All Things Fall Camp Thread 2018

Noted that the BTN crew felt neither QB threw the deep ball well. But, as I recall, Fleck's offense is not necessarily a bombs-away system, but more on the shorter timing routes. Hit a guy 8 to 10 yards downfield and let him run for another 8 to 10 yards - that kind of thing.

So, instead of who has the "bigger" arm, I would be looking to see who appears to have the better timing on the short and medium routes - drags, curls, quick outs, etc.
 

Noted that the BTN crew felt neither QB threw the deep ball well. But, as I recall, Fleck's offense is not necessarily a bombs-away system, but more on the shorter timing routes. Hit a guy 8 to 10 yards downfield and let him run for another 8 to 10 yards - that kind of thing.

So, instead of who has the "bigger" arm, I would be looking to see who appears to have the better timing on the short and medium routes - drags, curls, quick outs, etc.

That's interesting on the long ball...not sure what they were watching, especially Annexstad. You are correct on the short to medium quick timed pass being the bread and butter of Fleck's RPO offense. Both do that part well, with Annexstad seeming better able to move through his reads when first option is not open.
 

I think the "long ball" gets blown out of proportion some.
Yes, you'd like to have a guy who can throw 50 yards on a line, but most of the longer TD's are 15-25 yard routes and the WR breaks it big after catch.

If we get 2-3 options at 15-25 yards and RB's who is catching passes, our QB doesn't have to throw as many deep balls.

Main thing is if they have the power to throw the ball from left hashmark to right sideline 15-25 yards down field with good velocity and accuracy.
 

I think the "long ball" gets blown out of proportion some.
Yes, you'd like to have a guy who can throw 50 yards on a line, but most of the longer TD's are 15-25 yard routes and the WR breaks it big after catch.

If we get 2-3 options at 15-25 yards and RB's who is catching passes, our QB doesn't have to throw as many deep balls.

Main thing is if they have the power to throw the ball from left hashmark to right sideline 15-25 yards down field with good velocity and accuracy.

I agree but there was some animated discussion revolving around Streveler’s ability to throw it 35 yards and whether he could play in the FBS. :rolleyes: Sounded like neither guy could heave it particularly well per BTN crew - are we doomed?
 



Sounded like neither guy could heave it particularly well per BTN crew - are we doomed?

I don’t think so. Sounds like the BTN crew felt there was a large improvement in the abilities of ZA5 and TM2 vs Rhoda and Croft plus improved WR core which will only help the 2 FR. Im juiced up for the season even more after hearing the BTN panel yesterday.
 

I agree but there was some animated discussion revolving around Streveler’s ability to throw it 35 yards and whether he could play in the FBS. :rolleyes: Sounded like neither guy could heave it particularly well per BTN crew - are we doomed?

Key words...:clap:
 

Not sure if this is a new tidbit but Kirk Ciarrocca said on BTN tonight that Ibrahim was the solid #2 RB coming out of spring ball and so for through camp.
It's never been said, just assumed after the Spring game. Did find it interesting he came out and confirmed it.

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Not sure if this is a new tidbit but Kirk Ciarrocca said on BTN tonight that Ibrahim was the solid #2 RB coming out of spring ball and so for through camp.

I like what I've seen from Femi-Cole so far...hope he sees the field more. Punishing change of pace from Rodney.
 



If I recall correctly, the BIG crew didn't have much good to say last year about the Minnesota camp. I remember that because I was surprised at how poorly they spoke of the talent level last year. It seemed like they were pretty excited about everything they saw this year compared to last year. KC seemed pretty upbeat about the potential of the offense as well, just wasn't sure when it would really click.

Over all, I thought the guys were pretty optimistic and pretty fair in their assessment of the 2018 Gopher football season. That being said, it was hard to define how success would be defined this year. RTB SUM GG
 

A few things I noticed from practice:

Morgan and Annexstad each had about an hour as the 1st QB. No signs from practice who seems to be the favorite.

I also thought Annexstad looked better. It was most clear in watching his decision making. He seems to play to the situation better and make better reads on short to medium passes.

Green was practicing as a receiver. Looked to be about 4th in the rotation. He had a really bad drop early in practice with no defender that made be question him as a receiver but also had a really nice TD catch on a contested deep ball, after which Fleck turned to the fans and said "that's why we moved him. I've been reading all of your emails"

Brooks was in practice with the red vest. He was in for some drills including some which included running and making cuts. Not sure what his injury exactly was or if this is progress but it looks promising.

Winfield and Shenault seemed to be the ones returning the most punts. Winfield stayed after practice broke into position groups and caught some more punts.

Johnson is clearly above the rest of the receivers. On deep routes, both Morgan and Annexstad were able to put it somewhere where he had at least a shot at catching it. No idea how that will translate into playing against better defenses. Howard seemed to make a few big plays as well.

The offense looks like it's going to be centered around stringing short to medium plays together with few deep shots.

Receivers were consistently beating defensive backs in 1 on 1 drills. Not sure if drills were designed to be like that or if there's just a significant talent difference and if so, I'm not sure if that's because the receivers were good or the defense was bad.

Pretty decent turnout for 3:30 on a weekday with most students away from campus. I would guess 200-300 there with very few students. They brought around popsicles for all of the kids there. The outdoor practices are way better to watch than the indoor ones.
 

Not sure if this is a new tidbit but Kirk Ciarrocca said on BTN tonight that Ibrahim was the solid #2 RB coming out of spring ball and so for through camp.

Burns has been pretty down on Ibrahim, so this is interesting
 

I agree but there was some animated discussion revolving around Streveler’s ability to throw it 35 yards and whether he could play in the FBS. :rolleyes: Sounded like neither guy could heave it particularly well per BTN crew - are we doomed?

Yep, that happened recently but not when Chris was actually on campus.

Remember people complaining about Nelson skipping the ball in front of a guy on far to many occasions, don't remember much being said about Streveler's ability throwing the ball except that he couldn't do it.

Until well after he left here of course.

As far as the BTN crew's statements, with so many of the local internet writers heavily invested in keeping expectations damped down as far as possible for this year's team, and even more so for it's QBs, wouldn't worry too much. Until those local guys start saying how bad the Gophers look when they try and throw-it down field, gonna take a 1 or 2 day look from the BTN guys with a big grain of salt.
 
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I'd be mildly surprised if Annexstad is not the starter vs New Mexico St based on everything we've seen and heard up to this point.
 

I didn’t see anything during the spring game that suggested we have a Favre in waiting as far as arm strength but I’ll take your guy’s word for it. Everything I saw suggested inexperience and there were some questionable decisions on throws into traffic and some should-be picks.

I’m going to be ecstatic if one of these guys performs at an average FBS level as passers in 2018. Will either be dynamic with their legs, or will the coaches even allow them to carry designed runs or options with the lack of depth? I don’t need anyone tamping expectations as I’m doing that pretty well myself. I’ll believe we have a gamer when I see it it on the field vs actual defenses.
 

I didn’t see anything during the spring game that suggested we have a Favre in waiting as far as arm strength but I’ll take your guy’s word for it. Everything I saw suggested inexperience and there were some questionable decisions on throws into traffic and some should-be picks.

I’m going to be ecstatic if one of these guys performs at an average FBS level as passers in 2018. Will either be dynamic with their legs, or will the coaches even allow them to carry designed runs or options with the lack of depth? I don’t need anyone tamping expectations as I’m doing that pretty well myself. I’ll believe we have a gamer when I see it it on the field vs actual defenses.

What have you seen? You don't have to suggest inexperience...they are inexperienced by definition.

I don't think anyone is suggesting we "have a Favre in the waiting" as you embellish. They both look like much better decision-makers and passers than last year's two at this point in Fall practice, and Annexstad throws a better long ball. It's clear to me from what I've seen (Spring game, three open Fall practices) that they both have a far better grasp of the offense than Croft or Rhoda.
 

Fair enough criticism.

We’ll find out soon enough. I’ll be very happy if they’re able to do well this season.
 

What have you seen? You don't have to suggest inexperience...they are inexperienced by definition.

I don't think anyone is suggesting we "have a Favre in the waiting" as you embellish. They both look like much better decision-makers and passers than last year's two at this point in Fall practice, and Annexstad throws a better long ball. It's clear to me from what I've seen (Spring game, three open Fall practices) that they both have a far better grasp of the offense than Croft or Rhoda.

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