the Solid Verbal

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"the Solid Verbal" is my favorite college football related podcast. Nice balance of humor and information. They weren't too high on the Gophers during their B1G preview segment a couple weeks ago, and in their most recent installment barely mentioned MN within a discussion of the B1G West. They declared Iowa and Wisconsin have separated themselves after week 1 with Nebraska remaining as a dark horse. Most of the discussion centered on Northwestern and how their QB situation is concerning and after their poor offensive showing at Stanford proved they have fallen out of West contention.

It looks like Northwestern will have to go with their Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson all season as TJ Green appears to have a season-ending foot injury. I watched much of their game against Stanford and noted they were struggling offensively but after hearing the QB stats on Solid Verbal, I guess I didn't realize just how bad the QB performance was.

Earlier in the discussion they also mentioned how good Wisconsin receiver corps are and how they are right up there with several other B1G teams (not including the Gophers, as they weren't mentioned). If the Gophers do make waves this season, it will catch these guys by surprise.
 

I've never been able to get into podcasts. I guess I just prefer to read.

What faults or shortcomings did they see in the Gophers before the season started?
 

I've never been able to get into podcasts. I guess I just prefer to read.

What faults or shortcomings did they see in the Gophers before the season started?

Someone here mentioned they mispronounced names and were therefore not prepared properly to talk about the Gophers. I didn't take it that way and instead was impressed the depth they were able to talk to, considering individual players from pretty much every team in the country. They were just generally unimpressed with the Gophers but a lot of it centered on Tanner Morgan - who they characterized as a guy that just wasn't up to the challenge of leading his team to a division crown. There was probably more to it than that but I listened to it a couple weeks ago. I have a good memory, but it is short.

I have a 40 minute commute and although I enjoy KFAN, it is nice to mix other stuff in once in a while and college football podcasts do the trick for me. I enjoy Ryan Burns' Gopher football podcast too.
 

"the Solid Verbal" is my favorite college football related podcast. Nice balance of humor and information. They weren't too high on the Gophers during their B1G preview segment a couple weeks ago, and in their most recent installment barely mentioned MN within a discussion of the B1G West. They declared Iowa and Wisconsin have separated themselves after week 1 with Nebraska remaining as a dark horse. Most of the discussion centered on Northwestern and how their QB situation is concerning and after their poor offensive showing at Stanford proved they have fallen out of West contention.

It looks like Northwestern will have to go with their Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson all season as TJ Green appears to have a season-ending foot injury. I watched much of their game against Stanford and noted they were struggling offensively but after hearing the QB stats on Solid Verbal, I guess I didn't realize just how bad the QB performance was.

Earlier in the discussion they also mentioned how good Wisconsin receiver corps are and how they are right up there with several other B1G teams (not including the Gophers, as they weren't mentioned). If the Gophers do make waves this season, it will catch these guys by surprise.

I'm a long time Solid Verbal listener and heard both of those dismissals we well. It didn't really upset me since this is their standard operating procedure.

Dan and Ty are pretty funny guys, and I like the podcast overall. But in terms of in depth analysis on teams outside of the national blue bloods, they've always been lacking. You should give "Podcast Ain't Played Nobody" a try, it's my favorite CFB pod by far.
 

Given how important QB is to the game it is pretty hard for an outsider to put much steam into a team that has one that doesn't look draftable. The reality is that probably half the top 25 in college won't have draftable QB's. I still feel that the gophers have the chance to have a very good season, but I would be even more excited if we had managed to corral a talent like Hank Bachmeier and he just put on a show for us the way he did for Boise State. I think Tanner is serviceable, played pretty well in the opener, not mistake free, but good enough. Mason used to refer to Mitch Leidner as a 10 handicapper(golf), sometimes shoots in the 70's, sometimes shoots in the 90's, pretty accurate summation of his career. I feel like Tanner is a little better than Mitch and has an opportunity to pass him up if he stays healthy, maybe a little less volatile in each direction, less likely to shoot a ninety, but less likely to break par.
 


Looking around the college landscape most of the QBs I watched last weekend made at least a few questionable or outright bad decisions and throws. It’s just the way it is. The issues around Tanner seem to revolve around the fact he isn’t a true dual threat like a Martinez or Fields, his arm strength maybe isn’t ideal for those deeper throws to the sidelines or small windows down the middle, and he’s shorter which could lead to an extra batted ball here or there particularly if he stares guys down. It does seem like some are just waiting for him to be less than perfect, which isn’t going to happen and isn’t fair.

Tanner counters that criticism with really nice accuracy on his deep ball on a pretty high percentage - higher than most IMO, and he throws with good accuracy and consistently to allow YAC. You don’t see guys spinning around nearly as often to snag throws across the middle. He is also very good in the pocket and has escapability. Finally, he doesn’t seem to get rattled easily which falls into the intangible category as well. Obviously his story is yet to be written and maybe he proves to have already hit his ceiling but there is the potential there for really solid QB play.




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Looking around the college landscape most of the QBs I watched last weekend made at least a few questionable or outright bad decisions and throws. It’s just the way it is. The issues around Tanner seem to revolve around the fact he isn’t a true dual threat like a Martinez or Fields, his arm strength maybe isn’t ideal for those deeper throws to the sidelines or small windows down the middle, and he’s shorter which could lead to an extra batted ball here or there particularly if he stares guys down. It does seem like some are just waiting for him to be less than perfect, which isn’t going to happen and isn’t fair.

Tanner counters that criticism with really nice accuracy on his deep ball on a pretty high percentage - higher than most IMO, and he throws with good accuracy and consistently to allow YAC. You don’t see guys spinning around nearly as often to snag throws across the middle. He is also very good in the pocket and has escapability. Finally, he doesn’t seem to get rattled easily which falls into the intangible category as well. Obviously his story is yet to be written and maybe he proves to have already hit his ceiling but there is the potential there for really solid QB play.




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And I have yet to see him sail one over a receivers head by 5 feet or ground a pass 8 yards short of the receiver as Leidner did on many occasions.
 

And I have yet to see him sail one over a receivers head by 5 feet or ground a pass 8 yards short of the receiver as Leidner did on many occasions.

Good point. Another thing...although Leidner was often effective running the ball, he didn’t have very good pocket presence, and lacked the ability to create when things were breaking down around him (that’s when those misfires you spoke of happened). Tanner has shown that he has those abilities. I think a lot of people are just doing a quick eye test without looking at the big picture....he’s been remarkably efficient and is 5-2 as a starting QB, including the first win over Wisconsin in 15 years.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

They're lukewarm on MN which is understandable. MN hasn't proven they're worthy of the benefit of the doubt so they don't get it. That said they've definitely been high on Johnson and Bateman. Fans tend to be way too hard on national CFB guys when I'm guessing 95% of this board couldn't have an intelligent conversation about the teams picked 4th in the Pac 12 South or ACC Coastal. We know the top 15-20 teams, our division rivals, and our conferences top teams. To be able to know a little about a lot of teams is hard
 



They're lukewarm on MN which is understandable. MN hasn't proven they're worthy of the benefit of the doubt so they don't get it. That said they've definitely been high on Johnson and Bateman. Fans tend to be way too hard on national CFB guys when I'm guessing 95% of this board couldn't have an intelligent conversation about the teams picked 4th in the Pac 12 South or ACC Coastal. We know the top 15-20 teams, our division rivals, and our conferences top teams. To be able to know a little about a lot of teams is hard

Most everything you said was true but I don't get the point. Yes, 95% of this board couldn't have an intelligent conversation about the teams picked 4th in the Pac12 South, but over 99% of this board doesn't run a nationally recognized college football podcast.

This isn't about the average Gopher fan's level of interest and knowledge in college football. It is about the Solid Verbal and their takes on our favorite team. In fact, as the OP I wasn't even saying they are wrong. Just pointed out what they say regarding the Gophers.
 




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