Mitch Leidner To Remain At QB

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Chris Monter

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There was talk that Mitch Leidner of Lakeville south would be moved to tight end next season. I talked to Mitch a few minutes ago and he told me that he is planning on remaining at QB. Coach Kill and Coach Zebrowski were at his house Tuesday night. Look for the full interview tomorrow only at Gopherhole.com

Chris Monter
 

Makes sense that they would give him a look at QB. I would think though that if it becomes clear at some point that he is not going to see the field as a QB then they will look to convert him to a different position. A lot of their decision on how to use him may ride on what Shortell, Parish, and Alipate decide to do in the off-season. If they all leave they may need Leidner at QB from a depth standpoint.

Looking forward to the article tomorrow.
 

Maybe after the article Doogie will come in and say where he heard about Leidner at TE?
 

zambam said:
Maybe after the article Doogie will come in and say where he heard about Leidner at TE?
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Reusse will write about this kid being stupid for coming to this program.
 

There goes my plan to send the TE-around read/option out of the wildcat formation play to Limegrover.
 


Leidner committed as a QB after they had a commitment from Nelson. They must have seen some future at QB to offer him as a qb. Mitch is big strong and fast. I see him every day and nobody works harder than he does.
 

bailee88 said:
Leidner committed as a QB after they had a commitment from Nelson. They must have seen some future at QB to offer him as a qb. Mitch is big strong and fast. I see him every day and nobody works harder than he does.
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I expect (hope) both Nelson & Leidner redshirt next year. We should be set next year with Gray & Shortell at QB. As stated by others before, Kill has a history of using dual QB's in his offense & I could see Nelson & Leidner both contributing significantly. There is also the possibility of injury so quality depth is a must.
 

This will all sort itself out over time, but given what we know now, I just don't see a way that Leidner ever takes a snap at QB for the Gophers. Based on their HS play, Nelson is a much better QB than Leidner, so at least based on perception, he will already have 3 QBs ahead of him the day he steps on campus, and all of them are Sophs or younger. I'm not saying that Leidner can't beat out Nelson (and Shortell and Foreman), but perception must also be overcome in addition to actual visual evaluation. It is also almost certain that Kill will take a QB every year, meaning 1-2 QBs will be recruited over him by the time he's a RS Soph, when Nelson, Shortell, and Foreman will all still be here barring transfer. What I took from Doogie's tweet is that he (Leidner) has been told that, while he will get his shot to play QB, he has to prepare for the high likelihood of playing another position, and his size, speed, frame, etc. all scream TE.
 

What makes you think Foreman is any less likely to switch positions?
 



Leidner was playing against the South Suburban and Nelson the Big 9. They had a commitment in hand from Nelson and still offered Leidner as a QB after seeing him at camp. They must see something in him.
 

dpodoll68 said:
This will all sort itself out over time, but given what we know now, I just don't see a way that Leidner ever takes a snap at QB for the Gophers. Based on their HS play, Nelson is a much better QB than Leidner, so at least based on perception, he will already have 3 QBs ahead of him the day he steps on campus, and all of them are Sophs or younger. I'm not saying that Leidner can't beat out Nelson (and Shortell and Foreman), but perception must also be overcome in addition to actual visual evaluation. It is also almost certain that Kill will take a QB every year, meaning 1-2 QBs will be recruited over him by the time he's a RS Soph, when Nelson, Shortell, and Foreman will all still be here barring transfer. What I took from Doogie's tweet is that he (Leidner) has been told that, while he will get his shot to play QB, he has to prepare for the high likelihood of playing another position, and his size, speed, frame, etc. all scream TE.
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I'd have to agree with all of this too. Besides, what kid is going to want to hear right away that he's not good enough to play QB for the team he's committed to and he'll have to switch positions immediately. Obviously I think Kill and his staff will look at him at QB, but I would imagine they're thinking that a move to TE is more than likely.
 

bailee88 said:
Leidner was playing against the South Suburban and Nelson the Big 9. They had a commitment in hand from Nelson and still offered Leidner as a QB after seeing him at camp. They must see something in him.
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Apparently Leidner was extremely accurate at camp - unusually accurate.
 

Didn't Leidner QB a team that won the national 7-on-7 tournament (whatever that is)?
 



During one sequence at camp Mitch was 12-12 with 5 TD passes.
 

Leidner was a star in some passing camps last summer, I don' think he is an afterthought at QB. The great news is that both he and Nelson have talent, and given what the QB does in this offense, we need more than one. Gray should not have started two games because of injuries, and he is a tough guy. We don't need to solve this "problem", they will.
 

As a result....

bailee88 said:
During one sequence at camp Mitch was 12-12 with 5 TD passes.
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....he has also gotten Nelson's attention. Especially after Leidner said that he was going to enroll early this spring at the U. Nelson followed quickly with the same statement. It is call competition and Jerry wants to see lots of it.
 

Killjoy said:
....he has also gotten Nelson's attention. Especially after Leidner said that he was going to enroll early this spring at the U. Nelson followed quickly with the same statement. It is call competition and Jerry wants to see lots of it.
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I'm almost positive that Nelson stated he would enroll early long before they even offered Leidner.
 

While I agree that the South Suburban is better than the Big 9 in football, if you take out Lakeville North, the conference wasn't that great this past year. Losing EP and replacing it with PL weakened it a lot...especially since Rosemount was down from previous years. Jefferson, Kennedy, Apple Valley, and Burnsville were not good teams. How did South do against the good teams in the conference? Prior Lake, who joined the conference two years ago, had never won the Missota Conference title before leaving to play in the South Suburban. Sure they made it to state last year, but the whole section was South Suburban teams and it was by far the weakest section in the state. I saw Leidner play against North twice, and he is a real good QB. I also saw Nelson play a handful of times over the years as well, and the kid is a stud.
 

Good Memory dpodoll

dpodoll68 said:
I'm almost positive that Nelson stated he would enroll early long before they even offered Leidner.
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Per the follwing two items it appears you are correct:

byChris Monter
August 17, 2011

Mitch Leidner, a 6-foot-5 1/2, 223-pound senior quarterback from Lakeville South, committed to Minnesota in June after a strong performance during their annual 7-on-7 passing tournament. He recently decided that rather than enroll in the summer, he will graduate here to enter Minnesota in January. GopherHole.com caught up with Leidner after practice Wednesday to learn the latest on his decision.

Minnesota had received a commitment from Mankato West signal caller Phil Nelson in February. Most college teams only recruit one quarterback for each class, so it looked like Leidner was going to have to leave the state to play Division I football or play at the different position with the Gophers.

Leidner played tight end at the Minnesota summer camp, but it was his strong showing at the 7-on-7 passing tournament at quarterback that earned him a scholarship offer two days later and made him commit to the homestate school that week.

and

GH: You will be able to take advantage of taking part of spring practices by graduating early. How much do you think that is going to help you learn the systems and give you a head start?

PN: That is definitely an advantage. Coach Z really recommended it. I totally agree with him. I’m going to do whatever it takes to be the best college player that I can be and help my team.

GH: Quarterback commit Mitch Leidner of Lakeville South is doing the same thing, because he doesn’t want you to get too far ahead of him.

PN: That is understandable. Me and Mitch have talked. There is no tension between us. We are fine. Everybody asks me about that. It is the same answer. No matter where you go, you are going to get competition. It is nothing new.

Thanks for correcting my error.
 

Looking for big things from Phil and Mitch! Competition at any position is always good. However, if one or the other gets beat out for the 2nd or 3rd string QB next year, I hope the staff utilizes them in some other way. If we don't get Will Johnson, and assuming Hinds isn't a commitment, I'd hope they would at least consider moving Mitch to TE. I'm not sure how our depth will look after next year and he certainly is big enough and athletic enough to make the move to TE.
 

Nort73 said:
Looking for big things from Phil and Mitch! Competition at any position is always good. However, if one or the other gets beat out for the 2nd or 3rd string QB next year, I hope the staff utilizes them in some other way. If we don't get Will Johnson, and assuming Hinds isn't a commitment, I'd hope they would at least consider moving Mitch to TE. I'm not sure how our depth will look after next year and he certainly is big enough and athletic enough to make the move to TE.
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Hopefully next year they will both be redshirting.
 

50PoundHead said:
Didn't Leidner QB a team that won the national 7-on-7 tournament (whatever that is)?
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I remember reading somewhere that Leidner's Lakeville South team beat Nelson's Mankato West team in a 7 on 7 tournament championship. Not sure if that is correct, though.
 


What a terrible situation- two players (with potential) wanting to play for the Gophers.

This is like the Ginger or Mary Ann question. Hopefully you know the correct answer.
 

bailee88 said:
During one sequence at camp Mitch was 12-12 with 5 TD passes.
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During 1 game against Eagan Leidner was 11-25.



Leidner is really similar to alipate.

7 on 7 all American. Looks great no contact. When the bodies start flying he is the 3rd best qb in the south suburban conference.


Good athlete though. I think he'll switch positions quickly.
 

Rosemountian said:
Good athlete though. I think he'll switch positions quickly.
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Since you've seen him play quite a bit, do you think he's fast enough to actually be a pass-catching TE? I've seen him on film, and while I think he's probably fast enough right now, he'll need to add another 25-30 lbs. to play TE. I'm concerned adding that much weight will slow him enough that it will relegate him to essentially a 6th OL.
 

I personally think he'd be a good DE. I think he could be a really good blocking TE down the road. Don't think he will ever be a major threat pass catching cause of the speed. But I think he'd be serviceable. Someone just has to tell him it's time to put his hand on the ground.
 



dpodoll68 said:
Since you've seen him play quite a bit, do you think he's fast enough to actually be a pass-catching TE? I've seen him on film, and while I think he's probably fast enough right now, he'll need to add another 25-30 lbs. to play TE. I'm concerned adding that much weight will slow him enough that it will relegate him to essentially a 6th OL.
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I've only seen Leidner play once and he was an impressive guy. To me...I thought Nelson was the obviously better QB. However, Leidner is a big dude. In my opinion, Leidner will have no problem putting 30 lbs on in his career. If he does that, he'll be a pretty big guy (he's already 6'4" 225 lbs).

I also don't think he'll ever have a problem with being fast enough to be a good receiver. I have to think he'll still be faster than McGarry if he added weight.

My opinion on Doogie's text is that the U coaches told Leidner that if he switched to TE, he would be playing next seasons. It might be a situation where Leidner eventually chooses to be moved to TE because he could get on the field really quickly.
 

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