Optimistic QB Thinking

[Deeringfish]

I've been pondering the CT injury dilemma. Lots of talk about, "If CT were healthy NU would be a top team." etc. I was really encouraged to hear a few weeks ago that he was off crutches and out of a brace. I have no medical training but that seems really fast to me. Until proven otherwise, I'm taking this mindset. CT's injury was not as severe as it could have been and the repair was as successful as possible. CT is a very intelligent guy who will do his rehab but not over do it and he will be ready for Purdue. Meanwhile, the rest of he QB squad will get more meaningful and competitive practice this spring making them better as back ups for CT and starters when he graduates.

I choose to be optimistic about the OL when I was disappointed in the late shake up. I chose to believe that eventually they would over come the shake up and gel. It was too late for Wisconsin but it did play out eventually. So her you go.
Heres hoping.
Go Cats!

 

[Aging Booster]

I've been pondering the CT injury dilemma. Lots of talk about, "If CT were healthy NU would be a top team." etc. I was really encouraged to hear a few weeks ago that he was off crutches and out of a brace. I have no medical training but that seems really fast to me. Until proven otherwise, I'm taking this mindset. CT's injury was not as severe as it could have been and the repair was as successful as possible. CT is a very intelligent guy who will do his rehab but not over do it and he will be ready for Purdue. Meanwhile, the rest of he QB squad will get more meaningful and competitive practice this spring making them better as back ups for CT and starters when he graduates.

I choose to be optimistic about the OL when I was disappointed in the late shake up. I chose to believe that eventually they would over come the shake up and gel. It was too late for Wisconsin but it did play out eventually. So her you go.
Heres hoping.
Go Cats!

I do not wish to be negative, but Carr's great year and Thorson's improvement from his frosh campaign were in part premised upon the reps they had in the spring and summer - timing, knowledge of one another, expectations, etc. We will miss all of that this year. I feel that we lose a lot this spring at graduation - almost all of our secondary, TE, RB, a four year starter at C, hopefully only 1 LB (assuming Hall's return), a starting WR, and Lancaster as the anchor in the middle of our DL. I hope you and others expecting big things prove to be right.

 

[Hungry Jack]

The complicating factor with an ACL tear is damage to the meniscus. We will never know if CT's meniscus was damaged by the injury, but it does not appear that he has been forced to be non-weight bearing on that knee, which is a good sign. But he still as a torn ACL, and I would be surprised if he plays before October.

 

[chicagocatfan24]

The complicating factor with an ACL tear is damage to the meniscus. We will never know if CT's meniscus was damaged by the injury, but it does not appear that he has been forced to be non-weight bearing on that knee, which is a good sign. But he still as a torn ACL, and I would be surprised if he plays before October.

As of now he plans to be ready to go in August

 

[stpaulcat]

I've been pondering the CT injury dilemma. Lots of talk about, "If CT were healthy NU would be a top team." etc. I was really encouraged to hear a few weeks ago that he was off crutches and out of a brace. I have no medical training but that seems really fast to me. Until proven otherwise, I'm taking this mindset. CT's injury was not as severe as it could have been and the repair was as successful as possible. CT is a very intelligent guy who will do his rehab but not over do it and he will be ready for Purdue. Meanwhile, the rest of he QB squad will get more meaningful and competitive practice this spring making them better as back ups for CT and starters when he graduates.

I choose to be optimistic about the OL when I was disappointed in the late shake up. I chose to believe that eventually they would over come the shake up and gel. It was too late for Wisconsin but it did play out eventually. So her you go.
Heres hoping.
Go Cats!

I love it when we make things up about 'next season'. Nothing better than a swig of Purple Kool-Aid to put one in a good mood during the off season. But, too many unknowns. Won't it be great if CT is 100% by late August! although who knows? We want him to stay healthy for however much of the season he plays. That said, I am sanguine about next season, even with the loss of Godwin, Lancaster, JJ et.al.

 

[StreamCat]

I love it when we make things up about 'next season'. Nothing better than a swig of Purple Kool-Aid to put one in a good mood during the off season. But, too many unknowns. Won't it be great if CT is 100% by late August! although who knows? We want him to stay healthy for however much of the season he plays. I am sanguine about next season, even with the loss of Godwin, Lancaster, JJ et.al.

I'm confused. One minute you caution against a good mood caused by making things up, yet you find yourself sanguine. Pray tell us what you are making up in your own head about next season.

 

[stpaulcat]

I'm confused. One minute you caution against a good mood caused by making things up, yet you find yourself sanguine. Pray tell us what you are making up in your own head about next season.

Thanks. There's a difference between between creating a specific scenario which may or may not come to pass, and being generally positive that there will be a good outcome. I'm just taking a smaller swig of Purple Kool-Aid.

 

[Deeringfish]

I do not wish to be negative, but Carr's great year and Thorson's improvement from his frosh campaign were in part premised upon the reps they had in the spring and summer - timing, knowledge of one another, expectations, etc. We will miss all of that this year. I feel that we lose a lot this spring at graduation - almost all of our secondary, TE, RB, a four year starter at C, hopefully only 1 LB (assuming Hall's return), a starting WR, and Lancaster as the anchor in the middle of our DL. I hope you and others expecting big things prove to be right.

Of course tons of things can go wrong but there are a couple of hundred (maybe 1,000 if you count the maintenance and construction people) players, staff, doctors, coaches, etc putting energy onto things going right. We are a long way from August, I always have plenty of things to worry about and never enough to hope for.

 

[mikewebb68]

I do not wish to be negative, but Carr's great year and Thorson's improvement from his frosh campaign were in part premised upon the reps they had in the spring and summer - timing, knowledge of one another, expectations, etc. We will miss all of that this year. I feel that we lose a lot this spring at graduation - almost all of our secondary, TE, RB, a four year starter at C, hopefully only 1 LB (assuming Hall's return), a starting WR, and Lancaster as the anchor in the middle of our DL. I hope you and others expecting big things prove to be right.

Think you're overlooking the fact that our starting deep threat at WR did not play at all last season, and his backup played only a portion of last season. An inability to stretch the field is an absolute killer for a passing game. We were so desperate to go deep at times that we were even sending Bennett deep on some "throw it up and pray" calls, some of which actually worked due to his size. But that is quite different than having someone who at least can provide the remote possibility of taking the top off a defense. We should have that with Vault this year, and perhaps Jalen as well....

 

[Aging Booster]

Think you're overlooking the fact that our starting deep threat at WR did not play at all last season, and his backup played only a portion of last season. An inability to stretch the field is an absolute killer for a passing game. We were so desperate to go deep at times that we were even sending Bennett deep on some "throw it up and pray" calls, some of which actually worked due to his size. But that is quite different than having someone who at least can provide the remote possibility of taking the top off a defense. We should have that with Vault this year, and perhaps Jalen as well....

I do not wish to be defensive, but I do not think your comments are at all responsive to mine. My concern is with the amount of time CT has to practice with his wideouts and a new center on the OL. Given the importance of spring and summer practices in developing a relationship between Carr and CT, as a well-documented example, our passing game may suffer this year even if CT is ready to go for the Purdue game. I hope this does not prove to be a problem, but it seems likely to be. I add, only for the sake of tempering unreasonable expectations, that we lose Wilson and Dickerson as well.

 

[CatManTrue]

The complicating factor with an ACL tear is damage to the meniscus. We will never know if CT's meniscus was damaged by the injury, but it does not appear that he has been forced to be non-weight bearing on that knee, which is a good sign. But he still as a torn ACL, and I would be surprised if he plays before October.

If Clayton had a significantly torn meniscus as well as the torn ACL then we’d be lucky to get him back this season at all. The NU athletics department would’ve likely announced an injury of that severity and targeted a 2019 return.

However if it was a “clean” tear of just the ACL, Clayton being ready for Purdue isn’t that unrealistic. Baz was able to come back with a broken leg in the same season in 2002, and the medical procedures on ACLs / knees / legs were primitive compared to 2018. My freshman roommate had to retire due to knee injuries that likely could be easily repaired now by Dr. Lindley (who was our team trainer back then).

I’m not holding my breath either way - but I don’t want Thorson to rush back for his 5th season prematurely and potentially risk his career. I do hope that our recruiting and coaching have been strong enough to anticipate that CT could have left early for the draft anyway, and will have a Big Ten caliber starter ready for West Lafayette regardless.

 

[BigNUFan51]

I think it’s unrealistic to expect Thorson ready for Week 1. Even if he is medically cleared he’s still going to need to get into game shape and shake off the rust.

 

[stpaulcat]

If Clayton had a significantly torn meniscus as well as the torn ACL then we’d be lucky to get him back this season at all. The NU athletics department would’ve likely announced an injury of that severity and targeted a 2019 return.

However if it was a “clean” tear of just the ACL, Clayton being ready for Purdue isn’t that unrealistic. Baz was able to come back with a broken leg in the same season in 2002, and the medical procedures on ACLs / knees / legs were primitive compared to 2018. My freshman roommate had to retire due to knee injuries that likely could be easily repaired now by Dr. Lindley (who was our team trainer back then).

I’m not holding my breath either way - but I don’t want Thorson to rush back for his 5th season prematurely and potentially risk his career. I do hope that our recruiting and coaching have been strong enough to anticipate that CT could have left early for the draft anyway, and will have a Big Ten caliber starter ready for West Lafayette regardless.

"and will have a Big Ten caliber starter ready for West Lafayette regardless." Based on past history it takes a year or two for us to transition from one QB to the next, so I wouldn't count on that.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

"and will have a Big Ten caliber starter ready for West Lafayette regardless." Based on past history it takes a year or two for us to transition from one QB to the next, so I wouldn't count on that.

You mean like the last time when we won 10 games?

 

[stpaulcat]

You mean like the last time when we won 10 games?

We are talking about offense, aren't we?

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

We are talking about offense, aren't we?

No we are talking about wins.

 

[stpaulcat]

No we are talking about wins.

If we're talking about QB, we are talking about offense.

 

[ashley0623_rivals]

Seems like acl recoveries are improving. My brother, for example, tore his acl, had surgery, and returned to games 5 months later. He was supposed to miss his entire season. I would bet Thorson is good to go for Purdue.

 

[mikewebb68]

I do not wish to be defensive, but I do not think your comments are at all responsive to mine. My concern is with the amount of time CT has to practice with his wideouts and a new center on the OL. Given the importance of spring and summer practices in developing a relationship between Carr and CT, as a well-documented example, our passing game may suffer this year even if CT is ready to go for the Purdue game. I hope this does not prove to be a problem, but it seems likely to be. I add, only for the sake of tempering unreasonable expectations, that we lose Wilson and Dickerson as well.

CT has practiced with Vault a lot, as is the case with many of his returning receivers.

 

[LACatFan]

If Clayton had a significantly torn meniscus as well as the torn ACL then we’d be lucky to get him back this season at all. The NU athletics department would’ve likely announced an injury of that severity and targeted a 2019 return.

However if it was a “clean” tear of just the ACL, Clayton being ready for Purdue isn’t that unrealistic. Baz was able to come back with a broken leg in the same season in 2002, and the medical procedures on ACLs / knees / legs were primitive compared to 2018. My freshman roommate had to retire due to knee injuries that likely could be easily repaired now by Dr. Lindley (who was our team trainer back then).

I’m not holding my breath either way - but I don’t want Thorson to rush back for his 5th season prematurely and potentially risk his career. I do hope that our recruiting and coaching have been strong enough to anticipate that CT could have left early for the draft anyway, and will have a Big Ten caliber starter ready for West Lafayette regardless.

Remember what happened with Dan Persa?

Danny went down with an Achilles injury (yes, I know, different from Thorson's situation) in November of the 2010 season and didn't return under center for the 2011 campaign until the fourth game. That was despite all noise about him being ready to go the preceding summer, with the Persa Strong campaign adding fuel to the fire.

No knock on Dan. He started when he was medically able to. Thorson will hopefully be able to do the same, but I'm not holding my breath that it will be vs. Purdue.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

I've been pondering the CT injury dilemma. Lots of talk about, "If CT were healthy NU would be a top team." etc. I was really encouraged to hear a few weeks ago that he was off crutches and out of a brace. I have no medical training but that seems really fast to me. Until proven otherwise, I'm taking this mindset. CT's injury was not as severe as it could have been and the repair was as successful as possible. CT is a very intelligent guy who will do his rehab but not over do it and he will be ready for Purdue. Meanwhile, the rest of he QB squad will get more meaningful and competitive practice this spring making them better as back ups for CT and starters when he graduates.

I choose to be optimistic about the OL when I was disappointed in the late shake up. I chose to believe that eventually they would over come the shake up and gel. It was too late for Wisconsin but it did play out eventually. So her you go.
Heres hoping.
Go Cats!

I’m hoping he is good to go for Purdue

 

[Dadof2Cats]

I've been pondering the CT injury dilemma. Lots of talk about, "If CT were healthy NU would be a top team." etc. I was really encouraged to hear a few weeks ago that he was off crutches and out of a brace. I have no medical training but that seems really fast to me. Until proven otherwise, I'm taking this mindset. CT's injury was not as severe as it could have been and the repair was as successful as possible. CT is a very intelligent guy who will do his rehab but not over do it and he will be ready for Purdue. Meanwhile, the rest of he QB squad will get more meaningful and competitive practice this spring making them better as back ups for CT and starters when he graduates.

I choose to be optimistic about the OL when I was disappointed in the late shake up. I chose to believe that eventually they would over come the shake up and gel. It was too late for Wisconsin but it did play out eventually. So her you go.
Heres hoping.
Go Cats!

One source sees Clayton as a top 5 pick in next years draft.

http://walterfootball.com/draft2019.php

 

[NJCat]

One source sees Clayton as a top 5 pick in next years draft.

http://walterfootball.com/draft2019.php

"postseason exhibition game". LOL.

 

[hdhntr1]

I've been pondering the CT injury dilemma. Lots of talk about, "If CT were healthy NU would be a top team." etc. I was really encouraged to hear a few weeks ago that he was off crutches and out of a brace. I have no medical training but that seems really fast to me. Until proven otherwise, I'm taking this mindset. CT's injury was not as severe as it could have been and the repair was as successful as possible. CT is a very intelligent guy who will do his rehab but not over do it and he will be ready for Purdue. Meanwhile, the rest of he QB squad will get more meaningful and competitive practice this spring making them better as back ups for CT and starters when he graduates.

I choose to be optimistic about the OL when I was disappointed in the late shake up. I chose to believe that eventually they would over come the shake up and gel. It was too late for Wisconsin but it did play out eventually. So her you go.
Heres hoping.
Go Cats!

Not really. Sounds like you are talking early April so you are talking a couple months after surgery? He is pretty young and you can get off crutches pretty quickly. The brace is more for protection so it is more about what he was doing.

 

[hdhntr1]

I love it when we make things up about 'next season'. Nothing better than a swig of Purple Kool-Aid to put one in a good mood during the off season. But, too many unknowns. Won't it be great if CT is 100% by late August! although who knows? We want him to stay healthy for however much of the season he plays. That said, I am sanguine about next season, even with the loss of Godwin, Lancaster, JJ et.al.

100% is about 18 months. 85% would be great.

 

[hdhntr1]

I do not wish to be defensive, but I do not think your comments are at all responsive to mine. My concern is with the amount of time CT has to practice with his wideouts and a new center on the OL. Given the importance of spring and summer practices in developing a relationship between Carr and CT, as a well-documented example, our passing game may suffer this year even if CT is ready to go for the Purdue game. I hope this does not prove to be a problem, but it seems likely to be. I add, only for the sake of tempering unreasonable expectations, that we lose Wilson and Dickerson as well.

My guess is that Spring is past but by Summer he should be ready to practice and develop that timing.

 

[hdhntr1]

If Clayton had a significantly torn meniscus as well as the torn ACL then we’d be lucky to get him back this season at all. The NU athletics department would’ve likely announced an injury of that severity and targeted a 2019 return.

However if it was a “clean” tear of just the ACL, Clayton being ready for Purdue isn’t that unrealistic. Baz was able to come back with a broken leg in the same season in 2002, and the medical procedures on ACLs / knees / legs were primitive compared to 2018. My freshman roommate had to retire due to knee injuries that likely could be easily repaired now by Dr. Lindley (who was our team trainer back then).

I’m not holding my breath either way - but I don’t want Thorson to rush back for his 5th season prematurely and potentially risk his career. I do hope that our recruiting and coaching have been strong enough to anticipate that CT could have left early for the draft anyway, and will have a Big Ten caliber starter ready for West Lafayette regardless.

I had my ACL done in 97. Sure it is that much more advanced since then? It was already done arthoscopically and the biggest issue was healing the wound from taking out the patella tendon. While I am sure there have been advances since then, not sure it is as game changing (like going from opening the knee to doing everything arthoscopically) was. While the first few weeks were hard, overall recovery was not that bad. A better point of reference would be Correy Wooton as his surgery was done in around 2009/10 and probably pretty similar to what CT would go through. I don't think CT needs to to be as fully recovered as CW to be effective

 

[hdhntr1]

Seems like acl recoveries are improving. My brother, for example, tore his acl, had surgery, and returned to games 5 months later. He was supposed to miss his entire season. I would bet Thorson is good to go for Purdue.

I have a BIL who had a torn ACL (snowskiing) and was back playing club hockey in about 1-1.5 months. That was about 10 years ago and he is a bit nuts. It was not his first ACL.

Remember what happened with Dan Persa?

Danny went down with an Achilles injury (yes, I know, different from Thorson's situation) in November of the 2010 season and didn't return under center for the 2011 campaign until the fourth game. That was despite all noise about him being ready to go the preceding summer, with the Persa Strong campaign adding fuel to the fire.

No knock on Dan. He started when he was medically able to. Thorson will hopefully be able to do the same, but I'm not holding my breath that it will be vs. Purdue.

I don't think Achillies are any where near as easy to recover from as ACLs. And again, I think it was relatively new surgery. No where near as common and recovery not as certain. Especially for Persa's game
.

 

[hdhntr1]

One source sees Clayton as a top 5 pick in next years draft.

http://walterfootball.com/draft2019.php

That would be the highest draft pick out of NU since... Hinton I believe

 

[NJCat]

That would be the highest draft pick out of NU since... Hinton I believe

And only the second NU QB to play for the Jints....Randy Dean being the other. Randy was an Olympian!!!Dang!!

 

[DarthCat]

God I hate comments like this:


Clayton Thorson is an underrated prospect because of his supporting cast.

 

[willycat]

And only the second NU QB to play for the Jints....Randy Dean being the other. Randy was an Olympian!!!Dang!!

Yep, Randy and his brother played on the USA Team Handball Team in the Olympics.

 

[NJCat]

God I hate comments like this:


Clayton Thorson is an underrated prospect because of his supporting cast.

You may hate it. But it's true.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I had my ACL done in 97. Sure it is that much more advanced since then? It was already done arthoscopically and the biggest issue was healing the wound from taking out the patella tendon. While I am sure there have been advances since then, not sure it is as game changing (like going from opening the knee to doing everything arthoscopically) was. While the first few weeks were hard, overall recovery was not that bad. A better point of reference would be Correy Wooton as his surgery was done in around 2009/10 and probably pretty similar to what CT would go through. I don't think CT needs to to be as fully recovered as CW to be effective

You are optimistic. I hope I am wrong, but I don’t see CT ready for the opener. It’s going to take some time to get timing back too. If CT is afraid to tuck it in and take off once in awhile, he will be a sitting duck.

 

[DarthCat]

You may hate it. But it's true.

I guess. Again, I can’t differentiate between All Big Ten lineman and WRs vs. a poor ‘supporting cast’ as so many on this board are experts at doing. But he did have two seasons with an eventual Belitnakov finalist and three so far with maybe the best RB in NU history. I don’t know.

 

[hdhntr1]

I guess. Again, I can’t differentiate between All Big Ten lineman and WRs vs. a poor ‘supporting cast’ as so many on this board are experts at doing. But he did have two seasons with an eventual Belitnakov finalist and three so far with maybe the best RB in NU history. I don’t know.

Really had one real season with Carr. His Jr. year was pretty pedestrian. You have a point with JJ but not sure how much they would consider the running game being support. Maybe his pass catching ability they would count. We know it helps but not sure they would count it as supporting cast for the QB. More likely they look at completion percentage and yds thrown for and then they would likely be dealing with receivers and maybe OL

 

[NJCat]

Really had one real season with Carr. His Jr. year was pretty pedestrian. You have a point with JJ but not sure how much they would consider the running game being support. Maybe his pass catching ability they would count. We know it helps but not sure they would count it as supporting cast for the QB. More likely they look at completion percentage and yds thrown for and then they would likely be dealing with receivers and maybe OL

Let's be honest...Clay has played with below average receivers and below average OLs. Yes, Carr was exceptional, but having one unicorn doesn't make up for the talent gap between NU and many (most?) other Power 5 schools.

 

[hdhntr1]

Let's be honest...Clay has played with below average receivers and below average OLs. Yes, Carr was exceptional, but having one unicorn doesn't make up for the talent gap between NU and many (most?) other Power 5 schools.

I agree that they were not wrong in their statement. Just saying why the supporting cast did not deserve as much credit as Darthcat wanted to give