Minnesota Football: Is Mitch Leidner the Answer to the Gophers Revolving Door at QB?

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where will Mitch transfer after the 2014 season?

My guess is Nebraska-Kearney home of the Lopers! Touchdown Lopers!
 





The Gophers need to start someplace to have stability at QB. The Gophers haven't played a down yet. So, it is too early to tell how Mitch Leidner will do barring any major injuries.

They have a tough schedule, and it isn't going to be easier. Let's hope that he wins more games than not, and that he develops confidence. This will rub off the backups in their development too. He has a whole lot of latitude now that he is appointed one.

This is a crucial part of the Jerry Kill rebuilding process. My hunch is Leidner will succeed, and will not transfer.
 

Revolving doors? Bierman has got no stinking revolving doors! Wud u tokin bout, Willis?
 

Neither Leidner nor Nelson really separated as the superior option last year. I would almost go as far as to say that they were nearly identical players. As with Kill teams of the past....both were good option QB's......raking in decent rushing stats. Nelson seemed a little shiftier, while Leidner seemed to be a little more of a power runner. Passing accuracy was not too great for either.....but hopefully with last years experience......as well as a fairly successful year and the off-season......we will see an improvement in the passing game.

Unfortunately.......I don't see us taking a huge step forward in the passing category, but I think that Leidner makes a major stride this year. We will be a grinding rushing attack team (I know.......thanks Captain Obvious). Leidner will be efficient with his underneath throws......but we still won't have the long ball. Jones will find some open space every once in a while and much like the game winning TD in the Indiana game last season, Maxx will find himself wide open down the seam quite a bit. However......I bet that we see at least three or four 40+ yard touchdowns on dump offs courtesy of a combination of Maye, Edwards, and Jones. People will underestimate the talent and overall speed of these guys and will end up regretting it.

It will be our offensive line that really determines the outcome of this season though. Should be one of the top five o-lines in the B10. My guess is that Leidner and Cobb average about four yards per carry over the course of the season due to the o-line play. This will help keep us in every game. It's the potent passing attacks that would have me most worried......as I'm not sure that this team has the quick scoring ability to keep up. Fortunately......our defensive backfield is probably our strongest area.

This is a really good situation for Leidner to be in. He's a great fit for Kill and Limegrover's system. Seeing as how he's a physical QB......he should excel behind a solid offensive line. It's going to be a fun year.
 

IMHO, the real story will unfold in Leidner's 4th & 5th year. If the Gophers do not self destruct this year (which I highly doubt) with Leidner at the helm, they'll be awesome in the coming years with the upgrade in talent across the board.

This will also allow time to develop the backup QBs.

It is important to have signature wins this year (an upset or two?) and go to a bowl game as it will impact the quality of incoming recruits.

It is simple - they have to keep winning often to get to the upper tier of the B1G and break the cycle of mediocrity.
 



Optimistically, the back-loaded schedule could be an advantage. Perhaps Mitch can develop, improve, and have confidence to compete against the "easier" foes on the slate.
 

killme said:
Optimistically, the back-loaded schedule could be an advantage. Perhaps Mitch can develop, improve, and have confidence to compete against the "easier" foes on the slate.
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We could feasibly get to 8-0 and have lots of confidence heading into the final stretch, and the difficulty of those last four should be enough to prevent any over-confidence. None of our first 8 opponents had as good of a conference record in a major conference as we did.
 

I hope Mitch has learned how to hold on the football. Jerry will give him one drop in a game but if he drops it twice -he's pulled. I think Weber came in this summer to teach the kids and I hope he taught the QBs how to hold onto the football cuz A Weber took huge hits and held on the ball.
 




Jeffrick has low expectations for Mitch. I expect Mitch to move his passing percentage up 7%, a huge leap forward. I also expect that his receivers will gain more yards. I expect 3 - 4 receivers have as much as 700 plus yards. In fact, I predict the receivers will carry this team on their back in a couple of games.
 

4 very large differences this year. 1, The Receivers, they are now experienced and deeper and healthy again. 2, The O Line, is deeper and more experienced. 3, running backs are much deeper. 4,Liedner, himself. He's had 9 months of training with his receivers and he's coming off a season that enabled hIm to get used to the sped of major college football.

If the team stays healthy the passing game will be unrecognizable.
 

Dean S said:
Jeffrick has low expectations for Mitch. I expect Mitch to move his passing percentage up 7%, a huge leap forward. I also expect that his receivers will gain more yards. I expect 3 - 4 receivers have as much as 700 plus yards. In fact, I predict the receivers will carry this team on their back in a couple of games.
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You absolutely need to check your expectations. Even Indiana only had 2 receivers over 700 yards last year. If you want 3-4 receivers over 700 yards then you're looking at 300 pass yards per game. That's not gonna happen
 

We had the fewest pass attempts in the big ten - limegrover likes the run too much
 

wait!what? said:
I hope Mitch has learned how to hold on the football. Jerry will give him one drop in a game but if he drops it twice -he's pulled. I think Weber came in this summer to teach the kids and I hope he taught the QBs how to hold onto the football cuz A Weber took huge hits and held on the ball.
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You think Kill is going to have that short a leash with the kid that has been given the starting job unequivocally?
 

In a perfect world, our stacked defense will keep scores close and our loaded corps of running backs will grind out a lot of yardage allowing ML7 to be more of a game manager to start the season....let him learn the ropes, get in the swing of things, and really develop into a solid QB both with his running game and his arm so that when the heavy load comes at the end of the season, he'll be ready.
 

I watched the Nebraska game from last year again. There were multiple drops by the receivers where the QB put it right on target. There were others where the pass was a little off, but catchable, and our young receivers couldn't make the play. Thinking back across the season, this was a pattern. What would the stats have looked like if even half those drops were completed?

This is not to say that there weren't some really bad throw by our QBs, but I think our QB play was better than we are recalling. Leidner still needs to improve, but the receivers are more experienced and hopefully better. I think we aren't that far away from an efficient passing game to compliment our established running. If they really figure it out...
 

BBShopGo4 said:
I watched the Nebraska game from last year again. There were multiple drops by the receivers where the QB put it right on target. There were others where the pass was a little off, but catchable, and our young receivers couldn't make the play. Thinking back across the season, this was a pattern. What would the stats have looked like if even half those drops were completed?

This is not to say that there weren't some really bad throw by our QBs, but I think our QB play was better than we are recalling. Leidner still needs to improve, but the receivers are more experienced and hopefully better. I think we aren't that far away from an efficient passing game to compliment our established running. If they really figure it out...
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All the reps that Leidner did with the WRs this Summer can only help in their development. I expect that each succeeding year from here on will bring drastic improvements in the aerial attack which will open lots of offensive schemes.

They don't need to pass a whole lot. They just need to improve their passing efficiency.
 

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