve (See Mr. Nelson). The bold portion, especially, makes absolutely zero sense, particularly at the age and experience of the players on any college team.
 

Yes, I chose to be concerned about a unit that failed to score a TD in something like 11 straight quarters to close out the season. I could care less if we return 9 starters from an offense that couldn't score TDs against above average defenses last year. You can't score points without a QB who can throw well; we will see stacked boxes again all year and ML will be replaced early in BIG play; he's terrible.
 

maroonedinCA said:
Not that I agree with the person you responded to but you're basically making the same argument, in reverse. If a player was terrible one year just because they are a year older doesn't mean they'll improve (See Mr. Nelson). The bold portion, especially, makes absolutely zero sense, particularly at the age and experience of the players on any college team.
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Well who do you expect to show more improvement from last season to next season? Donovahn Jones, the former true freshman who played with minimal experience who is oozing with potential or Isaac Fruechte, the 5th year senior that has already played 2 seasons and his short, has bad hands etc. Yes Neson did not improve very much or at all from freshman to sophomore year but generally the older the players get the more improved they get and the guys who make the jump from freshman to sophomore will be more improved then a guy who makes the redshirt junior to redshirt senior jump.
 



stcgopher said:
Yes, I chose to be concerned about a unit that failed to score a TD in something like 11 straight quarters to close out the season. I could care less if we return 9 starters from an offense that couldn't score TDs against above average defenses last year. You can't score points without a QB who can throw well; we will see stacked boxes again all year and ML will be replaced early in BIG play; he's terrible.
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How do you know Mitch will be just as bad this year as he was last year? Because you watched him throw less the 10 passes in not even a legitimate spring game? By all accounts he has made major strides in his improvment and even if he himself does not progress the new talent coming in and the guys coming back at the skill positions will make him better.
 

You don't miss the passes he was missing in the spring game if you are planning to make a major jump in the offseason. Period. I wasn't just looking at the fact the throws weren't being completed; I was looking at where the throw was missed, by how much, I was watching his foot work and that is still terrible, he still doesn't have any pocket awareness. These are major flaws that weren't fixed from December to April; I'm not holding my breathe they'll get fixed from May to August.
 

well let's just not play the season then... give up on er now everyone and get ready for some nice, relaxing fall weekends at the cabin in beautiful northern MN
 




I think it is fair to say the offense will most likely be marginally better. However, it would be wise to make Leidner prove he can throw the ball before asserting the Gophers will be significantly improved on offense. If Leidner is moderately better than Nelson was, then the offense should be good. It he's marginally better or worse, then the offense will be bad-average.
 

In 3 years time, the defense went from non existent to top 30. The offense has some depth this year. If we throw about 5% more passes this year, it would be the maximum growth potential for a run based attack. If it goes beyond that, due to success, we will be gunning for Roses. Not only do I think we will be run dominant, but we will show that necessary explosiveness to keep the defense on its heals. Any improvement on offense helps the defense!

I believe Mitch can move the passing game up the ranks of the B!G this year.
 

stcgopher said:
You don't miss the passes he was missing in the spring game if you are planning to make a major jump in the offseason. Period. I wasn't just looking at the fact the throws weren't being completed; I was looking at where the throw was missed, by how much, I was watching his foot work and that is still terrible, he still doesn't have any pocket awareness. These are major flaws that weren't fixed from December to April; I'm not holding my breathe they'll get fixed from May to August.
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It was one day. Those that went to practice regularly were saying Mitch looked very sharp for the most part, and that he has improved quite a bit.
 

stcgopher said:
You don't miss the passes he was missing in the spring game if you are planning to make a major jump in the offseason. Period. I wasn't just looking at the fact the throws weren't being completed; I was looking at where the throw was missed, by how much, I was watching his foot work and that is still terrible, he still doesn't have any pocket awareness. These are major flaws that weren't fixed from December to April; I'm not holding my breathe they'll get fixed from May to August.
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You must be super fun at parties.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
However, it would be wise to make Leidner prove he can throw the ball before asserting the Gophers will be significantly improved on offense.
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So it's unwise to have hope and expect good things? You sound like an engineer.
 

jaymil said:
It was one day. Those that went to practice regularly were saying Mitch looked very sharp for the most part, and that he has improved quite a bit.
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The skepticism comes from the fact that every QB is a spring hero...
 



If Kill and his staff can't coach-up Leidner to where he is a significant improvement over Nelson then we have the wrong coaching staff. Nobody should forget that Nelson left the team because Kill decided Leidner is his starting QB. If Leidner shows normal progression beyond what we saw him do against Syracuse in the bowl game he will easily be ranked in the upper half of Big 10 QB's this year. And, barring injury, he will only get better during his final two years with the Gophers. The future looks very good for the Gophers with Leidner as QB.
 

die hard gopher said:
What leads him to this conclusion? umm, maybe the fact that we return 9 starters on O, 10 if you considered Leidner starter last year. Engel is really the only guy we lose and he didn't even play in the last 3 games. Mike Henry too but FB is an easy position to replace. We will have plenty of talented skill position guys coming like Berkley, Jeff Jones and Melvin Holland that will make this offense instantly more explosive on an O that lacked playmakers last year. 3 of our top 4 receivers from last year will be sophomores instead of freshman and we will have more depth at the position with 3 freshman coming in and Eric Carter as well. The QB will have another year of experience under his belt and will not be a freshman in his first year anymore. By all accounts he has gotten much better from last spring to this spring and that consensus is formed by guys who have watched all 14 spring practices or however many it is, not just a fan who watched him take 10 or so snaps in a measly spring game. The O-line should be even better with everybody coming back and Pirsig, a 225 athletic lineman will presumably starting at RT which enables us to put 226 pounder Josh Campion at OG. We will have 3 guys on the O-line over 220 and another guy at 215.

If you can't see that with you're own eyes then there is nothing I can do to help you. I am actually more concerned about our OLB and DT situation then i am about the O since i know they will be vastly improved. I don't understand how some people think just because a particular player or position didn't have a very good year then they or them will always be bad and never improve while the better more accomplished individual will only get better and better. Its the worse opposite. The worse less experienced player or position group will only get better while the better one will usually have maxed out their potential and will have no room for improvement. Leidner will at least be better then last year and no, he won't always stay bad. You would think that you would be more concerned about a D that will have to replace two top draft picks and 5 total seniors instead of an O that returns practically everybody and had their best recruiting class in years on that side of the ball. To each his own i guess.
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We must have the skinniest, scrawniest offensive line in all of college football.
 

Everything depends on the OL. If Mitch has time, he will make plays. I thought the OL looked weak in the Spring Game which lead to the weak performance by Leidner. They need to step it up big time.
 


Leidner does not have to come out and throw for 300yds a game. This is still going to be a run-oriented team (including a running QB).

For the Gophs to have a good season, Leidner needs to be a leader, and hit enough passes to keep the defenses honest. Also - if the Gophers can run the ball effectively, that should get Leidner and the WR's some more favorable defensive alignments.

I don't expect Leidner to turn into a pure passer overnight - but he doesn't have to do it alone. If the OL stays a little healthier this year (don't forget all the injuries on the OL last year - a position that really demands cohesion), and the new RB's and WR's are able to contribute, I see the Gophs having a run/pass ratio of at least 60/40 or more.
 

jaymil said:
It was one day. Those that went to practice regularly were saying Mitch looked very sharp for the most part, and that he has improved quite a bit.
Click to expand...

By most accounts, Gray and Nelson were kickass practice quarterbacks as well. I just go by what my eyes tell me when the lights are on. Bad accuracy, no pocket awareness, bad feet, fumbling problems; you have to be chugging kool-aid not to think Kill & Co have completely missed out on this position. We haven't recruited a real throwing QB yet. I'm sure most on here think the 5'10" athlete we recruited to play QB this past year is "gonna be a stud" too! This position is a complete mess.
 


stcgopher said:
By most accounts, Gray and Nelson were kickass practice quarterbacks as well. I just go by what my eyes tell me when the lights are on. Bad accuracy, no pocket awareness, bad feet, fumbling problems; you have to be chugging kool-aid not to think Kill & Co have completely missed out on this position. We haven't recruited a real throwing QB yet. I'm sure most on here think the 5'10" athlete we recruited to play QB this past year is "gonna be a stud" too! This position is a complete mess.
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I get what you're saying, but Streveler is really the first QB that Kill fully recruited. He's been dealing with Brewster guys mostly...I know obviously know that Nelson and Leidner could have been discarded but they're hardly "pure" Kill recruits.
 

stcgopher said:
By most accounts, Gray and Nelson were kickass practice quarterbacks as well. I just go by what my eyes tell me when the lights are on. Bad accuracy, no pocket awareness, bad feet, fumbling problems; you have to be chugging kool-aid not to think Kill & Co have completely missed out on this position. We haven't recruited a real throwing QB yet. I'm sure most on here think the 5'10" athlete we recruited to play QB this past year is "gonna be a stud" too! This position is a complete mess.
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Shortell was a pure pocket passer but anyways Kill and Limegrover want dual threat QBs and they always will be recruiting those types of QBs and they always will take a DT over a pocket passer any day. If you don't like that then that is you're problem. It is just Jerry Kill style football and it just adds another dimension to the O and Lynch and Harnish were extremely successful DT QBs for Kill at NIU.
 

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