Souhan: Gophers should give Croft a look at QB

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BleedGopher

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per Souhan:

Here’s how the Gophers can fix their offense in time for the Big Ten schedule:

• Break in Croft.

• Stop pretending the Wildcat offense surprises defenses. When the Gophers bring in Streveler, the defense knows he’s going to run.

• Give even more snaps to freshman running back Rodney Smith.

• Feature Drew Wolitarsky, a fast, physical receiver, whenever possible. He gets open, reliably catches the ball and runs well after the catch.

Kill said last week that “we don’t get any preseason games.’’ He’s right. He has had to make lineup decisions while facing powerful TCU and competitive Colorado State.

Now he has a chance to reset his offense. If Kill thinks Croft can take this team farther, he shouldn’t let one beautiful, clutch pass cloud his decision.

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-should-give-croft-a-look-at-qb/327152011/

Go Gophers!!
 

Never heard of this writer.
 

I like Woli. He is not fast.

If you watched the game, look at the shots of Kill right before the 2nd half kickoff. He says a few words to Croft. Wonder if he told him to be ready if the first drive faltered.
 

Tweet before the game was that Croft took all 2nd team snaps in warm-ups today. He split them with Perra last week.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

I'd be fine with Woli getting more passes. KJ Maye was alright. But he dropped way too many passes today.
 


After a terrible first half (Leidner started 2-9 10yds), our QB threw 21-36 223 yds 2TDs 0INT. Not bad for a guy that everybody wants to bench.
 

My two cents on that question: I think Leidner should 100% start vs Kent State this weekend, and if we are up big in the 2nd half we should burn the shirt and give Demry some action. How often has the lack of a 5th year because of a poor decision to burn a redshirt come into play in the past? Honest question for the more seasoned GH'ers out there.


Edit: I just started a poll question... "Demry Croft: Burn the 'shirt?" I would love to see everyone's vote and hear their opinion explained in the thread, except for the trolls. Don't vote, trolls.
 

My guess is Souhan has never seen Croft play in person.
 

GophersInIowa said:
My guess is Souhan has never seen Croft play in person.
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I mean this with no disrespect, but have you seen Croft play in person. I don't think Souhan has, but Leidner makes a lot of errant throws. I think Croft should get in and learn the system. ML is a great leader and serviceable qb, but we need a good passer to get us these kinds of wins more easily. ML should start for the foreseeable future, but Croft should be put in now for garabage time to let him develop and possibly overtake ML for the starting position this year. However, it should be based on talent and not pressure to make a ab change.

I like ML, but I think we can do better at the qb position and if Croft is an improvement he should start. Let's see what the young man can do, so we can have an objective discussion. I just don't see ML taking us to a Rose Bowl. However with the right qb, I think we can make a run at the playoffs. We are that close.
 



GO4INLALALAND said:
I mean this with no disrespect, but have you seen Croft play in person. I don't think Souhan has, but Leidner makes a lot of errant throws. I think Croft should get in and learn the system. ML is a great leader and serviceable qb, but we need a good passer to get us these kinds of wins more easily. ML should start for the foreseeable future, but Croft should be put in now for garabage time to let him develop and possibly overtake ML for the starting position this year. However, it should be based on talent and not pressure to make a ab change.

I like ML, but I think we can do better at the qb position and if Croft is an improvement he should start. Let's see what the young man can do, so we can have an objective discussion. I just don't see ML taking us to a Rose Bowl. However with the right qb, I think we can make a run at the playoffs. We are that close.
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Nope, I haven't. And that is why I wouldn't make a suggestion either way. I have no idea if he is ready to get some action or not.

Either way, my statement was more that Souhan doesn't attend practices and, as far as we know, he doesn't ever talk to the coaches or go to press conferences.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Nope, I haven't. And that is why I wouldn't make a suggestion either way. I have no idea if he is ready to get some action or not.

Either way, my statement was more that Souhan doesn't attend practices and, as far as we know, he doesn't ever talk to the coaches or go to press conferences.
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With how he described Wolitarsky you are definitely correct. It even makes me wonder if he watched the game. He's physical,great hands,and can move but speed is not what you would attribute to him.
 

The source of these suggestions makes them automatically the wrong ones. Too bad. At some point they could be viable options.
 

Jkk
GO4INLALALAND said:
I mean this with no disrespect, but have you seen Croft play in person. I don't think Souhan has, but Leidner makes a lot of errant throws. I think Croft should get in and learn the system. ML is a great leader and serviceable qb, but we need a good passer to get us these kinds of wins more easily. ML should start for the foreseeable future, but Croft should be put in now for garabage time to let him develop and possibly overtake ML for the starting position this year. However, it should be based on talent and not pressure to make a ab change.

I like ML, but I think we can do better at the qb position and if Croft is an improvement he should start. Let's see what the young man can do, so we can have an objective discussion. I just don't see ML taking us to a Rose Bowl. However with the right qb, I think we can make a run at the playoffs. We are that close.
Click to expand...

We're not close with is o line.
 




The CSU D front lived in our backfield most of the game. Connor Mayes struggled. Campion is still rusty. No one could open running lanes. If it is true that Croft needs to mature physically, I can't see him getting game action unless it is absolutely necessary. If the O line plays better then perhaps there's a chance.
 

Hollinsanity said:
My two cents on that question: I think Leidner should 100% start vs Kent State this weekend, and if we are up big in the 2nd half we should burn the shirt and give Demry some action. How often has the lack of a 5th year because of a poor decision to burn a redshirt come into play in the past? Honest question for the more seasoned GH'ers out there.


Edit: I just started a poll question... "Demry Croft: Burn the 'shirt?" I would love to see everyone's vote and hear their opinion explained in the thread, except for the trolls. Don't vote, trolls.
Click to expand...

David Cobb burned his redshirt. Not sure that he'd still be here but he'd have another year of eligibility.
 

Soup can is a hack and knows nOohing about GOphER football. He has accomplished his mission, we are talking about him.
 

Hollinsanity said:
My two cents on that question: I think Leidner should 100% start vs Kent State this weekend, and if we are up big in the 2nd half we should burn the shirt and give Demry some action. How often has the lack of a 5th year because of a poor decision to burn a redshirt come into play in the past? Honest question for the more seasoned GH'ers out there.


Edit: I just started a poll question... "Demry Croft: Burn the 'shirt?" I would love to see everyone's vote and hear their opinion explained in the thread, except for the trolls. Don't vote, trolls.
Click to expand...

As far as burning red shirts, I think Eric Decker, Da'Jon McKnight, and David Cobb all had freshman seasons where they only got a few touches. Eric Decker might have left for the NFL anyway, but the other two I could see staying for a red shirt senior year.
 

The same people demanding Croft start in 2015 are the same people that were demanding Christian Ponder start in 2011.

The same people demanding Croft start in 2015 are the same people that will be demanding Tony Poljan start in 2017.

There is no greater sports love than that for the backup QB.

I do agree that the Streveler experiment needs to either stop or the play calling needs to expand.
 

Cayman said:
As far as burning red shirts, I think Eric Decker, Da'Jon McKnight, and David Cobb all had freshman seasons where they only got a few touches. Eric Decker might have left for the NFL anyway, but the other two I could see staying for a red shirt senior year.
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Decker redshirted. McKnight played out of necessity. Don't know for sure on Cobb, but probably similar to McKnight.

Now if you would have said Logan Payne, I would agree with you.
 

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Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
The CSU D front lived in our backfield most of the game. Connor Mayes struggled. Campion is still rusty. No one could open running lanes. If it is true that Croft needs to mature physically, I can't see him getting game action unless it is absolutely necessary. If the O line plays better then perhaps there's a chance.
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Exactly. We couldn't run the ball at all. Plus mitch was under fire all game. The o line was by far the biggest concern in my book. Mitch didn't play well and made some really poor throws, but the o line was the biggest problem. Some dropped passes that should have been caught didn't help either.
 

If he is truly taking snaps with the #2 offense, absolutely burn the shirt vs Kent State. What happens if we are in a grinder of a conference game and Mitch gets hurt? Do you take away the passing game by putting in Streveler or Croft with 0 experience? Give him a few packages to focus on this week, hope the offense gets enough distance in score and let Croft run the 4th Q offense.
 

Fuzzy Rumpton said:
If he is truly taking snaps with the #2 offense, absolutely burn the shirt vs Kent State. What happens if we are in a grinder of a conference game and Mitch gets hurt? Do you take away the passing game by putting in Streveler or Croft with 0 experience? Give him a few packages to focus on this week, hope the offense gets enough distance in score and let Croft run the 4th Q offense.
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I'd actually be on board with this. You risk the possibility of burning his RS for a quarter and him not playing much, if at all, the rest of the season, but Fuzzy brings up a good point. Let's say we're playing Wisconsin for the West division and Mitch gets hurt the 1st series. Streveler won't get it done in that scenario. If Croft is the clear #2 and they don't even trust Streveler to throw at all, then Croft needs to see the field.
 

did anyone notice CSU brought the blitz on almost every single play of this game? If we had a qb capable of spreading the defense out, and an OC capable of calling the correct plays our O-line wouldn't continually have to block 6 guys every single play. It's not fair for the pressure to be on them every single play. However, they do need to do a better job. Just my two cents here.
 

Where does Perra fit into the mix?
 

Do we know for sure if Croft has been taking the #2 reps in practice? I know someone reported he was taking most of the reps during warm ups with the 2's yesterday but practice is different.

(I apologize if this has been talked about already, I was away from the computer most of the day yesterday)
 

GophersInIowa said:
Do we know for sure if Croft has been taking the #2 reps in practice? I know someone reported he was taking most of the reps during warm ups with the 2's yesterday but practice is different.

(I apologize if this has been talked about already, I was away from the computer most of the day yesterday)
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I think it has been rumored for a couple weeks, but with closed practices and the coaches not confirming - there is no way to know for sure. Still, it makes sense and yesterday's pregame warmup would only confirm. I know Perra is a MN kid and folks want to believe, but most who follow the team closely believe Croft is #2 at this point - unless it is just for a play or two at which point CS14 would be the backup.
 

Donkeypunch Jones said:
With how he described Wolitarsky you are definitely correct. It even makes me wonder if he watched the game. He's physical,great hands,and can move but speed is not what you would attribute to him.
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Woli looked awesome. However, let's not forget his hands were his #1 concern entering the year. He has a history of dropping balls. I hope that is behind him, no issues yet this year, but I'm not declaring yet that he has "great hands".
 

Cayman said:
As far as burning red shirts, I think Eric Decker, Da'Jon McKnight, and David Cobb all had freshman seasons where they only got a few touches. Eric Decker might have left for the NFL anyway, but the other two I could see staying for a red shirt senior year.
Click to expand...

Decker had a full red shirt year. I think if Mc Knight had redshirted he would've been drafted with an extra year.
 

Perra sucks there's a reason him and Rhoda were walkons Leidner was way better than both in high school
 

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