STrib: Seth Green shifts positions as Gophers' quarterback battle down to three

BleedGopher

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per Randy:

The competition for the Gophers’ starting quarterback job is starting to take shape during spring practice, and on Tuesday the number of candidates to be under center for the Aug. 30 season opener against New Mexico State decreased by one.

Seth Green, a third-year sophomore and former East Ridge standout, practiced with the tight ends for the first time, and coach P.J. Fleck said Green could play there or at wide receiver.

“I don’t want to move people just to move them around. We’re going to see how good he is there,’’ said Fleck, who earlier hinted that Green might be moving another position. “… He’s a great athlete. It’s his first day, and he looked like he was doing it the whole time, but he just didn’t have great technique.’’

Fleck’s rationale: Get the 6-4, 229-pound athlete on the field to contribute, even in a depth role.

“A guy like Seth Green is incredibly valuable on special teams and incredibly valuable toward depth at tight end or wide receiver,’’ he said. “Instead of sitting on the bench, we can use him now.’’

With Green changing positions, the competition for the starting job comes down to redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan, junior college transfer Vic Viramontes and true freshman Zack Annexstad, an early enrollee for the spring semester.

Morgan took first-team reps during Tuesday’s practice, the ninth of 15 spring sessions, while Viramontes and Annexstad shared second-team time.

Fleck challenged his QBs, both in Tuesday’s practice and last Thursday’s scrimmage.

“We’re putting them in very chaotic, very tough positions — and sometimes putting them in a position where they might not be successful and see how they respond to it,’’ he said. “And see if they can get themselves out of it.

“Towards the end during the two-minute drill, you could see how young and inexperienced we are,’’ Fleck added. “Sometimes that stage is too big for somebody at this point, sometimes it’s not.’’

http://www.startribune.com/seth-gre...ck-battle-down-to-three-candidates/478714473/

Go Gophers!!
 

Been pretty obvious for a while that a position change was coming for Seth. Hopefully he buys in and is able to get on the field in some capacity.
 

On Seth Green:
This makes sense to me.

I'm hoping he ends up at WR instead of TE. I definitely think he's fast enough to play WR and we could use a larger guy. I don't know if we have any receivers over 200 LBS. I really don't think there is a tremendous difference in the caliber of athlete between MarQueis Gray and Seth Green, and I don't think it's completely far fetched that Seth Green could end up being a Gray caliber WR.

On Annexstad:
He is an impressive guy. I don't know if there are a lot of HS football players who would have seen the challenge from Arthur Sitkowski (IMG) and hung in there and fought for the job. He could have transferred anywhere, he could have came back home to Mankato, but he didn't. That says quite a bit about his character (sort of the exact opposite of how Phil Nelson handled being pushed for competition).
 

I'm glad he will be contributing to the team other than holding a clip board (cough-cough Moses Alipate).

With three guys with at least 3 yrs of eligibility and Kramer coming in, it takes the pressure off landing an impact QB. It might even make it difficult to land one.
 

I'm glad he will be contributing to the team other than holding a clip board (cough-cough Moses Alipate).

With three guys with at least 3 yrs of eligibility and Kramer coming in, it takes the pressure off landing an impact QB. It might even make it difficult to land one.

Players with eligibility are pretty easy to come by...players who make an impact are more difficult for us to find. Maybe we have a QB....maybe we have regressed in talent? Was Tanner Morgan third, fourth string because he was being groomed for future stardom or was he the third or fourth best QB on the roster last year? I don't think anybody will know the answer until mid September.

Is it I didn't recruit Seth Green (or some other non performance reason) so I'll convince him to change positions or is it that Seth really is clearly the 4th best QB? I only saw one day but Seth absolutely was not the 4th best QB guy on that day. And certainly not omg, there's no way this guy can play QB....we gotta make him a TE? Or man, we are loaded with QB talent that is head shoulders better so we'll get the others more reps..

Love to see a Gopher QB in discussion for performance awards once we start playing games...I'm just not sure Tanner Morgan is that guy. PJ must be...hope he's right.
 


Players with eligibility are pretty easy to come by...players who make an impact are more difficult for us to find. Maybe we have a QB....maybe we have regressed in talent? Was Tanner Morgan third, fourth string because he was being groomed for future stardom or was he the third or fourth best QB on the roster last year? I don't think anybody will know the answer until mid September.

Is it I didn't recruit Seth Green (or some other non performance reason) so I'll convince him to change positions or is it that Seth really is clearly the 4th best QB? I only saw one day but Seth absolutely was not the 4th best QB guy on that day. And certainly not omg, there's no way this guy can play QB....we gotta make him a TE? Or man, we are loaded with QB talent that is head shoulders better so we'll get the others more reps.

Love to see a Gopher QB in discussion for performance awards once we start playing games...I'm just not sure Tanner Morgan is that guy. PJ must be...hope he's right.

Yeah, I really hope that is not the situation. I doubt it is, I mean PJ's success at Western Michigan was with a Bill Cubit recruit.
 

On Seth Green:
This makes sense to me.

I'm hoping he ends up at WR instead of TE. I definitely think he's fast enough to play WR and we could use a larger guy. I don't know if we have any receivers over 200 LBS. I really don't think there is a tremendous difference in the caliber of athlete between MarQueis Gray and Seth Green, and I don't think it's completely far fetched that Seth Green could end up being a Gray caliber WR.

On Annexstad:
He is an impressive guy. I don't know if there are a lot of HS football players who would have seen the challenge from Arthur Sitkowski (IMG) and hung in there and fought for the job. He could have transferred anywhere, he could have came back home to Mankato, but he didn't. That says quite a bit about his character (sort of the exact opposite of how Phil Nelson handled being pushed for competition).

+1 on both instances.

Seth Green if he puts in the hard work with his new commitment may or may not see dividends this year. However, I expect good things for him in 2019/2020. At this moment, he's got all the tools. Margueis Gray is making a living at TE in the pros. Will Seth Green follow a similar trajectory as a WR or TE? Only time will tell. He has a lot of obstacles to overcome.

Zack Annexstad I am impress at his leadership ability and selflessness on top of his football skills. Without him, I don't know if we would've gotten Fa'alele and Dunlop. I am looking forward to how his career develops.
 

Been pretty obvious for a while that a position change was coming for Seth. Hopefully he buys in and is able to get on the field in some capacity.

When he didn't even get a sniff with a totally inept offensive performance against Wisconsin last season and nothing to lose with giving him a shot, the writing was on the wall he didn't have a chance at QB on this team.
 

I think any one of the three QBs will be a giant step up from last year. Would love to see Seth on the field. On the field a lot. Knowing the O from a QB perspective he should be able to pick things up fast as a reciever.
 



why isn't Vic taking first team reps? I thought he was the turn key starter?
 

why isn't Vic taking first team reps? I thought he was the turn key starter?

Because it’s only spring football. Spring football isn't at all about first team reps. There is no real first team right now. Look back on past spring practices and stars of the spring games and some weren’t even on the team come fall...
 


why isn't Vic taking first team reps? I thought he was the turn key starter?

Because that was a report about one pratice?


Also fi you're looking for guarantees about X will do Y... sports might not be your thing.
 



He is an impressive guy. I don't know if there are a lot of HS football players who would have seen the challenge from Arthur Sitkowski (IMG) and hung in there and fought for the job. He could have transferred anywhere, he could have came back home to Mankato, but he didn't. That says quite a bit about his character (sort of the exact opposite of how Phil Nelson handled being pushed for competition).

How did things go down at IMG last year? Did Zack start or did this Sitkowski guy? It appears Zack accrued more stats judging only from MaxPreps. Did rutger sign a guy as their main QB recruit who didn't even start in HS? Because that sounds like...well...Seth Green.
 


How did things go down at IMG last year? Did Zack start or did this Sitkowski guy? It appears Zack accrued more stats judging only from MaxPreps. Did rutger sign a guy as their main QB recruit who didn't even start in HS? Because that sounds like...well...Seth Green.

Neither guy put up particularly eye-popping stats. Sitkowski started but apparently lost his position about 4 games in. Annexstad took over and put up respectable but middling stats with a couple tough games. They played a very tough national-ranked schedule but IMG is a highly ranked team, and looking at the games scores likely bludgeoned most teams with the run and dominant defense...On a dominant run-heavy team is it more difficult to gauge how a QB will do at the next level? Maybe both will succeed, maybe both will flame out, difficult to say. They’ve already faced some good defenses which may help.

The parallels of Sitkowski to Green are obvious regarding his Miami commitment.

Some stats for Annexstad and Sitkowski:

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/zack-annexstad/OTXgs2RFEeOzMAAmVebBJg/gendersport/football-stats.htm

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/art...EeS00gAmVebEWg/gendersport/football-stats.htm
 


I'd pick Annexstad over Sitkowski any day.
 

And who recruited both of these possibly non-QBs? Jerry Kill...

Some would say a Leidner-esque line of QBs. Tall, heavy, strong-armed QBs seem to be the Kill prototype, which would have continued with Tony Poljan had Kill stayed healthy. Athletically Green may be more of 2018?Dodge Demon while Mitch was a 1982 V-6 Dodge Ram.
 

And who recruited both of these possibly non-QBs? Jerry Kill...

Sitkowski is certainly a QB. He might not be a great QB, but I don't think he has the position flexibility that Green has.

However, a lot of people recruited these guys.

Michigan
Texas
Florida
Oregan
Ole Miss
Michigan State
Iowa
Wisconsin
 

I hope we don't have a repeat of last year, where PJ went with the safe guy rather than the flashier guy and ended up having to make a change and then not really developing either one of them (while the offense ended up 120th or so in the nation).
 

I hope we don't have a repeat of last year, where PJ went with the safe guy rather than the flashier guy and ended up having to make a change and then not really developing either one of them (while the offense ended up 120th or so in the nation).

There was a safe guy last year? They were both terrible and PJ knew it from the beginning.
 

There was a safe guy last year? They were both terrible and PJ knew it from the beginning.

In retrospect, the fact that he waited so long last year to pick a QB, was not because they were both doing so good and it was hard to pick one. But more likely that he didn’t want to play either one. Should have read that into his “waiting for some one to win the job” comments.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

There was a safe guy last year? They were both terrible and PJ knew it from the beginning.

I'd guess Rhoda was more of the safe guy than Croft.

He was older. Less likely to make mistakes (in theory). But less upside (in theory).

But you're right, PJ didn't have any good choices last year.
 

I'd guess Rhoda was more of the safe guy than Croft.

He was older. Less likely to make mistakes (in theory). But less upside (in theory).

But you're right, PJ didn't have any good choices last year.

It was truly shocking how long it took some in here to grasp that concept. When you have to go out and persuade a guy like Rhoda to come back that tells you all you need to know about the QB situation....it is really really really really bad.

It is tough to fathom that it could be any worse with the guys we currently have on the roster but as with last year we really don't know until we get to see them in game action. In regards to Morgan hopefully it was a case of him just not being ready yet that kept him off the field last year which would be totally acceptable for a true freshman at the QB position. My gut tells me we will be in much better shape at the position this fall but there are still a ton of unknowns.
 

There is no doubt in my mind that Morgan could have been the starter last year, but there was no reason to hinder the future of the program in playing him. This year it will be the best QB on the field no matter what. There is no reason to sit the best option.
 

There is no doubt in my mind that Morgan could have been the starter last year, but there was no reason to hinder the future of the program in playing him. This year it will be the best QB on the field no matter what. There is no reason to sit the best option.

Saying that means Morgan will be the best QB we will recruit in the next 3 years. I don't believe that, as I think PJ is going to recruit even better QB prospects in the coming years. Had Morgan been better than Croft or Rhoda, he should have played. If Zack Annexstad turns out to be the best QB, after this spring and the fall, then he should be named the starter. This saving players for the future talk is BS.
 

Agreed. IMO people may be expecting too much from the young QBs this coming season. If Morgan had started last year we’d almost certainly be sitting here complaining about how terrible he was in 2017. However, if he’d taken some lumps last year he’d be that much closer to being a savvy QB this year with a year of experience under his belt.
 

There is no doubt in my mind that Morgan could have been the starter last year, but there was no reason to hinder the future of the program in playing him. This year it will be the best QB on the field no matter what. There is no reason to sit the best option.

I don't know it, but I got that impression too. PJ talked up Morgan a lot ... even while the rest struggled.

Hard to know if he would do better than the others, but I suspect he was the better candidate.
 

Saying that means Morgan will be the best QB we will recruit in the next 3 years. I don't believe that, as I think PJ is going to recruit even better QB prospects in the coming years. Had Morgan been better than Croft or Rhoda, he should have played. If Zack Annexstad turns out to be the best QB, after this spring and the fall, then he should be named the starter. This saving players for the future talk is BS.

No, it's saying that Fleck wanted to red-shirt guys for the future last year. If he recruits someone and they prove to be the starter so be it, but year one for coaches is always a throw away year for needing to win.
 




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