Marquis Gray

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loki

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Watching Michigan route Conneticut in the spread with their young QB's running the ball and throwing it at will does anyone else feel like Marquis Gray is being badly underused. I for one would like to see Gray used way more than he is. He appears to me the one guy on the team that can do great things. This is not a cut on Weber but he is avg at best and if next year is our year like many on here think, we will go into the year with an inexperienced QB and I predict we will do poorly because of it. We might have all the ingredients but if our QB hasn't had snaps prior to next year it most likely will doom us. With Brewsters career on the line I don't understand why he doesn't play Gray more. Your thoughts?!
 

Gray was recruited to run the type of offense that Michigan is running right now. Minnesota has gone to a power running pro-style offense which more than likely doesn't fit Gray's skill set.

I doubt that the offensive philosophy is going to change again just to get Gray in as a QB. He may never be the starting QB at Minnesota.
 

Try not to get carried away watching other teams. The differences are endless.
With that said, I would love to see more of Marquis at QB as well, and I think we will this season.

Remember it was just last season, Marquis's first, that J. Fisch had players stretched, trying to do to much. The play spoke for itself.

Developing a quarterback isn't easy. The mental side of the game is huge and often overlooked. I want to see MG's athleticism unleashed too, but not at the risk of his future. I hope to see MG playing more and having a greater impact as the season goes on. But never being the starter. Almost like it's a TV series or movie that ends with you anxious for the next season or sequel. Which we will get in 2011. Starring Marquis Grey.

I think this season is different. A package of 20 to 25 plays at QB, on a sliding scale depending on play count total and performance is on it's way.
Anything on top of that at WR etc. is gravy imo.
 

I'm glad someone finally dared to bring up the subject of MarqEis playing QB. yawn.
 



It was suggested on The Tim Brewster Show on WCCO, in an email, is there any thought to developing an option series with Gray, to which the Coach said no, we are a power running team not an option team.


I have to follow that up, Coach are you saying Nebraska was not a Power Running Team?
 

I will be disappointed...

...if Alipate is not the starting QB next year. A much better potential fit in our offense than Gray (who I hope emerges as a potent receiving threat).
 

Dude. What a coach says to media members, or some random guy in a e-mail, and what actually takes place on the field is often not one and the same.
I'm not talking about the option either. I don't see how a oc can't get MG in the mix at QB. His talent is glaring. Now it needs to be explored and developed.
I say create a completely unique package playing to the strengths of MG. Wildcat, change of pace, call it what you like. Find a way to get the most.

To do it right I think a gradual build from game to game is needed. MG needs to earn it. Better play earns more minuetes and more responsibility as a quarterback and a leader of the team.

Follow that up with a solid off-season, hopefully with same OC, going into 2011 hungry as hell.
 

M-a-r-Q-u-e-i-s

MarQueis.

OK?
 



Let get through this year, O.K.?

Never wish away time, I'll stay here in the present and enjoy this year. I'll start obsessing about the QB duel sometime in March 2011.
 

Frankly, if we're going to run the ball as much we'd like to, it hopefully won't matter much who's under center.

But that's not reality. We'll surely be put in games this season where we'll need to throw more than MTSU. And Weber's the more experienced hand right now, so we need to ride that. If the season completely comes apart down the stretch, I'd expect to see MarQueis under center a lot more, maybe even start. If not, then Gray needs to concentrate on being the backup QB and a WR on the depth chart. He'll get his chance next year (provided he beats out Alipate). Patience people, patience.
 

I would actually like to see less of MarQueis. He is not the answer right now at WR. I think the coaching staff saw that we had no #1 receiver early on in fall practice and tried to create some explosiveness with MarQueis. What he showed in the game against MTSU is that at this point he is not a great WR; which is to be expected. He has had very little experience at the position. Now he appears to have pretty good hands and could develop into a good receiver but you need to pick a spot and let him develop. Playing QB doesn't help out his receiving skills and catching the ball (or blocking) doesn't help his QB skills much. I also don't like the idea that on a single play you could lose both your starting and backup QB's.
 

Thanks for responding.....My views are as follows; 1st, if you can't see MG's talent than your blind and I feel we have wasted him so far. 2nd, he would be much more interesting to watch than the current QB whether he is running or throwing 30 yards for a touchdown or fumbling. 3rd, both Ohio State and Michigan have put their talented QB's in to develop them early whereas we have sat on the sideline with ours. 4th, next year is coming fast and if we don't have a QB developed everyone who is excited on this site about that being our breakout year is going to be very disappointed. 5th, Brewster has stood by the current QB with avg to dismal results-why not be courageous and take a chance. That is all.
 



loki said:
Thanks for responding.....My views are as follows; 1st, if you can't see MG's talent than your blind and I feel we have wasted him so far. 2nd, he would be much more interesting to watch than the current QB whether he is running or throwing 30 yards for a touchdown or fumbling. 3rd, both Ohio State and Michigan have put their talented QB's in to develop them early whereas we have sat on the sideline with ours. 4th, next year is coming fast and if we don't have a QB developed everyone who is excited on this site about that being our breakout year is going to be very disappointed. 5th, Brewster has stood by the current QB with avg to dismal results-why not be courageous and take a chance. That is all.
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This was the first game of his soph year. Let's not freak out because you can't get your way. It's quite reasonable for even the greatest of talented QB's to not get the starting nod til their Junior season dispite the exceptions.
 

loki said:
Thanks for responding.....My views are as follows; 1st, if you can't see MG's talent than your blind and I feel we have wasted him so far. 2nd, he would be much more interesting to watch than the current QB whether he is running or throwing 30 yards for a touchdown or fumbling. 3rd, both Ohio State and Michigan have put their talented QB's in to develop them early whereas we have sat on the sideline with ours. 4th, next year is coming fast and if we don't have a QB developed everyone who is excited on this site about that being our breakout year is going to be very disappointed. 5th, Brewster has stood by the current QB with avg to dismal results-why not be courageous and take a chance. That is all.
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Loki - I understand your viewpoints, but I'd rebuttal with this:

1) Gray's talent is clearly there, but he's had some opportunities in some key moments of games where he's cost the team with turnovers - particularly fumbles. When ball security is an issue, its difficult to trust him in key stretches in games. Also, as a QB he needs to have a complete grasp of the offense, something he didn't always appear to have last year.

2) Whether or not Gray is a more "interesting" a player is irrelevant. We need the player on the field that is more likely to deliver this team a win. The coaching staff feels Weber is the more suited for that right now.

3) The situations OSU and Michigan have been in with their QBs are quite different. Ohio State has a good enough team from top to bottom that they can afford to put in a raw, young QB and still win plenty of games. Michigan has no other choice, Ryan Mallett bolted for Arkansas, and they had Forcier and Robinson to play. They didn't have the option to start a more experienced veteran in the system they run. Oh yeah, and in case you didn't notice, Michigan has been worse than us the last 2 years.

4) If the season starts to go south and a bowl game is out of the picture, I have little doubt that we'll see MarQueis under center a lot in the second half of the season, as your right - there's no reason not to develop him (as long as there's nothing else to play for). Wait and see on this one. Lots of games yet to play.

5) Brewster's also in the position of trying to keep his job. A lot of people feel that if there's not improvement shown (how that's quantified is debatable), he'll be gone after the end of this season. Starting MarQueis would indeed take some courage (especially over a 5th year senior), but it would also be unfair to put that kind of pressure on Gray. Sort of a 'win to save my job, kid' situation. Starting MarQueis would take even more courage (possibly of the foolish variety) if he's not ready to be the full-time starter under center.
 

I hope Gray gets a chance to play some at quarteback next week anyway. We need the offense to explode and a blow out.
 

jovs said:
I hope Gray gets a chance to play some at quarteback next week anyway. We need the offense to explode and a blow out.
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That would be nice. If we could give him half the 3rd and all the 4th quarters, that would be a good chance for some consistent live work, even if he's just turning around and handing the ball off 80% of the time.
 

jovs said:
I hope Gray gets a chance to play some at quarteback next week anyway. We need the offense to explode and a blow out.
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We had 5 passes go for more than 20 yards and 3 runs for more than 15 yards. Not really sure how much more "explosive" you're looking for. That is textbook power football. Pound the football until the safeties creep up in the box and you get 1 on 1 matchups on the outside. Then hit the fly route or deep post over the top. MarQueis isn't going to help this team be more "explosive" at QB than Weber because our offense isn't designed for his package of skills. If you want "explosive" out of Gray your best bet is to leave him at WR, give him time to develop, and then hopefully he can use his size and athleticism on those deep balls.
 

I would like to see a transition begin sooner than later. It's rare to hear a coach talk about a guy being the best athlete on the team, and then not develop him to be "the man" at his designed position. I wish Weber well, but I don't think he has anything left to show. He has been "developed" for four years and his improvement has been minimal. MG has not really been developed, but every time he plays QB he changes the game, because the defense knows that his athleticism creates options that Weber does not and will not have. I think coaches want to show loyalty to kids like Weber, but that loyalty will create enormous vulnerability when we play teams that we can't just mow over. I could live through the mistakes that MG will make a lot easier than I can stand to watch Weber go three and out 10x per game. MG should not have to prove anything at WR to get time at QB. I think the fact that MG is not playing QB speaks volumes about our coaches and their ability to develop and utilize the talent they have. MG has been humble and patient, but I do think his talent is being wasted. Last year the offense tried to do too much, and this year I fear that they will try to do too little. Again, I hope we see MarQueis at QB soon. Go Gophers!
 

MNRideorDieChick said:
I would like to see a transition begin sooner than later. MG has not really been developed, but every time he plays QB he changes the game, because the defense knows that his athleticism creates options that Weber does not and will not have. MG has been humble and patient, but I do think his talent is being wasted. Last year the offense tried to do too much, and this year I fear that they will try to do too little. Again, I hope we see MarQueis at QB soon. Go Gophers!
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I don't really understand this line of reasoning. Many people make statements similar to this so my comments aren't directed specifically at you RideorDie but at anyone who can further explain this point of view. I'll attempt to explain why I think MarQueis is not the answer at QB right now.

Minnesota needs to win games. To do that we need our best QB on the field so the idea of getting MG on the field just to "develop" is not a good idea. At this point our QB has


Presnap reads/responsibilities of:
secondary alignments
potential blitzes
potential mismatches
know what every player on the field's job and responsibilities are
know blocking assignments (I think our center is making the blocking calls though)
recognize game situations and react accordingly
command the huddle
command respect of teammates
Process all of the above and make adjustments as needed.


Postsnap reads/responsibilities:
secondary coverage
blitzes
make play fakes
consistent hand offs w/o fumbles
throw the football
(I'm sure I missed many things these were just the obvious ones off the top of my head)


Of these there is nothing touching on terms like "athleticism" or "running ability" because that isn't the type of offense we run. Our QB's don't run the football. Adam Weber gives us the best chance to win because he is better at more of those things than MarQueis is.
 

I would have and probably still would prefer to see Gray at QB. It isn't so much that I think he would be awesome right now, I just imagine that he'd be as average at QB as Weber with the addition of the running. That said, I wouldn't imagine that a coach on the hot seat wouldn't go with the player who was most likely to make us a better team.

However, the idea that Gray isn't suited to run this type of offense is silly. Look at Brooks Bollinger. He was a player who was more comfortable passing outside of the pocket (where he had the option to run or pass), and he handed it off to Dayne/Bollinger/A. Davis repeatidly. I don't understand how any could argue that wouldn't suit Gray. He would extremely scary on PA roll outs (a staple in almost all power running systems). Furthermore, a QB who can run is incredibly nice to have on a power running team because most of your 3rd downs are going to be 5 and under (so a QB scramble can really hurt the opposition).
 

The question is: will we see him actually get some playing time at QB against South Dakota? (a game which should be a laugher). Watching Nebraska's new redshirt freshman QB Saturday - and the extra dimension his running provides - it is strange Gray hasn't played more, especially given the dead-in-the-water offense we had the second half of 2009.
 

Great Plains...I think that is a great question. I also would refine it a bit to "is Gray going to be featured more in the game against S.Dakota?". I have no problem with him being a wide receiver as I think it would probably be the best move for him (he has NFL potential at WR) and I think he could be incredible there. So if we are going with him at WR this year (as an almost full time move for the season), then I really want to see more plays to get him the ball whether it be at QB or at WR.
 

I agree with much of what you said Bob_Loblaw. Gray could be an outstanding QB in our current system. My confusion comes from people saying look at all the QB's running out of the spread. We should be putting Gray in because he can do that! The fact is that we don't run an option based offense. So I agree that Gray could do very well on boots, sprints, rollouts, waggles or draws however you only run that 3-7 times a game. I don't think that it is worth giving up the good things Weber does just to get 3-7 plays out of Gray.
 

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