Edit: Stats added - Gronowski quick cuts condensed full game video vs Okie ST 2024

[uihawk82]

Quick release, quick decision making, on a bad snap he didnt just fall on the ball but picked it up and threw out of bounds to save a big loss, you be the judge

South Dakota State Passing

Mark Gronowski#11
team

C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT		QBR
20/37	264	7.1	2	1		--
20/37	264	7.1	2	1

 

[Hawk_4shur]

That's interesting. Better than another highlight reel. You get to see more of the body of work.

Quick throws, decisive, tough runner. All against a pretty good team.

 

[Easthawk1062]

Some good balls some bad balls and everything in between in that. Has a pretty solid pocket presence and keeps his eyes down field while under duress. Can definitely see why Lester wants him (runs pretty good Read option and RPO game)and hopefully he bridges the gap until we get another QB ready.

 

[BrunoMars420]

Looks like he takes what is given to him in this video at least. If his first read isn’t there then he just dropped it off to his back which could explain his low INTs. Good running QB that should have success in this offense from what I’ve seen from Lester this past year. Doesn’t look all world but above avg and a clear improvement over anyone in our QB room.

 

[hexumhawk]

Play that impressed me the most was the missed SG snap that went 10 yards behind him. He was able to pick it up and get the ball off beyond the LOS to avoid a penalty or a 20 yard loss.

 

[squeezebox]

Watching this film really emphasizes the idea of having great crossing schemes with the WRs.

 

[squeezebox]

Play that impressed me the most was the missed SG snap that went 10 yards behind him. He was able to pick it up and get the ball off beyond the LOS to avoid a penalty or a 20 yard loss.

not sure noodle arm would have been able to get that ball back past the line of scrimmage, now if the Hilldozer got it, he would throw it out of the stadium.

 

[hexumhawk]

Watching this film really emphasizes the idea of having great crossing schemes with the WRs.

Obviously SDSU doesn't have the WR's to go deep often on an OK St. but you can still see he throws a good long ball in most of his clips. Iowa is probably in the same spot to a degree as we don't have a deep WR room with deep threats. They will need to get creative with crossing routes, screens, misdirection, etc.

 

[Beattheohiostate]

Obviously SDSU doesn't have the WR's to go deep often on an OK St. but you can still see he throws a good long ball in most of his clips. Iowa is probably in the same spot to a degree as we don't have a deep WR room with deep threats. They will need to get creative with crossing routes, screens, misdirection, etc.

Maybe. But I would suggest all you need to have a deep threat is to send someone deep. Hayden did it with Dave Moritz, to name one, a guy with modest speed but great hands who, to name one of many examples, famously got behind the speedy Tennessee DBs in the Peach Bowl and zig-zagged his way to a long touchdown in an Iowa win WAY back in 1982.

But if you insist on speed, maybe try sending that walkon down the field, you know, the All-American kick returner--Wetjen I believe his name is.

Good QBs throw receivers open. Good receivers go get the ball. None of this is anywhere near as difficult as Iowa makes it look. We know that by understanding football AND by watching pretty much every other football team in America, at every level, do it successfully.

 

[squeezebox]

Maybe. But I would suggest all you need to have a deep threat is to send someone deep. Hayden did it with Dave Moritz, to name one, a guy with modest speed but great hands who, to name one of many examples, famously got behind the speedy Tennessee DBs in the Peach Bowl and zig-zagged his way to a long touchdown in an Iowa win WAY back in 1982.

But if you insist on speed, maybe try sending that walkon down the field, you know, the All-American kick returner--Wetjen I believe his name is.

Good QBs throw receivers open. Good receivers go get the ball. None of this is anywhere near as difficult as Iowa makes it look. We know that by understanding football AND by watching pretty much every other football team in America, at every level, do it successfully.

If the line can protect for long enough to get the play action working, there will be a deep threat available, but you are right about hitting the open WR.

 

[uihawk82]

Maybe. But I would suggest all you need to have a deep threat is to send someone deep. Hayden did it with Dave Moritz, to name one, a guy with modest speed but great hands who, to name one of many examples, famously got behind the speedy Tennessee DBs in the Peach Bowl and zig-zagged his way to a long touchdown in an Iowa win WAY back in 1982.

But if you insist on speed, maybe try sending that walkon down the field, you know, the All-American kick returner--Wetjen I believe his name is.

Good QBs throw receivers open. Good receivers go get the ball. None of this is anywhere near as difficult as Iowa makes it look. We know that by understanding football AND by watching pretty much every other football team in America, at every level, do it successfully.

Dave Moritz also famously got himself behind the buckeye secondary late in a game at kinnick for a very long gain or TD to ice that win. Moritz had great moves and he put one on in that play

 

[uihawk82]

Stats in that game, pretty good, we would love those numbers, a few incompletes were throwaways

South Dakota State Passing,

Mark Gronowski#11
team

C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT		QBR
20/37	264	7.1	2	1		--
20/37	264	7.1	2	1

 

[ICHawk2440]

I’m calling a Nate Stanley type season next year.(statistically) Hopefully defense makes a comeback and it shapes up to be a good season. A turn around by the offense will be huge for getting skill position players

 

[stanzithemanzi12]

SDSU looks like they have better WRs than we do.

 

[HawkAlum2002]

Stats in that game, pretty good, we would love those numbers, a few incompletes were throwaways

South Dakota State Passing,

Mark Gronowski#11
team

C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT		QBR
20/37	264	7.1	2	1		--
20/37	264	7.1	2	1

About three incompletes were also dropped interceptions though, so hopefully that had more to do with Okie State having good coverage than forcing the ball. Also missed a couple open guys, but I like that he did at least get a couple completions under pressure on checkdowns to at least gain some positive yardage. 2nd and 8 is still better than 2nd and 10 all things considered.

 

[Hawkstate1]

I hate to be negative, but he looks like Sully 2.0. I am missing the greatness I guess. I hope that he does well.

 

[2D_]

Considering how badly outmatched his OLine was, he looked calm and composed in the pocket. He's got a nice touch on a number of passes. Isn't quick to run when there's pressure like Sully is. Some great passes his WRs just dropped, a few bad passes on the run. Give him some time in the pocket and he can throw a dime. We can only pray we get better pass pro next year.

 

[UndercoverHawk]

I can’t be the only one that wasn’t super impressed by this film. Also didn’t take a snap under center.

 

[ICHawk2440]

I can’t be the only one that wasn’t super impressed by this film. Also didn’t take a snap under center.

You aren’t the only one. But he definitely is a B1G level QB, I would say better vision than Sully.. I’m calling a middle of the B1G type season for him. Hopefully Sully sticks around and has some packages. Not gonna complain about the pick up. I hope it opens a path to even better recruiting

 

[Hawks2405]

He's a huge upgrade over McNamara.

 

[Rambler Hawk]

SDSU looks like they have better WRs than we do.

You could probably say that about many programs across the country....maybe even throw in a few of the U.S. service academies as well...

 

[danny14]

Looks like he can move a team down the field by moving the chains with his short passing game. Longest pass was about 30 yards but looks like he has a pretty solid arm. 3 balls that could have been intercepted. A couple in the flat that were a little scary. Quick release...think they will need to let him run 8-10 times a game to get the most out of him. Overall, a good pickup because of his experience, poise, confidence and running ability.

 

[dogs rule]

That's interesting. Better than another highlight reel. You get to see more of the body of work.

Quick throws, decisive, tough runner. All against a pretty good team.

Okie State was 3-9 in the Big 12. Winless in conference games. I wouldn’t say this is a “pretty good team”.

 

[paednoch23]

Kits of 3 yard passes there. Perfect fit

 

[desihawk]

he looked kind of average imo. at least 2 more very very easy INTs dropped by osu. if it's open competition obviously he will be in the mix but there's a good chance one of the other guys could be starter.

 

[fezzador]

SDSU looks like they have better WRs than we do.

There are high schools that have better WRs than Iowa does (well, maybe not in the state of Iowa, but certainly in the South)

 

[BigOHawk]

How many WR receptions did PSU have last night? I thought it was ZERO at some point in 2nd half...yes, they have a great TE and solid running game but that stat flabbergasted me...we are talking about a blue blood with a decent history at WR....nuts.

 

[Ladell-hawk]

How many WR receptions did PSU have last night? I thought it was ZERO at some point in 2nd half...yes, they have a great TE and solid running game but that stat flabbergasted me...we are talking about a blue blood with a decent history at WR....nuts.

What is Gronowski having surgery for ?

 

[icantfindausernamethatisntused]

Pros:

• Good pocket awareness. Went through multiple progressions. Scrambled with purpose - kept eyes downfield.
• Good combo of mobility and size.

Meh:

• Arm strength and accuracy are okay. Made some nice throws, but also had some bad throws.
• Nice throws:
  • 4:07 - nicely timed out route throw. Not much separation between WR and DB. Had to be perfectly timed to complete. He started his throwing motion before the WR began his cut.
  • 4:34 - nice throw on an RPO hitting an open WR on a slant.
  • 4:44 - nice throw 20 yards downfield. Maybe generous calling this a good throw because WR was wide open, but he still placed it nicely between defenders and made life easy on WR. On the rare occasion Iowa gets an open WR like this, I've seen this throw missed too often the last 5 years.
  • 4:55 - 21 TD pass. By far best throw of the day. WR has little separation on go route, but QB throws it where only WR can catch it.
  • 6:25 - 60 yard TD pass. WR had a lot of separation, but perfect placement allowed WR to turn it into a TD rather than just a 35 yard completion.
  • 7:19 - 12 yard hook. Avoided pressure in the pocket, found soft spot in the zone and completed a pass in traffic.
• Bad throws:
  • 0:38 - misses open WR in the flat on 3rd and 2.
  • 0:48 - misses open TE on 4th and 2. TE tripped right before he threw it which messed up timing. But the throw looked a little rushed. Not sure how much blame to give to the TE vs. QB.
  • 4:16 - misses WR open over the middle. Not an easy throw because he had to feather it over an underneath LB, but still a throw you have to make.
  • 5:38 - misses RB in the flat on what should have been an easy 5 yard completion. Maybe the RB didn't come out of his break hard enough, but looked like a miss throw to me.
  • 6:41 - misses open WR 35 yards downfield. WR had about 3 steps on DB. Big missed opportunity.
  • 7:44 - 4th and 7, probably worst throw of the day. Rolls to his right to avoid pressure. Has WR wide open - nobody within 10 yards of him. Should have been an easy 20 yard completion before run after catch. But he spikes the ball 3 yards in front of the WR.
  • 8:00 - throws it right to a LB that he must not have seen. But the LB dropped the pick.
• The interception came on 3rd and 8 on an out route. Well timed throw, but defender made a good play. Not sure how fair to judge QB playing with SDSU athletes vs. a top 25 team. Would defer to a QB expert to grade that decision.

Comparing to Sullivan:

• Arm talent: about equal
• Decision making / pocket awareness: Gronowski > Sullivan
• Running: Sullivan > Gronowski

 

[BHoppy]

I have no idea how good he is and if he is better than Sullivan. But he should fill comfortable with the short 3-yard passing game.

 

[onionman1]

I can’t be the only one that wasn’t super impressed by this film. Also didn’t take a snap under center.

Indeed- he likely won't be doing RPO out of a shotgun spread formation at Iowa. At least I'll be shocked if he does.