Unit by Unit evaluatio of the 2009 Gophers

Here is my assessment of the improvement or decline of each unit of the 2009 Gophers. I am not as good at evaluating the defense, so others can probably give a better assessment than me.

Quarterback: Improved
This is kind of a no-brainer. Weber is back and the surgery to his non-throwing arm should be all better. Marquise Gray is now an official member of the team and it sounds like he’ll be in the lineup. David Pittman took his 1st snap at QB in the Insight Bowl and threw a TD.

Running Back: Improved
We lose no-one. We gain a healthy Bennett, an experienced Eskridge and Salamon and Kevin Whaley could be a game-changer.

Receivers: Improved or vastly improved
We lost Ralph Spry and one other player (I can’t recall who it was) to transfer. But Decker comes back healthy and our freshmen starters from last year now have a lot of experience. Kuznia is clutch. If Carpenter arrives, then we have vastly improved.

Tight End and blocking backs: Decline
Simmons was underutilized, but a very good player. I like Tow-Arnett, but think that he is a step down from Simmons. I think our new offense will see more tight end and fullback use – but we have no idea of how good we are there because they were seldom used in the “spread coast” offense.

Offensive Line: Improved
How could we not improve? Better players (with Carufel & Wills), better coach, more time in the weight room, etc.

Kicking and Punting: Decline
Personally, I think Joel Monroe and Justin Kucek were vastly underappreciated by Gopher fans. If nothing else, they were quite experienced and had gotten a lot of dumb mistakes out of their system prior to last year. Even if their replacements are more skilled, their lack of game experience will result in a decline at these positions.

Kick and Punt Returning: No Change (or slightly improved)
Between Troy Stoudermier, Marcus Sherels and Jay Thomas, I think we have a very good return unit with a year of experience under their belts.

Defensive Line: Decline
DE Willie VanDeSteeg will be hard to replace. The returners are okay, but there are no stars on the defensive line. We have some underclassmen who could be really good in the future, but they aren’t ready yet.

Linebacker: Decline
Simoni Lawrence and Lee Campbell are back. But can Nate Triplett replace Deon Hightower or Steve Davis. There also seems to be a great lack of depth at LB.

Corners: No change (or slightly improved)
We return all of our corners (Big Play Tray, Marcus Sherels as starters plus Ryan Collado backing them up) and have the option of playing Michael Carter as a true freshman should the need arise.

Safeties: Decline
The loss of Tremaine Brock hurts. The starters look to be Kyle Theret and either Rallis or Kim Royston. Is it possible Brock will be back this fall?

Can others offer their assessment?

Broderick Smith was the other WR who left.

Evaluatio? Is that French?

But seriously though, why no mention of Hageman and Lair (with a full offseason in the training program) in the TEs? Why Triplett in the LBs, but no Cooper, Sharpe, Tinsley, or Reeves?

I'd actually assess TE as a wash, and the LB as improved. Hightower is replaceable, and Davis has been non-existent since his freshman year.

dpodoll68 said:

Evaluatio? Is that French?

But seriously though, why no mention of Hageman and Lair (with a full offseason in the training program) in the TEs? Why Triplett in the LBs, but no Cooper, Sharpe, Tinsley, or Reeves?

I'd actually assess TE as a wash, and the LB as improved. Hightower is replaceable, and Davis has been non-existent since his freshman year.

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First of all, the edit function doesn't seem to allow for correction of the subject line - hence "evaluatio".

Secondly, I'm no football genius, that is why I put this out there and asked for people to respond and comment. I think you are probably right about the Linebackers. I haven't seen enough from Hageman or Lair to tell whether they are as good as, or better than, Simmons. I really don't think Tow Arnett is.

I can agree with your sentiments toward Kucek but I disagree that Monroe was underappreciated by fans and with the notion that he had gotten the stupid mistakes out of his system. Monroe missed an extra point against Illinois that almost ended up meaning something and he missed a 20 yd FG against Northwestern that likely changed the outcome of the game. I don't think we can accurately judge whether our kicking game has improved or gotten worse until we get in to the season. Kucek didn't exactly have a great season last year and Monroe didn't set the bar very high. FWIW my friend scouted Orseske for another school and he had positive things to say about him.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Allen, Carpenter, or Stoudermire returning punts instead of Sherels because they all should be more dangerous with the ball in their hands. Stoudermire wasn't ready for it last year but he may be ready in year two. Allen & Carpenter both returned punts in HS & Juco respectively.

The CB's should be better with Sherels being back healthy, another year of experience for Simmons, Sherels, and Collado and the arrival of Michael Carter.

As far as DL, the DT's should be better (same guys with another year of weight training). Van De Steeg will be hard to replace so going in to the season we're weaker at WDE but remember that Jacobs seems to have passed up Onwauchi on the depth chart which indicates SDE should be improved. It may not be as clear cut as you indicate on whether the DL is better or worse because 3 of the 4 positions should see improvement and the key is McKinley replacing WVDS.

I'm not sure that I would say our LB's are going to be weaker. Campbell has lost some weight which apparently has really helped his quickness. Lawrence is over 225 lbs now (he was 210-215 last year) which should help him at the point of attack and he is much faster than Mannion was in the platoon so that should provide some improvement. Triplett isn't as athletic as Hightower at the WLB but while Hightower was a good hitter he wasn't exactly the smartest LB and he frequently took bad angles (think Mike Kafka). The backups (Maresh, Tinsley, Reeves, Cooper) are young but provide much more athleticism than we have had in the past. Until we get in to the season we won't know how ready the youngsters are but their athleticism gives us more upside than we have had in the past.

I agree with everything else you wrote re: QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, S. I'd call out some different players amongst WR's (Green, McKnight emerging, Stoudermire adding a playmaking threat) but directionally I agree w/ you.

Wrong on Monroe. Did he ever make a kick that mattered? His miss against NW cost the Gophers a 9 or 10 win season.

Go Gophers Rah said:

Personally, I think ... Justin Kucek [was] vastly underappreciated by Gopher fans.

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But not by Badger fans!

<br>slippery nut!

dpodoll68 said:

Evaluatio? Is that French?

But seriously though, why no mention of Hageman and Lair (with a full offseason in the training program) in the TEs? Why Triplett in the LBs, but no Cooper, Sharpe, Tinsley, or Reeves?

I'd actually assess TE as a wash, and the LB as improved. Hightower is replaceable, and Davis has been non-existent since his freshman year.

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I had the same thought when I read this post. Jack was a great guy, but disappeared as the season went on (yeah, he was hurt). I think Hageman might be a step up as a receiver. Cooper and Reeves will make our LBs much more athletic.

I guess we'll see.

Highwayman, that's faint praise but correct

Rashede Hageman will be the best tight end at Minnesota before he is done. He has size, strength, hands, and is very athletic. And for the assesment that the TE be a minus, that is absolutely wrong.

grunkiejr said:

I can agree with your sentiments toward Kucek but I disagree that Monroe was underappreciated by fans and with the notion that he had gotten the stupid mistakes out of his system. Monroe missed an extra point against Illinois that almost ended up meaning something and he missed a 20 yd FG against Northwestern that likely changed the outcome of the game.

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Good point. Monroe also missed a FG that would've iced the game in Evanston in 07, as well as a short FG after a terrific opening drive last year against Indiana.

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