MSBN: The Anatomy of Leidner's Knee Injury

[alltimetwinsfan]

Hello Everyone,

After a long hiatus, I have decided to return with my 2,000th Gopherhole Post, and I will do so with a shameless plug. Along with returning to this site, I have also returned to writing articles for, among other things, Gopher sports, independently. I will also be planning on restarting my weekly Gopher sports podcast, which I did for several years before other commitments pulled me away for a few years. I am very much looking forward to my return! In the mean time, I penned my first Gopher-related article yesterday, and if you would be so kind as to check out my rambling thoughts in regard to Mitch Leidner's knee injury, that would be great.

MSBN: The Anatomy of Leidner's Knee Injury

Alltimetwinsfan

 

[CoMn]

Nice article

 

[husker70]

Well written, and insightful. It would seem that Streveler 68% completion rate in high school has not been taken into account. Most don't think he can throw it. Could it be he is a true dual threat? And can he handle it as a red shirt freshman? If he can get the team into the right play, and hit the passes he throws he should be fine.

 

[Indi1006]

I unfortunately have tons of experience with injured MCL ligaments. In HS i suffered a severe sprain and missed five weeks. It hurt like the dickens when it happened and i couldn't really walk for nearly a week but then it progressively got better each day. I suffered a mild sprain in college and missed the rest of the game but probably could have returned, it didn't hurt nearly as bad, I was able to walk off the field and I certainly could have played the next week but the coaches held me out. I returned the following week and was fine the rest of the season. Senior year of college tore the same darn ligament in half surgeon said it looked like it was cut in two by a scissor, it hurt like hell, surgery, et al but even back in the dark ages it's was an easy ligament to fix no lasting issues. Leidner likely will be able to play this week, but will be somewhat restricted and will wear a brace and as I mentioned before probably a game time decision on whether he goes; but what do I know. What I am almost certain of is that Dr. Pat Smith will clear him he's a "play when you can play" type of guy and then the coaches and Leidner will have to decide whether he goes this week or waits.

 

[alltimetwinsfan]

Well written, and insightful. It would seem that Streveler 68% completion rate in high school has not been taken into account. Most don't think he can throw it. Could it be he is a true dual threat? And can he handle it as a red shirt freshman? If he can get the team into the right play, and hit the passes he throws he should be fine.

Thanks for the compliment! By contrast, Leidner threw for 54.9% his senior year (124-226) with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions his senior year of 2011. It is possible that, at least in terms of accuracy, Streveler could be an upgrade over Leidner. It all depends on how comfortable he is with the system and, of course, the environment. Like I mentioned in the article, walking in to a snakepit for your first ever start has to be pretty intimidating.

 

[Governor Sibley]

Somewhere along the line we have to hit an accidental home run with a QB recruit, no?

 

[jaymil]

Judging by Mitch's reaction to the injury and the description of the different "grades" of the injury, my speculation is he has the most minor sprain and could still potentially play Saturday. I wouldn't be surprised if they start Streveler and if it's a disaster then bring Mitch in to try and right the ship as a less-mobile version of himself.

Good article alltimetwinsfan.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Well written, and insightful. It would seem that Streveler 68% completion rate in high school has not been taken into account. Most don't think he can throw it. Could it be he is a true dual threat? And can he handle it as a red shirt freshman? If he can get the team into the right play, and hit the passes he throws he should be fine.

I don't think it is a matter of thinking he can't throw the ball, it is a matter of being told by the staff that he was a long ways behind Liedner coming out of camp and we have seen first hand Liedner's struggles in the passing game. Can Streveler read a defense, can he make good decisions under pressure, can he avoid making the crucial mistakes that can cost a team the game? Those are the unknowns with him right now and honestly if he was significantly better then Mitch in any of those areas I have to believe the staff would have been playing him already. Will be very interesting to see how it all plays out though.

 

[Fuzzy Rumpton]

I don't think it is a matter of thinking he can't throw the ball, it is a matter of being told by the staff that he was a long ways behind Liedner coming out of camp and we have seen first hand Liedner's struggles in the passing game. Can Streveler read a defense, can he make good decisions under pressure, can he avoid making the crucial mistakes that can cost a team the game? Those are the unknowns with him right now and honestly if he was significantly better then Mitch in any of those areas I have to believe the staff would have been playing him already. Will be very interesting to see how it all plays out though.

Just remember some players pull it together in practice but not in games. Could that be Mitch? Who knows, but might be nice to see what Streveler does in a meaningful game situation.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

I thought he played pretty good in the EIU game. We won't lose a thing if he plays.

 

[Word]

I unfortunately have tons of experience with injured MCL ligaments. In HS i suffered a severe sprain and missed five weeks.

I sprained my MCL in high school playing soccer. I think I only missed one or two days. It didn't feel good, but I could play on it. So, obviously degree of sprain makes a big difference (and everyone heals differently). And as far as I know, we don't have any info on that yet.

 

[Fuzzy Rumpton]

I thought he played pretty good in the EIU game. We won't lose a thing if he plays.

Tried getting a little fancy on his final run but it was a freshman in his first game. I'd like to see how the kid does but I don't think it's much of a drop off either.

 

[alltimetwinsfan]

I sprained my MCL in high school playing soccer. I think I only missed one or two days. It didn't feel good, but I could play on it. So, obviously degree of sprain makes a big difference (and everyone heals differently). And as far as I know, we don't have any info on that yet.

To my knowledge, nothing has been made public. Might find out more tomorrow, but I have heard we may not know for sure until Thursday what his true status is.

 

[jaymil]

To my knowledge, nothing has been made public. Might find out more tomorrow, but I have heard we may not know for sure until Thursday what his true status is.

I'd be surprised if Kill gives out much info tomorrow at his press conference. My guess is Leidner is listed as questionable on Thursday and we may not find out if he's playing or not until Saturday afternoon.

 

[BarnBoy]

Can Streveler read a defense, can he make good decisions under pressure, can he avoid making the crucial mistakes that can cost a team the game? Those are the unknowns with him right now and honestly if he was significantly better then Mitch in any of those areas I have to believe the staff would have been playing him already. Will be very interesting to see how it all plays out though.

These things don't matter. All you have to do is drop back and throw.

- Peanut Gallery

 

[Datadriven]

Great article, but please edit the part about Campion getting beat as this is not factual.

The play in question had a slide left protection call, therefore the left b gap was the responsibility of the LG.

If you watch the replay, you can see all of the OL but the LG step left to their assigned gaps.

Not knowing the called protection may lead you to think it was Campion's fault but this simply isn't true.

 

[wels0081]

This article is the second best piece of sports journalism published Monday.

Second to only, of course, TMZ's fine muckracking inside an elevator.