Former Gophers QB MarQueis Gray hopes tight end is his path to NFL

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BleedGopher

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BS: What have you been hearing from NFL teams?

MG: Teams have said they'd look at me at all three positions but mainly tight end. I've been working on blocking. That's something I haven't had to do. And I'm getting into the three-point stance.

BS: What have you learned from working out with Ben Utecht?

MG: I've learned so much. I thought I wouldn't be able to get out of a three-point stance. He's taught me and I'm farther along than I thought I would be. We made a DVD and sent it to teams and we've gotten a lot of feedback. We sent it to all the teams and it's on youtube, too.

http://www.twincities.com/gophers/c...rce=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
 

I can envision him in a Jermichael Finley type role. I think he'll carve out a niche in the NFL.
 


I have a 'burger-and-a beer' bet with a buddy of mine that MG gets drafted. He says 'no way, UDFA for him'. I'm hoping he can squeek into the 6th or 7th round with somebody who likes his ability, character, and ability to act as a emergency QB if needed!
 

My fingers are crossed for MG. We could not have asked for a better athlete to represent the U, especially considering all the adversity he went through and, to date, has never said a bad word about the U's fb program. With his athletic ability, he will certainly catch on with a team, it would be great if he would get drafted.
 


Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
I have a 'burger-and-a beer' bet with a buddy of mine that MG gets drafted. He says 'no way, UDFA for him'. I'm hoping he can squeek into the 6th or 7th round with somebody who likes his ability, character, and ability to act as a emergency QB if needed!
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Gotta agree with ya GBG. I like his odds as well. Would love to see the Vikes take him! But, I digress.

Would really like to see the YouTube video. If someone could get the link up here, that would be awesome! :)
 

GO4INLALALAND said:
My fingers are crossed for MG. We could not have asked for a better athlete to represent the U, especially considering all the adversity he went through and, to date, has never said a bad word about the U's fb program. With his athletic ability, he will certainly catch on with a team, it would be great if he would get drafted.
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+ 1,000,000!!!!!
 

This is the video he mentions:


Watching a guy run TE drills against blocking dummies for ten minutes is, surprisingly, not terribly interesting. But I hope he can make it work. I'd probably break my "no vikings jerseys" rule for his
 

RedPoo said:
This is the video he mentions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II_SHdPNUW0

Watching a guy run TE drills against blocking dummies for ten minutes is, surprisingly, not terribly interesting. But I hope he can make it work. I'd probably break my "no vikings jerseys" rule for his
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Yes, you were correct. Not terribly exciting. I didn't mind watching it to much though. Thanks for posting though! Much appreciated!
 



No chance he gets drafted.. i think he is such a great guy but sorry he is not a NFL player he has no position.
 

gopherhoopsguy said:
No chance he gets drafted.. i think he is such a great guy but sorry he is not a NFL player he has no position.
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I agree. It would be very tough for a team to keep him on their roster as a developmental player. I foresee him being and undrafted free agent pickup with a year on a practice squad to see how he develops. One thing is for sure, he's gonna have to earn his way. Good luck to him on his future.
 

RedPoo said:
Watching a guy run TE drills against blocking dummies for ten minutes is, surprisingly, not terribly interesting. But I hope he can make it work. I'd probably break my "no vikings jerseys" rule for his
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Perhaps strange of me to say, but I get totally excited for football watching these kinds of drills and technique reps. Reminds me of my high school daze, when August two-a-days were the name of the game and I'd get absolutely jacked for the Oklahoma drill and sled work!

I agree that MG may not have a formal position, and that could be what pushes him out of the draft. Admittedly, I have no idea how deep this draft is at TE/H-back type players, and that probably plays a factor too.
 

paulser21 said:
I agree. It would be very tough for a team to keep him on their roster as a developmental player. I foresee him being and undrafted free agent pickup with a year on a practice squad to see how he develops. One thing is for sure, he's gonna have to earn his way. Good luck to him on his future.
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I still think he has a chance to get drafted. Look at a guy like Joe Webb. He was drafted to be a WR, even though he had never played the position in college. At least Gray has shown he can catch the ball and make plays in the passing game.
 



gopherhoopsguy said:
No chance he gets drafted.. i think he is such a great guy but sorry he is not a NFL player he has no position.
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He may or may not be drafted, but every single NFL draft pre ranking has him right on the verge of being drafted.
nfl.com gave him a rating of 53 (0-49 are considered UDFA and 50-75 are considered 4th through 7th).

The NFL is full of guys who don't have a clear position. If he can catch the ball decent, he will play in the NFL for awhile.

He has all of the measurables as the elite TEs in the draft.
He has experience receiving (not a ton, he ran simple routes here).
His biggest weakness is in the blocking game and the spread offenses are in right now.

I'd say it's a coin toss as to whether he gets picked (I'd probably bet he does), but to say that he won't be an NFL player and that he doesn't have a position is naive. He has a position, he'll be a flexed out TE (you seem them all over the NFL), he has the exact size and speed combo you'd look for in a TE. Will he be able to develop into that kind of player? Not sure, but he'll be on an NFL roster next season.
 

I think he's a fringe roster guy/practice squad guy for at least a year. I bet someone takes a shot on him with a 6th or 7th rounder just to get control of his rights. Wouldn't be surprised if he's not drafted either.
 

A lot depends on which team is looking at him and what system they use. If a team wants a 280-lb blocking TE, then mG is not going to be looked at. But, a team that likes smaller, more mobile TE's that can be split out or put in motion might just think MG has a chance to be a productive player.

And, he's a good-attitude guy, a team leader, and is not likely to embarass his team by showing up on the police blotter. A lot of teams pay attention to that stuff.

If he does go undrafted, I would hope the Vikes would at least give him a look. Shoot, for what they're paying John Carlson, they haven't gotten a lot of return on that investment. At the very least, I could see MG being a practice-squad/special teams guy. Dude needs a job - those twins are going to eat him out of house and home.......
 


GophersInIowa said:
I still think he has a chance to get drafted. Look at a guy like Joe Webb. He was drafted to be a WR, even though he had never played the position in college. At least Gray has shown he can catch the ball and make plays in the passing game.
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Joe Webb did play a season of WR in college. I do agree that Gray has a chance to get drafted though. There aren't many guys with his combination of size and speed, and he has shown that he has good hands.
 



It's a Pig Man! said:
I think he was just correcting Bob who said Webb had never played WR in college.
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It was me actually and he is correct. I didn't realize that he did for one year.

Either way, if an NFL team is willing to take a chance with a pretty similar player who played in the C-USA, I would think there's a good chance Gray will be taken. Maybe a team who has a lot of draft picks and can take a little more of a chance.
 

GophersInIowa said:
It was me actually and he is correct. I didn't realize that he did for one year.

Either way, if an NFL team is willing to take a chance with a pretty similar player who played in the C-USA, I would think there's a good chance Gray will be taken. Maybe a team who has a lot of draft picks and can take a little more of a chance.
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Whoops haha. Not sure where my mind was at there. I agree with you, though. I think there is a pretty good chance that Gray gets drafted late.
 

I'll take a small bet and say the Minnesota Vikings draft Gray. He is the prototypical athletic TE2/HBk/big WR. He'd be deadly near the goaline. They need that kind of guy in their O.
 

highwayman said:
I'll take a small bet and say the Minnesota Vikings draft Gray. He is the prototypical athletic TE2/HBk/big WR. He'd be deadly near the goaline. They need that kind of guy in their O.
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I think all Gopher fans would be happy the see Gray in Viking purple....it would be very cool!
 

I think the Vikings have enough draft picks to take him in a late round without much risk. I'm really hoping they do. I'm biased, but at the very least I'd want to give him a shot at the practice squad if I'm a GM. He has a lot of tools to work with.
 

It may be in Gray's best interest if he isn't drafted.

A lot of times in the late rounds teams draft the "best player availble" without a plan on how to use them, or have a plan that has a small chance of success. In that scenario he could end up with a team that doesn't further develop him, spends a lot of time in the preseason basically in limbo just to get cut, and then be in a situation where no other teams can afford to spend time looking at him once the season is underway.

If he is undrafted he can choose the situation he thinks gives him the best chance to succeed.

If you think I'm wrong, just look at how many Mr. Irrelevants have ever made regular season rosters.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
He may or may not be drafted, but every single NFL draft pre ranking has him right on the verge of being drafted.
nfl.com gave him a rating of 53 (0-49 are considered UDFA and 50-75 are considered 4th through 7th).

The NFL is full of guys who don't have a clear position. If he can catch the ball decent, he will play in the NFL for awhile.

He has all of the measurables as the elite TEs in the draft.
He has experience receiving (not a ton, he ran simple routes here).
His biggest weakness is in the blocking game and the spread offenses are in right now.

I'd say it's a coin toss as to whether he gets picked (I'd probably bet he does), but to say that he won't be an NFL player and that he doesn't have a position is naive. He has a position, he'll be a flexed out TE (you seem them all over the NFL), he has the exact size and speed combo you'd look for in a TE. Will he be able to develop into that kind of player? Not sure, but he'll be on an NFL roster next season.
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+1,000,000

I have felt Gray will get drafted and I still believe that will be the case. He has enough raw ability that he is the kind of guy a team will take a later round flyer on based on potential alone. He will certainly have his work cut out for him once he gets to the league in order to stay there but have to believe a guy with his measurables will be given every opportunity to prove he belongs in the NFL.
 

I suspect Q's injury history may relegate him to UDFA status.
 

Whenever I see UDFA, I think UffDa.

The Lowsman Trophy, awarded to the last player picked in te NFL draft, isn't what it used to be. I looked up the list of Mr. Irrelevants (or is it Messrs. Irrelevant?), and I was surprised at how many had made NFL rosters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Irrelevant
 

I'm not one for bold predictions, but the 7th round pick NE got from Viking's will be used for Gray. I hope I'm right.
 

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