AJ Barker

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balds

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Thought he deserves his own thread for the way he handled the PR duties today, as well as catching that picture perfect slant from Shortell. It doesn't get any prettier than that.
 

Yep, he has been a pleasant surprise so far this year.
 

mkAz said:
Yep, he has been a pleasant surprise so far this year.
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Hard not to agree with that! There was a string a while back asking people to choose their "break out" surprise player of the year. I wonder if anybody chose AJ Barker? If they did the won the contest!
 

His punt returns were extremely impressive and were able to put the Gophers in pretty good field position.
 

His spin move during one return was SICK! He appeared to be stopped, but spun free for 8-10 more yards. Very impressive!
 


I can see it now...The first time AJ fumbles on one of his returns, GH'ers will melt down and scream for his head. Until that happens, though, let's enjoy it.
 


Dr.Don said:
I can see it now...The first time AJ fumbles on one of his returns, GH'ers will melt down and scream for his head. Until that happens, though, let's enjoy it.
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You can bank on it! The only question is who is going to be first to volunteer for the firing squad!
 

balds said:
Thought he deserves his own thread for the way he handled the PR duties today, as well as catching that picture perfect slant from Shortell. It doesn't get any prettier than that.
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The key on that slant was his great first half-step jab to the outside. He had the defender leaning corner right away.
 




AJ had a GREAT game and is leading what is developing into a very dangerous receiving corps. Defensively, I thought Michael Carter had an outstanding day. Had some nice pass breakups in key situations.
 

AJ is turning out to be the real deal.

He's even starting to remind me a little of Eric Decker.

Not saying he is another Decker, but there's some glimpses of brilliance that are really nice to see again.

Go Gophers! Beat Syracuse! In Kill I Trust!
 

BilldGopher said:
AJ is turning out to be the real deal.

He's even starting to remind me a little of Eric Decker.

Not saying he is another Decker, but there's some glimpses of brilliance that are really nice to see again.

Go Gophers! Beat Syracuse! In Kill I Trust!
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I know he gets compared to Decker a lot, but as a Packer fan, he reminds me some of Jordy Nelson. Either way he's had a great year so far.
 




Through 3 games AJ has certainly established himself as the go-to guy in the receiving corp. Will be interesting to see how the defenses adjust to him going forward as you have to think they are going to put more emphasis on stopping him now that they have seen the way the QB's look to him in the first few weeks.

Biggest thing with punt returns is catch the damn ball. AJ doesn't have the high end explosivness of Troy or Jones but he seems to catch it everytime and once he does can make a few things happen.

And on a side note so far in this thread he has been compared with Decker and Jordy Nelson. For all you old school Gopher Fans why not compare him to a Ryan Thelwell? Not the fastest or tallest guy but had good hands and was a very reliable target for Cory Sauter back in the Wacker days. I know the other guys are white but I am not ready to throw AJ into the class of NFL caliber receivers just because he has the same skin color they do.
 

MadtownGopher said:
I know he gets compared to Decker a lot, but as a Packer fan, he reminds me some of Jordy Nelson. Either way he's had a great year so far.
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Barker reminds me of a combination of Wes Welker, Brandon Stokely, Kevin Walter, and Brian Hartline.
 

Barker reminds me of a combination of Larry Fitzgerald, Sammy White, Art Monk, Dez Bryant, Frederick Douglass, and the Tuskegee Airmen.
 


Barker has been great. He's quickly became a favorite in my little area of the student section.
 

He needs a scholarship yesterday. The coaching staff has to do right by him and reward his efforts.
 


Comparisons to Decker are a bit premature.

Decker was very fast AND he blocked like Matt Spaeth.

AJ seems to have good hands and to enjoy the physical part of the game.
 

Studwell55 said:
Comparisons to Decker are a bit premature.

Decker was very fast AND he blocked like Matt Spaeth.

AJ seems to have good hands and to enjoy the physical part of the game.
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Concur. I'm the guilty party on bringing up AJ and Decker in the same sentence.

To clarify, we're starting to see some very good catches from all our receivers...but especially AJ.

So I'm just reflecting on the last time we had great catches on a routine basis...that was with Eric not so long ago.

Good thread and perspectives. Nice to be in this position again...not cursing but praising what our receiving corps is doing.

Go Gophers!
 

Schnauzer said:
Barker reminds me of a combination of Larry Fitzgerald, Sammy White, Art Monk, Dez Bryant, Frederick Douglass, and the Tuskegee Airmen.
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You are correct..........politically correct. Good one.
 

Bisker82 said:
AJ had a GREAT game and is leading what is developing into a very dangerous receiving corps. Defensively, I thought Michael Carter had an outstanding day. Had some nice pass breakups in key situations.
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I would also say he had a nice interception but those of us who were at home watching the game didn't see it. I still have no idea what kind of play it was on Barker's first TD. Slant? Fade? Flea-flicker? Triple reverse pass?
 

GophersInIowa said:
I would also say he had a nice interception but those of us who were at home watching the game didn't see it. I still have no idea what kind of play it was on Barker's first TD. Slant? Fade? Flea-flicker? Triple reverse pass?
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Slant.
Carter INT at 0:16 and Barker TD at 0:22
 

Thanks! For those that were at the game yesterday, the BTN has "technical difficulties" for about 20-30 minutes so we didn't see any of that.
 


He reminds me of a combination of Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Mike Tyson, and Abraham Lincoln.
 

This is a good example why a good walk on program is so important.
Some Helmet Programs treat their Walk-on's like Crap. (USC)
A kid who chooses to walk on here, will know that he will get an equal shot.
 

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