More upside: Gray or Shortell?

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With a decent OL, Shortell. From what I've seen, he's more accurate, disciplined, and just plain more focused on the task at hand. Because of our current OL situation, Gray probably has more upside at this point.
 

I vote Shortell - he's got three years left after this year and he can actually throw the ball.
 

Right now I see both as situational QBs and we need both. I don't think either is a B1G quality starter right now.
 

Next year Phillip Nelson from Mankato will be the starter. He fits Coach Kills system much better than either of the present QB's.
 


As a QB, Shortell. True frosh, big arm, and while he throws his share of INTs, he's more still accurate than Gray.

With that said, I'm not sure if Shortell having more upside means he should start. He should get 3-4 series/game, but I think Gray's talent-level/playmaking ability is still enough reason to start him over Shortell.
 

If Gray could ever develop the ability to see the field and find the open receiver there is no limit. He has more ability than probably anybody in college football. Unfortunately he will probably never get there and you need to be competive now, I don't see how you don't go with Shortell. We will never see what Gray might have been, but that is life.
 

Shortell's touchdown pass to Eric Lair sold me on him. He should be the starter.

When Gray threw to McGarry on nearly an identical route it was an incomplete pass. Gray didn't put it on the numbers and McGarry
couldn't catch it.

We're a better football team with a 3-4 WR sets right now, Shortell slinging it, and Gray hopefully doing exactly what he did last season.

The issue is, 3-4 WR sets aren't exactly Kill's offensive scheme, so we're going to have to suffer for a season here until he gets his
personnel and offense in place.
 

1gophergnu said:
Next year Phillip Nelson from Mankato will be the starter. He fits Coach Kills system much better than either of the present QB's.
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Be careful. I think a big part of the problem is always anointing the guy who's not currently on the team as the solution to the problem. When Gray was grayshirting he was going to be the savior. One guy even had a picture of Gray as his signature. Last year there was a thread every week on how Gray should be starting at QB. THen there were threads about how great it would be when Weber was gone and Gray was the only QB.

Braxton Miller is a perfect example. OSU fans were convinced they wouldn't miss a beat without Pryor and Miller has been very inconsistent. Freshmen QB struggle.
 



I was more getting at he would fit Coach Kill's system better than what we have now.
 

jovs said:
If Gray could ever develop the ability to see the field and find the open receiver there is no limit. He has more ability than probably anybody in college football. Unfortunately he will probably never get there and you need to be competive now, I don't see how you don't go with Shortell. We will never see what Gray might have been, but that is life.
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Agree. Gray missed so many open receivers.
 

Shortell's running is better than Gray's passing.

Yes, I posted this on a different thread.
 

wonder

I wonder if MarQues might go to the coaches and say that he will go to receiver - that is the position he could play in the pros...
 



Time to develop Shortell. He has a very good arm and has more poise & pocket awareness than MG. Shortell has the potential to become one of the best Gophers QBs ever but needs to be allowed to get in to the rythm of playing the whole game; not just situationally. With Nelson & Leidner coming in next year, it would be beneficial to redshirt both. MG has the ability to be a game breaker; it's just not going to be as a QB, especially starting the B10 confernce games.
 

Gray has by far the bigger upside. I'd play Shortell anyways. I'm not convinced these coaches understand how to use an athlete like gray from the QB position. It should say something that all of gray's best plays are ad libs, he has some ability and it only shows when he isn't doing what the coaches want. Move him to WR and get on with it. If you aren't gonna get him sprinting to the edge and running play action there is no point in playing gray.


Gray should have gone to Oregon. He is the most wasted athlete in the history of gopher football.
 

Rosemountian said:
Gray has by far the bigger upside. I'd play Shortell anyways. I'm not convinced these coaches understand how to use an athlete like gray from the QB position. It should say something that all of gray's best plays are ad libs, he has some ability and it only shows when he isn't doing what the coaches want. Move him to WR and get on with it. If you aren't gonna get him sprinting to the edge and running play action there is no point in playing gray.

Gray should have gone to Oregon. He is the most wasted athlete in the history of gopher football.
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Interesting comment.
 

I'm talking about the play breaking down and him just playing, not him not running the plays the coaches want.
 

How can anyone possibly think shortell has more upside??? If Gray could ever progress in his reads and develop some accuracy...WOW. Some people apparently think the OP's question was "who is the better QB," not who has more upside. That said, I'm not sure he will ever be able to do that - so I'm kind of leaning toward playing shortell.
 

Gray is one of the best athletes in the Big Ten.

Right now he is playing quarterback, but he's not playing the position, if you know what I mean.
 

Rosemountian said:
Gray has by far the bigger upside. I'd play Shortell anyways. I'm not convinced these coaches understand how to use an athlete like gray from the QB position. It should say something that all of gray's best plays are ad libs, he has some ability and it only shows when he isn't doing what the coaches want. Move him to WR and get on with it. If you aren't gonna get him sprinting to the edge and running play action there is no point in playing gray.

Gray should have gone to Oregon. He is the most wasted athlete in the history of gopher football.
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Can you run play action from the gun?
 


Gray definitely has more upside, but the question is whether or not that upside can be realized within the next year and a half. I'm not so sure.

I feel bad for Gray because he's wanted to play QB from day one and put in his time playing receiver for the betterment of the team without once complaining. Yet he just seems a victim of circumstance, and stubborness by the previous regime (insistance on playing Weber no matter what). He seems like such a great kid; I wish he did have three more years to develop.

That said, he doesn't, and to me, the best move would be for him to go to WR, Shortell to be the starter, Nelson (and Leidner, if he stays at QB) to redshirt next year with Foreman and Parish as the backups. Thus, when Shortell graduates, Nelson will be a Junior, Foreman a Senior, and they can battle things out. (From the practices I saw this fall, Foreman throws the ball pretty well; more accurate than some of the others mentioned, just not real big).

Just my opinion, and MG remains my favorite Gopher (with Kirkwood coming on strong!).
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
Gray definitely has more upside, but the question is whether or not that upside can be realized within the next year and a half. I'm not so sure.
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I'm afraid I disagree about Gray's upside as a Qb. He is innaccurate and cannot currently make his progression reads quick enough. Over time you would expect a Qb to naturally get quicker at his reads, however, a Qb that has never had accuracy as a strength is very unlikely to suddenly become that much more accurate to overcome his other difficiences. Gray as you state has a year and a half to develop to his potential because he will not get a sniff at the Qb position at the next level.
 

josh087 said:
How can anyone possibly think shortell has more upside??? If Gray could ever progress in his reads and develop some accuracy...WOW. Some people apparently think the OP's question was "who is the better QB," not who has more upside. That said, I'm not sure he will ever be able to do that - so I'm kind of leaning toward playing shortell.
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Because Shortell is a better QB and he's only a true freshman.
 

46Gophers said:
I'm afraid I disagree about Gray's upside as a Qb. He is innaccurate and cannot currently make his progression reads quick enough. Over time you would expect a Qb to naturally get quicker at his reads, however, a Qb that has never had accuracy as a strength is very unlikely to suddenly become that much more accurate to overcome his other difficiences. Gray as you state has a year and a half to develop to his potential because he will not get a sniff at the Qb position at the next level.
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I'm not talking about the next level; I'm talking about at the college level. Going into the last game, Denard Robinson had a lower completion percentage than MG, as did Taylor Martinez from Nebraska. Are either of those two NFL quarterbacks? I would say probably not. But they are phenomenal college football players and had Gray been playing QB at least a little the last couple of years, and had comparable talent around him (maybe not realistic), he could be close to that class - his athletic ability is that good (not as fast as either of those two, but bigger, more physical, and like those two, he has really good sense in the open field past the line of scrimmage).
 

People don't understand there is a difference between the college game and the pro game. You can be an all American QB and not be able to read coverages if you can run well an have a coaching staff that sets you up to make easy throws.
 

Rosemountian said:
Gray has by far the bigger upside. I'd play Shortell anyways. I'm not convinced these coaches understand how to use an athlete like gray from the QB position. It should say something that all of gray's best plays are ad libs, he has some ability and it only shows when he isn't doing what the coaches want. Move him to WR and get on with it. If you aren't gonna get him sprinting to the edge and running play action there is no point in playing gray.


Gray should have gone to Oregon. He is the most wasted athlete in the history of gopher football.
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Rosemountain, how come you didn't get the Gophers head coaching job? Since you're the self proclaimed coaching genius and all. Just wondering.
 

I agree with some of Rosemountain's points in this thread. I think Gray has more upside, especially if the Gophers want to continue using the QB in the running game.. 5-10 carries a game for Shortell will rarely be effective offense. On the other hand, Shortell throws a nicer ball, appears to read defenses better, and just seems more comfortable as a QB. I think Gray has more upside in the current offense and has more upside as a college QB. I think Shortell's upside is more realistic and he's a better choice if the staff plans to throw 30 times a game.
 

Rosemountian said:
People don't understand there is a difference between the college game and the pro game. You can be an all American QB and not be able to read coverages if you can run well an have a coaching staff that sets you up to make easy throws.
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Yep. Vince Young and the read option.
 

wels0081 said:
Shortell's touchdown pass to Eric Lair sold me on him. He should be the starter.

When Gray threw to McGarry on nearly an identical route it was an incomplete pass. Gray didn't put it on the numbers and McGarry
couldn't catch it.

We're a better football team with a 3-4 WR sets right now, Shortell slinging it, and Gray hopefully doing exactly what he did last season.

The issue is, 3-4 WR sets aren't exactly Kill's offensive scheme, so we're going to have to suffer for a season here until he gets his
personnel and offense in place.
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AGREE 100%

get your best players on the field, gray is a run first, run second, run third and throw off your back leg fourth. He's a helluva receiver, great body size, no one can match up on him and he's got sweet soft hands and is a real threat, would compliment McKnight perfectly and with Shortell slininging it, it would be hard for Defenses to match up, add Lair to the mix with Moulton and Jones. It's a potent offense, of course our Achilles heal would be our O-line, but they pass protect better than run block... so who knows.
 

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