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Which team in the West can withstand losing their starting QB

scarletred

Nebraska Legend
Jun 17, 2001
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And still Win the West?

Not including Illinois.. Here is a little break down I came up with..

Wisconsin- Jack Coan started last season when Hornibrook went down and was adequate and most likely get the start for the kickoff of the 2019 season..Highly regarded Freshman Graham Mertz is waiting in the wings to take over if Coan is unsuccessful..

Minnesota- Started Soph Morgan Tanner most of the year and used Soph Zach Annexstad as well. Both are interchangeable so one of them going down with injury wouldn’t hurt them.. Have a true Freshman coming in from Rockwall TX in Jacob Clark..

Purdue- One time starter Elijah Sindelar returns from injury from last year and has a strong arm but wasn’t as productive as Blough was during the season..Purdue is high on Freshman Jack Plummer but hasn’t played in any games yet..

Nebraska- Everyone knows about 2AM. If he goes down Noah Vedral has playing experience from UCF and a short time last season but isn’t as dynamic as 2AM but would be adequate running the offense.. Highly thought of. Luke McCaffery is another option but the staff would rather have him redshirted..

Iowa- Returns 3 year starter Nate Stanley And has been very productive for them the past 2 seasons throwing 26 TD passes in each of the past two seasons...Sophomore Peyton Mansell is Stanley back up and hasn’t played hardly at all last season only 8 attempts appears to be more mobile..also have a Redshirt Freshman Spencer Petras who resembles Stanley more as a drop back passer and less mobile...

Northwestern- Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson is more likely the starter seating out last season, may end up being better than Thorson has very litttle game experience at Clemson..Senior backup TJ Green only threw 38 passes in back up duty and isn’t much of a threat..
 
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Wisconsin is probably the team least reliant on their QB for offwnsive production. That being said there are few teams out there who can lose thier starting QB and keep on ticking..
 
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Wisconsin is probably the team least reliant on their QB for offwnsive production. That being said there are few teams out there who can lose thier starting QB and keep on ticking..

Minnesota would be the other since both contributed as Freshman..
 
Iowa. They just put the next guy in and won’t miss a beat.

I think Iowa and Northwestern would be effected the most based on game day experience...

Purdue I don’t know who else participated in their spring game that looked good besides Plummer..
 
And still Win the West?

Not including Illinois.. Here is a little break down I came up with..

Wisconsin- Jack Coan started last season when Hornibrook went down and was adequate and most likely get the start for the kickoff of the 2019 season..Highly regarded Freshman Graham Mertz is waiting in the wings to take over if Coan is unsuccessful..

Minnesota- Started Soph Morgan Tanner most of the year and used Soph Zach Annexstad as well. Both are interchangeable so one of them going down with injury wouldn’t hurt them.. Have a true Freshman coming in from Rockwall TX in Jacob Clark..

Purdue- One time starter Elijah Sindelar returns from injury from last year and has a strong arm but wasn’t as productive as Blough was during the season..Purdue is high on Freshman Jack Plummer but hasn’t played in any games yet..

Nebraska- Everyone knows about 2AM. If he goes down Noah Vedral has playing experience from UCF and a short time last season but isn’t as dynamic as 2AM but would be adequate running the offense.. Highly thought of. Luke McCaffery is another option but the staff would rather have him redshirted..

Iowa- Returns 3 year starter Nate Stanley And has been very productive for them the past 2 seasons throwing 26 TD passes in each of the past two seasons...Sophomore Peyton Mansell is Stanley back up and hasn’t played hardly at all last season only 8 attempts appears to be more mobile..also have a Redshirt Freshman Spencer Petras who resembles Stanley more as a drop back passer and less mobile...

Northwestern- Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson is more likely the starter seating out last season, may end up being better than Thorson has very litttle game experience at Clemson..Senior backup TJ Green only threw 38 passes in back up duty and isn’t much of a threat..
QB play in the west is getting a lot better

  • Wisconsin - Coan I believe is ok but Mertz is their future - next year will be better than this year but they have two quality guys
  • Minnesota - young and will probably get better but neither is a game changer
  • Purdue - Not sold on Sindelar, very streaky player and oft injured their depth is questionable
  • Nebraska - AM is the best QB in the Big10, but we are still weak behind him hopefully that changes this year
  • Iowa - Stanley is acceptable but normal for Iowa - backups are also not game changers
  • Northwestern - Johnson could be on Martinez level if his hype is correct but they have no depth

I would say the QB's in the west are ranked by years end as follows

1. Martinez
2. Johnson
3. Stanley
4. Mertz
5. Sindelar
6. Minnesota( either)
 
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No way. Vedral will be #2 for this season. Year 3 in the offense, already had the learning curve. Next year, maybe, but I still lean Vedral, if Martinez goes down.

I would concur with this .. Luke probably wants to Redshirt too..
 
Vedral has a fraction of the capabilities as McCaffrey and Frost has proven, talent and winning trumps everything else

Agree winning trumps everything else and RS soph Vedral gives you a better chance to win than true freshman McCaffrey. Hopefully we don't need to revisit this thread during the season.
 
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I'm not sure......that McCaffrey is down-right quick as hell. Almost TMart acceleration. But yeah, Vedral has the desperately needed experience. I wouldn't be surprised either way.
 
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We may find out if the Gophers fall into this category. Annexstad went down with a foot injury. He is out indefinitely at this time.

Only positive thing is that it’s 4 weeks away from the start of the season and if this happens you have time to get the next man prepared not to mention another back up...
 
Conan is a barbarian or a late night talk show host, Coan is the Wisconsin QB
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Those movies kick ass
 
We may find out if the Gophers fall into this category. Annexstad went down with a foot injury. He is out indefinitely at this time.

yeah, according to reports felt something "pop" in his foot. rumors starting to fly he is probably done till at least late season---maybe for this year. morgan's team now. play minny and you better be able to control the running attack. i think they will be able to run on most teams.
 
yeah, according to reports felt something "pop" in his foot. rumors starting to fly he is probably done till at least late season---maybe for this year. morgan's team now. play minny and you better be able to control the running attack. i think they will be able to run on most teams.

Last year we handled Minnesota’s running game pretty well. Hell we handed Minnesota their A$$es all around.
 
Last year we handled Minnesota’s running game pretty well. Hell we handed Minnesota their A$$es all around.

gophers rushing avg'd 209ypg over the last 4. plus, they come in healthy to start. smith, brooks, williams and ibrahim. fleck also gave a fr (can't remember his name) some pretty high praise---stated he sees a lot of "Maroney" in him. we'll see, but, IF they remain fairly healthy in the line and rb, i think they have potential to be one of the top rushing teams in the big ten.
 
Lost in OT in Columbus against Ohio State, with RS freshman QB.
Great, and vandenberg was remembered as one of their most despised QBs from then on out because he never came close to playing like that again
 
QB play in the west is getting a lot better

  • Wisconsin - Coan I believe is ok but Mertz is their future - next year will be better than this year but they have two quality guys
  • Minnesota - young and will probably get better but neither is a game changer
  • Purdue - Not sold on Sindelar, very streaky player and oft injured their depth is questionable
  • Nebraska - AM is the best QB in the Big10, but we are still weak behind him hopefully that changes this year
  • Iowa - Stanley is acceptable but normal for Iowa - backups are also not game changers
  • Northwestern - Johnson could be on Martinez level if his hype is correct but they have no depth

I would say the QB's in the west are ranked by years end as follows

1. Martinez
2. Johnson
3. Stanley
4. Mertz
5. Sindelar
6. Minnesota( either)
This is an interesting thread and one worth following. I will say sindelar was at his best when he wasn't looking over his shoulder to see Blough in his rearview mirror. Purdue finally has the receivers to help out as well. 2020, Purdue will be really good. Still probably only 7 or 8 wins this year.
 
gophers rushing avg'd 209ypg over the last 4. plus, they come in healthy to start. smith, brooks, williams and ibrahim. fleck also gave a fr (can't remember his name) some pretty high praise---stated he sees a lot of "Maroney" in him. we'll see, but, IF they remain fairly healthy in the line and rb, i think they have potential to be one of the top rushing teams in the big ten.

Maybe so, but we still completely blew them out of the waters last year. And compared to other teams we faced, we handled their rushing game pretty well.
 
I'm not sure......that McCaffrey is down-right quick as hell. Almost TMart acceleration. But yeah, Vedral has the desperately needed experience. I wouldn't be surprised either way.

Mccafferny is Kyle Murray fast. I'd have no problem putting him in.
 
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