La Velle Neal: P.J. Fleck should thank Tanner Morgan ... then switch to Athan Kaliakmanis as Gophers QB

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Neal:

A three-game losing streak has upended the Gophers season. A Big Ten West division title and a post-New Year's Eve bowl game are still possible but no longer realistic.

With the season sliding off the rails, the 4-3 Gophers should want to get it back on track while also developing their future.

That means even if Tanner Morgan is cleared to play Saturday after suffering a concussion against Illinois two weeks prior, the athletic and rocket-armed redshirt freshman Athan Kaliakmanis should be under center against Rutgers.

It's time for this change. Morgan helped lead the program to new heights in 2019, but he's also been part of the underachieving since then.

Morgan has accomplished plenty during three full seasons and parts of two others as Minnesota's starting quarterback. He's the winningest quarterback in program history. He's the school's all-time leader in completion percentage. But he's also been here six years and memories of his 30 touchdown passes in 2019 are fading with each 2022 loss.

Before his injury, he was having a fine season. Someone with his experience should be more productive and raise the level of play of those around him, regardless of who is running routes. When the Gophers' schedule toughened in October, the offense mustered only 10 points in a home loss to Purdue and 14 at Illinois.

Shake things up with someone who can make something out of nothing with his legs as well as his arm. This requires a difficult conversation between Fleck and Morgan, but Fleck arrived here five years ago claiming he ate difficult conversations for breakfast.

www.startribune.com

Neal: P.J. Fleck should thank Tanner Morgan and then switch to Athan Kaliakmanis at Gophers QB

With the season's big hopes fading, it's time to make a change at quarterback and start Athan Kaliakmanis over the program's winningest leader, Tanner Morgan.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 












PhiloVance said:
"Someone with his experience should be more productive and raise the level of play of those around him, regardless of who is running routes..."

I would assume Neal would have the same observations about Brady and Rogers.
Click to expand...

Bench the QB. Fire the coach. Throw to the tight ends.
 

Remember that play where they handed off to a running back, and he got stuffed for a loss?

Should have thrown deep on that play... to a tight end.
 


BleedGopher said:
per Neal:

A three-game losing streak has upended the Gophers season. A Big Ten West division title and a post-New Year's Eve bowl game are still possible but no longer realistic.

With the season sliding off the rails, the 4-3 Gophers should want to get it back on track while also developing their future.

That means even if Tanner Morgan is cleared to play Saturday after suffering a concussion against Illinois two weeks prior, the athletic and rocket-armed redshirt freshman Athan Kaliakmanis should be under center against Rutgers.

It's time for this change. Morgan helped lead the program to new heights in 2019, but he's also been part of the underachieving since then.

Morgan has accomplished plenty during three full seasons and parts of two others as Minnesota's starting quarterback. He's the winningest quarterback in program history. He's the school's all-time leader in completion percentage. But he's also been here six years and memories of his 30 touchdown passes in 2019 are fading with each 2022 loss.

Before his injury, he was having a fine season. Someone with his experience should be more productive and raise the level of play of those around him, regardless of who is running routes. When the Gophers' schedule toughened in October, the offense mustered only 10 points in a home loss to Purdue and 14 at Illinois.

Shake things up with someone who can make something out of nothing with his legs as well as his arm. This requires a difficult conversation between Fleck and Morgan, but Fleck arrived here five years ago claiming he ate difficult conversations for breakfast.

www.startribune.com

Neal: P.J. Fleck should thank Tanner Morgan and then switch to Athan Kaliakmanis at Gophers QB

With the season's big hopes fading, it's time to make a change at quarterback and start Athan Kaliakmanis over the program's winningest leader, Tanner Morgan.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
Neal hasn't written anything worth reading since he left the Twins beat but he's on to something here.
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
That and he pissed and moaned about the Timberwolves celebrating their play in win last year….


Dude went full clown / doesn’t like people who have fun.
Click to expand...

In our modern world, it's about getting some sort of reaction, and it doesn't matter if the reaction is good or bad. Likes, dislikes, clicks. The best part is: it's far easier to get a reaction than it is to do real journalism.

Copy and paste.
 


How often does Lavelle write pieces on the Gophers? I seriously have no idea because I canceled my Strib subscription quite a few years ago when I realized that they think it's good writing to bash the Gophers.

Might give you an idea if Lavelle actually pays any attention and/or cares....or if he's swiping at the low hanging fruit by tossing out this "hot take".
 

stocker08 said:
How often does Lavelle write pieces on the Gophers? I seriously have no idea because I canceled my Strib subscription quite a few years ago when I realized that they think it's good writing to bash the Gophers.

Might give you an idea if Lavelle actually pays any attention and/or cares....or if he's swiping at the low hanging fruit by tossing out this "hot take".
Click to expand...

I dare say if you post "Bench the QB!" on many teams' message boards, you will get a fair amount of thumbs-up emojis in response.
 

Here's the gist of the matter:

If Tanner Morgan is healthy (that's a big "if"), which QB gives the Gophers the best chance to beat Rutgers: Morgan or Kaliakmanis?

It isn't about the starter against Nebraska, or against Northwestern, or getting experience for next season... it's all about the Rutgers game tomorrow.
 

Everyone's entitled to their opinions, but I completely disagree with anyone who wants to bench Morgan. He's NOT the primary problem and has earned the right to finish the season if he's healthy. This isn't the NFL where you can play for the future while also potentially securing a high draft pick by tanking. You play to win every game, and Tanner is statistically one of the best QBs in the history of the program. Athan does some things well and is an intriguing prospect who could become even better, but he won't solve the team's biggest problems this year.
 



Morgan's farewell tour lasts about a quarter tomorrow before the crowd encourages Fleck to make a change.
 

The prez sez said:
Morgan's farewell tour lasts about a quarter tomorrow before the crowd encourages Fleck to make a change.
Click to expand...

Don't you wish the people in the stands could select the starting lineup on their smartphones?

God, that would be awesome!

The only drawback: if it all went south, would the crowd call for firing themselves?
 


RememberMurray said:
Was Robb Smith a tight end?

Oh, oh, oh... I get it now. "Robb Smith" is your evidence that knee-jerk reactions to "fire the coach" have merit.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it wasn't a complicated point but you still somehow missed it. That's impressively dumb.

Sometimes making a change is the best thing for the program and replacing Robb Smith would be an example of one of those times.

Also, Tanner has been the QB for more than half a decade and he has been struggling and he hasn't been a great QB for three seasons, it's not quite a knee jerk reaction.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah, it wasn't a complicated point but you still somehow missed it. That's impressively dumb.

Sometimes making a change is the best thing for the program and replacing Robb Smith would be an example of one of those times.

Also, Tanner has been the QB for more than half a decade and he has been struggling and he hasn't been a great QB for three seasons, it's not quite a knee jerk reaction.
Click to expand...

Who gives us the best chance to win tomorrow, Bob?

I'll wait for your amazingly, 'impressively' insightful answer.

And how often should they throw to the tight end?
 

Are you calling for a coach to fired, Bob?

Are you calling for Kaliakmanis to start at QB tomorrow, Bob?

Bob?

BOB?

Tap, tap, tap... you in there, Bob?
 

RememberMurray said:
Who gives us the best chance to win tomorrow, Bob?

I'll wait for your amazingly, 'impressively' insightful answer.

And how often should they throw to the tight end?
Click to expand...
You should go to bed tonight. Try again tomorrow, it'll be better.

Who gives us the best chance to win tomorrow? Hmmm. . .that's a good question. I'd say it's about a coinflip, I don't really know what we have in Athan. I do know Morgan has struggled quite the last few games. I will say this though, I think our program is better going forward if we start Athan tomorrow.

It's actually not impressively insightful, it's just kind of common sense. It'd be totally reasonable for someone to disagree with that take, but your temper tantrum in this thread is bizarre. What was impressive was your ability to miss a point and throw a hissy fit because someone had a reasonable opinion that differed from yours.

And how often should they throw to the tight end? I don't have a strong opinion on that. I was never in the "we need to throw the ball more to our TEs" crowd. I liked how often we went max protect and let Bateman and Johnson beat the DBs in 2019. I think you can have a good offense that doesn't throw the TE much and I think you can have a good offense that does.

I don't think the guys from KFAN should call plays and I don't think the fans should either, call me crazy, I just think it makes sense to make some changes every now and then. I know that opinion is enough to drive you back into your hissy fit. So I'll hang up and watch for lulz.
 

RememberMurray said:
Are you calling for a coach to fired, Bob?

Are you calling for Kaliakmanis to start at QB tomorrow, Bob?

Bob?

BOB?

Tap, tap, tap... you in there, Bob?
Click to expand...
LOL. Woah. I think this board finally broke ya.

I am calling for Athan to start tomorrow. I am not calling for any coaches to be fired.

I really do apologize for not answering right away.
 


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