Knuth No Longer with Team

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RememberMurray said:
This may be because Kaliakmanis hasn't really been the starter long enough to build up a large body of work which would be open to any and all fan criticism, unlike most starting QBs. On the other hand, the Gopher faithful actually have seen Kramer on the field in a Minnesota uniform. In Kramer's case, there may be a perception that he "can't throw" or "isn't much of a passer" based on the role he has played under Fleck as a wildcat QB (which is mainly a short-yardage situation runner). Also, someone pointed out that in his high school career Eden Prairie didn't throw the ball all that much. Not much tape of him flinging the football around.
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Athan has a much larger body of work for the gophers than Kramer. Athan has taken more snaps and thrown more passes. And only 8 fewer rushes.

In what world have we seen Kramer more for the Gophers?
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Ya know, Tommyboy pretending to be a U of MN student who was just obsessed with Krystoff Kowalkowski is one of the funniest bits on Gopherhole.

Come visit me at "the graduate school". LOL.
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The bit has been called out so many times but he just keeps insisting he knew his high school GPA and what kind of perfume his mom wore because he was a big fan.
 

RememberMurray said:
I agree.

I trust the judgement of the coaches (despite the fact that a particular poster here thinks this is foolish). Fleck appears to see something he likes in Kramer, and Kramer seems to be a team player who does whatever is asked of him and always gives his all without complaint. He may have qualities that transcend raw athletic ability.

Kramer has always played on winning programs, first at Eden Prairie and now here at Minnesota.
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I’d agree that’s a positive. Although there is little body of work to judge, Fleck sees these guys in practice every day and I’m pretty sure he’s going to have the 2nd best player as the backup. He wants to win more than any of us.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Athan has a much larger body of work for the gophers than Kramer. Athan has taken more snaps and thrown more passes. And only 8 fewer rushes.

In what world have we seen Kramer more for the Gophers?
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From what I have seen in the open practices over the past several years, Kramer has always looked like the 3rd or 4th best passer. Pretty much the same this year. He definitely knows the offense well, but I would have a little apprehension if they ran the same pass play set that they would use with Athan.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Why is do you think he can’t pass? I mean, I’ve never really seen him be asked to pass so how do we (you) know? You might be right, but you seem so convinced with little to no evidence to support this. Just curious, not trying to be snarky.
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Don't you know....the fact that we haven't seen it means he can't do it....only thing that makes sense.
 


PMWinSTP said:
From what I have seen in the open practices over the past several years, Kramer has always looked like the 3rd or 4th best passer. Pretty much the same this year. He definitely knows the offense well, but I would have a little apprehension if they ran the same pass play set that they would use with Athan.
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I have zero interest in seeing Kramer in extended QB duty. Hopefully we don’t have to.
 


PMWinSTP said:
From what I have seen in the open practices over the past several years, Kramer has always looked like the 3rd or 4th best passer. Pretty much the same this year. He definitely knows the offense well, but I would have a little apprehension if they ran the same pass play set that they would use with Athan.
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They'd run a different set of plays if Kramer were under center, to maximize his strengths--which are different than AK8's. I think we'd see more QB option stuff with Kramer. Just a guess.
 

jonnyganas said:
My point is that depth is a concern, as our top 2 QBs traded in and out due to injury at the end of last season.
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Of course, it is always true that depth is important. But, you cited somewhat misleading stats in stating why depth was important, insinuating the program has gone through a bunch of struggles with injuries at the QB spot under Fleck, when that just hasn't generally been the case. In fact, the Gophers have not had any major injury issues at QB for nearly a decade, which is incredible.

QB depth will be an issue for many programs now with the transfer portal.

For many teams (even NFL teams), if QB1 goes down, they are going to be in trouble anyway.

If the Gophers need him, Kramer will step in. I actually like his arm more than most on here, it appears. His arm strength has gotten way better since he first arrived on campus. He is making throws now that he couldn't have made 2 or 3 years ago.
 
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tjgopher said:
Of course, it is always true that depth is important. But, you cited somewhat misleading stats in stating why depth was important, insinuating the program has gone through a bunch of struggles with injuries at the QB spot under Fleck, when that just hasn't generally been the case. In fact, the Gophers have not had any major injury issues at QB for nearly a decade, which is incredible.

QB depth will be an issue for many programs now with the transfer portal.

If the Gophers need him, Kramer will step in. I actually like his arm more than most it appears. His arm strength has gotten way better since he first arrived on campus. He is making throws now that he couldn't have made three years ago.
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Wondering about the bolded text. Will it really be an issue? Won't there still be the same amount of QBs in college football? If you lose one to the portal, you simply pluck another one out of the portal.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I mean doesn't that kind of apply to any backup QB? Ideally we only see Athan in extended duty next season, if we have to go to one of the other guys chances are there will be a significant dropoff.
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No. Because some backups I’d be excited to see (like AK last year). I’d have been curious to see Knuth play. Kramer I have no desire.
 

GopherJack said:
Wondering about the bolded text. Will it really be an issue? Won't there still be the same amount of QBs in college football? If you lose one to the portal, you simply pluck another one out of the portal.
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Adding and subtracting QBs impacts depth in that you don't have any stability in the reserve QBs, who don't get to fully learn the systems or get comfortable with things before they might be thrown into the fray.

Years ago a backup might be a three-year guy who has learned the system great and is biding his time. Nowadays, that three-year guy is off to Missouri State or wherever else after year 2.

Plus, if a guy is leaving because he sees there is a sophomore starter, how many really good QBs are going to transfer in to take the spot of the back-up guy who just left?

So, yes, I believe it will indeed impact the quality of depth at QB at many programs.
 
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UpAndUnder43 said:
Athan has a much larger body of work for the gophers than Kramer.
Athan has taken more snaps and thrown more passes. And only 8 fewer rushes.
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True statements.

UpAndUnder43 said:
In what world have we seen Kramer more for the Gophers?
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In no world. I didn't say we have seen Kramer more than Kaliakmanis. In re-reading my own post, however, I can see how you might have thought that I was implying it.

A better way to re-state what I was trying to say:

— Athan hasn't been the starter for very long, so he still gets a long leash from the fans. The fans and coaches are in love with his arm.

— When we have seen Kramer at QB, it has mostly been in wildcat. Also, he didn't throw much in high school at Eden Prairie. So fans assume he is not much as a passer.
 



NotAFanOfBecky said:
Why is do you think he can’t pass? I mean, I’ve never really seen him be asked to pass so how do we (you) know? You might be right, but you seem so convinced with little to no evidence to support this. Just curious, not trying to be snarky.
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He couldn't throw the ball at EP, and he has shown nothing in his small sample here to show that has changed. The reason there's no evidence to support this is because the coaches know better than to have him throw the ball.

I'm not trying to knock him as a player completely, he's valuable in his role, and by all accounts is a great kid who has busted his ass for the program. If he proves me wrong and turns into a great passer I will gladly eat crow.
 

I don’t see a situation where we would be able to bring in anyone that’s much better than what we have for QB2. Sounds like Knuth wasn’t QB2 anyway, and sounds like he hadn’t even surpassed Viotto. So not much has really changed as far as quality QB depth for this year with Knuth leaving in my opinion.
 

btowngopher said:
I don’t see a situation where we would be able to bring in anyone that’s much better than what we have for QB2. Sounds like Knuth wasn’t QB2 anyway, and sounds like he hadn’t even surpassed Viotto. So not much has really changed as far as quality QB depth for this year with Knuth leaving in my opinion.
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While obviously some great depth or even starter (eg DeVito from Syracuse to Illinois) can happen, I suspect those kinds of moves would happen in the early window before spring ball, not in the May window.
 

Gophers_4life said:
While obviously some great depth or even starter (eg DeVito from Syracuse to Illinois) can happen, I suspect those kinds of moves would happen in the early window before spring ball, not in the May window.
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My understanding is that it’s no longer a May window. The window to officially enter the transfer portal was moved up to April 15 - April 30. It’s open now.
 


Many teams will have played their spring game and ended spring practices by now--except in tundra-lake areas! So, portal activity could be pretty active.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I mean doesn't that kind of apply to any backup QB? Ideally we only see Athan in extended duty next season, if we have to go to one of the other guys chances are there will be a significant dropoff
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Not always. Last year plenty of us were excited at the thought of the backup taking over for the rest of the season. Didn't happen until the Nebraska game. And we certainly did not see a dropoff in the second half, we saw improvement and victory that game.

EDIT: giving credit to UpAndUnder43 for beating me to the same reply.
 

Gophers_4life said:
While obviously some great depth or even starter (eg DeVito from Syracuse to Illinois) can happen, I suspect those kinds of moves would happen in the early window before spring ball, not in the May window.
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I’m sure their are some decent portal talents available, but not sure how many would transfer to a spot where they’d have little chance to ever start. Was thinking MAYBE if there was a semi local guy just looking to get closer to home, but no names came to mind for that.
 

jonnyganas said:
Health is always an issue, that's why depth can be important.

We've had QB related injuries in multiple years in the Fleck era where the backup has had to come in for significant time.
2017: Rhoda/Croft split time (not injury related, I guess)
2018: Annexstad starts the season, is injured during Nebraska game, Morgan replaces him
2019: Morgan injured at end of Iowa game (unprepared Kramer finishes the game)
2020-2021: Morgan healthy through these seasons
2022: Morgan is in and out of the lineup with injuries, Kaliakmanis fills in, Kaliakmanis gets injured during bowl game

Could Athan stay healthy and the Gophers are fine? Sure. But the recency bias of the past season has some fans a bit nervous if the Greek Rifle goes down again.
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This is an exaggeration IMO. The gophers have been remarkably steady at QB over the past 8-9 years.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
They'd run a different set of plays if Kramer were under center, to maximize his strengths--which are different than AK8's. I think we'd see more QB option stuff with Kramer. Just a guess.
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What exactly are Kramers strengths though? He’s not a great runner by any means
 


gopherbadgerman said:
What exactly are Kramers strengths though? He’s not a great runner by any means
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The extra year due to Covid eligibility gives the Gophers an experienced mature backup familiar with the system. He doesn't have to be spectacular but be reliable when called upon. Every team needs unsung role players.
 

hungan1 said:
The extra year due to Covid eligibility gives the Gophers an experienced mature backup familiar with the system. He doesn't have to be spectacular but be reliable when called upon. Every team needs unsung role players.
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He would have been able to play this year without the COVID year, but 2024 would be his extra covid year.
 


hungan1 said:
The extra year due to Covid eligibility gives the Gophers an experienced mature backup familiar with the system. He doesn't have to be spectacular but be reliable when called upon. Every team needs unsung role players.
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So what are his strengths?
 



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