Shall my hopes remain high for Andre McDonald?

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btowngopher said:
Really? My take is so ridiculous that I must not have seen any games? We all know Gray and Shortell have streaky accuracy. And Nelson's completion % was under 50 right. Barker would've helped Nelson's stats, but losing one solid but not dominant wr shouldn't make your QB tank like Nelson did in the last 4 games before the bowl. Or maybe the Nelson Barker dynamic duo would've kept up that TD per quarter pace.
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Take a look at his posts. Don't get to upset. He's either a stalker or a relative. :cool:
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Gophersports is usually spot on, so I imagine that Malcolm Moulton is no longer with the program. He didn't dress or travel for the first couple games and when he returned, he seemed to be only a special teams player.

Good luck to him!
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It should be. It is the official roster of the Gopher football team.
 

I am sure someone will rip me for this, but I will state my opinion anyway. You both make good points, but the fact that they were missing a couple on the OL didn't help with the productivity of the entire offense. I am willing to cut Nelson a break since he is a true freshman and probably is still trying to grasp the entire offense along with making the correct checks pre-snap (not a easy thing to do when named the starter halfway through the season). Barker is a non factor, he is a average receiver, but was probably more of a cancer with his attitude than a asset. IMO, Nelson will develop into a solid QB, and hopefully will gain some arm strength along the way.
Ok, let the ripping begin!
 

Here is my 2 cents:

McDonald? He has been the same irresponsible flaky type kid all the way through high school; I don't see him changing into something he never was. I could be wrong but I doubt it. He could be great or he could be out off the team my summer....it's all up o him.

I think the lack of a passing game is based on both bad/inexperience WR and QB play. Going forward I think both will improve. You put inexperienced QB and WR's on the field at the same time and you get a 2012 passing game. Going forward I think Kill will be rewarded for making the tough decision in playing Nelson.
 

+1, SF24. And if you add an O-line that had not yet developed and evolved, then what would you expect?

I expect all aspects of the offense to improve next year - as was hinted in the bowl game - and that will lead to a major improvement overall for the O. And if Nelson isn't ready, Leidner will be a much better back up for Killer's system than Shortell was.
 


I think the funny thing with McDonald is (if the grades rumors were/are true) that he can't keep his grades up at Minnesota, but he was thisclose to going to Vanderbilt? What was he going to do there? Take 5 minutes of the first class and say, "OK, that's it - I'm out!"? The whole thing just seems to be a case of lacking maturity and common sense.
 

dpodoll68 said:
I think the funny thing with McDonald is (if the grades rumors were/are true) that he can't keep his grades up at Minnesota, but he was thisclose to going to Vanderbilt? What was he going to do there? Take 5 minutes of the first class and say, "OK, that's it - I'm out!"? The whole thing just seems to be a case of lacking maturity and common sense.
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I went to college as an undergrad with students who did not take that long of a time to take a hike.
 

It's not uncommon for a kid to get his ass kicked the first semester of college. Some kids don't come in with the discipline and work ethic needed, but I think it can be taught and learned. It's way to early to write him off.
 

btowngopher said:
It's not uncommon for a kid to get his ass kicked the first semester of college. Some kids don't come in with the discipline and work ethic needed, but I think it can be taught and learned. It's way to early to write him off.
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All very true. However, most kids don't walk in knowing that everything is paid for and they can walk into the next phase of life with a free college degree. I would hope they would hold themselves to higher standards because of that. Obviously, that doesn't happen.
 



dpodoll68 said:
All very true. However, most kids don't walk in knowing that everything is paid for and they can walk into the next phase of life with a free college degree. I would hope they would hold themselves to higher standards because of that. Obviously, that doesn't happen.
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In my experiences, the kids that pay their own way appreciate it so much more (that could be scholarships or mommy and daddy).
 

With Moulton gone, does it mean that I will never again have to see a GH poster write: "Moulton's a good receiver, he just needs to learn how to catch the ball?"
 

John Galt said:
With Moulton gone, does it mean that I will never again have to see a GH poster write: "Moulton's a good receiver, he just needs to learn how to catch the ball?"
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John Galt, now with that, I totally agree with the analogy that some GH'ers use to display their brilliance.
 

dpodoll68 said:
All very true. However, most kids don't walk in knowing that everything is paid for and they can walk into the next phase of life with a free college degree. I would hope they would hold themselves to higher standards because of that. Obviously, that doesn't happen.
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I had scholarships going in, and I got absolutely rocked my first semester, didn't know what in the world hit me. I didn't necessarily come in assuming I could walk through classes, but high school didn't teach me anything about actually studying and discipline with my studies, it was a breeze. It's all about the bounce back though, he has plenty of time to do that.
 



It's not about entitlement with him.

In high school this kid would miss practices during the freaking playoffs because he didn't "feel" like practicing. Who does that? I get the impression football is not that important to him. Football and school is hard enough for those who absolutely love the sport...I don't know how someone who couldn't put in the effort in high school is going to all of sudden do it in college where it is on a whole different level of difficulty.

Now, with that being said I certainly hope I'm as clueless as to what's going on as some who speculate on things I do know about.
 

Sportsfan24 said:
It's not about entitlement with him.

In high school this kid would miss practices during the freaking playoffs because he didn't "feel" like practicing. Who does that? I get the impression football is not that important to him. Football and school is hard enough for those who absolutely love the sport...I don't know how someone who couldn't put in the effort in high school is going to all of sudden do it in college where it is on a whole different level of difficulty.

Now, with that being said I certainly hope I'm as clueless as to what's going on as some who speculate on things I do know about.
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Yep, I agree with you.

However, I do think it sometimes clicks later with some of these guys. I have a really good friend who played college football (not at the U) and he coasted through HS doing the bare minimum, he coasted in football because he was really better than everyone else. However, when he arrived in college, he struggled on the field and in the classroom (his FR season). For him, it was a wake up call that he wasn't as special as he thought he was in HS. He ended up resolving his academic issues and working hard on the field (had a cup of coffee in the NFL too). My point....I think some of these kids who don't put the effort in HS could be like my friend and not really "get it" until they hit rock bottom. I hope missing the bowl game and not dominating college football was Andre's rock bottom. He has all the talent in the world.

He should take a long hard look at Hageman. Hageman put himself in the dog house, he supposedly was blowing off school, he wasn't the hardest worker in practice and he figured it out and changed his football career and his life. Hageman will VERY likely be cashing an NFL paycheck in the next 18 months and he's turned into a heck of a football player (will probably have his degree too).
 

Sportsfan24 said:
It's not about entitlement with him.

In high school this kid would miss practices during the freaking playoffs because he didn't "feel" like practicing.
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That doesn't display a certain sense of entitlement? I don't know him at all, so I'm only going off of what you just said, but that certainly sounds like someone who thinks they deserve special treatment.
 

Gopherprof said:
That doesn't display a certain sense of entitlement? I don't know him at all, so I'm only going off of what you just said, but that certainly sounds like someone who thinks they deserve special treatment.
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That is a possibility but given McDonald's history of neglect it also might be several other things including depression. One of the real problems I have with blogs is people often with just a little bit of information make assumptions that are wrong. I suspect none of us have had to face the challenges that Andre has as a kid. The reality is that ultimately he is the one who will be responsible for turning his life around but he certainly could use all the help he can get.
 

Do you suppose that Coach Kill & staff is on top of the situation?

Me thinks so.

In the meantime, the speculation will continue to go rampant
 



Killjoy said:
That is a possibility but given McDonald's history of neglect it also might be several other things including depression. One of the real problems I have with blogs is people often with just a little bit of information make assumptions that are wrong. I suspect none of us have had to face the challenges that Andre has as a kid. The reality is that ultimately he is the one who will be responsible for turning his life around but he certainly could use all the help he can get.
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So you are accusing GH of making assumptions, yet in the sentence before you speculate that McDonald might suffer from depression? Brilliant...
 

John Galt

John Galt said:
So you are accusing GH of making assumptions, yet in the sentence before you speculate that McDonald might suffer from depression? Brilliant...
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LOL - I was just pointing out that there were many other possibilities other than what was being assumed in the post. Nice try though.
 

Killjoy said:
LOL - I was just pointed out there was many other possibilities other than what was being assumed in the post. Nice try though.
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Your comment speaks for itself, there's nothing I have to say...Continue speculating, and criticizing others who do at the same time.
 

John Galt said:
Your comment speaks for itself, there's nothing I have to say...Continue speculating, and criticizing others who do at the same time.
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You missed the real point of the post. This is a young kid who was abandoned as a kid and who is now struggling. Maybe we shouldn't be too judgmental since we really don't know what is going on. I am sure you will now accuse me being judgmental and that's fine.
 

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