Replacing Morgan is not going to make things better

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GopherWeatherGuy said:
If you are actually watching the game, he's missing throws he used to make. It had nothing to do with form and anticipation. Sanford is not the one missing 10 yard passes by 5 yards. You have no idea that the backup can't do better.

Much like Love at Utah St, Morgan has lost some pretty good WRs. That might have something to do with the decline in numbers as well.
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Morgan is awful right now. He was great in 2019 with great receivers but he was making great throws too. Something has thrown him way off and he is not able to deliver the ball now, even when he has time.

Best move this week would be to go with Kramer and throw a lot of screens, quick slants, and use tight ends. Let Kramer mix it up with QB draws and a scramble now and then. He is quick and athletic.

Running that offense, and quick without running the play clock down, would open running lanes pretty quickly for Potts, Bucky, and Ky. Play Ky Thomas. He is fast and strong.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Minnesota currently last in the Big Ten in total offense and 12th in scoring.

Morgan was selected as second team all conference by the coaches and media in 2019. Something doesn’t add up.
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He's changed. Lost confidence. Peaked.
 

laazrakit said:
Go back and watch some of that 2019 season... the season that everyone is using as the benchmark for Tanner's QB ability. Looking at the stats, it sure seems that Tanner has regressed... but go look at the film.

Look at the throws... A great deal of the time, he's just chuckin' the ball up and letting the receivers make the play. Game after game, somebody is making some spectacular catches to keep the game alive (and some easy catches that Tyler Johnson manages to muff... but he always made up for them.) Even that glorious Outback win against Auburn was saved by an absolutely insane reception by Bryce Witham...

Tanner hasn't regressed... He just isn't getting the help. Case in point, MBS had a chance to keep the Gophers chances alive with a difficult catch on a low throw against BG... and wasn't able to make the reception. If CAB was on the field, I gotta believe that he'd have made that catch... He's also been a savior in the past.

The best that's been able to be said about Morgan is that he's a steady game manager and that he makes good decisions. That went out the window against BG in the 4th quarter. He tried to make it happen, so to speak... and wasn't up to the challenge. Again, he wasn't afforded the help he needed... not from the OL... not from the WRs... and not from the coaching staff.

For Tanner to be successful, he's going to need that help... if the Gophers aren't going to be able to give it to him, he's going to really struggle.
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Yes Brown Stephens could have made a great catch but Morgan could have delivered a good ball. He didn't. It was a terrible throw.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Minnesota currently last in the Big Ten in total offense and 12th in scoring.

Morgan was selected as second team all conference by the coaches and media in 2019. Something doesn’t add up.
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I hope PJ looks at this stuff. With any luck, he promotes Simon and he finally has a solid Defensive coordinator and a solid OC again. I miss Kirk
 

Dakota2 said:
Yes Brown Stephens could have made a great catch but Morgan could have delivered a good ball. He didn't. It was a terrible throw.
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Do you watch games around the league? QBs routinely make poor throws. Those 20/25 completion days are just not that common. Some days are good, some are bad. Body of work supports a long, long leash with Morgan. Not so with the OC.
 



GopherWeatherGuy said:
I agree that Sanford is a problem, but Morgan was way off the mark on a lot of throws yesterday, even when he had time to throw.

This was the case in the 2nd half against Miami too, then they just stopped running pass plays.
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There's plenty of fault to go around on this one; up and down the roster and up and down the coaching staff, across the board. This was one big steaming turd from top to bottom

The revisionist history, pining for the days of KC, are entertaining. I recall most of the time, fans were calling him to be shit-canned as well and weren't that upset to see him go.

Morgan's confidence seems to be shot, which isn't helping things at all. His OL allowing him to get hammered by MAC pass-rushers isn't helping either. Big Dan seems to have a motivation issue, I wonder how much of that we see in scouting reports leading up to the draft. Guys that don't show up on certain games but do for others, often it doesn't go well for them on draft day.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
There's plenty of fault to go around on this one; up and down the roster and up and down the coaching staff, across the board. This was one big steaming turd from top to bottom

The revisionist history, pining for the days of KC, are entertaining. I recall most of the time, fans were calling him to be shit-canned as well and weren't that upset to see him go.

Morgan's confidence seems to be shot, which isn't helping things at all. His OL allowing him to get hammered by MAC pass-rushers isn't helping either. Big Dan seems to have a motivation issue, I wonder how much of that we see in scouting reports leading up to the draft. Guys that don't show up on certain games but do for others, often it doesn't go well for them on draft day.
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I don't recall anyone happy about KC leaving. Think the general sentiment was concern that he was responsible for most of Fleck's success at WMU, and may have been responsible for most of Fleck's success at UMN.
 

hello-world said:
I don't recall anyone happy about KC leaving. Think the general sentiment was concern that he was responsible for most of Fleck's success at WMU, and may have been responsible for most of Fleck's success at UMN.
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He is so good he got fired by penn state after one Covid season
 




Dakota2 said:
Yes Brown Stephens could have made a great catch but Morgan could have delivered a good ball. He didn't. It was a terrible throw.
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My point was, in 2019 someone would have caught that ball... and the Gophers would have come back and won the game. It's 2021 and MBS dropped it and the Gophers lost. That is the difference for Tanner Morgan.

Tanner is the same QB (well, maybe with less confidence) that he was in 2019... He didn't deliver a good ball in many, many circumstances in 2019 but his receivers almost always bailed him out. Unless the Gophers get CAB back... and get Dylan Wright squared away... it's gonna be tough to get any passing attack going at all.
 

LakevilleBro said:
Morgan has not been the same since the 2019 season. Not sure what is wrong, but something is off.
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I thought Morgan threw the ball well against OSU. The deep passes were almost perfectly thrown and would have been caught by Bateman or CrAB. Yesterday’s game was sad. Not sure if had his bell run or if the coaching staff really didn’t have a plan b lined up if it was a close game and the running game didn’t work. The passing plays were so poorly designed, the protection so bad and Morgan was really bad
 

hello-world said:
I don't think Wright / CRAB is that much worse of a 1-2 punch than Bateman / Johnson.
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I agree with this 100%... but how often have we seen Wright/CrAB together on the field this seson?
 



laazrakit said:
I agree with this 100%... but how often have we seen Wright/CrAB together on the field this seson?
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That and….yes they are worse.

A first and mid round pick

vs

two guys who will maybe be drafted and are hurt
 



PMWinSTP said:
What if they lose to Purdue and he struggles?
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If he’s making a boatload of unforced errors that‘s one thing. With so few attempts per game the percentages get a little wonky. Guys can start 2/10 and finish 22/30. It’s fair to say IMO he’s been less accurate than in the past but he hasn’t had much help from his receivers at times. The two interceptions last game are on him. The fumble is forgivable, he’s not a running back.
 





Tanner will probably come back and pass well against Purdue, but if he's having a bad day, pull him. Bowling Green was a perfect occasion for that because the dullness of the team, the slowness, the lack of effort and imagination, created a perfect opportunity for someone off the bench to charge up the team and change the mood as often happens with a QB switch.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
If he’s making a boatload of unforced errors that‘s one thing. With so few attempts per game the percentages get a little wonky. Guys can start 2/10 and finish 22/30. It’s fair to say IMO he’s been less accurate than in the past but he hasn’t had much help from his receivers at times. The two interceptions last game are on him. The fumble is forgivable, he’s not a running back.
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Is that a yes or no to my question?
 

Some guy said:
No way they change the QB unless it is mid game.
If morgan is good enough to finish a game, they’ll start him the next game
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Well, it's a matter of what they're going to try and do... If they're going to run the same limited offense they tried to run against BG, they might as well play Kramer since he's much more mobile.

If they try to open up the passing game, then Morgan definitely starts... and if he doesn't get the job done, maybe they switch to Annexstad or Clark.
 

laazrakit said:
Well, it's a matter of what they're going to try and do... If they're going to run the same limited offense they tried to run against BG, they might as well play Kramer since he's much more mobile.

If they try to open up the passing game, then Morgan definitely starts... and if he doesn't get the job done, maybe they switch to Annexstad or Clark.
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If Kramer is the answer, there isn’t an answer.
I’ve only seen him play in high school, but if he is the answer we don’t have an answer
 

laazrakit said:
Well, it's a matter of what they're going to try and do... If they're going to run the same limited offense they tried to run against BG, they might as well play Kramer since he's much more mobile.

If they try to open up the passing game, then Morgan definitely starts... and if he doesn't get the job done, maybe they switch to Annexstad or Clark.
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Have we at least considered the possibility that the 'limited offense' or overly conservative offense is an indictment of what the coaching staff thinks of Morgan and their current passing attack? Does everyone think they are really just running an uber-conservative offense, to heck with the strengths and makeup of the offensive roster, solely because that's what they want to do? Do you really think they are unable to self-scout and ascertain what their players do WELL?
 

laazrakit said:
Well, it's a matter of what they're going to try and do... If they're going to run the same limited offense they tried to run against BG, they might as well play Kramer since he's much more mobile.

If they try to open up the passing game, then Morgan definitely starts... and if he doesn't get the job done, maybe they switch to Annexstad or Clark.
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Clark for passing game he has proven that he can throw accurate and deep no reason why he shouldn't get more reps. I agree with Kramer for the RPO read he is a good runner and more mobile that Morgan.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
On KFAN just now for Viking pregame they brought up that PJ needs to have a buffet of a tough conversation with Sanford. They also said the game yesterday is not even worth talking about because it was such an embarrassment.

I honestly don’t like how PJ handled yesterday’s press conference. For me the sparkle of 2019 is now gone.

a lot of media has also been harsh about PJ being a really bad game manager.

And the record of 0-17 when trailing at the half is BAD.

how long does 2019 make the fans still fans of Fleck. Unless he drastically turns this season around, and there is still a lot of season left, with this level of talent on this team, could PJ find himself in the hot seat next year?
Remove the 2019 record and his overall body of work might not be very impressive here.
I love PJ, but this is a business and it’s not about what he did in 2019, it’s what he’s doing with this Uber talented squad this year
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No ones body of work has been impressive here, especially if you remove their best season.
 

Flecknation said:
Clark for passing game he has proven that he can throw accurate and deep no reason why he shouldn't get more reps. I agree with Kramer for the RPO read he is a good runner and more mobile that Morgan.
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QB doesn't run in the RPO. Kramer is fine for the Wildcat, but he's most likely Gophs #4 QB. Not impressed with his passing.
 

Some guy said:
if you watch the offenses, they are really running the same plays 80-90% of the time

There is a bit more of a 7 step passing game now than there was then. But it’s a small part of it.

Ciarocca seemingly has better timing than Sanford. That’s the biggest difference. They’re literally running the same plays a majority of the time.
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So you’re saying Ciarocca is a much better play caller. I’ll add Ciarocca got his plays in quicker and there was a much better rhythm. A lot less looking to the sideline 3 times prior to running a play.
 
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