Outlook of Gopher QB Position

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I recall one bad interception and a tipped ball that Bateman probably should have caught across the middle. He pulled up probably in anticipation of contact or who knows, adjusting his route based on an anticipated throw more lateral to the linebacker.

Anyway, sure at that point there wasn’t the body of evidence to stick with Morgan that there is now but if he pulls Morgan at this point it will be really interesting to hear the reasoning and also how it goes.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
Word was they were very close to starting Zack for the Wisconsin game and it wasn't a unanimous decision at all to go with Tanner.
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Maybe so, but I'll bet in hindsight they're pretty glad they stuck with Morgan.

I love Zach, and I don't even have a favorite in this QB competition, but it's hard to imagine getting better results than they got in the Wisconsin and Georgia Tech games. Morgan was clearly better than Zach in Nebraska. And the Purdue game? Again, it's tough to argue with the results.
 

I have been thinking about this off and on and I think Fleck will give both guys a chance this season. Annexstad was ok until he was injured, and the line was not good for him. The line improved with Faalele and Morgan took advantage. This is a hard decision.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
I recall one bad interception and a tipped ball that Bateman probably should have caught across the middle. He pulled up probably in anticipation of contact or who knows, adjusting his route based on an anticipated throw more lateral to the linebacker.

Anyway, sure at that point there wasn’t the body of evidence to stick with Morgan that there is now but if he pulls Morgan at this point it will be really interesting to hear the reasoning and also how it goes.
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Think Zack will win the job in camp but won't be surprised either way. No matter who Fleck goes with I'm sure his reasoning will be pretty standard. Earned the job, felt he gave us the best chance to be successful, and we are gonna need both guys eventually.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
Think Zack will win the job in camp but won't be surprised either way. No matter who Fleck goes with I'm sure his reasoning will be pretty standard. Earned the job, felt he gave us the best chance to be successful, and we are gonna need both guys eventually.
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Hmm
 


Goldy Gopher said:
Think Zack will win the job in camp but won't be surprised either way. No matter who Fleck goes with I'm sure his reasoning will be pretty standard. Earned the job, felt he gave us the best chance to be successful, and we are gonna need both guys eventually.
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If he does, I hope it works out, because if Zack struggles, PJ will get hammered by fans and the press much more than if it were the other way around.



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PitinoFan said:
If he does, I hope it works out, because if Zack struggles, PJ will get hammered by fans and the press much more than if it were the other way around.



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Yeah, he’ll get a pass by fans and the press if we start Morgan and struggle right away.


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PitinoFan said:
If he does, I hope it works out, <b>because if Zack struggles, PJ will get hammered by fans and the press much more than if it were the other way around. </b>



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That’s why you hope it works out?
PJ will be OK.


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Goldy Gopher said:
Word was they were very close to starting Zack for the Wisconsin game and it wasn't a unanimous decision at all to go with Tanner.
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I don’t believe that for a minute. It’s always unanimous. 1-0 Fleck.
 

Spoofin said:
That’s why you hope it works out?
PJ will be OK.


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I don’t give a sh*t about PJ beyond wanting a good football team.


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I don’t know, I’ve seen some things happen under this regime I’ve never seen before so ?? I suppose he could hook TM based on underwear drills. The intrigue. I think we should be grateful we have something to argue about.




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Here's all I'm saying:

I see a lot of people on this thread giving variations on "Fleck HAS TO make Morgan the starter," based on their believe that Morgan is clearly the superior player.

And my response is, no, he doesn't have to.

He might - there is a good chance he might - but he doesn't have to.

Fans will not make the decision. the Internet will not make the decision. The Coaches will make the decision, based on their own criteria. And, unless you are sitting in the coaches' meetings, you do not know what those criteria include. It may not be as cut-and-dried. I suspect the coaches are looking at some intangibles.

I have no inside knowledge. I am just saying that, until a starter is named, I rule out nothing. Could be Morgan - Could be Annexstad - hell, could be one of the Freshmen.

The Gophers could open with Green in the wildcat for the 1st play from scrimmage, with Faalele in the backfield. If that happened, heads would be exploding like "Scanners."
 



Fans will not make the decision. the Internet will not make the decision.
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I’d like to think PJ is trolling the forums at 4am while sipping his Red Bull, finger to the wind, but yes of course you’re right.

Maybe the passing coach from TX extolling JC’s arm and mechanics awhile back is right and he’ll get the nod. Could happen?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Here's all I'm saying:

I see a lot of people on this thread giving variations on "Fleck HAS TO make Morgan the starter," based on their believe that Morgan is clearly the superior player.

And my response is, no, he doesn't have to.

He might - there is a good chance he might - but he doesn't have to.

Fans will not make the decision. the Internet will not make the decision. The Coaches will make the decision, based on their own criteria. And, unless you are sitting in the coaches' meetings, you do not know what those criteria include. It may not be as cut-and-dried. I suspect the coaches are looking at some intangibles.

I have no inside knowledge. I am just saying that, until a starter is named, I rule out nothing. Could be Morgan - Could be Annexstad - hell, could be one of the Freshmen.

The Gophers could open with Green in the wildcat for the 1st play from scrimmage, with Faalele in the backfield. If that happened, heads would be exploding like "Scanners."
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Well... yes. Fleck will make the decision, not fans and not people here at GH. That goes without saying. Hopefully.

Despite the fact that we aren't the ones making the decision on the starting QB, people here at GH like to express their opinion on the subject. Not to be too obvious, but that's the purpose of Gopher Hole. Everybody gets their say here.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
I’d like to think PJ is trolling the forums at 4am while sipping his Red Bull, finger to the wind, but yes of course you’re right.

Maybe the passing coach from TX extolling JC’s arm and mechanics awhile back is right and he’ll get the nod. Could happen?
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Yup, PJ is losing sleep over the QB starter. Or Not.

 
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Reme[U said:
[/U]mberMurray;1758348]Well... yes. Fleck will make the decision, not fans and not people here at GH. That goes without saying. Hopefully.

Despite the fact that we aren't the ones making the decision on the starting QB, people here at GH like to express their opinion on the subject. Not to be too obvious, but that's the purpose of Gopher Hole. Everybody gets their say here.
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I totally agree with you Reme.

If everyone had the same opinion on each topic their would be no reason for a sports board. Different opinions make for spirted discussions whether those opinions are great, good, ugly or obtuse.
 

Neither of these two are going to be the same QB they were last year as Freshmen. Even with a redshirt TM did not know all that much of the O. The rest of the O is taking a giant step forward too. Does anyone think PJ is reviewing last years tapes to help him choose a starting QB? Both will improve a lot and one will likely take a bigger step than the other, but either one will be better than they were last year. This is entertaining banter to read. Have at it.
 

diehard said:
Neither of these two are going to be the same QB they were last year as Freshmen. Even with a redshirt TM did not know all that much of the O. The rest of the O is taking a giant step forward too. Does anyone think PJ is reviewing last years tapes to help him choose a starting QB? Both will improve a lot and one will likely take a bigger step than the other, but either one will be better than they were last year. This is entertaining banter to read. Have at it.
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This is not a given. There are plenty of examples where a QB gets worse for whatever reason.
 

Worse line play, worse receivers, injuries among other things all seem to contribute to good QB gone bad syndrome as does the level of competition obviously. The yips...mental spooks/gremlins seem to be a wildcard.
 

Leidner’s passer rating and Y/A attempt regressed every year, yet that didn’t stop at least one bonehead well known draft analyst said he’d be a first round pick.


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PitinoFan said:
Leidner’s passer rating and Y/A attempt regressed every year, yet that didn’t stop at least one bonehead well known draft analyst said he’d be a first round pick.


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His yards per attempt went up from his junior year to senior year. His total yards and completion percentage went way up from sophomore to junior year. That's probably what caught people's eyes. (Even though qb rating went down slightly)

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Word said:
His yards per attempt went up from his junior year to senior year. His total yards and completion percentage went way up from sophomore to junior year. That's probably what caught people's eyes. (Even though qb rating went down slightly)

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You’re right. My bad. Overall, awful stats, though. Some people were intrigued by his size and running ability, which was mostly ineffective as well.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/mitch-leidner-1.html


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PitinoFan said:
You’re right. My bad. Overall, awful stats, though. Some people were intrigued by his size and running ability, which was mostly ineffective as well.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/mitch-leidner-1.html


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Don't have the energy to look it all up again but I did it once before. His stats put him as pretty much an average big ten quarterback. Not spectacular but not as bad as a lot of people like to make it out to be.

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I really appreciated Mitch. Honestly. My sense is that he was a great leader and tough as they come. He would have done anything for the maroon and gold. But the way he was used and what he was asked to do seems so different than what PJF wants out of his QBs. I don’t really see how you can compare them. The skill set. The type of situations they expect them to control do not seem comparable to me. I also wonder if coaching under PJF is at a different level. My take... Both ZA and TM will have a much higher level of internal expectation and improvement than ML. And we will see more out of them because of it.
 

Word said:
Don't have the energy to look it all up again but I did it once before. His stats put him as pretty much an average big ten quarterback. Not spectacular but not as bad as a lot of people like to make it out to be.

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Maybe I’m too hard on Leidner. The passing game just wasn’t good, and it wasn’t all his fault. FWIW, his career numbers are better than ZA’s were last season. Either way, he had some brutal moments in crucial situations. He does not possess the clutch gene.



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PitinoFan said:
Maybe I’m too hard on Leidner. The passing game just wasn’t good, and it wasn’t all his fault. FWIW, his career numbers are better than ZA’s were last season. Either way, he had some brutal moments in crucial situations. He does not possess the clutch gene.



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Mitch was never a great passer. That is a simple fact.

But he had the heart of a lion, and if you like your QB to produce TDs and wins for you, he was pretty good. In fact, I believe he holds the Gopher records for (combined) TDs and for wins as a starter.

So... there's that.
 
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The QB position improved dramatically last year, but it’s still the weakest link on offense.

We have at least 2 future pros at WR in Johnson and Bateman. We have 4 potential pros on the o-line between Faalele, Dunlap, Andries and Olson. We have 3 1000 yard returning RBs and lots of talent at RB. The offense will go as far as Annexstad or Morgan can take it.
 

John Galt said:
The QB position improved dramatically last year, but it’s still the weakest link on offense.

We have at least 2 future pros at WR in Johnson and Bateman. We have 4 potential pros on the o-line between Faalele, Dunlap, Andries and Olson. We have 3 1000 yard returning RBs and lots of talent at RB. The offense will go as far as Annexstad or Morgan can take it.
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As you've pointed out, the o-line and running backs are strong points. That's exactly why it's going to be a run-first offense, in my opinion. I'm going by what we saw last season, especially later in the year.

Unless we suffer many, many devastating injuries, we'll run the ball early, we'll run it often... and really, really well. The guy taking the snaps is always important, but I'm not sure the QB position will actually make or break us. From what we've seen so far, the passing game will be a well-designed major component, but I doubt we'll have to lean on it too heavily.

I'm looking forward to a balanced attack, with the strong backbone being the run game.
 
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John Galt said:
The QB position improved dramatically last year, but it’s still the weakest link on offense.

We have at least 2 future pros at WR in Johnson and Bateman. We have 4 potential pros on the o-line between Faalele, Dunlap, Andries and Olson. We have 3 1000 yard returning RBs and lots of talent at RB. The offense will go as far as Annexstad or Morgan can take it.
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IMO the weakest link on offense is the unknown at tackle and the backup players on the line. QBs should be incrementally better.

Then, lots of room to improve on defense. Place kicker?

So many variables, all important to wins vs losses. If we’re counting on the offense going for 500+ yards per game on the back of a passer that’s probably a bad bet IMO. Brutally efficient runs and dink and dunk pass game with occasional shots downfield, Seth Green on short yardage. Minimize turnovers. Eat clock. Play great defense. Field position. Find a place kicker. Go to Indianapolis.
 

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