I thought we'd gotten the Mitch stuff out of our system earlier this week. Argued it through, talked it out, moved along. And then I wake up this morning and find the following tweets and stories waiting for me:
#Gophers staff really pondering whether to burn Croft's redshirt or not since also have Leidner another year & @TPoljan_1 arriving in 2016.
— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) September 18, 2015
Jerry Kill on QB @_TheRealDCroft_: "One of the most difficult decisions you have to make is what are we going to do with our young freshman"
— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) September 18, 2015
Sigh...you're killing me coach. I wonder what this might lead to...
Saturday only added to the intrigue. Croft lined up with the second-team offense during warmups. Chris Streveler spelled Leidner for a handful of plays during the game, once again, without throwing a pass.
Kill said he was "embarrassed" with the first-half offense. Just before the second-half kickoff, the camera showed him removing his headset to speak to Croft. Was the coach close to pulling the redshirt right there?
/kicks can
And then there is this...
Playing too early backfires more often than not, but that hasn't stopped programs from starting first-year quarterbacks.
"Each situation is unique," ESPN analyst and former Washington quarterback Brock Huard said. "But ultimately if you've got a young talent with massive upside, I don't mind playing him at an early age."
/hears sirens in the distance
//cringes
And yes, in the context of this conversation/GIF, I am Gru. Look at my face...I am displeased.
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To be clear, I'm not blaming Joe C or Marcus and I'm not calling them out. While there were sections of both stories I'd quibble with, they did write stories that cover multiple angles and both note why a change would be a risky idea. I'm just annoyed that we're back here already. I purposefully held off on writing a charting based post about Mitch because it felt like we as a community (and the wider Gopher fanbase) had done their internet venting about the passing game against CSU and I didn't want to beat the dead horse.
And yet here we are. So welcome to #QBGAZE2015 everyone. The #QBGAZE minion greets you all as friends.
