Justin Roper a Montana Grizzly

[MrTitleist]

Eeek! Supposedly a hell of a QB, transferring from Oregon, but I'm not sure how I feel about him bumping two Montana boys down the depth chart. But if he can get the team back to Chattanooga, all the better I suppose.

 

[J-Rod]

Great pickup! You think he will play right away?

FBS transfers are tricky. Some turn out well, like Rhett Bomar over at SHSU. And some end up like Jimmy Barnes at Weber State, who transferred from Alabama to WSU and did absolutely nothing.

Montana is not a school that breeds bad QBs. Roper may not dominate at all, but I think he will pan out alright. Montana is not his home and nowhere near it too, so you know this kid has contacted the coaches and is confident he can win the position this fall.

Some say he can't run to save his life....you be the judge...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-0KaWVEBEU

After seeing that highlight among others, his running skills could be way worse then people make it out to be.

 

[MrTitleist]

Hard to tell. I would think he wouldn't come to Montana unless he was going to play this year. Whether he starts the season, who knows, we have a tough offense to learn. Our last transfer QB, Josh Swogger from Washington State, came here in 2006 and took us to the semi-finals as a senior, another year in the system and he likely would have exploded. Time will tell, I'll probably try to catch him during some 7 on 7 drills this summer and see how he looks. The WRs are excited to see him here, but hope he doesn't have any baggage and is a good person, as the team is slightly suffering from character issues right now, plus we've had some previous transfers that came with baggage and left the team with even more. He was looking at Towson and UMass as well, but Towson wouldn't have been a good place for him as they're a pretty bad team.

I was hoping Oregon's receiver Pflugrad would come over. His Dad left Oregon's staff to come coach MT this year, plus his sister Amanda is smokin' hot, she was a cheerleader for UO. But it appears that Pflugrad is going to Arizona St.

 

[J-Rod]

Went over to eGriz to read all the hoopla.....surprised to see so many fans that think Roper will struggle to learn the offense. You can't get much more complicated then what he had to learn at Oregon. I highly doubt, from what I've seen of the Griz, that the Montana offense is that difficult to learn.

I tell this all the time to some of the delusional Hawaii fans over at our board "Talent plays, end of story". If Roper is as good as advertised, he will play right off the bat. Some may argue that there are other QBs with better knowledge of the offense, but unless they have had extensive playing time, they have no real experience at all. You can know the system all you want, but until you have to step on the field and face a defense that doesn't give a sh!t about what color jersey you're wearing, you don't really know what you're doing.

Fortunately for Montana, they won't play a single team this year that will harass their offense to the point of a QB change. I say give the two top QBs equal snaps against all mighty Western State.

 

[MrTitleist]

The problem with Montana's offense is that it's a dynamic read offense. So the QB calls the play but they have no idea where the ball is going. It basically entails the QB and WR playing telepathy to figure out the route and where to put the ball.. our QB Swogger in 2006 had a little bit of trouble with it at first, and led to a game ending INT vs. UMass in the semis.. WR thought the route was one way, QB thought it was another.. ball was picked. Undoubtedly, Roper was brought here to start, so I expect to see him on the field for a quarter or two vs. Western State.. as by then we'll have rolled up 40 points.

 

[McPeachy]

I feel the NCAA should do something about this transfer down rule. It gives too many people out there the opportunity to really screw up, but continue to play & have school paid for. I think, transfer rules should be equal across the board...if you transfer, you lose a year of eligibility. Period.

I wonder what kind of a hit these schools would take though...probably not have near the talent on the roster(s) each year.

 

[MrTitleist]

I feel the NCAA should do something about this tranfer down rule. It gives too many people out there the opportunity to really screw up, but continue to play & have school paid for. I think, transfer rules should be equal across the board...if you transfer, you lose a year of eligibility. Period.

I wonder what kind of a hit these schools would take though...probably not have near the talent on the roster(s) each year.

Well, they did amend the rule (just two seasons ago) so that players that will be seniors cannot transfer, so you can only move down if you're going to be a junior. And if you laterally transfer then you sit out a year.. so if a Wyoming player went to Colorado that would be a one year sit, as well as if a Montana player went to James Madison, that would also be a one year sit. But I don't believe there is a 1 year sit out if you move up. Definitely not if you move down.

 

[McPeachy]

I feel the NCAA should do something about this tranfer down rule. It gives too many people out there the opportunity to really screw up, but continue to play & have school paid for. I think, transfer rules should be equal across the board...if you transfer, you lose a year of eligibility. Period.

I wonder what kind of a hit these schools would take though...probably not have near the talent on the roster(s) each year.

Well, they did amend the rule (just two seasons ago) so that players that will be seniors cannot transfer, so you can only move down if you're going to be a junior. And if you laterally transfer then you sit out a year.. so if a Wyoming player went to Colorado that would be a one year sit, as well as if a Montana player went to James Madison, that would also be a one year sit. But I don't believe there is a 1 year sit out if you move up. Definitely not if you move down.

You are 100% correct. My issue is, there are too many kids allowed to literally screw the pooch with a get out of jail free card in their hand (specifically transfers from any FBS school down to the next or lower level).

I knew some coaches from a FCS school that relied heavily on these kids every year...and their specific roster had 10 - 15 of them on it every year. These were kids that were recruited and rostered by the Big 6 (or similar FBS schools), that couldn't hack it there, showed up on a FCS doorstep, and were greeted with open arms and a scholarship without losing a second of eligibility. I don't agree (and never have) with that being allowed to happen.

 

[MrTitleist]

Portland State is like that now. Marshall was like that back in the 90s before they moved up. I think eliminating the senior transfers has helped incredibly.. I don't mind transfers.. sometimes a kid just wants to play and wants to go somewhere to do it. However, when teams rely on transfers to field their team, then yeah, it gets ridiculous.

I know Montana's been burned a couple times with transfers that came in with baggage and came here and further ruined their lives and the team's reputation.. we had a kid transfer from Arizona and another from Iowa State.. both came in and ended up in prison for a drug break-in. However, we took in JD Quinn after his ousting at Oklahoma and aside from a DUI he came in and was a contributing member of the team and is now in the NFL.