Smart move or last act of a desperate team?

[Thunderstruck84]

This has been a hot topic on the message and blog boards around Fargo so I figured I'd get the opinion of some people who aren't wearing green and yellow shaded glasses.

Coach Bohl is apparently seriously considering pulling the red shirt off and starting freshman QB Jose Mohler because of the struggles Nick Mertens is having. I think this is an awful idea for a number of reasons:

1) There is little left to play for this season and they'd basically be wasting a year of eligibility and maturity
2) Mohler didn't join the team until after fall camp had started due to some transcript problem and has not had a sniff of real game action at this level
3) The offensive line is not playing well which can wreak havoc with an inexperienced true freshman QB
4) This would seriously hamper any chance Mertens has of ever turning it around to get benched by Mohler in this manner and he's getting into the easier part of the schedule where he should be able to build some confidence back


There seems to be a decent amount Bison fans who are on board with this move, some of the arguments for it:

1) Find out where Mohler stands, give him some experience in some relatively meaningless games that he can hopefully build on
2) Give Mertens the ultimatum he hasn't had to deal with yet "Produce or sit down"
3) Interject some life into a lifeless team
4) He couldn't be any worse than Mertens (my personal favorite)

What does AGS think? Should the coaching staff make this move? And if they do is it a smart move or the last act of a desperate team?

[Grizzaholic]

At this state of the season it is idiotic to pull a Redshirt. I cannot believe he would even consider it.

[theasushow]

So what if he goes out and does miserable?? Then his confidence will be terrible for next season. And hes gonna be bitter than he lost half a season worth of elibility just to play in garbage time.

[Thunderstruck84]

I agree. Coach Bohl claims that his priority is winning games this year. So I think that could mean a couple things, either he's planning on being gone by the time Mohler is done or its coachspeak to try and kickstart his struggling QB and his struggling team.

[FargoBison]

We have one QB on our team besides the redshirt, and he is starting. So right now Mertens faces no competition and I think our coach wants to see what is behind him. Thus the redshirt has been promoted to 2nd string and is getting half the reps in practice this week. My guess is if Mertens doesn't respond then the redshirt will play because our coach isn't going to go into next season with no idea of what he has at the QB position.

This is kind of a desperate act and kind of a smart move, but in the end it was a move that had to be made.

[Grizzaholic]

Burning Redshirt status in the middle of the season on a QB is only acceptable in a short few situations.

Playoffs are in sight and the redshirt can make it happen

You are currently QB'ing a WR or DB as your QB and need someone that can guide your team

I am sure there is another situation but cannot think of it.

[FargoBison]

Burning Redshirt status in the middle of the season on a QB is only acceptable in a short few situations.

Playoffs are in sight and the redshirt can make it happen

You are currently QB'ing a WR or DB as your QB and need someone that can guide your team

I am sure there is another situation but cannot think of it.

How about if you have no other QBs and your starting QB is not getting pushed and is struggling?

Like I said before if Mertens responds and does well Mohler will just sit on the sideline in pads with his redshirt intact. If not, I doubt Mertens will ever improve and then you need to worry about next year thus you play Mohler.

[Grizzaholic]

How about if you have no other QBs and your starting is not getting pushed and is struggling?

Like I said before if Mertens responds and does well Mohler will just sit on the sideline in pads with his redshirt intact. If not, I doubt Mertens will ever improve and then you need to worry about next year thus you play Mohler.

If he has no fire in his belly maybe having a redshirt take a bunch of his reps in practice will get him motivated. It is just really hard for me to understand burning a redshirt if he waited this long, what is another couple of games and that way he has a whole extra season for NDSU. If the QB situation was so dire, why hasn't he been taking reps from the first sign of trouble? Why hasn't he been the backup from the get-go, not playing in games but been the backup unless the starting QB goes down with a season ending injury.



AND what team, FBS, FCS, DII, DIII goes into a season with only one QB? Or did two of your QB's go down with injuries.

[AZGrizFan]

So, he wastes a year of eligibility in a lost year, and then ****s up 2012 as well....brilliant. xeyebrowx xeyebrowx xeyebrowx

[Grizzaholic]

AZ isn't it past your bedtime?

[AZGrizFan]

AZ isn't it past your bedtime?


Well, after Travis reports me for telling him to go beat off, I probably won't have to worry about a bed time for 30 days... xeyebrowx xeyebrowx xeyebrowx

[FargoBison]

If he has no fire in his belly maybe having a redshirt take a bunch of his reps in practice will get him motivated. It is just really hard for me to understand burning a redshirt if he waited this long, what is another couple of games and that way he has a whole extra season for NDSU. If the QB situation was so dire, why hasn't he been taking reps from the first sign of trouble? Why hasn't he been the backup from the get-go, not playing in games but been the backup unless the starting QB goes down with a season ending injury.



AND what team, FBS, FCS, DII, DIII goes into a season with only one QB? Or did two of your QB's go down with injuries.

We actually have 4 QBs total. One is a walk on and the other is JUCO we signed during the summer. The JUCO was the back-up for most of the year but he hit a wall and hasn't progressed much. So the coach made the redshirt the second string QB this week.

As for why this didn't happen earlier, our QB had two great games, two bad games, then two ok games, and then fell off the edge of the Earth against UNI. I don't think the coaches ever thought it would get to this point, but now they have a struggling QB with no confidence and next season to worry about. I guess they liked what they saw from the redshirt early on but it seemed like there wasn't a doubt in their mind that Mertens was going to be this team's QB for this season and next.

[Grizzaholic]

We actually have 4 QBs total. One is a walk on and the other is JUCO we signed during the summer. The JUCO was the back-up for most of the year but he hit a wall and hasn't progressed much. So the coach made the redshirt the second string QB this week.

As for why this didn't happen earlier, our QB had two great games, two bad games, then two ok games, and then fell off the edge of the Earth against UNI. I don't think the coaches ever thought it would get to this point, but now they have a struggling QB with no confidence and next season to worry about.

If you have a QB that isn't a redshirt let him start! If he does bad put your regular starter back in and see if he gets his game back.




NOTE: I am, and have never been, a coach of anything.

[FargoBison]

If you have a QB that isn't a redshirt let him start! If he does bad put your regular starter back in and see if he gets his game back.




NOTE: I am, and have never been, a coach of anything.

That QB must be horrible because he didn't even see the field against UNI and was demoted this week.

He did play in garbage time in one game and looked well less then impressive.

For the record I think our starter will start again but I don't think our coach is going to mess around if the redshirt looks good in practice this week and the starter struggles during the game.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

What if Mertens gets hurt?

Who is your backup?

[FargoBison]

What if Mertens gets hurt?

Who is your backup?

It was the JUCO but the redshirt is now. So if Mertens goes down this week, the redshirt would be lifted and he would play.

[purplepeopleeaterv2]

Not a very smart move. Keep the red shirt and the extra year of eligibility. Burning it now just to save face isn't a good idea at all. Take your licks go into summer camp of next year and figure out who will start from there. You don't want to get into a 2 QB cluster****. Look how well that's boded for LSU and VT....

[Thunderstruck84]

I understand why the coaching staff would like to see where Mohler is at but they're going to have 9 months after the season to figure that out. I think it would be healthier for the team to let Mertens finish the year with the understanding that he's going to be in a battle for his job next year. It would pretty much be giving up on him for next year also by benching him with a lifted reshirt this year. Keeping the redshirt leaves your options open for '09 and doesn't throw a year of eligibility for Mohler down the drain.

[BisonBacker]

I was of the opinion earlier not to pull it but now I'm on board with pulling it. Obviously practice and game time experience are two totally different things. Pulling the redshirt now tells you in 4 games what your young QB can do talent wise. Waiting until next season on face value sounds like the obvious move but what if he falters then you have two QB's who will struggle and you throw away another season? No way. If they can find out now what Mohler has in the tank and see if he can respond then they have a better idea what they need to recruit for in the future. Mohler would still have 3 good years. If he tanks then you go after another QB who can produce without having to wait another season to find out. Pull the dam thing and let the kid play. Mertens should not be the QB next year, no way he can't read a defense if his life depended on it.

[Kymermosst]

At this point in the year, is a redshirt really ready to play?

I've never played, so this is just conjecture, but I have to imagine that the mindset is a lot different for a redshirt than for someone who has been active all year. Especially this far into the season.

If your team is struggling now, what good will it do? You throw in a true freshman who wasn't planning on or fully prepared to play this year, to try to take the reigns of a team that he's not experienced with and that is already facing confidence issues. You're not going to see the same Mohler now that you would at the beginning of a season. A couple days of shared practice time isn't going to change that. Then you've lost all faith in Mohler and Mertens and haven't fixed anything.

And if you already know Mertens isn't that good, go out and look for another QB for '09. Let the new kid be in the mix with Mertens and Mohler for the starting job. Otherwise, this offseason you're trying to bring in 2 new guys to compete for the starting and backup jobs, and giving the ol' F-You to Mertens and to Mohler. Just seems foolish to me.