Leidner starting at Purdue

[MNVCGUY]

Another way of saying they have recruited like crap at the most important position on the team and the coaching is questionable. They don't improve!

Jury is still out on Croft but it is safe to say that prior to Croft they have done a poor job recruiting the QB position as evidenced by the fact that the current starter is primarily a game manager, McKinzy isn't on the roster, Streveler is now a WR and the #3 option is a walkon.

 

[gopher7]

Remember people, Croft is still extremely young, and raw. I'm sure his knowledge of the game and playbook he is still in its infancy here. If the Northwestern game is any indication, he has a lot of talent and potential but really he's not quite ready for this. Unless Leidner gets hurt, it would be somewhat reckless for the coaching staff to thrust him into a full time role just like that. He needs to be worked in gradually to give him the best chance to succeed.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Remember people, Croft is still extremely young, and raw. I'm sure his knowledge of the game and playbook he is still in its infancy here. If the Northwestern game is any indication, he has a lot of talent and potential but really he's not quite ready for this. Unless Leidner gets hurt, it would be somewhat reckless for the coaching staff to thrust him into a full time role just like that. He needs to be worked in gradually to give him the best chance to succeed.

Per a Minneapolis Tribune article on Croft Kill said he learned the whole playbook. I say start Mitch. If he goes 3 and out on two series put Croft in.

 

[jaymil]

There's precedent for this staff wasting a redshirt for very little playing time - Connor Mayes, Gary Moore, probably others I'm forgetting. It's not going to happen because Croft will be mixed in and get snaps, but anyone surprised by someone playing sparingly in their true freshman season hasn't been paying attention.

Gary Moore's redshirt actually isn't wasted because the staff is redshirting him this season barring injury.

 

[gopher7]

Jury is still out on Croft but it is safe to say that prior to Croft they have done a poor job recruiting the QB position as evidenced by the fact that the current starter is primarily a game manager, McKinzy isn't on the roster, Streveler is now a WR and the #3 option is a walkon.

Yeah, it's really becoming apparent this year that QB recruiting (from '11-'14 at least) has been a colossal failure under this staff.

 

[Replacement Gopher]

Why play Croft last week if he's not going to see significant time through the rest of the year. Why not put Perra in rather than waste Croft's redshirt for some spot mop up duty. Now that Croft's redshirt is gone it will be a complete waste if he's not utilized in a significant role.

Post of the day!

 

[NoDakGopher]

Well we just lost the turnover battle.

Because the backup that came in and threw, if not for drops by the D, what should have been 3 picks in 11 minutes would be guaranteed to have less turnovers than Leidner? Seems a bit presumptuous, but that's just my opinion.

 

[GreasyGopher]

Think it is pretty clear that Perra is not an option the coaches have any faith in as the primary backup otherwise they would have played him over Croft in order to keep the redshirt in tact. I would be shocked if they don't figure out ways to work Croft in and get him some live game reps but they also probably don't feel he is ready to be handed the reigns of the offense which is understandable since the kid is a true freshman and he is not someone that was regarded as an elite HS QB prospect so chances are very good he isn't even close to ready to be an impact QB at the college level.

I am sure the coaches would have loved to let Croft sit for a year or two and develop but they realized that they needed a backup option to be ready to play if Mitch got hurt or continues to struggle and when they looked at the available options Croft was the next best choice. It is a bad situation all the way around on offense right now.

I'm not saying Perra should be the primary backup but Croft wasn't put in last week because the coaches throught he could win the game. If the game is already out of hand, it doesn't matter who get the PT. Croft can still be the primary backup in case Mitch gets hurt but it would make sense to preserve Croft's redshirt until the injury situation actually occurred. Now that Croft's redshirt is burned he needs to see significant time going forward or the coaching staff threw away a year of eligibility for a couple minutes in a game that was already lost.

I should've worded my previous statement better. Its very possible that Croft will be a significant portion of the offense moving forward but it will be a huge mistake if he isn't.

 

[wait!what?]

while i love the deliciousness---Leidner should start and be on a short leash. so odd how he is better this year than he was last year but you folks are all like 'pull him now!'

 

[MNGoldenGophers1]

Outside of that we don't know what kind of grasp he has of the playbook,
.

If it is the one we have been using on game day, which play do you think Croft needs to learn, handoff and run between the tackles left or right?

 

[46Gophers]

Two words...short leash. If ML comes out and plays like a zombie he needs to be pulled and the team needs to move on. His reads, his mechanics, and his passing have all regressed so far this year.

 

[beavergopher]

Per a Minneapolis Tribune article on Croft Kill said he learned the whole playbook. I say start Mitch. If he goes 3 and out on two series put Croft in.

Since we seem to have about five plays, that should not be too difficult.

 

[hungan1]

It is not going to make a hill of beans difference who you put in as QB if they can't get blocking and pass protection.

The base of any good offense flows with the O Line including the TEs & FB playing cohesively. Everybody has to be able to block including our RBs.

They should have been playing Perra and Croft early in the season after TCU, but they did not expect stiff opposition.

All the remaining games are tough. If they are experiencing another blowout, heck put in Perra in addition to Croft to give them some game experience.

We need to develop two decent backups. We can't cry about not having elite QBs.

 

[Gold Vision]

It is the right move. I am sure Croft will get some run too, as he should. My favorite Reusse trolls this week have been him pointing out that Leidner actually has better stats than Bridgewater so far this season, but nobody is calling for Teddy's head like they are Mitch.

By what measure are Leidner's stats better than Bridgewaters?

 

[killme]

I listed to the radio show today and am encouraged, optimistic and excited about Saturday and the rest of the season. I've seen some quotes from players, too, and the Gophers feel they should hato a way higher degree than any of the basher/haters here. We've been killed by the injury bug, bad bounces, and haven’t really gotten going. Kill and the staff have been through a few situations like these. I think we now have recruited enough talent to have some options. With 8 starters out, we’re going to see some of that this week. I’ll be surprised if we’re not flying around on Saturday.

 

[MNGoldenGophers1]

I’ll be surprised if we’re not flying around on Saturday.

I don't doubt for a second that they won't be flying around. If I were to guess based on recent performance, it will look something like this (skip the first 30-seconds or so if you're not the learnedly type):

[video]http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/science-of-stupid/videos/go-karts-not-made-for-flying/[/video]

 

[killme]

I don't doubt for a second that they won't be flying around. If I were to guess based on recent performance, it will look something like this (skip the first 30-seconds or so if you're not the learnedly type):

[video]http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/science-of-stupid/videos/go-karts-not-made-for-flying/[/video]

Yikes! Let that be a lesson to those who don't leave coaching to the professionals.

 

[Killjoy]

Per a Minneapolis Tribune article on Croft Kill said he learned the whole playbook. I say start Mitch. If he goes 3 and out on two series put Croft in.

That is not the problem. The problem is lack of game experience and being able to recognize defenses etc. quickly at game speed. Whether you like it or not, at the present time Leidner is definitely ahead of Croft in this part of the game. Croft needs to get the experience, but we also don't want to lose games because of rookie mistakes. The coaches are going to have to figure out how to balances these two objectives. At the present time we don't know the answer. Hopefully, the coaches can steer us through this.