The passing game!

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btowngopher

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I thought this was going to be our big advantage in getting a leg up on Wisconsin and Iowa. NFL wrs would be flocking here over our rivals. Whether it’s Tanner, the OC, or the wrs, this is the missing part of the team, we’d have one loss if this wasn’t missing. There is hope that it can be fixed as it has been here before and Fleck had it at WMU as well, but disappointing that it disappeared this year, as it would have been a fantastic year had the passing game not collapsed.
 


#93fanclub said:
Where was Wright? He is the most athletic of the receivers. Is he leaving?
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Why do you expect anything that was basically shown the door at Texas AM? They are 7-2 play in the SEC are 11th in the nation and throw the ball 68% of the time in 2021. He chose to come here to play for a middle of the road big ten team that throws the ball 30% of the time. I expect nothing from him otherwise he would still be at A&M.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
Why do you expect anything that was basically shown the door at Texas AM? They are 7-2 play in the SEC are 11th in the nation and throw the ball 68% of the time in 2021. He chose to come here to play for a middle of the road big ten team that throws the ball 30% of the time. I expect nothing from him otherwise he would still be at A&M.
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That's a conveniently incomplete take. Prior to the 2021 season (Wright's first with us), the Gophers had helped two receivers get drafted in the 4th and 1st rounds in a two year span. They had a strong passing game in 2019, and the outcomes in 2020 could easily be viewed as a weird year.

I bet if you asked Dylan coming in, he didn't expect to be playing part-time on a team with minimal commitment to throwing the ball.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
Why do you expect anything that was basically shown the door at Texas AM? They are 7-2 play in the SEC are 11th in the nation and throw the ball 68% of the time in 2021. He chose to come here to play for a middle of the road big ten team that throws the ball 30% of the time. I expect nothing from him otherwise he would still be at A&M.
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Agree with the poster above. This is a very short-sighted take. Prior to this year, the passing game has been pretty good. I am ignoring PJs first year, as he was left with f’n Croft as a starting QB. Wright has shown flashes, but it seems isn’t necessarily jelling with PJs culture. PJ has proven he will sit superior players just to make a point regarding attitude, culture, etc. I’ve been hard on Morgan , but to be fair the WR play this year hasn’t been great. Wright is MIA. Jackson started coming on last year, but since coming back from injury has been a non-factor. MBS has an obscene number of drops. I think PJ has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to WRs, so I’m willing to give them a pass this year.
 


Why do people keep asking about Wright?

Can people not do their own math on this?
He either isn't practicing well, or he's not able to run the plays, or he's not able to learn the play....

OR

The staff simply can't recognize his incredible talent that all of the Gopher fans can see who keep asking this question (despite the fact the Gophers staff saw enough talent to bring him here).

Read between the lines people.


You're essentially asking "Is the guy too stupid or not dedicated enough" Or did the coaching staff forget he has talent.

Many of you seem to believe the coaching staff forgot.
 

Some of the issues with the passing game are pass protection related, that said, indecision and not progressing off 1 read or even being late with throws are hurting the.team. QB play has not been that good, a rough spot to be in as you get a lot of blame. Sucks because nobody, not one of us thought QB play and inaccuracy would be a big problem this year.
 

forever a gopher said:
Agree with the poster above. This is a very short-sighted take. Prior to this year, the passing game has been pretty good. I am ignoring PJs first year, as he was left with f’n Croft as a starting QB. Wright has shown flashes, but it seems isn’t necessarily jelling with PJs culture. PJ has proven he will sit superior players just to make a point regarding attitude, culture, etc. I’ve been hard on Morgan , but to be fair the WR play this year hasn’t been great. Wright is MIA. Jackson started coming on last year, but since coming back from injury has been a non-factor. MBS has an obscene number of drops. I think PJ has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to WRs, so I’m willing to give them a pass this year.
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What flashes? He had 1 catch that stood out in the very first game of the year. He’s caught 14 passes in 10 games this season. Granted they have only competed 104 passes in those 10 games. I am just very leery about expecting too much out of a transfer especially if they are leaving a better program. Of course the defensive transfers have been pretty good this year. The offensive and special teams transfers not so much.
 

Six to Eight said:
That's a conveniently incomplete take. Prior to the 2021 season (Wright's first with us), the Gophers had helped two receivers get drafted in the 4th and 1st rounds in a two year span. They had a strong passing game in 2019, and the outcomes in 2020 could easily be viewed as a weird year.

I bet if you asked Dylan coming in, he didn't expect to be playing part-time on a team with minimal commitment to throwing the ball.
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What’s incomplete about it? All were facts. Yes they did have two WR’s get into the nfl. Then that begs the question as why the current receivers are not better given he’s been coaching for 5 years already.
 



Face The Facts said:
Why do people keep asking about Wright?

Can people not do their own math on this?
He either isn't practicing well, or he's not able to run the plays, or he's not able to learn the play....

OR

The staff simply can't recognize his incredible talent that all of the Gopher fans can see who keep asking this question (despite the fact the Gophers staff saw enough talent to bring him here).

Read between the lines people.


You're essentially asking "Is the guy too stupid or not dedicated enough" Or did the coaching staff forget he has talent.

Many of you seem to believe the coaching staff forgot.
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To be fair, the coaching staff does seem to forget a lot of things. For example, they continue to be taught the same lesson, over and over and over, seemingly because they forget the lesson.

Intentionally playing for FGs at the end of halves. Not playing aggressive against your biggest rivals who have owned you. Talking your punt returner to let the ball bounce. These are all things this staff forgets in a regular basis.
 

Face The Facts said:
Why do people keep asking about Wright?

Can people not do their own math on this?
He either isn't practicing well, or he's not able to run the plays, or he's not able to learn the play....

OR

The staff simply can't recognize his incredible talent that all of the Gopher fans can see who keep asking this question (despite the fact the Gophers staff saw enough talent to bring him here).

Read between the lines people.


You're essentially asking "Is the guy too stupid or not dedicated enough" Or did the coaching staff forget he has talent.

Many of you seem to believe the coaching staff forgot.
Click to expand...

I think people are legitimately asking what’s going on 🤷‍♂️. Injury, discipline, jury duty, Disney World
 

Replacement Gopher said:
To be fair, the coaching staff does seem to forget a lot of things. For example, they continue to be taught the same lesson, over and over and over, seemingly because they forget the lesson.

Intentionally playing for FGs at the end of halves. Not playing aggressive against your biggest rivals who have owned you. Talking your punt returner to let the ball bounce. These are all things this staff forgets in a regular basis.
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Where did they say they tell the punt returner to let the ball bounce? Just curious.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
Why do you expect anything that was basically shown the door at Texas AM? They are 7-2 play in the SEC are 11th in the nation and throw the ball 68% of the time in 2021. He chose to come here to play for a middle of the road big ten team that throws the ball 30% of the time. I expect nothing from him otherwise he would still be at A&M.
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St. Juste and Williamson were shown the door at bigger programs and thrived here. It obviously hasn't worked out that way with Wright, but there is precedent here.
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
St. Juste and Williamson were shown the door at bigger programs and thrived here. It obviously hasn't worked out that way with Wright, but there is precedent here.
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St. Juste is a ubiquitous story as he missed the entire year before coming to Minnesota so Michigan thought he was gonna medically retire. He was also a grade transfer that happened to have 3 years of eligibility left due to injuries and a redshirt year.
Not saying transfers don’t work, they appear to work very well on defense as Gibbons has been fantastic all year and filled a falling hole. I am not sure which Williamson you are referring to.
Either the coaches don’t like wright because of how he performs at practice or games or they (the offensive coaches) can’t judge talent and are letting him rot on the sideline.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
St. Juste is a ubiquitous story as he missed the entire year before coming to Minnesota so Michigan thought he was gonna medically retire. He was also a grade transfer that happened to have 3 years of eligibility left due to injuries and a redshirt year.
Not saying transfers don’t work, they appear to work very well on defense as Gibbons has been fantastic all year and filled a falling hole. I am not sure which Williamson you are referring to.
Either the coaches don’t like wright because of how he performs at practice or games or they (the offensive coaches) can’t judge talent and are letting him rot on the sideline.
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Chris Williamson
Chris Williamson
 



Face The Facts said:
Why do people keep asking about Wright?

Can people not do their own math on this?
He either isn't practicing well, or he's not able to run the plays, or he's not able to learn the play....

OR

The staff simply can't recognize his incredible talent that all of the Gopher fans can see who keep asking this question (despite the fact the Gophers staff saw enough talent to bring him here).

Read between the lines people.


You're essentially asking "Is the guy too stupid or not dedicated enough" Or did the coaching staff forget he has talent.

Many of you seem to believe the coaching staff forgot.
Click to expand...
Dylan Wright’s TD catch against Ohio St was probably the offensive play of the season. He has physical tools and ability that no other WRs on the roster have. When we have the ball in the red zone and can’t score with our putrid passing game, it would appear to even the most casual fan that putting Wright out wide and giving him a chance to make a play would make sense.

That’s probably why fans continue to talk about him.
 


Replacement Gopher said:
Why else do you continuously let punts bounce and roll?
Latest example is Iowa’s last punt of the game, which we let bounce and roll and an extra ten yards instead of catching it.
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Rob Wenger has to go and that’s been evident the last 3 seasons. Of course after 2019 he got a raise and not a pink slip.
 

I wouldn’t write Wright off though. Not going to speculate on why his role has diminished since game one, but he has a lot of time left.
 

Replacement Gopher said:
Why else do you continuously let punts bounce and roll?
Latest example is Iowa’s last punt of the game, which we let bounce and roll and an extra ten yards instead of catching it.
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Yeah that’s annoying. The only plays I remember this team making on special teams are the return against Wisconsin the year we beat them and the block against Michigan in the COVID year. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have at least a couple big plays from the special teams each year.
 

Replacement Gopher said:
Why else do you continuously let punts bounce and roll?
Latest example is Iowa’s last punt of the game, which we let bounce and roll and an extra ten yards instead of catching it.
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I'm not going to rewatch all of Iowa's punts to prove it but the ones I remember Annexstad letting bounce and roll were the shorter ones where he had to make a "Peter" call in order help our guys get out of the way so the ball didn't hit them. Returners are absolutely taught not to run up into traffic to try and catch a punt. Just like they are taught not to catch it inside the 10.

My issue with the punt return game is that we often don't even attempt a return even when there is space to do so. Way too quick to throw up the fair catch many times, and that probably is coached out of fear of something bad happening. But there is no way they are telling the return man to let easily catchable punts drop and roll.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I'm not going to rewatch all of Iowa's punts to prove it but the ones I remember Annexstad letting bounce and roll were the shorter ones where he had to make a "Peter" call in order help our guys get out of the way so the ball didn't hit them. Returners are absolutely taught not to run up into traffic to try and catch a punt. Just like they are taught not to catch it inside the 10.

My issue with the punt return game is that we often don't even attempt a return even when there is space to do so. Way too quick to throw up the fair catch many times, and that probably is coached out of fear of something bad happening. But there is no way they are telling the return man to let easily catchable punts drop and roll.
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It bounced on the 20, rolled to ten. Not sure how that happens if not coached to let it bounce. Has been a consistent gripe on this board the entire season.
 

btowngopher said:
I thought this was going to be our big advantage in getting a leg up on Wisconsin and Iowa. NFL wrs would be flocking here over our rivals. Whether it’s Tanner, the OC, or the wrs, this is the missing part of the team, we’d have one loss if this wasn’t missing. There is hope that it can be fixed as it has been here before and Fleck had it at WMU as well, but disappointing that it disappeared this year, as it would have been a fantastic year had the passing game not collapsed.
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Agree, Morgan has taken too much heat at times but he deserves most of it after this game as he was brutal for much of it. His receivers didn't help him out at times on some 50/50 balls but he was just off for most of the game.

I doubt it will happen but this week would be the perfect week for Morgan to develop a minor injury in practice that causes him to need to sit next week against Indiana. Give Annexstad a shot to at least see what he can do. If they are that afraid to put the ball in his hands then he 100% won't be the starter next season.

Morgan is a great guy, decent player, but agree with those that say something is broken in his game. Whether it is the loss of his dad, this stupid check with the sidelines 50 times and snap the ball at the last second offense, or something else. He isn't the player he was a couple years ago.
 

Replacement Gopher said:
It bounced on the 20, rolled to ten. Not sure how that happens if not coached to let it bounce. Has been a consistent gripe on this board the entire season.
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Don't remember the specifics of that punt but just going off memory I don't recall seeing a punt it felt like should have been caught that wasn't, but could total be wrong. Also don't really recall this being a big complaint this season.

Lack of a return game sure, but not letting punts drop that shouldn't.
 

Replacement Gopher said:
Why else do you continuously let punts bounce and roll?
Latest example is Iowa’s last punt of the game, which we let bounce and roll and an extra ten yards instead of catching it.
Click to expand...
It bounced and rolled 6. And if it’s a difficult catch it’s better than a fumble. He fair caught multiple balls in the air yesterday. You’re being reactionary and foolish.
 


Replacement Gopher said:
Why else do you continuously let punts bounce and roll?
Latest example is Iowa’s last punt of the game, which we let bounce and roll and an extra ten yards instead of catching it.
Click to expand...

It’s definitely concerning none of our more athletic skill guys have good enough hands to be a PR.

The WR corps in general is concerning right now.
 

I'm not sure how a passing game thread turns into a punt catching thread.... That said, the punt catching issue is minor in the scheme of things yet drives a few posters here bonkers. PJ's philosophy is to minimize risk. Punt catching is risky, especially in the college game, so the Goph's err on the side of low risk. I personally don't remember any turnovers this year from punt catching (and too lazy to dig for that) which is probably unusual for most teams.
 

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