Is AK dinged up?

Donate To GopherHole
GophersInIowa

GophersInIowa

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
40,715
Reaction score
21,718
Points
113
Is it just me or does he not look nearly as athletic as last year? He wasn't the second coming of Lamar Jackson or anything but he seemed to be able to move around better. Maybe the injury from the bowl game still bothering him?

I don't remember exactly when on Saturday, but he was limping and grimacing after a play. Not sure if it had something to do with that play or more of a long-term issue.
 

He's been wearing a knee brace all year. I assume it's due to the injury from the bowl game.
 

Agreed. He seemed like a decent run threat last year with some speed. He's Morgan like this year.
Reminds me how Leidner got less and less mobile by season- he got hit a lot his first season as starter
 


GophersInIowa said:
Is it just me or does he not look nearly as athletic as last year? He wasn't the second coming of Lamar Jackson or anything but he seemed to be able to move around better. Maybe the injury from the bowl game still bothering him?
Click to expand...

He's had some decent runs this season. I noted in the Iowa game that I didn't see many open lanes to run through and when I saw them they closed very quickly. I think that's why he didn't try to run much and got very little when he did.
 


He had mostly more experience around him last year. That youth issue again raising its head on a number of fronts, including the QB. Sigh.
 


If I remember correctly, he kept the ball one time after that long mesh point with the RB, it was in the 2nd half and, of course, it should have been a handoff. Had BSF going around the edge and looked like it would’ve been a big run play. Oh well
 

I wouldn't be surprised if he was a little dinged, not from the bowl game, but because it is late October. I am guessing most players are playing through something by this point of the year.

I wouldn't read too much into the knee brace though. Seems pretty normal for a QB to wear the knee brace to protect it from people falling into them. Similar to all of the o-lineman wearing knee braces.
 



He has looked much slower, but I think it’s slower to make decisions and throw.

That doesn’t mean he is not dinged up.
 

It shows you how important the mental game is at QB. Purdy exemplifies this.
 

Tanner Morgan and Kirk Cousins are great examples of how important durability is.

Hopefully, Kaliakmanis is doing a good job of taking care of his body, presumably with the help of training staff.
 

MplsGopher said:
If I remember correctly, he kept the ball one time after that long mesh point with the RB, it was in the 2nd half and, of course, it should have been a handoff. Had BSF going around the edge and looked like it would’ve been a big run play. Oh well
Click to expand...
I'm only guessing, but my sense is that Athan (and Morgan before him) is not running the read option -- they know who's getting the ball before the play starts. It seemed obvious that run in the second half was called for him. Iowa must have stolen our signals and was ready for it.
 



There’s no way Purdy was that good at Iowa State. They would’ve been in the CFP.

He looked like an All-Pro last night other than two passes that got away from him at the end.
 

You generally do not get hurt if you are not getting hit. They never ran with the ball. I thought AK was faster, might be slowed down by slow processing. Purdy is 5'11" and I do not remember him running in college, like Morgan.
 




Gophers1992 said:
I wasn't either. I think he gets massively overhyped playing in the Shanahan system with all that talent around him.
Click to expand...
I live out here in the Bay Area so I've watched Purdy with amazement that he lasted to become Mr. Irrelevant. He's solid and he's young. He got them to the NFC Championship game (where he got hurt and couldn't throw as then the backup was injured and he had to re-enter and hand off), and you're right, he didn't have to win games by himself as he's got a ton of talent around him, but he's much much better than I thought he would be and is a legit starter.

He only really made one bad pass last night, the first pick.. the Vikes really played well defensively and put pressure on him pretty consistently.

Last night was really the first game of his pro career where he didn't look comfortable and that was due to the pressure and probably the noise in the dome. They should have beaten Cleveland last week as he drove them down for the winning FG at the end, the kicker shanked one from 40 like he did against the Vikes to lose.

I wouldn't say he's great, he's good, but not 'massively overhyped' either.
 
Last edited:

DanvilleGopher said:
I live out here in the Bay Area so I've watched Purdy with amazement that he lasted to become Mr. Irrelevant. He's solid and he's young. He got them to the NFC Championship game (where he got hurt and couldn't throw as then the backup was injured and he had to re-enter and hand off), and you're right, he didn't have to win games by himself as he's got a ton of talent around him, but he's much much better than I thought he would be and is a legit starter.

He only really made one bad pass last night, the first pick.. the Vikes really played well defensively and put pressure on him pretty consistently.

Last night was really the first game of his pro career where he didn't look comfortable and that was due to the pressure and probably the noise in the dome. They should have beaten Cleveland last week as he drove them down for the winning FG at the end, the kicker shanked one from 40 like he did against the Vikes to lose.

I wouldn't say he's great, he's good, but not 'massively overhyped' either.
Click to expand...
He's a fine QB. I guess massively overhyped is a bad way to phrase it - I think a lot of people are leaning in to the whole underdog story with him being Mr. Irrelevant. He got them to the NFC title game in the sense that he was playing QB when they made it, and did well enough not to screw things up. I just mean to say that he looks better than he is due to that system, which would be true of just about any QB.
 

He made a lot of great passes, just in terms of being a high quality pass. Tight spiral, very good timing, very good accuracy. He is athletic enough to run for a first down and escape pressure, even if he isn’t some Jalen Hurts freak.

… what more is needed at QB?? I’d take that.

Cousins very much the same kind of QB. Except worse at escaping pressure.
 

Purdy is good enough physically and athletically to play in the NFL. Mentally he seems very good. Cool as a cucumber, knows where to pass the ball. I never really paid attention to ISU but I know they were pretty good earlier in the Matt Campbell era when Purdy was there.
 

MplsGopher said:
He made a lot of great passes, just in terms of being a high quality pass. Tight spiral, very good timing, very good accuracy. He is athletic enough to run for a first down and escape pressure, even if he isn’t some Jalen Hurts freak.

… what more is needed at QB?? I’d take that.

Cousins very much the same kind of QB. Except worse at escaping pressure.
Click to expand...
You know what's really fascinating to me is the dichotomy in the draft of the niners relating to the QB position recently; seeming like they hit a grand slam with Purdy (Mr. Irrelevant), but fully faceplanted with Trey Lance (3rd pick in '21)!!

How can the results of 2 drafts land on completely opposite ends of the spectrum where these 2 QB's were drafted, and the results from those drafts of Purdy and Lance (49ers burned three first-round selections over three years and a third-round pick to trade up in order to select him) are also on opposite ends of the spectrum!

It really shows what a crapshoot drafting QB's can be, as us Minnesotans have learned ONLY the hard way.

Purdy is very savvy and understands when to get out of the pocket and run and when to stay in and let the play develop. He also does throw the ball very well. He is in a great system which is obviously part of what allows him to be comfortable but so far, it seems like an incredible steal RIGHT AFTER making a horrendous draft decision 2 years earlier, which will come back at some point to haunt them!
 
Last edited:

DanvilleGopher said:
You know what's really fascinating to me is the dichotomy in the draft of the niners relating to the QB position recently; seeming like they hit a grand slam with Purdy (Mr. Irrelevant), but fully faceplanted with Trey Lance!!

How can the results of 2 drafts land on completely opposite ends of the spectrum where these 2 QB's were drafted, and the results from those drafts of Purdy and Lance (49ers burned three first-round selections over three years and a third-round pick to trade up in order to select him) are also on opposite ends of the spectrum!

It really shows what a crapshoot drafting QB's can be, as us Minnesotans have learned ONLY the hard way.

Purdy is very savvy and understands when to get out of the pocket and run and when to stay in and let the play develop. He also does throw the ball very well. He is in a great system which is obviously part of what allows him to be comfortable but so far, it seems like an incredible steal RIGHT AFTER making a horrendous draft decision 2 years earlier, which will come back at some point to haunt them!
Click to expand...
That what I stated with recruiting QB's. Rather then placing all of your eggs in one basket, take a few cars out and test which one will work out. AK, Lance, had limited game time in HS-college. Purdy like Morgan played multiple years and got to develop. You want a recruit to play multiple years in HS. You can see huge gains watching young QB's play each game in HS.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom