STrib: Tanner Morgan and Zack Annexstad neck and neck in Gophers QB duel

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Gophers_4life said:
This how it “should” be. But I can almost guarantee ZA will be the starter, unless something unexpected happens.

PJ feels too indebted to ZA, and he’s a Minnesota player.

Tanner played better in games, but it wasn’t apples to apples because of Zach’s injuries and not getting to benefit from better OL play (getting Schlueter out for Faalele was huge).


My prediction is ZA will start and we’ll see from there. He needs to show more zip on throws, and more mobility, compared to last year. Otherwise, I think Tanner will go back in.
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Disagree on this...he probably has the best throws in the short to medium range where "zip" might be needed, and the best touch IMHO. As far as mobility, he was, and in fact there was ongoing dialog out here about him moving too quickly out of the pocket (I disagreed). Injury took that away quite a bit.

<iframe width="921" height="518" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9hZpve1CpGE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

That video barely even shows the throw. Sure, touch is called for at times. That’s fine. Just seemed like more often than not I recall the ball leaving his hand what looked “gently”.

And yes I already acknowledged the injury taking away mobility. Just saying, in Big Ten play he really struggled with just keeling over and taking huge sacks. If that’s a non-issue when healthy, fine. Just saying we need to see that.


If he truly gives us the best chance to win this season, then I want him starting. We will see!
 

TM was much more accurate into the middle of the field and down field. Eye test, and stats support this.
 


Gophers_4life said:
Yes, it was:
- colossal flop of VV
- hauling in massive OL Faalele and Dunlap from IMG, and agreeing to take a “Maroon Shirt” (the first such player to do so, before they even came up with the name) to boot to allow them to be signed
- enrolled early so he could do spring ball as a year 0 player
- being from Minn doesn’t hurt
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I don't think PJ would give starting QB job just to curry favor with one player and let rest of team down if there was a better option
 


salzie said:
I don't think PJ would give starting QB job just to curry favor with one player and let rest of team down if there was a better option
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Of course not. He was the best option at be time, of the extremely limited options.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
TM was much more accurate into the middle of the field and down field. Eye test, and stats support this.
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Agreed. I'm comfortable with either starting, and excited to see the best man win

Both have another year under their belt. As previously mentioned, I wouldn't be upset if ZA is able to redshirt

This is best QB depth we've had, not only with our top 2, but incoming freshman and highly touted 2021 commit (i Know, that can change). It's refreshing instead of recruiting QB's that other teams are recruiting as TE/DB/WR and hoping they work out because Kill had success with once at NIL and Boykin at TCU worked out....
 

Pompous Elitist said:
TM was much more accurate into the middle of the field and down field. Eye test, and stats support this.
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And he gave us a nice boost in his ability to run the ball. At the time, it was the right decision. Now we’re back to where we were last fall camp, except that both players have played.
 

Annexstad got some Sportscenter face time last night. They were talking about Kyler Murray, brought up a graphic about some stat percentage that he led the nation in last year....and ZA was second. Again...can't remember the two guys behind him....but both were recognizable names.
 



Halsey Hall said:
If Mace had either ZA or Tanner during the Maroney/Barber era he would have won a lot more games. Since Hohensee, can't think of any Gopher QB better than these two.
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Seriously?
Player Passing Yards
Adam Weber 10,917
Bryan Cupito 7,446
Cory Sauter 6,834

They all played after Hohensee and put up better numbers. Yeah, stats may not tell the whole story, and ZA or TM may in time show they belong among the top QB's in Gopher history, but at this point, all they have shown is some potential.

That is why a lot of the national or B1G pundits have questions about the Gophers. They are waiting to see which QB wins the job and how they perform.
Hey - I hope you are proven to be correct in the long run. But based off a half-season each, I really can't agree with your assessment - at this point in their careers.

Looked it up - Adam Weber as True FR - 2895 yds passing, 24 TD's
ZA & TM combined stats last year - 2678 yds passing, 18 TD's.
 

Gophers_4life said:
That video barely even shows the throw. Sure, touch is called for at times. That’s fine. Just seemed like more often than not I recall the ball leaving his hand what looked “gently”.

And yes I already acknowledged the injury taking away mobility. Just saying, in Big Ten play he really struggled with just keeling over and taking huge sacks. If that’s a non-issue when healthy, fine. Just saying we need to see that.


If he truly gives us the best chance to win this season, then I want him starting. We will see!
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I saw that differently. I absolutely agree that ZA will need to clearly separate his Fall camp performance from TM to be #1 starting the season, no question in my mind about that. I believe he has the ability to do so, whether he in fact does it is the question. Both are much improved from last year and it clearly showed in Spring practices, and are pushing each other. It's a win/win.

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If they are truly "tied" then the tie breaker must go to the guy who won the Axe and the bowl game.
 

Halsey Hall said:
If Mace had either ZA or Tanner during the Maroney/Barber era he would have won a lot more games. Since Hohensee, can't think of any Gopher QB better than these two.
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AAK in 2003.
 




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