Devin may play... Good or Bad?
I have always considered it a positive thing that Gardner is said to be competing for the starting QB job. However, the more I hear about Denard's progress, the more I want to hear that Denard has separated himself (Or Tate really) from Devin. I guess that I find it hard to believe that Devin can be so talented that he has caught the 2 sophomores after spring and fall practices.
How do you guys feel? Do you see it as a positive that Devin is competing? Or would you also like to see one of the sophomores improve to the point where any true freshman will undoubtedly be behind them?
August 27th, 2010 at 10:22 PM ^
Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt Devin will redshirt
....I hope
August 27th, 2010 at 10:29 PM ^
fingers crossed, knock on wood, salt over the shoulder, silently trying to will the thought into RR's brain from my seat in the big house...wait ur saying that last one's just me? oh.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:03 PM ^
That's pretty much all of us too. Though I hope by "from your seat" you mean "from your standing position on your designated 'seat' "
August 27th, 2010 at 11:17 PM ^
Of course. It was implied my apologies.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:20 PM ^
Also implied is that i will be screaming my lungs out.
August 28th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^
"Silently trying to will the thought into RR's brain from my seat,"
Inception?
August 28th, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^
Too difficult--you need an architect that can recreate the Big House with enough wheelchair-accessible seats while also maintaining the country's largest audience. Impossible!
August 27th, 2010 at 10:25 PM ^
There is a whole post about DG on the front page.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:27 PM ^
Devin will probably redshirt. Any coaching assertion to the latter is probably nothing more than coach speak. Barring injury, he's probably not going to be a serious competitor. The coaches don't want to have another freshman starting at QB.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:29 PM ^
It's all about Denard!
August 27th, 2010 at 10:26 PM ^
I saw that post as more of a summary of his talents. I'm curious as to what people would think if Devin was our best quarterback right now.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:28 PM ^
I'd find that difficult to believe. He may be the most advanced physically, but I don't want another freshman QB to start. Regardless of physical tools.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:44 PM ^
And that from DGDestroys
August 28th, 2010 at 12:25 AM ^
DG Will Destroy.. In Time.
August 28th, 2010 at 12:37 AM ^
Agreed. Pryor was a physical freak, but he likely cost OSU the PSU game with that fumble after he already had the first down. They could have won just as many games playing Boeckman, but they rolled the dice on playing a true freshman. DG will be a beast, but I would love to see a rs year and then 4 years of dominance.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:28 PM ^
Its positive that he is competing, but in a perfect world he would redshirt. I don't see a reason to waste a year of eligibility for limited playing time. Give him a year to learn, then we can see an even better Devin Gardner for years to come.
Unless of course there is an injury, then forget what I said and play him if we need.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:28 PM ^
I think Gardner's upside as a true freshman is limited, much lower than Tate or Denard so him being in the race means to me that the two returning kids aren't doing well. Plus, even mgoblue.com can't find many videos of him throwing well which worries me (I mean we're talking about a website that can find highlights of our secondary).
But my take is this is a two man race, and the coaches just don't want to show their hand. I thought RR saying DG playing was "possible, but I wouldn't say probable" is I sign that he's not really likely to be in the conversation unless one of the other two really falls back or gets injured.
August 28th, 2010 at 1:27 AM ^
Don't read too much into it. It's just coachspeak. I'm surprised RR hasn't said Jack Kennedy is in the mix.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:30 PM ^
I'd like to see him redshirt, obviously. But if he is that good and can move the chains, so be it. He will develop in the offseason regardless -- his upside is through the roof and he'll challenge for the starting role next year, if not, for sure 2012.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:32 PM ^
I agree with the "coach speak" aspect, particularly after hearing Rich Rod say Sheridan was competing last year. I'm hoping that the "Devin could start" talk is just Rod promoting competition like usual.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:35 PM ^
If he's the best option, good.
If he's not the best option, bad.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:38 PM ^
Given the potential for QBs to get injured in this offense, I think the coaches will get him in there to see what he can do just in case. You don't want to play Denard and Tate for all of UMass trying to protect a redshirt and then find you need Gardner as the #2 (or 1?) in the MSU game and he hasn't seen the field in front of 110k yet.
As nice as it is to think of Devin as a 5th year senior starting, I don't see that luxury. Starting next year with Sousa and after that we should see a nice (RS) next to the QBs coming in.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:50 PM ^
I hope to see Jack Kennedy playing against UMass
August 28th, 2010 at 1:15 PM ^
August 27th, 2010 at 10:38 PM ^
Oh. My. Gosh. Can someone just dome me with a shovel and knock me out until next Saturday so I don't have to suffer through this anymore? Please?
August 27th, 2010 at 10:42 PM ^
We can hit each other at the same time, deal?
August 27th, 2010 at 11:13 PM ^
It'll be just like that scene in Stepbrothers....
August 27th, 2010 at 11:21 PM ^
That is actually exactly what i thought of when i commented.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^
If we both hit each other in the head at the exact same time it might work, otherwise one of us will be knocked out and the other has to sit here for a week waiting for our fix like a heroin addict. I mean, is this week even worth going through? I have been worthless for at least 5 days coming home every day and reading this here blog. I need the real thing though, like now. I can't wait till the A-10s roar over my head.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:56 PM ^
Pretty tough to guage how hard to hit for only a 1 week coma. wouldnt want to over-do it.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:39 PM ^
Watch that spring game video and you tell me you want him on the field. He may have a ton of natural ability but based on the spring game he is not ready. I have not seen fall practice or any scrimmage but I can not believe he is ready to play at this point.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:40 PM ^
Everyone is gun shy about starting another true freshman... As am I.
But if he's good enough that playing him gives us a better chance at winning, so be it.It's not unheard of for a true freshman to shine. If he's even better than a healthy Tate was early in 09 than we could do alot worse.
That said...
I think Denard is obviously the front runner. I give Devin a 50/50 shot (at best) at getting the second spot over Tate. Hopefully he'll redshirt and Denard and/or Tate will light it up.
...And don't forget that "All three guys are competing" was the line last year as well... Suuurre.
One more week!!!!
August 27th, 2010 at 10:44 PM ^
he burns the shirt is injury. Let's pray that doesn't happen. Let him work out, study the offense, study film, get a good grasp on school, and learn what it takes to be successful in Div 1-A football (or whatever they call it these days).
August 27th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^
It will be good if he plays good. It will be bad if he plays bad.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^
...ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-d.
It will probably involve injury or underachievement on the part of Tate and Denard if DG's redshirt is burned. I would much rather see Tate and Denard be the two best options this year, so that DG can grow, learn, and work on mechanics this season.
Compared to the last couple of years, though, it's a great "problem" to have.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:54 PM ^
When this season is over, we're all gonna look back and feel stupid about having fallen for RR's talk that Devin is as much in the mix for playing time as the other two. It's one of the oldest coaches' tricks in the book when it comes to media relations.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:57 PM ^
August 27th, 2010 at 11:07 PM ^
I don't redshirt anyone that I think can contribute. Not saying this to be mean, be RR understands that if things don't go well, Devin redshirting wouldn't do him, personally, any good. I give minutes to anyone that can help the team in any way.
Long term, when we get back on track and we're dripping w/ 5*s on both sides of the ball, he won't have to worry about his future.
Now, someone pass me that shovel.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:19 PM ^
I like the enthusiasm but we're never dripping with 5-stars. We could win a NC this season and still get killed by Florida and Texas in that department.
August 28th, 2010 at 12:57 AM ^
I don't redshirt anyone that I think can contribute. Not saying this to be mean, be RR understands that if things don't go well, Devin redshirting wouldn't do him, personally, any good. I give minutes to anyone that can help the team in any way.
That's not just a strategy for this year.
Why sacrifice even a very tiny edge that any player could provide in the current year, in exchange for nebulous results in some future year?
You never know which kids are going to end up out of football, or leave early for the NFL, or get injured, or get passed up by future recruits.
I say (as a general policy): redshirt only those who can not contribute anything noticeable this year.
August 28th, 2010 at 8:02 AM ^
Why sacrifice even a very tiny bit of satisfaction that money can provide in the current year, in exchange for nebulous results in some future year?
FWIW, RR has already stated that he's not going to throw DG into games during garbage time just to get him snaps. It's mind-boggling that there are fans who would happily exchange a few plays during a pure freshman season for an entire fifth year of eligibility.
If either TF or DR get injured or simply regress horribly during the season, the odds of DG playing go up dramatically. How anyone can believe that this scenario is anything but a bad one is a testament to the human ability to opt for blind optimism over cold-eyed reason in many situations.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:19 PM ^
Devin Gardner snaps in the opener
Over/Under 2.5
Maybe Rich gives him a possession and this goes over?
August 27th, 2010 at 11:34 PM ^
I'll take the under. Where do I bet?
August 27th, 2010 at 11:20 PM ^
I am thinking that most of what we are hearing that there are 3 QBs competing is coach speak. In other words, the coaches are trying to keep the competition as sounding completely wide open as to keep UConn guessing as to who to gameplan for. Think about it, one QB is a very good passer but not as good at the read option (Forcier), the other is an excellent runner but raw as a passer (Denard), while the third is raw but has the most upside of the three and constitutes an amalgamation of both (Gardner). In reality though I expect to see that the coaches will hope beyond hope to redshirt Gardner this year, thus seperating the QBs by two years. My guess is that for this game behind center the person taking the first snap will be Forcier, but I expect to see Denard for 40-50% of the snaps so in reality the starter is nominal at best.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:52 PM ^
I think Rich Rod is doing an excellent job with DG.
He's saying all the right things about giving the kid a shot, letting him run with the 1s, etc.
If Gardner feels like he'll be behind Denard for 3 years and only have his Senior year as a starter he may look elsewhere especially if Rodriguez is gone.
August 28th, 2010 at 12:19 AM ^
I just trust the coaching staff. I'm glad that Coach Rod kept the practices private, so really we know very little as to how good Devin is. If he's good enough to help make a positive impact, put him on the field. Simple as that.
August 28th, 2010 at 12:44 AM ^
first you are blowing a valuable extra year of eligibilty. Worse, it means that the other QB's are so mediocre that their experience means nothing. I don't care how good Devin is or will be, even the best freshman QB's of all time are at best average college qb's.
August 28th, 2010 at 1:01 AM ^
If he's exceptional and can win us games, he should play. If Rodriguez told him he'd have a fair shot and that he'd play, he should play. If he can get valuable experience to challenge next year, he should play. We know nothing of the situation really. So we don't know if we should start or not.
August 28th, 2010 at 12:40 AM ^
and it likely means doom.