Maize n Brew at the Freep: The evolution of Devin Gardner

As far as the Denard vs. Devin debate: I'm not interested.

What I am interested in is the rapid maturation that we have seen from Devin Gardner as quarterback. This is a guy who the past three spring games has looked shaky and uncomfortable dealing with everything happening on the field. In spot time last season he didn't always fare well -- evidenced by his somewhat tragic illegal forward pass against the Spartans a year ago.

Now, nobody was quite writing him off as a quarterback prospect -- at least those rational enough to judge the situation without resorting to hyperbole -- but instead we mostly just pushed him off until next year. His development was something to worry about another day.

That isn't the case anymore. Gardner hasn't looked perfect, and there are still some major holes in his game, however, the most striking thing is that the game seems to be slowing down for him, and all the sudden he looks like the athletic quarterback we all hoped he might one day become.

All of it ahead of schedule too.