PHERSY:Hey Feldy, I'm not sure if you noticed, but coach Jerry Kill and the Gophers football team finally listened to some of my advice. They pulled the redshirt off of freshman Philip Nelson, of Mankato West, and threw him into the mix Saturday against the hated Badgers. I loved the move. Some argue that the season already is a wash, so why waste the redshirt? I say, if Nelson starts for three full years, that's still more than most quarterbacks ever will see the field. Nelson gains experience now, and the Gophers should be ready to roll next season. That said, the Gophers defense is awful. I'm pretty sure you could have run for 100 yards against them Saturday Feldy.
FELDY: First, I don't like the move with Nelson. At best, this team goes to a meaningless bowl. At worst, we'll be sitting here in August of 2016 wishing we had Philip for one more year. As for the defense, I could've run for 150. OK, maybe 100. I get winded quickly. Do the Gophers have a tackling coach? They should hire one of those. Then hire a guy to recruit linebackers. That can be his only job.
PHERSY:Honestly, I don't think they missed a single tackle Saturday. I mean, you have to touch the guy to consider it a missed tackle, right? How many times did Wisconsin running backs scamper into the end zone untouched? I don't even want to think about it. I would tend to agree with you regarding the linebackers. That unit's performance was deplorable Saturday. The problem is that they seem to lack football instincts. I'd rather have a linebacker who's a step slow than one who can't read his keys. ... As for Nelson, I was impressed with his performance. He can make all the throws and he was incredibly composed for a true freshman.
FELDY: Agreed, which is why I wish they'd have kept his redshirt on. But, there's no sense in dwelling on it. Nelson looked poised at times and like a freshman at others. He was far from the team's biggest problem against Wisconsin, though. He threw the ball very well — his first touchdown pass of the game was a great lesson in patience, waiting for the first Gophers receiver to clear out space for the second receiver — and ran well, too. He has to be the starter the rest of the season, right? And if so, how do the coaches keep MarQueis Gray interested?
PHERSY:Absolutely. There's no question he will start every game for the remainder of the season if he's healthy. Kill didn't pull the redshirt for him to sit on the bench. He pulled it to see if the kid really is the team's quarterback of the future. I think that's where you're missing the point, Feldy. I don't think Kill pulled the redshirt to win games this season. He did it for next season. This way he'll know going into the season if Nelson will be the team's QB of the future, rather than wasting games finding out at the beginning of the year. As for Gray, he should be thanking the coaching staff for this move. If he's playing in the NFL, it's as a receiver. Now, he'll have a better body of work to show NFL coaches. An NFL contract is how you keep him interested ...
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FELDY: Maybe Tampa Bay will draft him, Phersy, and he can be united with your all-time favorite Gophers QB, Adam Weber. I would pay good money to sit in a room with you when that's announced. You're right, though, if Gray is going to have an impact in the NFL, it's probably as a Joe Webb-type who doesn't actually get stuck on a bench. If he can find a coach who knows how to utilize a player's talents, Gray might actually get more than one contract in the NFL.
