Leidner Shows Signs of Improvement

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Iceland12

Iceland12

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Don't understand, even with the fumbles, how anybody who saw the game didn't think that Mitch had a great game.

"Leidner had completed just 37 percent of his passes in the final three regular season games. His first pass against Missouri was incomplete but he followed that with 14 consecutive completions, matching the school record set by Adam Weber against Bowling Green in 2008.

Fourteen in a row was quite a leap; Leidner completed 13 passes combined against Nebraska and Wisconsin..

Kill said Leidner made progress in the 15 bowl practices and noticed the difference in the way he checked down to find open receivers. Leidner could have added at least 25 yards to his passing total if Berkley Edwards hadn’t dropped one with the Gophers trying to come back in the fourth quarter. Leidner also overthrew Fruechte deep when he got open on a post pattern."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/287391351.html
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Leidner's passing performance was exactly what this team needs to be in Indy at the end of next year. Maye has developed into a really nice across the middle and at the sideline slot receiver. Obviously, Maxx leaves a giant hole, but this is the best group of TEs in the country. Too bad the fumbling that marred his freshman year returned.
 

Mitch made some really good passes on Thursday. One that stuck out to me was when the pocked collapsed and he rolled left and instead of running, he hit Maye in stride for a nice 20-yard gain. Would have been an even better performance if he could have hit Fruechte on that deep ball and if Berkeley could have caught that sideline pass. Mitch has his issues, but I really want to see what he can do with our wideouts next year.
 

He had a good game and I agree that he looked improved. However, my theory on ML7 all year has been that he is inconsistent more so than anything else. He has looked good before, but doesn't follow it up. It is that consistency I am hoping he develops more than anything - even if not at a passing level we saw at the Citrus Bowl.
 

Let's hope the retooled O-Line give Mitch enough time to execute a good passing play.

A half a second to a full second extra time can make a whole lot of difference.

Optimistically, I look for him to improve even more as a QB next season.

It will be great to have the versatility to have both legitimate passing and running threats.

We finally have time to allow the QBs behind him time to develop while they wait their turn.

Also, I am excited to see what our RS WRs can do. We need receivers who can help out by making themselves open and can catch the ball.
 


Can't blame Mitch for the fumble when he was blind-sided. Hard to believe that there were many if any QBs in college that would have held onto the ball.
 

That first fumble was on Jonah Pirsig. #33 raced past him like he was a lamp post and got Leidner from the blind side.
 

Liedner played his best game as a gopher on the 1st IMO
 

I'm not a big Leidner fan but he undoubtbly had his best game as a Gopher a few days ago. That said, Gophers have to check all their bases and have an actual QB competition this offseason. This performance doesn't erase a putrid November that included a combined completion percentage of 37 percent versus NEB, OSU, and WIS. Last year Kill named Leidner his 2014 QB shortly after the bowl game, hopefully it doesn't happen again this year. Leidner's consistency is appalling, but admittedly has shown flashes of being a pretty good QB. Thursday was the only time we saw him bring it all together at the same time. At times he doesn't know what he's reading on the option, at times he's flawless. Sometimes he can drop a beautiful deep ball, at times his accuracy is pitiful. His decesion making and drop back passing are also wildy inconsistent. Leidner should no doubt be the leader to start next year but if Minnesota has a QB who can prove to more consistent day to day, they need to give him a shot.
 



MN4LYFE said:
I'm not a big Leidner fan but he undoubtbly had his best game as a Gopher a few days ago. That said, Gophers have to check all their bases and have an actual QB competition this offseason. This performance doesn't erase a putrid November that included a combined completion percentage of 37 percent versus NEB, OSU, and WIS. Last year Kill named Leidner his 2014 QB shortly after the bowl game, hopefully it doesn't happen again this year. Leidner's consistency is appalling, but admittedly has shown flashes of being a pretty good QB. Thursday was the only time we saw him bring it all together at the same time. At times he doesn't know what he's reading on the option, at times he's flawless. Sometimes he can drop a beautiful deep ball, at times his accuracy is pitiful. His decesion making and drop back passing are also wildy inconsistent. Leidner should no doubt be the leader to start next year but if Minnesota has a QB who can prove to more consistent day to day, they need to give him a shot.
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Agreed.
He had his best game as a gopher, and the gophers scored 17 points
 

Spoofin said:
He had a good game and I agree that he looked improved. However, my theory on ML7 all year has been that he is inconsistent more so than anything else. He has looked good before, but doesn't follow it up. It is that consistency I am hoping he develops more than anything - even if not at a passing level we saw at the Citrus Bowl.
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Agreed. He's shown he can make the throws, he just has to do it more consistently.
 

ML had what were by our standards of late some very gaudy numbers: 21-31 for 258 with one TD an no picks. Before the game I think 99 percent here would have jumped up and down for joy for those stats. I bet at least 75 percent (probably closer to 99) would have taken the under if his yardage number was 200.

Missouri's vaunted pass rush got home a couple of times, but he mostly had time to throw and did it beautifully. He looked like a real QB, not a tight end or glorified running back.

But, for me (and I'm assuming Kill and his staff) gaudy passing stats are not the top priority so many here would like. Protecting the ball is the number one priority. He didn't do it in the bowl game. He had 10 turnovers in our five losses. No matter what happens or how this offense or this team is built, QB remains a critical position to be successful.

Watching him this season made me believe he has a great chance to be All-B1G before he's done. The bowl game confirmed he can throw it well enough. Many times he proved he's tough enough and a load to tackle. He's a leader, played with increasing confidence, and appears to be coachable.

I'm also drinking the koolaid and believe the other 10 guys on the field with him next year will be an overall upgrade (no disrespect to Cobb and Maxx), and we can add some more impressive achievements to the growing list.
 

killme said:
ML had what were by our standards of late some very gaudy numbers: 21-31 for 258 with one TD an no picks. Before the game I think 99 percent here would have jumped up and down for joy for those stats. I bet at least 75 percent (probably closer to 99) would have taken the under if his yardage number was 200.

Missouri's vaunted pass rush got home a couple of times, but he mostly had time to throw and did it beautifully. He looked like a real QB, not a tight end or glorified running back.
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""I thought Mitch, the turnover he had, he got stroked," Kill said. "I don't think there was much he could do about it. We had a little bit of a letdown in protection."

"There were other mistakes on the Gophers' side Thursday, too, aside from the three fumbles. Minnesota allowed Missouri to successfully run a fake punt early in the second quarter for a big gain and a first down, and Kill's team was also caught off guard by an onside kick to start the second half. After Minnesota played conservatively to end the first half, the Gophers were expecting to get the ball back with a chance to take the lead.

Instead, the Tigers got the ball back and turned the onside kick into three points".
 



MN4LYFE said:
I'm not a big Leidner fan but he undoubtbly had his best game as a Gopher a few days ago. That said, Gophers have to check all their bases and have an actual QB competition this offseason. This performance doesn't erase a putrid November that included a combined completion percentage of 37 percent versus NEB, OSU, and WIS. Last year Kill named Leidner his 2014 QB shortly after the bowl game, hopefully it doesn't happen again this year. Leidner's consistency is appalling, but admittedly has shown flashes of being a pretty good QB. Thursday was the only time we saw him bring it all together at the same time. At times he doesn't know what he's reading on the option, at times he's flawless. Sometimes he can drop a beautiful deep ball, at times his accuracy is pitiful. His decesion making and drop back passing are also wildy inconsistent. Leidner should no doubt be the leader to start next year but if Minnesota has a QB who can prove to more consistent day to day, they need to give him a shot.
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I think these are some good points. Really needs to get more consistent. There were some flashes during the game, both ways...
 

Jerry Kill on Leidner. these 'consistency' comments are on purpose.
 


On Leidner, to paraphrase Denny, "He is who we thought he was!"
After nearly two seasons of scouting this kid's skill set, I have to laugh at the fans who say Leidner will suddenly improve with his new wideouts. Brady and Manning have shown year after year that its the QB that makes the receivers, not the other way around. No, Leidner will be...a hard-nosed if not flashy runner, an inconsistent thrower, an occasional fumbler, a good character and team guy, and an intermediate play producer. Will that be good enough for the Gophers' offense to be better? If the o-line, and Smith and Jones, and Limey's expanded scheme are the real deal, maybe.
 

But the question becomes if we let him off the hook.
 


beat bucky said:
On Leidner, to paraphrase Denny, "He is who we thought he was!"
After nearly two seasons of scouting this kid's skill set, I have to laugh at the fans who say Leidner will suddenly improve with his new wideouts. Brady and Manning have shown year after year that its the QB that makes the receivers, not the other way around. No, Leidner will be...a hard-nosed if not flashy runner, an inconsistent thrower, an occasional fumbler, a good character and team guy, and an intermediate play producer. Will that be good enough for the Gophers' offense to be better? If the o-line, and Smith and Jones, and Limey's expanded scheme are the real deal, maybe.
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So you don't think he can improve at all? I don't remember anyone say he is a Heisman candidate if we just had better receivers or anything.

Also, I think it is safe to say Calvin Johnson makes Stafford look better as well. I don't think it is only one way or the other. Good QB's make WR's look better and good WR's make QB's look better.
 


beat bucky said:
On Leidner, to paraphrase Denny, "He is who we thought he was!"
After nearly two seasons of scouting this kid's skill set, I have to laugh at the fans who say Leidner will suddenly improve with his new wideouts. Brady and Manning have shown year after year that its the QB that makes the receivers, not the other way around. No, Leidner will be...a hard-nosed if not flashy runner, an inconsistent thrower, an occasional fumbler, a good character and team guy, and an intermediate play producer. Will that be good enough for the Gophers' offense to be better? If the o-line, and Smith and Jones, and Limey's expanded scheme are the real deal, maybe.
Click to expand...

Wow, I had no idea we have a professional scout on this board. Well, I guess we are screwed this year since you know more than anyone on this board, as well as the coaching staff, that Leidner will not improve with new wideouts and your comparison to Manning and Brady is spot on, since, you know, Brady tore it up in college and was a number 1 draft pick (note, sarcasm). Brady never improved, so there is no hope for Leidner.
 

GophersInIowa said:
So you don't think he can improve at all? I don't remember anyone say he is a Heisman candidate if we just had better receivers or anything.

Also, I think it is safe to say Calvin Johnson makes Stafford look better as well. I don't think it is only one way or the other. Good QB's make WR's look better and good WR's make QB's look better.
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Hell, Cris Carter made a whole corp of mediocre qbs look better.
 

beat bucky said:
On Leidner, to paraphrase Denny, "He is who we thought he was!"
After nearly two seasons of scouting this kid's skill set, I have to laugh at the fans who say Leidner will suddenly improve with his new wideouts. Brady and Manning have shown year after year that its the QB that makes the receivers, not the other way around. No, Leidner will be...a hard-nosed if not flashy runner, an inconsistent thrower, an occasional fumbler, a good character and team guy, and an intermediate play producer. Will that be good enough for the Gophers' offense to be better? If the o-line, and Smith and Jones, and Limey's expanded scheme are the real deal, maybe.
Click to expand...

To be fair he has really only played 1 full season as a starter and was actually hurt a lot of last season. The rest of your assessment is complete garbage as others have pointed out WRs can make QBs look better and QBs can improve. Leidner had some really good games for us last year. And he did improve in many areas of his game last year from the season before. If he makes the same number of improvements and his WRs can help him out some, he will be one of the better QBs in the conference. Really I'm more concerned about our offensive line. If you look at the games last year where he was given that extra 0.5-1 second to throw he was great (see the Iowa game) but when our offensive line was bad he was bad (see the TCU game). It all comes down to the line play, not Leidner.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
Hell, Cris Carter made a whole corp of mediocre qbs look better.
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And he was considered slow for a receiver. What he did well was create separation from just about any DB he played against. That coupled with good routes and better hands made him a star.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

goldy93 said:
Wow, I had no idea we have a professional scout on this board. Well, I guess we are screwed this year since you know more than anyone on this board, as well as the coaching staff, that Leidner will not improve with new wideouts and your comparison to Manning and Brady is spot on, since, you know, Brady tore it up in college and was a number 1 draft pick (note, sarcasm). Brady never improved, so there is no hope for Leidner.
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Actually Brady was a highly thought of college QB. It was his measurables at the combine (kind of like Teddy's pro day) that kept some so-called evaluators off of him. He won many games late for Michigan, including a bowl game against Alabama. So I don't know if you thought that one through.
And btw, did you ever watch Manning and Brees in their early years? They already were showing up in big games and putting up big numbers. You either got it or you ain't. Which is not to say Mitch can't improve to some small degree.
 

beat bucky said:
Actually Brady was a highly thought of college QB. It was his measurables at the combine (kind of like Teddy's pro day) that kept some so-called evaluators off of him. He won many games late for Michigan, including a bowl game against Alabama. So I don't know if you thought that one through.
And btw, did you ever watch Manning and Brees in their freshman years? They already were showing up in big games and putting up big numbers. You either got it or you ain't. Which is not to say Mitch can't improve to some small degree.
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News Flash! It is being reported that Mitch is no Tom Brady, Manning or Brees.:banghead::banghead::banghead:
 

beat bucky said:
Actually Brady was a highly thought of college QB. It was his measurables at the combine (kind of like Teddy's pro day) that kept some so-called evaluators off of him. He won many games late for Michigan, including a bowl game against Alabama. So I don't know if you thought that one through.
And btw, did you ever watch Manning and Brees in their early years? They already were showing up in big games and putting up big numbers. You either got it or you ain't. Which is not to say Mitch can't improve to some small degree.
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I did. I think it is foolish when people compare Leidner to established, top-5 QB's in the NFL, as if that is some logical thing to do.
 

beat bucky said:
Actually Brady was a highly thought of college QB. It was his measurables at the combine (kind of like Teddy's pro day) that kept some so-called evaluators off of him. He won many games late for Michigan, including a bowl game against Alabama. So I don't know if you thought that one through.
And btw, did you ever watch Manning and Brees in their early years? They already were showing up in big games and putting up big numbers. You either got it or you ain't. Which is not to say Mitch can't improve to some small degree.
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So, basically you're saying - Leidner will not improve but possibly has a chance to by some degree, maybe. Riveting stuff!
 


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