MINNEAPOLIS – MarQueis Gray jogs off the field on another unseasonably chilly April day at TCF Bank Stadium.
The University of Minnesota's new quarterback probably would love to hop on the bus with his teammates and head back to the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex, where a hot shower and a hot meal await. But the junior-to-be has additional responsibilities this afternoon – and every afternoon from here on out, for that matter.
Gray takes off his helmet, shakes the hair out of his face, looks directly at the crowd with the microphones and notebooks, smiles and says, "Shoot."
It's MarQueis Gray's time to shine.
Gray came to Minnesota three years ago as one of the nation's top recruits, but since he picked the Gophers over Oregon and other national powers, his trip to the top of the quarterback depth chart has been anything but smooth.
First he had to clear up an academic concern with the NCAA that sidelined him for his first year out of high school. Then he couldn't wrestle the starting job away from incumbent Adam Weber, so he moved to wide receiver for two seasons.
Now that Weber has graduated, Gray is back behind center and all's right with the world.
"To me, this is my home," Gray said with a smile. "I've been waiting ever since I got to college to play this position. Now it's just my time to learn this offense and do something special with this team to help this team do good."
Making the adjustment back to quarterback is just one of the hurdles facing Gray this year. He's also adjusting to a new offense installed by a new coaching staff led by Jerry Kill, who was hired away from Northern Illinois to replace the fired Tim Brewster, who originally landed Gray as a star recruit from Ben Davis HIgh School in Indianapolis. And by the time he takes his first snap at Southern Cal on Sept. 3, it'll have been five years since he last started a game at quarterback – he missed most of his senior year of high school with a broken arm.
But Minnesota's new offensive coordinator, Matt Limegrover, said the starting quarterback job wasn't handed to Gray – he had to earn it, and not just through his performance during spring practice or because he has the most impressive resume.
"He is our best quarterback not because he's our best athlete but because he's our best quarterback," Limegrover said. "He's studied what we do the most. He wore out (quarterbacks) Coach (Jim) Zebrowski when Coach got here. He was thirsty to learn. He was getting film from us from our last couple of years at Northern (Illinois), he was asking questions, so when we hit the first day of spring ball, he was ready to lead us because he had the best grasp of our offense."
Gray agreed that working with his new coaches early and often was an important part of his development.
"I met with the coaches before everyone else did once they first got here – actually that (first) night – and we started talking about the playbook," Gray said. "I just wanted to get a head start on the playbook and be able to put guys in the right spot on the field once we started."
That preparation has been crucial because Kill's offense relies heavily on the quarterback making pre-snap reads in order to set the wheels in motion. It should also give Minnesota's receivers frequent one-on-one matchups as defenses stack the line of scrimmage to prevent Gray from using his size (6-foot-4, 230 pounds) and speed (he reportedly runs a 4.4 40-yard dash) to attack them on the ground.
"I think I'm going to be able to fit in perfectly because I'm a dual-threat quarterback," Gray said. "Once I'm in the game, defenses are going to have to respect the fact that I can run the ball, because that's all I've been doing recently since I've been here is run the ball. But now that I'm at quarterback full-time and getting more repetitions in throwing the ball, they're not going to be sure. They're going to have to defend both this time."
Gray played a few series at quarterback over the last two years – he threw a touchdown at Ohio State as a freshman, but mostly ran the ball out of the backfield otherwise – but his time at wide receiver was no dalliance. Last season he was Minnesota's second-leading receiver with 42 catches for 587 yards and five touchdowns, and Brewster predicted on a national radio show that Gray would one day be a top-10 NFL draft choice as a receiver.
While he might not cash in on that experience under the new regime, having played in front of 100,000 screaming fans and in stadiums with a third deck will help make the adjustment to the starting quarterback role a bit smoother this fall.
"Having that under his belt, he's not a green rookie player," Limegrover said. "He's been through it, and I think we need that pretty bad because we just don't have enough of those guys who have been through it and know what it's going to take and what's involved. So having a guy like that at quarterback as our leader, it's pretty comforting."
Senior running back Duane Bennett said he expects Gray's leadership to emerge more through his actions than his words.
"From what I've seen this spring, he's been more of a playmaker for us," Bennett observed. "He's been a guy who's gone out there and shown leadership by example, not exactly being a 'hoo-rah' guy or getting the guys riled up. … When we call for a play on third-and-10, when we tell the offense that we need a first down to keep the chains moving, he's been the guy who's going to run for it, he's going to throw for it, he's going to do it by any means necessary."
After a spring spent installing the basics of the new offense, Gray will find a few new wrinkles waiting for him when he returns for practice this fall.
"Now we can take the summer and be a little bit of mad scientists, get in that offensive staff room and come up with some things that will really show his talents and give us a chance to score a lot of points and win some games by putting him in some different situations," Limegrover said.
Regardless of what this fall brings, Gray said his main goal on the field is to help the team win, and off the field it's to get his degree in Youth Studies. As for Brewster's prediction of NFL greatness, he said that sounds fine by him, with one slight tweak.
"I would love to play quarterback, but it's up to whatever team wants me first," Gray said. "If I'm fortunate enough to go to the NFL, I would love to do that. I'll just have to work hard at either position in the offseason, but I would love to play quarterback."
After five years, he'll finally get his chance to do just that.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment