P.J. Fleck believes Tanner Morgan could be a high NFL Draft pick

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per Schad:

In the 2019 season, Tanner Morgan took a big step forward as quarterback for the Gopher football team. In addition to setting a slew of program records, Morgan led the Gophers to an 11-2 record last season and capped it off with a win in the Outback Bowl.

But Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck believes there's another step to Morgan's game and thinks he could be the program's first drafted quarterback since 1972.

"He’s so gifted on and off the field," Fleck said in an interview with 247Sports. "If there’s one guy outworking everyone else in the country, it’s that guy. I can’t say that for a fact, but if I had to bet everything I have on that, I would."

Fleck believes that Morgan profiles in the same way as his quarterback at Western Michigan, Zach Terrell. Terrell went 1-11 as a starter during his freshman year, but ultimately went 13-1 in his senior season and led the Broncos to the MAC Championship.

Morgan's growing pains weren't as dramatic, but Fleck sees the same path to success.

"[Morgan] came in, won some games, lost some games," Fleck said. "He wasn’t even the starter right away with Zack Annexstad and basically never gave the job back and now he’s All-Big Ten. I think the sky is the limit for him."

bringmethenews.com

P.J. Fleck believes Tanner Morgan could be a high NFL Draft pick

The Gophers haven't had a quarterback drafted since 1972.
bringmethenews.com bringmethenews.com

Go Gophers!!
 




Could be but he won’t. Even if he lights it up his height and middling arm strength will hold him back from a high selection. He doesn’t have the running ability to offset it. And don’t throw Drew Brees out there because it’s an old and worn out comparison.
 


He'll have had to really work on his physical abilities to go in the first two days. The NFL is also transitioning to more of dual threat QB, and I don't think Tanner has that extra ability (especially at the NFL level) beyond throwing.

I don't mean this to take anything away from him. He's the best QB the Gophers have had since....??? I don't even recall. He'll get an NFL paycheck, I just don't see his game translating too well. I would love to be proven wrong on this, but I don't see it.
 

upnorthkid said:
Could be but he won’t. Even if he lights it up his height and middling arm strength will hold him back from a high selection. He doesn’t have the running ability to offset it. And don’t throw Drew Brees out there because it’s an old and worn out comparison.
Click to expand...

Brees is the comparison, though. Should we compare him to Mike Vick instead?

Anyway...I think if he can improve his pocket awareness and movement, he might surprise some people. He’s still a relatively inexperienced Big Ten QB. A lot of improvement can be made over the next two years.
 

skauma said:
He'll have had to really work on his physical abilities to go in the first two days. The NFL is also transitioning to more of dual threat QB, and I don't think Tanner has that extra ability (especially at the NFL level) beyond throwing.
Click to expand...

Is that a thing again?

Man I remember when the dual threat QB was the way of the future ... decades ago. And that wasn't even the first round of mobile QBs being the future.

Lots of teams realized that didn't get you very far. It's the obvious answer if that's what you have... but you do it while you look for a QB who makes better decisions.
 

I agree I think mobile quarterbacks or running quarterbacks have been a thing since Michael Vick. But durability is the issue. I think what it's going to evolve into is more Aaron Rodger type quarterback who is a pass-first quarterback and can run.
 



PitinoFan said:
Brees is the comparison, though. Should we compare him to Mike Vick instead?

Anyway...I think if he can improve his pocket awareness and movement, he might surprise some people. He’s still a relatively inexperienced Big Ten QB. A lot of improvement can be made over the next two years.
Click to expand...
Compare him to someone he has a remote chance of being equivalent to. It's why you don't compare every QB to Manning or Brady as well.
 

Glad the QB Comparison Police are out in force keeping us all safe this morning.

Thank you for your service!
 

Stud college QB, not a guy i would want my team to take on the first 2 days of the nfl draft
 

upnorthkid said:
Compare him to someone he has a remote chance of being equivalent to. It's why you don't compare every QB to Manning or Brady as well.
Click to expand...

You might want to tell that to PJ....


"Is he ever going to be [six-foot-five]? No, but who cares?" Fleck said. "Drew Brees isn’t [six-foot-five] either. Now am I saying he’s Drew Brees? No. But he’s somebody that’s going to be put in a Drew Brees category. There’s a lot of people that couldn’t look past his measurables, [but] he’s got intangibles through the roof."

bringmethenews.com

P.J. Fleck believes Tanner Morgan could be a high NFL Draft pick

The Gophers haven't had a quarterback drafted since 1972.
bringmethenews.com bringmethenews.com
 




BigGopher69 said:
Stud college QB, not a guy i would want my team to take on the first 2 days of the nfl draft
Click to expand...
Too early to tell. Kid has played only one full year of college. It was an impressive 1 year though.
Love had a bad (17 int) senior year and still got drafted in the first round. And he wasn't even playing P5 competition. Stranger things have happened.
 

I am curious why we didn’t hear much about Tua’s height. He has some ability to scramble, but he’s not fast.

Same size as Tanner...


Here is a snapshot of how the Alabama quarterback measured up:

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 217 pounds

Arms: 30½"

Hands: L (10"), R (9⅞")

 

I'm skeptical of a lot of the talk about QBs and their physical attributes as far as arm strength goes.

Now there's obviously some limit... some guy who is 5'3" 350lbs... ... maybe gonna have a hard time at QB in the NFL. Same goes for me and my lack of arm strength (coffee mug is kinda heavy this morning...).

But the extreeme physical aspects aside.... generally when I see QBs that are good and those that are not, it's not like a WR where extra speed is a huge asset.... the difference seems to be a sort of mental simulation of the game and decision making.

Some guys can stand in there fearlessly and make a great throw all while there is a sort of game playing out in their head, even if just instinctivly ... there's something in their head that just grocks what to do in a given situation, and to some extent I don't think it can be taught enough to bring guys up to the highest level... a QB either has 'it' or doesn't.

I don't know what Tanner's future is, but he certianly shown he has 'it' at the college level.
 

I just hope he sticks around here for two more years because he has moved into my top 3 all time Gopher QB list (Rickey Foggie and Mike Hohensee being the other two.)

I have a gut feeling when he is done with hopefully a good NFL career, PJ Fleck will get him into a coaching career with him. You could be looking at the Gopher coach in 20 or so years. Just a funny feeling, nothing more.
 

We have had qbs in the past who physically looked the part.
 

He is like most QBs as good as his protection is and his receivers are.
He was exposed a bit in the IA and WI game.
He is an accurate college QB who will not lose games by errant throws and will win some but he is no Drew Brees or Russell Wilson.
A NFL team may give him a chance as a walk on.
 

PitinoFan said:
You might want to tell that to PJ....


"Is he ever going to be [six-foot-five]? No, but who cares?" Fleck said. "Drew Brees isn’t [six-foot-five] either. Now am I saying he’s Drew Brees? No. But he’s somebody that’s going to be put in a Drew Brees category. There’s a lot of people that couldn’t look past his measurables, [but] he’s got intangibles through the roof."

bringmethenews.com

P.J. Fleck believes Tanner Morgan could be a high NFL Draft pick

The Gophers haven't had a quarterback drafted since 1972.
bringmethenews.com bringmethenews.com
Click to expand...
I love PJ, but to use his comp as the standard is silly
 

upnorthkid said:
I love PJ, but to use his comp as the standard is silly
Click to expand...

He’s referring to size and intangibles. Fortunately, there have been several other smaller QBs drafted high recently.

I actually think it’s silly to write a guy off a year or two before he’s done here. None of us have any idea what his ceiling is.
 

PitinoFan said:
He’s referring to size and intangibles. Fortunately, there have been several other smaller QBs drafted high recently.

I actually think it’s silly to write a guy off a year or two before he’s done here. None of us have any idea what his ceiling is.
Click to expand...
Leidballs?
 

Plato said:
He is like most QBs as good as his protection is and his receivers are.
He was exposed a bit in the IA and WI game.
He is an accurate college QB who will not lose games by errant throws and will win some but he is no Drew Brees or Russell Wilson.
A NFL team may give him a chance as a walk on.
Click to expand...
He is a lot better than you give him credit for - he just has all the intangibles on being a winner. If Tyler Johnson doesn't drop a pass right in his hands in the end zone with about 2 minutes left in the game, we very well could have beaten Iowa, and Morgan did beat Wisconsin the year before with a very nice game. He is very smart, doesn't make mistakes and time after time his throws were money in the bank all season. Part of his success was due to the OC letting him loose and letting him throw the ball downfield, but he kept making the throws he needed to with great success. I bet if you asked Penn St. or Auburn about him they would say he is the real deal - or how about the Purdue game where he hit like 21-22 passes. All those teams would say he is playing on another level.

At the very least, he is an absolute master at the RPO offense. I do not know how much of that will transfer to the NFL, but he won't be a walk-on for sure - someone will draft him and if he turns in another year like he did the last one his stock will be sky-high. Right now, he is just hitting the radar from a lot of people but you know they will be watching him with great interest. My guess at worst he is a 4th round draft pick but he has a chance to go much higher than that.
 

Gold Rush said:
He is a lot better than you give him credit for - he just has all the intangibles on being a winner. If Tyler Johnson doesn't drop a pass right in his hands in the end zone with about 2 minutes left in the game, we very well could have beaten Iowa, and Morgan did beat Wisconsin the year before with a very nice game. He is very smart, doesn't make mistakes and time after time his throws were money in the bank all season. Part of his success was due to the OC letting him loose and letting him throw the ball downfield, but he kept making the throws he needed to with great success. I bet if you asked Penn St. or Auburn about him they would say he is the real deal - or how about the Purdue game where he hit like 21-22 passes. All those teams would say he is playing on another level.

At the very least, he is an absolute master at the RPO offense. I do not know how much of that will transfer to the NFL, but he won't be a walk-on for sure - someone will draft him and if he turns in another year like he did the last one his stock will be sky-high. Right now, he is just hitting the radar from a lot of people but you know they will be watching him with great interest. My guess at worst he is a 4th round draft pick but he has a chance to go much higher than that.
Click to expand...
Plato is a Becky troll. Don't take anything he says seriously.
 

Plato said:
He is like most QBs as good as his protection is and his receivers are.
He was exposed a bit in the IA and WI game.
He is an accurate college QB who will not lose games by errant throws and will win some but he is no Drew Brees or Russell Wilson.
A NFL team may give him a chance as a walk on.
Click to expand...
He threw for 370 and 69% against Iowa. If that's "exposed" I will take it.
 


In this highlight package on Bateman, I noticed Morgan was being hit or harassed on almost every throw, yet he kept his eyes downfield, stood in the pocket, delivered an accurate ball, and took the hit. In the all 22 view, you can clearly see him scanning the field, rather than the “stare down the receiver” critique we often hear.

BTW, in the two games this analyst used to evaluate Bateman, Morgan was 39/42, 775 yards, 7 TDs, 0 Int!

 

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