PiPress: Nelson plans to compete for Gophers' starting quarterback job right away

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BleedGopher

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"Coach Kill and (quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski) told me on my home visit that come springtime I should come prepared to take some first-team reps," Nelson said. "They told me to be prepared to compete, and they're going to play whoever gives them the best chance to win ballgames. If it's me, then that's great. If it's not, I'll get to redshirt. So it's a win-win for me."

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_19692162

Go Gophers!!
 

The wrinkle about his relationship with McDonald is interesting. The quotes from the staff though are pretty standard fare for any incoming recruit. "We will play the guy who gives us the best chance to win" "You will get a shot"....

He would have to light things up to get a shot at the starting spot next year given the head start Gray has on him. That being said a lot may depend on where the coaches feel Nelson is in relation to Shortell. Gray has shown some injury tendencies so if Nelson were to find himself #2 on the depth chart then he would need to be ready to go on short notice. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Really hope this kid lives up to the hype and is in fact our QB of the future.
 

I hope every freshman comes to the U with the exact same mindset.
 

I think most fans who were bemoaning the fact that we had to play so many Freshman last year missed a big point: it allows Kill to show recruits that they have a shot to play right away.

He probably figured that out halfway through last season. He had to make this class almost an extension of last year's class. He doesn't have his "last five years at Minnesota" rep to show recruits--"so let me show you how we did it last year." Good strategy.

It may not need to be done into perpetuity, but it works right now.
 

I think Gray would have too really tank it,or be injured for Nelson to replace him as #1 Still, "Never say never again"
 


gray improved a lot last year, but the one facet in which he has never really shined is the read option, which is a big part of kill's offense.

i actually don't know anything about the offense that mankato runs or if nelson has any experience with the read option, but if he can excel at it it could open up the play book for the offense.

not saying that nelson is going to start, just trying to spur conversation.:cool:
 

bigtenchamps1899 said:
gray improved a lot last year, but the one facet in which he has never really shined is the read option, which is a big part of kill's offense.

i actually don't know anything about the offense that mankato runs or if nelson has any experience with the read option, but if he can excel at it it could open up the play book for the offense.

not saying that nelson is going to start, just trying to spur conversation.:cool:
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I don't think Gray was always making the right read, but I think a lot of that is on our RB. MV at FBT had a really good break down showing how our RBs have cost us a lot of yards in the run game, especially on the read option. I sort of agreed with the breakdown, when you watched our RBs, they didn't seem very comfortable or adept at making that initial read.
 

Very few QB's are ready to start as true freshmen. If Nelson is starting next year it means he was either just so unbelievable they couldn't sit him which to me seems highly unlikely or things have gone terribly wrong and we are in a lot of trouble.

Nelson has skill, we all know that but there is a massive jump from MN high school football to Big Ten football. In his 4 years of high school he has faced a small handful of defensive players that can play at a D1 level. He has never seen defensive players with the kind of speed and athletic ability he is going to be facing at the next level so the learning curve for him is going to be steep. Things he could get away with in high school aren't going to work in college.

Hopefully he can redshirt next year, get lots of time with Coach Z, learn the playbook, get used to being a college student and then be ready to make a run at things in 2013.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Hopefully he can redshirt next year, get lots of time with Coach Z, learn the playbook, get used to being a college student and then be ready to make a run at things in 2013.
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My thoughts exactly.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Very few QB's are ready to start as true freshmen. If Nelson is starting next year it means he was either just so unbelievable they couldn't sit him which to me seems highly unlikely or things have gone terribly wrong and we are in a lot of trouble.

Nelson has skill, we all know that but there is a massive jump from MN high school football to Big Ten football. In his 4 years of high school he has faced a small handful of defensive players that can play at a D1 level. He has never seen defensive players with the kind of speed and athletic ability he is going to be facing at the next level so the learning curve for him is going to be steep. Things he could get away with in high school aren't going to work in college.

Hopefully he can redshirt next year, get lots of time with Coach Z, learn the playbook, get used to being a college student and then be ready to make a run at things in 2013.
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When he is interviewed next year he will state, 'the players in college are so much bigger and faster'.
 

I'm impressed with Nelson but he's going to redshirt.

I believe in Gray. I think he put in the time to learn the system and he still didn't have it down until about Week 8. Nelson might be a quicker study (based on Gray's questionable academic past), but MarQueis is better on his feet and provides the type of dual-threat that will help us win without a veteran receiving corp or proven backfield option.
 


wels0081 said:
I'm impressed with Nelson but he's going to redshirt.

I believe in Gray. I think he put in the time to learn the system and he still didn't have it down until about Week 8. Nelson might be a quicker study (based on Gray's questionable academic past), but MarQueis is better on his feet and provides the type of dual-threat that will help us win without a veteran receiving corp or proven backfield option.
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Gray's "questionable academic past" is an idiot high school advisor told him to take the ACT his freshman year and when he improved leaps and bounds when he took it his senior year (as is logical) the NCAA was like "zOMG YOU'RE CHEATING!!!1!!!1!1!!1"
 



Gray comes across as articulate and intelligent IMHO. He seems like a heck of a young man.
 

I thought the most interesting part of the tidbit was that Nelson seems to say that if he isn't the starter, he'll redshirt. I am in complete agreement with that decision, but it's interesting that Nelson seems to hint that if he is the #2, he will still RS.
 

wels0081 said:
I'm impressed with Nelson but he's going to redshirt.

I believe in Gray. I think he put in the time to learn the system and he still didn't have it down until about Week 8. Nelson might be a quicker study (based on Gray's questionable academic past), but MarQueis is better on his feet and provides the type of dual-threat that will help us win without a veteran receiving corp or proven backfield option.
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based on that comment, you have hereby been nominated to receive the dpodoll award:

Congratulations on your epic as-heretofore-unreached levels of dumbassery. dpodoll68 12/10/10
 

I think he got Gray mixed up with Devoe Joseph.
 

Wow, are we really trying to start a quarterback controversy? Every game Q got more competent and you could see that he was getting it and is one of our team leaders. The only way someone else is going to get into the game is if, God forbid he gets hurt.
I for one am looking forward to a great 2012 season by Q!
 

I would not want a QB that didn't want to compete for the starting job from day one. Nelson's chances of winning the starting job are near zero, but if he didn't want to win it win it from day one, his will to succeed would be questionable.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I thought the most interesting part of the tidbit was that Nelson seems to say that if he isn't the starter, he'll redshirt. I am in complete agreement with that decision, but it's interesting that Nelson seems to hint that if he is the #2, he will still RS.
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I would think that even if Nelson were to technically beat out Shortell for the #2 spot the coaches would probably turn to Shortell for mop up duty in a blowout or as a short term emergency fill in so as not to burn that first year the way they had to last season with Shortell. If Gray were to go down for a significant period of time it would probably come down to who was preforming the best between Nelson and Shortell. Of course there are always the wildcards of Leidner and Forman to throw into the mix just for fun...:)
 

nsmike said:
I would not want a QB that didn't want to compete for the starting job from day one. Nelson's chances of winning the starting job are near zero, but if he didn't want to win it win it from day one, his will to succeed would be questionable.
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In fact, I would not anyone, no matter what position, who did not want to be the starter.
 

Pretty sure Gray is graduating this spring. Pretty impressive with everything on his plate.
 


I think we will enjoy pretty decent depth at this position for a few years to come.
 


zambam said:
Gray's "questionable academic past" is an idiot high school advisor told him to take the ACT his freshman year and when he improved leaps and bounds when he took it his senior year (as is logical) the NCAA was like "zOMG YOU'RE CHEATING!!!1!!!1!1!!1"
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+1 There's an entire industry - considered perfectly legitimate - to cramming for college entrance exams. Go into any bookstore or library, and you will find books and CDs to help you prepare for the SAT and ACT tests. Many high schools have classes dedicated to test preparation. No one blinks at this.

He went into this test unprepared and too early, and it showed in his results. He then prepared for the retest, and as you would expect, he improved his scores. But that raised red flags. Had he been fully prepped for this test beforehand, there would have been no problem. This doesn't indicate any academic problems.

The ACT isn't an objective measure of academic ability, if it was, there would be no industry based around test prep. That with test prep he was able to do well indicates that he is able to do well. If you're familiar with how the test works, it is a better measure.
 


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