J.D. Pride moved to WR

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Alipate should still be moved somewhere - if not this year, then next for sure. Next year, he will have Gray, Parish, and Shortell (if not Nelson, as well) in front of him on the depth chart, and his Sr. year he will still have some combination of Parish, Shortell, and Nelson in front of him. Since he will never be better than 3rd (or 4th) on the depth chart at QB, he should be willing to move somewhere for the betterment of the team and to at least contribute something, since his contributions at QB will be limited to holding a clipboard. I can see the logic in keeping him at QB this year, but next year? No, it doesn't make any sense.
 

Moving Pride to WR was long overdue. He is a great athlete and needs to be on the field somewhere. I think it should have been earlier into Spring Practice though.
 

My impression is that they will not make a kid move.
 

If what I've been hearing about Alipate's accuracy and overall QB skills outside of a rocket arm are true, a move to TE may be best for both him and the team. Thing is we'd only have 3 scholarship QBs on the roster in the fall with an offense that requires the QB to take some shots. If Gray or Parish get hurt it would be very hard to keep the RS on Shortell
 



ruppertflywheel said:
slot receiver with 4.7 speed....hmm
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You don't have to be a burner to be a good slot guy. If he's got quicks and elusiveness, that'll take him far without having the great straight line speed. It's not like they're counting on him to start here, just to be a depth guy at the receiver position.
 

Monty519 said:
You don't have to be a burner to be a good slot guy. If he's got quicks and elusiveness, that'll take him far without having the great straight line speed. It's not like they're counting on him to start here, just to be a depth guy at the receiver position.
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Agreed. Slot receivers need to be quick, run precise routes in traffic, have good hands and like contact. If Pride can take the hits and hang onto the ball, he might do fine at slot.
 




Slot recievers run 40 yard streaks all the time... mostly when I'm playing Madden though.
 

WAGopher said:
Agreed. Slot receivers need to be quick, run precise routes in traffic, have good hands and like contact. If Pride can take the hits and hang onto the ball, he might do fine at slot.
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This.

I think people forget that to be an effective college football player, really low 40 times are not critical. NFL combine times spoil people's perspectives.
Superstars run low 40s, but think of how many amazing college players fizzled when the speed of the NFL proved too much.
4.7 is fine for a slot guy, 4.8 is probably fine for a running QB(see Cam Newton's 40 time)
I'd bet there are LBers/speed rusher DE's running 4.9s who dominate college games.
 

Ole said:
This.

I think people forget that to be an effective college football player, really low 40 times are not critical. NFL combine times spoil people's perspectives.
Superstars run low 40s, but think of how many amazing college players fizzled when the speed of the NFL proved too much.
4.7 is fine for a slot guy, 4.8 is probably fine for a running QB(see Cam Newton's 40 time)
I'd bet there are LBers/speed rusher DE's running 4.9s who dominate college games.
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40 times are completely overrated for every position other than maybe DB since those guys HAVE to be able to turn and run with almost anyone when needed. However for a slot WR quickness, precise routes, and change of direction are all more important than pure speed. That said, once guys get to the NFL they HAVE to have some speed to succeed. Peter Warrick was extremely quick but just was too slow in the NFL to seperate much. As for Pride I honestly didn't expect him to ever see the field at QB when we recruited him and there wasn't really any film (for the public) of him moving, but his combine results weren't all that impressive so I didn't expect much from any other position. That said if the coaches feel he's enough of an athlete to help at WR I hope he can make it there. He's only a RS frosh this year so he has 4 full seasons to make an impact
 




JD is not a burner but he is a pretty elusive kid.

I wouldn't be shocked to see him do pretty well. He is smart, works hard and has a good attitude. I know those sound really cliche but it's true with him.
 

A smart kid with fair speed, good hands and a good work ethic can play WR, they don't have to be a burner, they do have to have know the fundamentals of the postion and have good hands.
They will have a very hard time being a dominant player with only fair speed, but they can be a reliable third receiver which would have helped a lot in several games last year. We had two, and we needed three. We missed key first downs in several games just by dropping wide open third down catches when Weber hit the third option receiver and they could not catch the ball.
 

corcoran1 said:
A smart kid with fair speed, good hands and a good work ethic can play WR, they don't have to be a burner, they do have to have know the fundamentals of the postion and have good hands.
They will have a very hard time being a dominant player with only fair speed, but they can be a reliable third receiver which would have helped a lot in several games last year. We had two, and we needed three. We missed key first downs in several games just by dropping wide open third down catches when Weber hit the third option receiver and they could not catch the ball.
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Yep, that's how I look at Pride as well.

If Pride can run good routes and catch the ball, even with only fair speed, he will help us sooner rather than later at WR.
 

True but running good routes is a skill that usually takes quite a while to develop. Timing, footwork, reading the D on the fly, etc. All of that takes a lot of work
 

This situation kinda reminds me of when I came to MN. I was recruited as a QB and made the switch to Slot Receiver during the spring of my Freshman year. During the years I played we didnt necessarily need a burner in the slot. The little things that get unnoticed were expected of us (Blocking assignments, reading the defensive before and after the ball is snapped, going in and digging out Outside Linebackers). Hopefully he can contribute to the team. It might not be right away but hopefully soon.
 

TPatt17 said:
This situation kinda reminds me of when I came to MN. I was recruited as a QB and made the switch to Slot Receiver during the spring of my Freshman year. During the years I played we didnt necessarily need a burner in the slot. The little things that get unnoticed were expected of us (Blocking assignments, reading the defensive before and after the ball is snapped, going in and digging out Outside Linebackers). Hopefully he can contribute to the team. It might not be right away but hopefully soon.
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Tony Patterson, right on!

Yeah, you would probably know what's facing JD Pride as much as anyone (similar size, similar background, you were probably more athletic than JD, but all in all pretty similar).
 

How DARE those idiots at the U move our QB of the future to WR!!!! This is an OUTRAGE!!! He needs to be learning our QB calls and system, not out running routes and risking his health!

Now I have to cheer against the Gophers until JD is rightfully injected into the starting QB spot.

:rolleyes:
 

oleboy41 said:
If what I've been hearing about Alipate's accuracy and overall QB skills outside of a rocket arm are true, a move to TE may be best for both him and the team. Thing is we'd only have 3 scholarship QBs on the roster in the fall with an offense that requires the QB to take some shots. If Gray or Parish get hurt it would be very hard to keep the RS on Shortell
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I've long thought that Alipate at TE would be a very strong possibility if we have the depth at QB. As you noted above, though, I would be very surprised if it happened this year. Don't know if he would be open to the move but based on his size it would seem to be the best place for him.
 

TPatt17 said:
Moving Pride to WR was long overdue. He is a great athlete and needs to be on the field somewhere. I think it should have been earlier into Spring Practice though.
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Maybe not. I think doing it now let J.D. see for himself where he stood and what his options are. I think he will fully commit to the position. Summer workouts and fall camp should give him time to adjust.
 

Attitude and Leadership of Pride Asset to Team

It sounds like J. D. Pride is a good athlete who is too valuable to be on the sidelines. He has demonstrated leadership qualities while playing QB position.
Now he has demonstrated a good attitude by changing to the slot receiver position. The team needs his ability at this position and he accepted this role. I believe he really wants to be a Gopher.

I can think of a couple of QBs who now play receiver in the NFL.

Julian Edelman for New England

Antwan Randel El for Pittsburgh
 

Uffda said:
It sounds like J. D. Pride is a good athlete who is too valuable to be on the sidelines. He has demonstrated leadership qualities while playing QB position.
Now he has demonstrated a good attitude by changing to the slot receiver position. The team needs his ability at this position and he accepted this role. I believe he really wants to be a Gopher.

I can think of a couple of QBs who now play receiver in the NFL.

Julian Edelman for New England

Antwan Randel El for Pittsburgh
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Hines Ward is a converted QB too. You don't need blazing speed to be a good slot receiver. I'll destroy each and all of you in Super Tecmo Bowl throwing all day to Ricky Proehl.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Hines Ward is a converted QB too. You don't need blazing speed to be a good slot receiver. I'll destroy each and all of you in Super Tecmo Bowl throwing all day to Ricky Proehl.
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Has there ever been a receiver slower than Cris Carter? He was a 4'8 guy at best.
 




dpodoll68 said:
Alipate should still be moved somewhere - if not this year, then next for sure. Next year, he will have Gray, Parish, and Shortell (if not Nelson, as well) in front of him on the depth chart, and his Sr. year he will still have some combination of Parish, Shortell, and Nelson in front of him. Since he will never be better than 3rd (or 4th) on the depth chart at QB, he should be willing to move somewhere for the betterment of the team and to at least contribute something, since his contributions at QB will be limited to holding a clipboard. I can see the logic in keeping him at QB this year, but next year? No, it doesn't make any sense.
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He might need to lose some weight before anyone is able to move him.
 


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