Is Tanner Morgan a game-changer or game-manager?

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BleedGopher

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per Off Tackle Empire:

But sure, Minnesota’s QB room can be second-best behind Ohio State.

In other words, Gophers, hope Mo Ibrahim stays healthy or that some other running back is ready to pound that rock.

RU in VA: Tanner Morgan isn’t even the best QB in his own state. Give me a break. Give me Connor Leavens all day: https://hamlineathletics.com/sports/football/roster/connor-leavens/7386

2. Hasn’t Minnesota had the same gameplan for all of the 2000s? Starting with Marion Barber III on, the theme is to get some talent who shouldn’t have committed there in the first place and just run them 35 times a game and cross your fingers? This is the same school in Minnesota, right?

3. Yeah. Every kid Chris Ash convinced to come there.

Zuzu: Nah. Penix. I don't have an answer to 2 because as I said in yesterday's Potluck I've paid attention to all teams at the highest 0%. Minnesota maybe -1%.

My answer to 3 is Savon Huggins. He was like a super high star recruit I think, but was... mediocre. Also Art Sitkowski. Great kid. Awful QB.

Beez: It dawned on me that Tanner Morgan is 100% Minnesota’s version of “Well any Wisconsin RB could get 1,500 yards behind those lines.” It’s pretty easy to look like good-to-great QB when you’ve got those receivers to thrown to! And that RB to hand off to! Really, though, it seems like Morgan excels at what he’s asked to do, which is “throw to the right guy.” And when you have great skill players, why does the question need to be any more complicated than that? But no, he’s not the best non-OSU QB. That’s Penix.

www.offtackleempire.com

B1G 2021, Minnesota Potluck #2: Is Tanner Morgan a game-changer or game-manager?

With RB Mo Ibrahim, it should be hard to screw this up...but does Minnesota have the QB—to say nothing of the coordinator or wide receivers—to overcome any slip-ups?
www.offtackleempire.com www.offtackleempire.com

Go Gophers!!
 

Does it have to be or the other?

He certainly has dropped passes in for game changing type moments / drives where other QBs would have not gotten the job done ... the team would have seemed to have given up.
 

Tanner Morgan is a game changer when he is accurate and does not lock into one receiver. He seems to have that "it" in his play, but when he is "off" he just seems like a good D2 QB since he doesn't beat you with the run and doesn't have a rocket arm.

There are games where I do think the play calling is what limits his ability to look more like a game changer.
 

The big question is this -

how much of the regression in 2020 is due to the offensive line, and how much is due to no Johnson and a partial season of Bateman?

as the article pointed out in very snarky fashion, if Morgan needs 2 NFL-caliber WR's to be successful, then 2021 could be problematic.

But, if most of last year's issues were due to a patchwork OL, then there is hope that Morgan has a season that is closer to 2019 than 2020.

(and of course, the other question lurking behind everything - how much of this is on the OC? If Sanford is the problem, that does not bode well for 2021.)
 



short ornery norwegian said:
The big question is this -

how much of the regression in 2020 is due to the offensive line, and how much is due to no Johnson and a partial season of Bateman?

as the article pointed out in very snarky fashion, if Morgan needs 2 NFL-caliber WR's to be successful, then 2021 could be problematic.

But, if most of last year's issues were due to a patchwork OL, then there is hope that Morgan has a season that is closer to 2019 than 2020.

(and of course, the other question lurking behind everything - how much of this is on the OC? If Sanford is the problem, that does not bode well for 2021.)
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Also new OC during covid season with missed practice time.

If the offense struggles again this year I am all for replacing the OC though, even midseason.
 
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Certainly a game-changer in Tampa...after that first mistake pretty much was in command of the offense the final 55 minutes on the field...

Auburn is still butt-hurt from that last game-ending drive... A thing of beauty.
 


gophernut1 said:
Tanner Morgan is a game changer when he is accurate and does not lock into one receiver. He seems to have that "it" in his play, but when he is "off" he just seems like a good D2 QB since he doesn't beat you with the run and doesn't have a rocket arm.

There are games where I do think the play calling is what limits his ability to look more like a game changer.
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Leidner level is still possible for the TanMan.
 

It doesn't matter what you call him. It is like a hunter killing prey with a gun, a machete, or a bow and arrow. When he bags his prey no one would argue.
 
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Just FWIW if some people aren't familiar with Off Tackle Empire, all of the writers are fans of a B1G team and the site tends to have a very friendly banter tone throughout (for example, by convention no one on the site except their own fans capitalizes wisconsin) . So this is opposing teams fans trying to joke around and talk CFB with each other, not intended to be a super serious, impartial analysis.

Very fun and active community, would recommend checking it out if you haven't.
 

I'm sure I'm taking it too literally ... but what is a game-changer at the QB position?? Who's a good example?

It has to be someone that can step in and do either/or of: 1) running the ball like a Heisman winner with huge yards/TDs, 2) making throws that just almost no one else can make, that make completions happen when they shouldn't.


I would say most college QBs can't meet that bar. Perhaps someone like Mahomes or Rodgers can in the NFL.
 

MplsGopher said:
I'm sure I'm taking it too literally ... but what is a game-changer at the QB position?? Who's a good example?

It has to be someone that can step in and do either/or of: 1) running the ball like a Heisman winner with huge yards/TDs, 2) making throws that just almost no one else can make, that make completions happen when they shouldn't.


I would say most college QBs can't meet that bar. Perhaps someone like Mahomes or Rodgers can in the NFL.
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In general I think college fans have NFL-sized expectations for their college QB. They are bound to be disappointed.

That said, Morgan's 2019 season was an NFL top 10 type season. But even Morgan's "bad" seasons are still better than most Big ten QBs.
 

I am curious though, who do people think fits that bill?

What's a Big Ten team that won a conf championship and/or finished in the top 15 (or some criteria for having a great year) such that you can say a thing like:

"if you take away [QB] and replace him with an above-average Big Ten QB, they don't have that year" ?

Russell Wilson at Wisconsin? I'm just grasping for anyone.
 

Maybe instead of "game-changer," a better way to look at it would be "difference maker."

Let's put it this way: if you took the QB of team A and moved him to Team B, would that make Team B better and Team A worse? That, I maintain, would make the QB a difference maker. Of course, that is hard to judge.

Maybe a better way would be to look at teams that lost their starting QB to injury. did the team get better or worse with the backup playing? Indiana was obviously not the same team last year after their QB went down, because he was such a huge part of the team's offense. a more one-dimensional QB (run-only or pass-only) might be easier to replace.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
Maybe instead of "game-changer," a better way to look at it would be "difference maker."

Let's put it this way: if you took the QB of team A and moved him to Team B, would that make Team B better and Team A worse? That, I maintain, would make the QB a difference maker. Of course, that is hard to judge.

Maybe a better way would be to look at teams that lost their starting QB to injury. did the team get better or worse with the backup playing? Indiana was obviously not the same team last year after their QB went down, because he was such a huge part of the team's offense. a more one-dimensional QB (run-only or pass-only) might be easier to replace.
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That might be a little weird when you consider stacked teams and Ohio State in 2014 ;)
 


BilldGopher said:
Certainly a game-changer in Tampa...after that first mistake pretty much was in command of the offense the final 55 minutes on the field...

Auburn is still butt-hurt from that last game-ending drive... A thing of beauty.
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I know we're all homers, but c'mon man...

Subtract one brilliant catch by Bryce Witham on a ball absolutely flung out of desperation by Tanner Morgan and things get murky. Given the discussion here, that last drive does not move the needle towards Morgan being a game changer. In fact, it reinforces the fact that he relied on spectacular catches. He got lots of them in 2019, but not soooo much in 2020.

The great thing about it is... in a couple of months, we're gonna know which was the "real" Tanner Morgan. The Gophers definitely need 2019 Tanner in the first game, to be sure.
 

laazrakit said:
I know we're all homers, but c'mon man...

Subtract one brilliant catch by Bryce Witham on a ball absolutely flung out of desperation by Tanner Morgan and things get murky. Given the discussion here, that last drive does not move the needle towards Morgan being a game changer. In fact, it reinforces the fact that he relied on spectacular catches. He got lots of them in 2019, but not soooo much in 2020.

The great thing about it is... in a couple of months, we're gonna know which was the "real" Tanner Morgan. The Gophers definitely need 2019 Tanner in the first game, to be sure.
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No offense, but you're contradicting yourself a little.

If the Gophers "definitely need 2019 Tanner", then that fact makes Morgan a game-changer, by definition.

Was Morgan's 2019 success really based on him having "relied on spectacular catches"? I certainly don't see it that way.
 

RememberMurray said:
No offense, but you're contradicting yourself a little.

If the Gophers "definitely need 2019 Tanner", then that fact makes Morgan a game-changer, by definition.

Was Morgan's 2019 success really based on him having "relied on spectacular catches"? I certainly don't see it that way.
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Morgan has consistently put the ball into some pretty tight windows. It's not all just spectacular catches.
 


Word said:
Morgan has consistently put the ball into some pretty tight windows. It's not all just spectacular catches.
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^

Plus, the WRs were just not that great last year at completing the catch, Many, many drops of catchable balls. That said, Morgan was also off his game particularly early in the season, so much so I suspected he may have been nursing an injury or someone messed with his delivery in the offseason. We’ll see how it goes this year. Time will tell. I’m obviously a huge TM2 backer. His late game heroics at moving the chains and making big plays are (or should be) legendary.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
^

Plus, the WRs were just not that great last year at completing the catch, Many, many drops of catchable balls. That said, Morgan was also off his game particularly early in the season, so much so I suspected he may have been nursing an injury or someone messed with his delivery in the offseason. We’ll see how it goes this year. Time will tell. I’m obviously a huge TM2 backer. His late game heroics at moving the chains and making big plays are (or should be) legendary.
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You thinkin’ he was tossing the tennis ball?
 

Spaulding!No! said:
You thinkin’ he was tossing the tennis ball?
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Maybe. Who knows what Sanford Jr. has in his armamentarium of QB jedi mind tricks. After his Garo Yepremian moment, getting up off the turf Morgan threw up his throwing arm and said “no mas, no mas” to his new OC
 

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Morgan had a little case of the 'yips' last year. He doesn't run well ( or isn't allowed to run), so he needs a clean pocket to be successful. and last year, with injuries and opt-outs, the OL was not as solid as it was in 2019. I think that affected Morgan - the clock in his head was a little off, because he was not getting the time he was accustomed to, and that in turn may have lead to some forced throws or rushed decisions.

If the OL gives Morgan that extra bit of time to set up and make reads, I think he will bounce back and look more like the 2019 version. Then, it's up to the WR's to get open and catch the ball.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Morgan had a little case of the 'yips' last year. He doesn't run well ( or isn't allowed to run), so he needs a clean pocket to be successful. and last year, with injuries and opt-outs, the OL was not as solid as it was in 2019. I think that affected Morgan - the clock in his head was a little off, because he was not getting the time he was accustomed to, and that in turn may have lead to some forced throws or rushed decisions.

If the OL gives Morgan that extra bit of time to set up and make reads, I think he will bounce back and look more like the 2019 version. Then, it's up to the WR's to get open and catch the ball.
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Going from 8 and 7-man protections under Ciarrocca to more normal 6-man protections under Sanford, did not help this at all.
 

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