Is Athan Kaliakmanis ready? | Gopherhole

[WoodburyTim]

The fact is it will be hard to tell. The WR situation is so bad that success will be difficult regardless of who the QB is. Morgan was a really good QB with 2 NFL WR's. With this bunch not so good. Athan will have the same problems.

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

AK-8 is ready to play.

Should be AK7 btw.

 

[Dakota2]

If I am not mistaken, Tanner lined up at receiver when they were in the wildcat.

Usually but not every time.

 

[Dakota2]

No COVID seasons counted anywhere or at any level

Counted in the SEC. They played football for the most part rather than sucking their thumbs.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

Was Tanner ready for Illinois?

You mean when he came in for Annexstad in 2018? He clicked immediately even though the game was Rob Smith’s last game. I think Morgan was really calm and sharp though

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Weird that I can't find any stats. Also weird that his Gopher Sports bio was not corrected. Was it considered an actual season?

It was sort of pulled together last minute like the Gopher schedule was in 2020, but it was official. The entire state played - it wasn't just a couple programs that scheduled super scrimmages. All of the papers had local rankings, they played their conference teams, etc. They declared conference champions and had all conference teams. Athan was conference player of the year. I don't think they did a post-season, but there was a season.

Here are some stats:

Athan Kaliakmanis 2020 - 2021 ILLINOIS FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Athan won the 2020 - 2021 Gatorade Player of the Year in Illinois for Football

playeroftheyear.gatorade.com

There are a number of threads that followed his senior season on Gopherhole. I believe even a discussion if he should even play considering it was going to be the fall and some of his fellow FR were playing in the spring game for us.

 

[skiumah1]

The thing I like from him so far is he’s not afraid to throw it. You don’t want him to get paralyzed by indecision and we haven’t seen that so far. You can live with mistakes given he’s learning and growing. Don’t want him to just go out there and get sacked 7-8 times and not throw the ball. Play call/scheme is the biggest helper for that in that you can develop safety valves/easy throws. It’s something our scheme seems somewhat mediocre in to me which worries me

100% - Get out there and learn from mistakes. Way better than a guy who comes in too nervous to make any mistakes.

 

[Flecknation]

Yes he is ready he can move the ball! Dual threat! first career start at a tough crowd and drove the team to his first touchdown drive

 

[Gophergrandpa]

Athan was one of the few skill guys on offense who looked ready. Another was BSF. Mo was OK, but had a tough time running into a defense keying on him. Our WR situation is looking very stressed. 3 WR receptions against PSU; 1 against Illinois.

 

[BilldGopher]

Yes...with growing pains...