Max's secret weapon to make the cut? His brain - he is one of the smarter guys around and O'Connell's offense is complex. Max said, in an MSM article linked by Matt in another thread "We put a ton of work in since OTAs and minicamp, and it's difficult learning this offense. It's one of the more difficult offenses to learn in the country."
Put yourself in O'Connell's shoes. You have a QB candidate who is very smart (pre-med major in college), very hard working per J.J. McCarthy and many others, and very accurate as we saw with our own eyes. Would you, as McConnell, pick Max or another candidate who may not be as smart, hard working or as accurate as Max? I will answer for you - you would pick Max, because Max has probably already mastered the offense and will only get better implementing it on the field.
One last thing, there has been much talk about Max's lack of arm strength. I call B.S. on that opinion. I will grant you that Max does not have Drake's arm strength, but Saturday he was throwing accurate darts out to at least 20 yards. As a Gopher we saw Max throw and make long passes. Does Max have to "wind up" to make the long throws? Yes, but on the other hand he is probably not going to throw interceptions. Most pro coaches would agree with Fleck that the "ball is the program". If your team turns the ball over then your team is going to take a big hit to its chances of winning.
Put yourself in O'Connell's shoes. You have a QB candidate who is very smart (pre-med major in college), very hard working per J.J. McCarthy and many others, and very accurate as we saw with our own eyes. Would you, as McConnell, pick Max or another candidate who may not be as smart, hard working or as accurate as Max? I will answer for you - you would pick Max, because Max has probably already mastered the offense and will only get better implementing it on the field.
One last thing, there has been much talk about Max's lack of arm strength. I call B.S. on that opinion. I will grant you that Max does not have Drake's arm strength, but Saturday he was throwing accurate darts out to at least 20 yards. As a Gopher we saw Max throw and make long passes. Does Max have to "wind up" to make the long throws? Yes, but on the other hand he is probably not going to throw interceptions. Most pro coaches would agree with Fleck that the "ball is the program". If your team turns the ball over then your team is going to take a big hit to its chances of winning.
