I can understand the angst regarding the ho-hum recruiting (perceived or otherwise), but even I, an angst-filled fan if there is one, am not overly concerned about the recruiting yet. Everybody loves flashy recruits, however flashy upper midwestern linemen recruits are hard to get (yet we have one locked and are still in play for the flashiest of them all), and plenty of non flashy under-the-radar lineman recruits have succeeded quite well at this level and the next. As I stated elsewhere I think we have a solid offensive line class and it is not even August, so we should be happy, and with luck it will get better in a big way
Kickers are not even really rated by most services, and thus not too flashy/sexy, yet just about any that do prognosticate on the matter say we have a top ten kicker coming in, and I have seen some horsesh#t kickers at the U in my ten years in the stands so godspeed to that maneuver and lets hope the kid is more than solid for four years.
As toward not having enough defense, in his vaunted '08 class Brewster had only swayed Maresh at this juncture of the summer (who, given his enthusiasm for the Maroon and Gold, may well have been a lock had you or I been giving the recruitment speech). Last year we saw a rival's headline: "Minnesota nearly complete on offenses?" on July 17, but lets not linger on that due to its Eric Stephens sour-taste-in-my-mouth factor and suffice to say that Brewster has come out big on offense in the past. This is fitting in Brewster's pattern of work thus far, which if you approve of his work to date should help assuage your trepidations. The man seems to thrive in the recruitment visit during the season.
Am I concerned that we don't seem to have a lot of leads on highly touted defensive backs? In a word, yes. Likewise I would be more at ease if we had a couple big name big men runstoppers ready to defend the line of scrimmage who were at least interested in giving us a weekend this fall to see what we are all about and let Brew work his mojo. We were seemingly listed in more high profile recruits' top ten or five school lists overall last year, and I hoped that the new stadium digs might be the difference maker Brewster lacked previously with those misses. Now he needs to get those high-caliber kids in the door, because I think we will have a top notch gameday experience moving forward.
That being said, I provide this quote as anecdote that Brewster welcomes a brave new world in Minnesota recruiting: "The talented prospect said that right now Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Miami, South Carolina, Florida State, Florida and
Minnesota stand out to the Warner Robins junior." [queue the music] "One of these things is not like the other one..." Referring to a rivals 4 star defensive tackle out of Georgia, it is statements like this that give me the most hope for the future and a smile on my face when I read them.
We are losing a ton of defenders to graduation after this season including 6 linemen and 5 linebackers. Still I welcome the needed attention to the offensive line, and kicking. Now saying that if another 4 star running back wants to come aboard the Gopher train, I say all aboard! If the past is any indicator we might well lose some to decommitments and academic disqualificaition, so I understand the casting of wide nets. We are hardly at a state in this program that we can afford to be turning highly recruited RBs away before Autumn regardless of the two we signed!
