Wills

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gophmeister

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I think this topic merits its won thread. Wills is now listed as 350 lbs on the roster and looks significantly less robust than in the spring. What is the potential impact of a fitter Jeff Wills on this offensive line? This seems like pretty good news to me.
 

gophmeister said:
I think this topic merits its won thread. Wills is now listed as 350 lbs on the roster and looks significantly less robust than in the spring. What is the potential impact of a fitter Jeff Wills on this offensive line? This seems like pretty good news to me.
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'Less robust' and 'a fitter Jeff Wills' are opposing meanings and don't fit your conclusion. Could you have meant less ROTUND?
 

upper body

gophmeister said:
I think this topic merits its won thread. Wills is now listed as 350 lbs on the roster and looks significantly less robust than in the spring. What is the potential impact of a fitter Jeff Wills on this offensive line? This seems like pretty good news to me.
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He had very little upper body strength when he arrived. He may have gained 15 pounds of muscle and lost 30 pounds of fat and net loss of 15 since last year. I know he was over 400 when he first arrived. He has worked hard and improved quite a bit from spring practice to the first game to the last game. Still has a ways to go but hopefully he had a good spring (Howard Griffin from BTN loved him this spring) and fall camp.

Olson is very good too, however.
 

WAGopher said:
'Less robust' and 'a fitter Jeff Wills' are opposing meanings and don't fit your conclusion. Could you have meant less ROTUND?
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Meant it in the sense of being full-bodied, but rotund is probably better.
 

Say what you want about Wills but nobody can question his work ethic... I've noticed that he has done nothing but improve himself physically and on the field day by day since he's got here. Watch the Syracuse game then watch the Iowa State game... I think him reporting at 350 is amazing news and can only help us...
 


It's really great to see. Jeff seems like a great kid and I'm really hoping he has a great senior year. If he cleans up the offsides he could be a big plus for us.
 

Section2 said:
It's really great to see. Jeff seems like a great kid and I'm really hoping he has a great senior year. If he cleans up the offsides he could be a big plus for us.
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Less weight will help. I saw him whistled in the MSU game, when he tensed his muscles, prior to the snap. The fat in his butt moved enough to see.
 

For our teams sake we have to hope this joke doesn't get handed the starting job.
 






draftnik2 said:
LOL someone's just trying to stir trouble in an otherwise pleasant post. Ignore this asshole.
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you clearly didn't watch any of the games last year. Between getting burned and his endless amount of penalties he hurt the team more then any other player on our team last year.
 

Wills is going to be impressive this year. He excells in run blocking. The weight loss and strength improvements will make him more effective against speed rushers.
 




Brew_recruit said:
you clearly didn't watch any of the games last year. Between getting burned and his endless amount of penalties he hurt the team more then any other player on our team last year.
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I can easily disagree and say that you clearly didn't watch any of the games last year. You are totally disregarding his improvement. To call someone who has obviously worked his ass off from 420 lbs and has improved steadily on the field "a JOKE" ruins all credibility you have.
 


Great kid, great family.
Even though I don't have 1,000 posts I'm behind you big fella. Drop some badgers on their a$$e$.
 

gophergv said:
Great kid, great family.
Even though I don't have 1,000 posts I'm behind you big fella. Drop some badgers on their a$$e$.
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Amen!! You can add my eight hundred and some posts to that sentiment.
 

draftnik2 said:
I can easily disagree and say that you clearly didn't watch any of the games last year. You are totally disregarding his improvement. To call someone who has obviously worked his ass off from 420 lbs and has improved steadily on the field "a JOKE" ruins all credibility you have.
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He was beyond terrible last year. He may of got better but he has no where near gained our trust back yet. What I mean by our are the guys who like to watch the linemen during games.
 

I closely watched Wills play, in a lot of games, he was constantly improving. He was great at locking up a player and staying with him until the whistle. Speed rushers did give him a problem. Although Wills has to share some of the blame, there were a lot of plays where Carufel was the problem. I'm real interested in seeing how the right side of the line plays this year. Davis has the reputation of producing solid Offensive Lines in his second year, Carufel is healthy and Wills is stronger and lighter. I have a hunch that the O-line will be a pleasant surprise.
 

Jeff will be okay. He did have a tough year in 2009, but it's a new year. Hard work does pay off. He might be one of the most improved players on offense. Go O-line!
 

Ultimately, the bottom-line is "how much athleticism does Wills possess?" Let me put this in perspective, former Vikings DE Keneche Udeze played his best football at 255lbs (although listed close to 300lbs, he dropped some weight after consulting with former Giants DE Michael Strahan), however when he arrived at USC as an 18-year-old freshman he was 400lbs+. Sometimes, heart, and hard-work goes along way...let's wish the best for Wills and all our bigmen in 2010!

On a side note: Former Golden Gopher Offensive lineman Jake Kuppe played at a similar "listed weight" of 6'7'' 365 lbs, who's the better Right Tackle?
 

he will be

much improved and a solid starter.
 

Brew_recruit said:
He was beyond terrible last year. He may of got better but he has no where near gained our trust back yet. What I mean by our are the guys who like to watch the linemen during games.
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Your opinion of someone's play is one thing. I take offense when someone like Wills who came here at 420 lbs, lost a lot of weight and has busted his ass and tried his best for the Gophers is called a JOKE...

only a true joke would call someone with that type of character a joke...
 

draftnik2 said:
Your opinion of someone's play is one thing. I take offense when someone like Wills who came here at 420 lbs, lost a lot of weight and has busted his ass and tried his best for the Gophers is called a JOKE...

only a true joke would call someone with that type of character a joke...
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Amen!
 


Wills started every game in a BCS conerence. He is not a joke.

Only a complete idiot, or someone who didn't watch the games with a critical eye, would say that Wills was a Joke.

He was actually pretty effective by the end of the year.

I'm quite happy to have him starting on this line for a second year.
 

Wills was okay last year - which was better than how the majority of the line played (at least run blocking; I actually thought they were decent pass blocking). The fact of the matter is, if there was ever a junior that needed to be redshirted, it was Wills last year. He was terribly weak, and terribly out of shape (who in the world is/was the strength coach at Lackawanna?). The fact that he wasn't redshirted speaks to the lack of options we had to play in his place, which is unfortunate.

Wills, and everyone else on the line, has to be better this year for the team to do anything. I think he will be, but I do wish he had one more year after this to perhaps be down to 335 or so and much, much stronger.
 

Honestly, I think Wills was at times our best offensive lineman LAST year. He was absolutely terrible in moments, but a lot of the time he was the only player moving anyone off the line.

He certainly had bad moments, but his bad moments stick out because of his size and where he plays. If you get bored, go back and watch just him throughout a game, by the middle of the year he was our best offensive lineman.
 

There is no question Wills improved throughout the year. His recent weight loss further shows his commitment to elevate his game. I see nothing but upside with this guy.
 

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