Mitch Leidner has arrived.

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I agree he has been much better, he's capable of hitting his 1st read if he gets open and Mitch has a clean pocket. I think it coincides with Maye and Lingen both getting open and playing very well.

To be a contrarian, lots of people on this board in September who were in the "pro Leidner" camp used the teams win loss record as a barometer of his play. I never agreed with that take, so I'm not going to use it now.... But this team is 4-6 and he played poorly in the 4 wins. It's just a little funny is stats matter now, and win loss doesn't.
 

Mitch has shown the significant jump in performance from last year to this year that I was looking for. I know there was a lot of frustration when he didn't show it immediately to start the season. It's easy to forget that these are still kids who are far from finished products. Mitch is now 6th in the B10 in passing yards which I think is pretty good. That said, Brooks has by far our highest passer rating. Might be time for a switch.
 

MaroonGold1 said:
I agree he has been much better, he's capable of hitting his 1st read if he gets open and Mitch has a clean pocket. I think it coincides with Maye and Lingen both getting open and playing very well. To be a contrarian, lots of people on this board in September who were in the "pro Leidner" camp used the teams win loss record as a barometer of his play. I never agreed with that take, so I'm not going to use it now.... But this team is 4-6 and he played poorly in the 4 wins. It's just a little funny is stats matter now, and win loss doesn't.
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We are not losing because of Mitch. That's the difference.
 


MaroonGold1 said:
I agree he has been much better, he's capable of hitting his 1st read if he gets open and Mitch has a clean pocket. I think it coincides with Maye and Lingen both getting open and playing very well.

To be a contrarian, lots of people on this board in September who were in the "pro Leidner" camp used the teams win loss record as a barometer of his play. I never agreed with that take, so I'm not going to use it now.... But this team is 4-6 and he played poorly in the 4 wins. It's just a little funny is stats matter now, and win loss doesn't.[/QUOTE]

It's also just a little funny that now stats don't matter and wins/losses do.
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Leidner has a higher passer rating than Joe Montana...I mean CJ Beathard, in conference games. Only Cardale Jones and Jake Rudock have a higher completion percentage. This is exactly the Mitch Leidner this team needs.
 

GopherHomer said:
MaroonGold1 said:
I agree he has been much better, he's capable of hitting his 1st read if he gets open and Mitch has a clean pocket. I think it coincides with Maye and Lingen both getting open and playing very well.

To be a contrarian, lots of people on this board in September who were in the "pro Leidner" camp used the teams win loss record as a barometer of his play. I never agreed with that take, so I'm not going to use it now.... But this team is 4-6 and he played poorly in the 4 wins. It's just a little funny is stats matter now, and win loss doesn't.[/QUOTE]

It's also just a little funny that now stats don't matter and wins/losses do.
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I never said that, I think he's playing very well. Just like I thought he was playing very poorly during the 3-1 start.
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MaroonGold1 said:
I agree he has been much better, he's capable of hitting his 1st read if he gets open and Mitch has a clean pocket. I think it coincides with Maye and Lingen both getting open and playing very well.

To be a contrarian, lots of people on this board in September who were in the "pro Leidner" camp used the teams win loss record as a barometer of his play. I never agreed with that take, so I'm not going to use it now.... But this team is 4-6 and he played poorly in the 4 wins. It's just a little funny is stats matter now, and win loss doesn't.
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People use stats (both sides of EVERY debate) like a drunk uses a lamp post. Not for illumination, but to support themselves.
 

RolGnav said:
I'm usually pretty hard on him but I'm hoping he has turned the corner. Seems they are letting him do more now and not limiting him and he has gained confidence since. Coincidence that it was when Coach Kill retired? Maybe... maybe not, but I tend to think that Coach Kill did not trust Leidner enough to open up the offense like this.

Good for him! Next year will be the year to watch if we get healthy!
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Agree. I've always wondered if Limegrover wanted to do more offensively than Kill would allow. I've noticed that they are using the TE up the seam since Kill stepped down much more than they had earlier in the season when Lingen was a glorified OT. Mitch has stepped up. His mechanics get messed up now and then, but when he can plant and throw, he delivers a pretty decent ball.
 


everybody knows my name said:
On the last drive tonight ol' Mitch took the Gophers 75 yards in 6 plays in just 45 seconds. The kid has got some serious game.
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Yes, his throwing has vastly improved. He still needs to scan the field a bit better to find open receivers instead of throwing into heavy coverage. If he can develop that skill a little better, he could be one of the conference's very best next season.
 



MaroonGold1 said:
But this team is 4-6 and he played poorly in the 4 wins. It's just a little funny is stats matter now, and win loss doesn't.[/QUOTE]



I don't agree with your assertion about his play in the four wins. He played quite well against Ohio. He didn't have to throw much against Purdue. He had a miserable start against Colorado State but played well after that.

Stats do matter. Without Leidner's passing stats, we wouldn't have been hanging around with a chance to win in any of our last three games.
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Based on the absence of wait!what? posts about him being a division 2 QB posts lately I would say he has arrived. That what you call a twofer. :cheer:
 

t-docious said:
you're somewhat right, I have not watched the OSU game.
Mitch has been worlds better than, say CSU or Kent St. but, to me, I just can't stomach over throwing a 6'10 TE on third and crucial. It drives me bonkers. but, that said, I want nothing more than mitch to succeed, I am a gopher fan for f0cks sake.
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The Mickey Mouse BTN announcers also pointed out that he overthrew a 6-10 guy, but failed to tell us why. So I played it back and Bjorkland whiffed a block on the DT who was bearing down on Mitch's grill, forcing the overthrow. Sorry about your stomach but he's been taking it in the chops a fair amount every week.
 

I'm going to play with some ML stats this week and put together some 4th quarter numbers. I'm bummed about the 0-4 stretch, but I think many are starting to believe he's the guy. I'm confident in his leadership style and think the guys love him. Raise your hand if you thought we'd win if we'd only recovered that onsides kick. I sure believed he'd lead us to a TD.
 

killme said:
The Mickey Mouse BTN announcers also pointed out that he overthrew a 6-10 guy, but failed to tell us why. So I played it back and Bjorkland whiffed a block on the DT who was bearing down on Mitch's grill, forcing the overthrow. Sorry about your stomach but he's been taking it in the chops a fair amount every week.
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For this being a primetime night game, the BTN sure didn't have their A team there last night. How many times did we miss the end of a play because the camera man couldn't follow the ball? On the intentional grounding by Leidner, they never showed us an angle that showed the ball didn't get past the line of scrimmage. I'm sure it didn't but it appeared that when he threw it that it would get close. Would have been nice to actually see it.
 

I think play calling being better the last three weeks has really helped him.
If he can play two solid games the last two weeks I think we can be really optimistic for next year.
If he comes in and is terrible I'll probably feel the same next year entering the year as I did this year.

The offense has been looking better and better.
 

tikited said:
Yep.

If Mitch stays healthy we should consider redshirting Croft next year.
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I hope they don't do that. I would like to see a real competition among Croft and the top freshman QB next year for the backup position. If we get more daylight in some games next year, maybe each can get a little more of a trial. Just naming a backup based on practice like they did with Streveler didn't work out very well. If the entering freshman (can't remember his name but I think he is from Indiana) is head and shoulders above Croft at the beginning of next season, then maybe that's a different story.
 

cjbfbp said:
I hope they don't do that. I would like to see a real competition among Croft and the top freshman QB next year for the backup position. If we get more daylight in some games next year, maybe each can get a little more of a trial. Just naming a backup based on practice like they did with Streveler didn't work out very well. If the entering freshman (can't remember his name but I think he is from Indiana) is head and shoulders above Croft at the beginning of next season, then maybe that's a different story.
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I'm basing this on how it would have been the best thing for the team and Croft to redshirt this year. Kid isn't psychically ready for prime time. Remember that I prefaced this by saying if Mitch can stay healthy. If Mitch starts every game next season, I don't see a reason not to use that redshirt.
 

Let's remember - Kill's philosophy was run first, control the clock and limit the other team's possessions. But, when the O-Line had its run of injuries, the team was not able to run successfully, so they had to start throwing the ball more.

If the O-line had been healthy, I suspect Leidner's stats would be less impressive, but the team might have a better won/loss record. If you're not a run-and-shoot type type, there are two reasons to throw the ball a lot - 1. because you can't run, or 2. because you're behind and trying to catch up. The Gophers haven't been able to run effectively in a number of games this season, and they've been behind - leading to a bigger emphasis on the passing game.

If the O-Line is healthy next year, I suspect the Gophs will run more of a balanced offense.
 

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