If this is year 0, why is Rhoda playing?

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Can someone explain why they are playing Rhoda in a clear rebuild? Why not give reps to someone who will be here in "Year 1"? Croft, Green and Morgan can't be much worse, have eligibility next year and all are suited to the offence better than Rhoda.

If we keep solely playing Rhoda, then next year they will again have a QB with little to no game experience.
 

Because prior to losing to Maryland and Purdue, I think that even our coaches thought that we might be competitive this season.
I'm sure they're rethinking that right now as well.
 

Because prior to losing to Maryland and Purdue, I think that even our coaches thought that we might be competitive this season.
I'm sure they're rethinking that right now as well.

Agree. I think we may see Fleck take a longer look at what he has in Demry Croft now that he's at least back dressing for games and practicing. He's at least more of a threat on the zone reads the team wants to run. If the season continues to trend bad I would hope that we get a look at Croft to get an idea if he can be the 2018 starter.
 

Can someone explain why they are playing Rhoda in a clear rebuild? Why not give reps to someone who will be here in "Year 1"? Croft, Green and Morgan can't be much worse, have eligibility next year and all are suited to the offence better than Rhoda.

If we keep solely playing Rhoda, then next year they will again have a QB with little to no game experience.

Next season is year zero as well. Zero plus zero equals zero...

Okay, I'm frustrated. I was thinking the same thing yesterday. I also wondered if Coyle had a say in punishing/ not playing certain players.
 

Can someone explain why they are playing Rhoda in a clear rebuild? Why not give reps to someone who will be here in "Year 1"? Croft, Green and Morgan can't be much worse, have eligibility next year and all are suited to the offence better than Rhoda.

If we keep solely playing Rhoda, then next year they will again have a QB with little to no game experience.

Because Fleck talks out of both sides of his mouth and is too hyper to realize he's even doing it. Does it fairly frequently.
 


“Conor deserves that, just because he makes a few mistakes, he has really led this football team,” Fleck continued. “He is one of the real, big leaders we have on this football team. The guys rally behind him.”

http://www.twincities.com/2017/10/0...-leads-to-team-meeting-p-j-fleck-tells-yahoo/

Seems more about establishing a culture than winning games in Year Zero. That's not a dis, just an observation.
 


Let's be anti-Fleck for a minute and be really skeptical about how he wants this to go do.

1. Maybe he wants Rhoda to play because he knows he's bad, and he wants the team to lose as much as possible this year for whatever reason.
2. He actually believes Rhoda is the best chance to win and that winning games this year is more important than preparing for next year.
3. Despite Rhoda not being good, the other QB's aren't sitting in the front rows of class (or some other PJ rule), so on principal alone, he's not budging on this issue.
4. The other QB's are really, really, bad, and the players not only don't rally behind the other players, they also threaten to boycott if someone else plays. (or he hates them)
5. He is painting a picture so Tanner Morgan can succeed. "No, not going to pull his redshirt". Only for a few weeks from now for him to say... "Fine, I didn't want to do it, but it's our only choice". Having only compared Tanner Morgan to Rhoda, he looks good compared to what was there. Then everyone will say, "Wow... PJ really knows QB's better than Claeys or Kill ever did" (part of this plan would be that Green or Croft never get to play in case they actually have talent).

It's gotta be one of these I would think.

My guess is he becomes a lot more likely to play Tanner Morgan this year yet if he gets a high level QB commitment or two for 2019.
 

Trying to establish a culture of leadership and attempting to win games would be my guess.
Rhoda must be the only one that has the maturity to play right now and they do not want to burn the red-shirt on Morgan.

Rhoda may not be the most talented QB(he doesn't have a great arm or footwork) but he gives them the huddle look they want and leader on the field.
The head coach has said that, he is the leader of the football team.
 



“Conor deserves that, just because he makes a few mistakes, he has really led this football team,” Fleck continued. “He is one of the real, big leaders we have on this football team. The guys rally behind him.”

http://www.twincities.com/2017/10/0...-leads-to-team-meeting-p-j-fleck-tells-yahoo/

Seems more about establishing a culture than winning games in Year Zero. That's not a dis, just an observation.

If they go 0-9 or 1-8 in the B1G I am not sure what the leadership viewpoint actually means, sounds a little bit like Les Steckel and his trip to the Peco's to me. Not playing Croft I understand but at this point not starting to develop one of the other QB's and not giving them game experience is nonsense.
 

Because the "year zero" stuff is nonsense. Pure. Nonsense.

This year matters to everyone. He's getting paid for it. It counts. He should never have said it and he should stop saying it going forward. It's silly and it insults the intelligence of the fan base, the players and the people covering the team.

As far as why Rhoda is playing. . .I think it makes sense.

Demry can't be put back into control of the team. Sitting longer would probably be better for him long term.
Seth Green - Maybe the staff things if there is any chance of him becoming a good QB, he needs to emulate Rhoda.

I don't think Rhoda is a quality Big 10 QB, but he had to improve himself a lot (changed throwing motion, hard worker, etc.) to get to this point. If Seth Green has a path to being a Big 10 QB, it is probably through a similar level of commitment.

So despite this being year 1 and not year zero, I can see how it makes sense to continue playing Rhoda.
 

The unanswered question is this: Is Rhoda playing because the Coaches believe he is truly the best QB, and gives the team the best chance to win?

OR - Is Rhoda playing because of off-field and/or intangible issues: better leader, or fits the culture better than the other QB's?

I sure hope Rhoda is playing because he is honestly and truly the best player for the position. Of course, that says volumes about the other QB's on the roster. If Rhoda is playing because of things that do not directly involve athletic ability, or the ability to run the offense, then that says volumes about Fleck's approach to coaching.

I hope this is NOT the case - but, if Rhoda is playing because he wears a collared shirt and sits in the front row of all his classes, then Gopher fans could be in for a rough stretch.
 





What if he is a great leader and then a great QB, is that O.K.?

If u think Rhoda will improve at all this season to a competent B10 QB, I have some real estate on swamp land that I would love to sell u.....The gophers will only play better defenses going forward(minus Illinois)...Play Croft or Green if this is a rebuilding year.
 

If u think Rhoda will improve at all this season to a competent B10 QB, I have some real estate on swamp land that I would love to sell u.....The gophers will only play better defenses going forward(minus Illinois)...Play Croft or Green if this is a rebuilding year.

Actually I think you answered your own question. We play Rhoda rather than give up a year of eligibility. If we play any one other than Rhoda, it has to be someone who has already been red shirted. Plus PJ likes the culture that Rhoda presents. At the present time, I truly believe PJ is showing that creating culture is more important than MAYBE winning a game. I don't happen to agree with this as it would seem to be cheating the Seniors who stayed with the program.
 


If u think Rhoda will improve at all this season to a competent B10 QB, I have some real estate on swamp land that I would love to sell u.....The gophers will only play better defenses going forward(minus Illinois)...Play Croft or Green if this is a rebuilding year.

You do know the difference between "then" and "than", don't you?
 

Love to be wrong, but in my very limited exposure to watching Morgan, I’d be very surprised if he’s the answer at some point. (PJ’s comments about the redshirt are a smokescreen imo) It was a two QB race for a reason.
 




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