Devin Gardner is very, very good.

sweet post

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Considering you are who we know you are, this is more informative than the content contained within. Are you watching InkSTAR?

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He ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in their first round playoff game tonight.

That's why he's good.

I'll put it like this: Good luck redshirting him next year. He threw maybe 6 or 7 passes all night (Edsel Ford's coach decided to go all 1989 Bo vs. ND and kick to the same speedster twice, 2 KR TDs, game got well out of hand), but he was just toying around out there. Ripped off a 60 yard TD that looked like Vince Young's 2nd TD vs. Michigan in the Rose Bowl, he just got the sideline and coasted, even past players that had angles on him. He ran in a pair of two point conversions and a 4th down TD, he looked freaking bored out there, went in standing up each time, probably could've moonwalked if he wanted to.

I don't see any way he redshirts. If he manages to graduate early, he's going to play, period. He's not in a college S&C program yet, and he looks like a seasoned college football player.

Cool story, brah.

Okay, I know everyone wants to see Gardner right away. HOWEVA, I think he NEEDS to redshirt. He can spend a year getting Barwisised and learning the office. IIRC, someone mentioned in another thread that Pat White redshirted. He went on to become the only quarterback to win four bowl games. I can't link to the thread because I am web challenged. We have seen two freshman QB's struggle with the offense. Of course Molk being injured doesn't help. Do we really need to see the same thing next year?I would rather see Gardner learn for a year instead of being thrown in the fire right away.

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And yeah, DG is sorta good at football.

Yeah...that sounds pretty accurate.

if for no other reason than it spaces out the QBs. i'd also like to not have to trot out yet ANOTHER true freshman at QB.

unless he can't get to campus early. Even then, only maybe. Downright, flatout, stud of the (hate to say it) Pryor variety. Difference is he's more advanced as a football player at the same time. It's going to be very, very hard to keep him off the field.

The way Tate plays over these last several games will have a lot of influence on how DG is handled, I think. If he goes all ND on us and beats OSU, then there's really no way that RR can't make Tate the undisputed starter and majority snap-taker next year. There's a public opinion factor here. I'm sure RR would like to be able to stagger his QBs, and Tate having an excellent close to this season would make redshirting DG more justifiable. However, if Tate continues to struggle then it will be harder to keep DG from getting snaps. That may not be fair to Tate, but DG is who we thought he was.

I am sure that Gardner is very, very good.

However, I am always dubious about reports on a HS player's skill. I remember how "awesome" Grady 1 & 2 were in HS. Can't miss prospects. Now, they're good players, but they haven't lit the world on fire. I don't know the stats, but how many 5 star players are there out there? 30? What is the ratio of these to the total pool of hs football players? 1 to 100,000? The point is not that Gardner isn't great. He is. The point is that he is so good compared to the current competition, it is hard to evaluate him accurately. More, I fully agree with every poster who has suggested how hard it is for a Freshman QB to come in and succeed. When Freshman QB's do well, isn't it almost always when they have a very experienced supporting cast?

If Gardner comes in early, and he clearly outshines Forcier, he would need to get a chance. But it is very doubtful to me that this will happen. If he is not EE, there is no way he passes Forcier. And even with EE, it is very, very unlikely he comes close.

If Gardner comes in early, does very well, but still is clearly a couple steps behind Forcier, I would want a redshirt for spacing, as also mentioned above.

Hey, he is such a good athlete...why don't we try him out at receiver? He would be so good there. With his athleticism he would see the field right away.

Or maybe we could have a three quarterback system with Tate, Denard, and Gardner all in the....sorry, I can't keep it up. This is too much even for sarcasm.

Gardener can come in and play right away. I'm watching BJ Daniels right now, and he is a stud. He can do things that Forcier will never be able to do with his size and speed. Gardener can potentially do these things. If he lives up to the hype, then I think we may see him play next year, and start by the end of the year. Everyone says give Tate time because he is a freshman, but we are seeing other freshman like Daniels who seem to have figured out the game despite their lack of experience. Forcier may not have the athleticism to hold off Gardener long term, and in this offense, I think this athleticism is key. Time will tell. Forcier certainly will have an opportunity to rebound, but his play this last month has been pretty disappointing considering how he started.

How can a talent like Gardner redshirt? There is no way in the world a player with his ability is going to come in and sit for 3 years until he plays. If he redshirts, Tate will have had 2 years under his belt going into his 3rd when Devin is able to play. Tate will be the guy for the last 2 years because he will just be too far ahead for Gardner to catch up, especially with limited playing time as a back up under a veteran QB. I really don't think Michigan can keep him if he thinks we will redshirt him. There are a ton of top programs that he can go to and step in right away and play, and for many years at that. So everyone hoping that RR redshirts him, better rethink that idea.