What are our options at QB?

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

He is late on throwing because he is panicking about where the pass rush is coming from
The pass protection isn't helping. Better play calling also by designing more plays to get rid of the ball sooner.

His face mask seems just locked on the WR, and if worried about the pass rush I expect him to throw early… not late.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Does Vic Viramontes have any eligibility left?

Last I heard he was in Japan.

 

[Some guy]

Agree. It's a basic HS offense in my opinion. No real experience coaching at OC/QB positions and it shows. Zero creativity. Had a nice pass play to Evans and never tried it again.

What you just said is an insult to good HS offenses tbh

 

[MNVCGUY]

lol....what are our options......We stick with AK and let him continue to get experience and develop. He is still a young QB who is developing.

Good lord some of you are so friggin impatient. Give the kid some time, if at the end of the year we still aren't sure he if he is the guy then you go looking for a transfer QB in the portal for next year.

 

[1983]

Poor receivers who cannot run routes, bad pass blocking and poor field postion. AK is fine for the stuation.

 

[Spoofin]

Our QBs will continue to struggle until our WRs improve. WRs continue to be a weakness on this team despite the assurances I received that they would be a strength this year. Wasn’t WR supposed to be PJ’s specialty?

 

[MaxyJR1]

What I’m most disappointed in is how his sidearm pass has cost us several tipped and blocked passes and the coaching staff shows no intent to work with him to fix it. That said, Michigan has a stellar defense and AK played better vs Northwestern and Louisiana, so I do think he’ll improve he did OK all things considered.

Tall QB who plays shorter is not a good thing.

 

[kg21]

Our QBs will continue to struggle until our WRs improve. WRs continue to be a weakness on this team despite the assurances I received that they would be a strength this year. Wasn’t WR supposed to be PJ’s specialty?

It's still rather stunning with Fleck being a receiver himself and having Tyler and Bateman........we weren't able to cash in on that in the slightest.

Just disappointing.

 

[Gopherchase]

lol....what are our options......We stick with AK and let him continue to get experience and develop. He is still a young QB who is developing.

Good lord some of you are so friggin impatient. Give the kid some time, if at the end of the year we still aren't sure he if he is the guy then you go looking for a transfer QB in the portal for next year.

If it were just the Michigan game, it could be forgiven. He played may be the worst quarterback game in recent memory against the fair to middling North Carolina defense. He seems to lack mental toughness and maturity. Some upperclassman or coach needs to tell him to keep the effing mouth guard in his mouth. He looks like a jack ass chewing it all game. I was as optimistic as anyone post Wisky last year, but he’s a train wreck.

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

well, AK looked good against Wisconsin and in the Bowl game until he was injured.

what has changed this year?
- rebuilt OL allowing more pressure
-new OC and QB Coach
-loss of Mo means teams are defending MN differently

in the end, evaluating HS players is not an exact science. just like drafting in pro sports. you get some right and you get some wrong.

the question is - if the Gopher coaches got this one wrong - if AK is not the long-term answer - then what do they do? for this season, I'm afraid they don't have much choice. options are limited.

but for next year, the choices are: stay with AK; throw the true FR Lindsey in there; or try to get a QB in the portal. I would be in favor of getting an older QB in the portal or as a grad transfer.

wild prediction: AK winds up at an FCS school just as Annexstad

He may well have had a better relationship with the OC last year but KC threw nary a block all season. Any passing game is built from the offensive line unless you you have a pure scrambler at QB.

Nobody knows how good or bad AK is based on the protection he had last night. A better gauge is NC game where he was bad.

Remember how good Tanner was the one season without Ciarocca? The game plan, play calling and OC coaching of the QB makes a HUGE difference.

 

[gopherdudepart2]

They have to stop Athan from pooping his britches. This means better decisions and more decisiveness from the QB and less side arms and jumping around. Oline needs to sustain blocks longer and get quicker. The entire Oline needs to drop 10 pounds and be less bulky, and improve their collective footwork. To much reliance on upper body's and arms, the Oline and QB need to improve footwork and start finishing with proper leverage. Need to work on footwork drills post haste.

 

[#93fanclub]

I, and we, we’re told that Athan had a rocket arm. I’m not seeing it. I see sidearm and off balance throws. Sadly curious, did he set a record for pick sixes in one game?

 

[Governor Sibley]

His footwork and release point have been atrocious.

But he had zero time last week, and now he's playing panicked.

We threw 5 times in the second half so he wouldn't get injured.

 

[TD12]

I cannot believe that PJ his staying with AK!! He is slow, can't hit a second read and doesn't throw a catchable ball. It too bad! But we are not developing quarterbacks. We are son vanilla with him, gotta try out the other Qb's on the roster.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I, and we, were told that Athan had a rocket arm. I’m not seeing it. I see sidearm and off balance throws. Sadly curious, did he set a record for pick sixes in one game?

I agree, his passes float out there.

Maybe that has to do with mechanics but they just hang there a lot of the time.

 

[MNVCGUY]

If it were just the Michigan game, it could be forgiven. He played may be the worst quarterback game in recent memory against the fair to middling North Carolina defense. He seems to lack mental toughness and maturity. Some upperclassman or coach needs to tell him to keep the effing mouth guard in his mouth. He looks like a jack ass chewing it all game. I was as optimistic as anyone post Wisky last year, but he’s a train wreck.

He had zero time to do anything against Michigan....no QB was going to look good under those circumstances.

Jury is still out on whether or not Athan can be the guy here but he is still a young player who is learning and developing and it is too early to pull the plug. Fans are way too quick to give up on guys after they struggle some.

The bottom line is that he is our best option on the roster right now and has a ton of upside so you ride the ups and downs over the remainder of the season and you hope the ups are far more frequent then the downs.

 

[GoldenMAV30266]

The play calling is terrible. This staff has a philosophy and they run with it, even if it’s not right for the skillset of the players.

I think the help AK needs is named Kenric Lanier and TJ McWilliams. I haven’t seen a lot of separation from our current WR group, but also haven’t seen a lot of down field play calls.

Here’s to hoping there’s not a mass exodus of talent transferring next year (Lanier, McWilliams, Taylor, Evans etc…), because I could see a lot of these kids not wanting to stick through this shit.

I do think AK is the best option tho. Although the thought of starting Drake Lindsey next year looks better and better.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

lol....what are our options......We stick with AK and let him continue to get experience and develop. He is still a young QB who is developing.

Good lord some of you are so friggin impatient. Give the kid some time, if at the end of the year we still aren't sure he if he is the guy then you go looking for a transfer QB in the portal for next year.

I wish I saw development ...

Even in his good games earlier this year those floaty passes and late / missed passes are occurring. I see regression if anything.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I wish I saw development ...

Even in his good games earlier this year those floaty passes and late / missed passes are occurring. I see regression if anything.

He is definitely making mistakes but he is also still just now getting close to 1 full season worth of starts. He has a ton of potential but is still raw.....over the next 6-7 games he needs to show a lot of growth and maturity to make them feel confident in him as the #1 guy next year and beyond.

It is frustrating to watch but patience is important in situations like this because unlike the NFL you can't just go out and trade for or sign a guy midseason. Athan is the best QB on our roster so you roll with him and do everything possible to get him to reach the potential he clearly has.

The real question will be what they decide to do after this season. Do they go bring someone in from the portal to provide competition or potentially be the starter in 2024.

 

[Word]

He is definitely making mistakes but he is also still just now getting close to 1 full season worth of starts. He has a ton of potential but is still raw.....over the next 6-7 games he needs to show a lot of growth and maturity to make them feel confident in him as the #1 guy next year and beyond.

It is frustrating to watch but patience is important in situations like this because unlike the NFL you can't just go out and trade for or sign a guy midseason. Athan is the best QB on our roster so you roll with him and do everything possible to get him to reach the potential he clearly has.

The real question will be what they decide to do after this season. Do they go bring someone in from the portal to provide competition or potentially be the starter in 2024.

I think we have to hit the portal unless Viotto or Lindsey are that good.

 

[GopherTheJugular]

He had zero time to do anything against Michigan....no QB was going to look good under those circumstances.

Jury is still out on whether or not Athan can be the guy here but he is still a young player who is learning and developing and it is too early to pull the plug. Fans are way too quick to give up on guys after they struggle some.

The bottom line is that he is our best option on the roster right now and has a ton of upside so you ride the ups and downs over the remainder of the season and you hope the ups are far more frequent then the downs.

Just curious, is there any criticism of anything related to this program that you don't have a rebuttal for?

I like your posts usually, but there are some things that are just bad, like AK8.

 

[Dakota2]

I agree, his passes float out there.

Maybe that has to do with mechanics but they just hang there a lot of the time.

Hard to keep straight but just hope the writers that say his passes are slow floaters are not the same ones who last week said he throws too hard to be catchable.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Our options at QB are to play AK the rest of the season and bring in a transfer to compete or be handed the job next year. It's really that simple.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Hard to keep straight but just hope the writers that say his passes are slow floaters are not the same ones who last week said he throws too hard to be catchable.

I agree with your take but I actually do think the velocity thing is in his head. It doesn't seem natural to him and he is overthinking it - so I do think at times he is throwing too hard and at times laying it up there.

Now, I agree with you, those passes that were "thrown too hard" that players were dropping are 99% on the receivers.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Our options at QB are to play AK the rest of the season and bring in a transfer to compete or be handed the job next year. It's really that simple.

I would hope that a guy like Viotto could also compete for PT next year. At other programs, underclassmen emerge in the QB room to challenge for PT, but that just feels like an impossibility here despite our poor QB play.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I think we have to hit the portal unless Viotto or Lindsey are that good.

You may be right, but a lot can change over the next few months. Some have mentioned that it feels like the game is moving really fast for Athan right now.....when/if that switch clicks and things slow down he might look very different and a lot of the fears people have right now will go away.

Tough to say how it will all play out, but I am still hopeful that he hits a point where he really settles into the role and cashes in on the talent he has.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

You may be right, but a lot can change over the next few months. Some have mentioned that it feels like the game is moving really fast for Athan right now.....when/if that switch clicks and things slow down he might look very different and a lot of the fears people have right now will go away.

Tough to say how it will all play out, but I am still hopeful that he hits a point where he really settles into the role and cashes in on the talent he has.

Even if AK turns turns it around, if you've got nobody who can play better than we've seen AK play ... I can't say that "qb room" is looking very good. Gotta have some. guys competing in there...

 

[MNVCGUY]

Just curious, is there any criticism of anything related to this program that you don't have a rebuttal for?

I like your posts usually, but there are some things that are just bad, like AK8.

When there is a criticism that I don't see an obvious rebuttal for I won't have one.

I don't know if Athan will be the long term answer but the kid has started 10 games, dealt with instability at the OC and QB coach positions and is still just getting his feet wet. I know fans want finished products right away but it takes time. My opinion is that it is too early to give up on Athan but clearly there are others ready to just pull the plug right now.

The transfer QB route is tantalizing but if you look around college football you can find plenty of examples of transfers that have come in and done well and plenty of others that have been complete busts so it is a crap shoot.

edit - and we are unlikely to be in a position to win the bidding wars for the more can't miss transfer portal QBs that might be available.

 

[salzie]

When there is a criticism that I don't see an obvious rebuttal for I won't have one.

I don't know if Athan will be the long term answer but the kid has started 10 games, dealt with instability at the OC and QB coach positions and is still just getting his feet wet. I know fans want finished products right away but it takes time. My opinion is that it is too early to give up on Athan but clearly there are others ready to just pull the plug right now.

The transfer QB route is tantalizing but if you look around college football you can find plenty of examples of transfers that have come in and done well and plenty of others that have been complete busts so it is a crap shoot.

edit - and we are unlikely to be in a position to win the bidding wars for the more can't miss transfer portal QBs that might be available.

I can't believe PJ didn't Quin Ewers to transfer here

 

[PMWinSTP]

If it were just the Michigan game, it could be forgiven. He played may be the worst quarterback game in recent memory against the fair to middling North Carolina defense. He seems to lack mental toughness and maturity. Some upperclassman or coach needs to tell him to keep the effing mouth guard in his mouth. He looks like a jack ass chewing it all game. I was as optimistic as anyone post Wisky last year, but he’s a train wreck.