STrib: WR Isaiah Gentry drawing rave reviews in practice

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die hard gopher said:
If you look at Wisconsin's Rivals depth chart only one starter on offense and only 4 starters on defense did not redshirt. Only one starter on O and three starters on D on Missouri did not redshirt. I just feel like burning a guys shirt, unless it's a guy like Richardson, is like dipping into you're savings account for luxury that you really don't need at all.
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Of course, both those programs have more depth than we do right now.
 

Let me ask this question to the haters of burnt redshirts: if the difference between playing for the West title vs. having 1 additional loss, finishing 3rd, and playing in a lesser bowl was playing Moore and Mayes, what would you have done?
 


John Galt said:
Let me ask this question to the haters of burnt redshirts: if the difference between playing for the West title vs. having 1 additional loss, finishing 3rd, and playing in a lesser bowl was playing Moore and Mayes, what would you have done?
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I have to agree with this assessment. I take playing for the West Title in the final game of the season every time. If the presence of playing a particular "redshirted" FR helps you win a game today, burn the redshirt.
 

John Galt said:
Let me ask this question to the haters of burnt redshirts: if the difference between playing for the West title vs. having 1 additional loss, finishing 3rd, and playing in a lesser bowl was playing Moore and Mayes, what would you have done?
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If they actually were the difference in winning an entire game then nobody would argue what to do. But they might not even be the difference in attaining or preventing a handful of first downs and as a result, people like me are upset.
 


e.bigelow said:
I have to agree with this assessment. I take playing for the West Title in the final game of the season every time. If the presence of playing a particular "redshirted" FR helps you win a game today, burn the redshirt.
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Nobody is complaining about burning Richardson, Elmore, Stelter or Craig James's RS, guys who contributed regularly, but playing Lingen, Williams, Celestin, Mayes, Moore are absolutely not the difference between winning and losing an entire game.
 

The only RS's burned this year that anyone should have an issue with are Mayes and Moore. Both played due to injury, but I still wasn't pleased with it. That said We'll need both players to play real minutes next year too. At DT we'll have Richardson, Ekpe, Stetler and nobody else with real experience. Peppers and Timms are either hurt or in the dog house. I almost expect Mayes to be our starting G next year too.

Celestin and Williams played ST all year and Celestin played a good number of snaps as basically our 4th LB. Williams played well too.

In today's CFB where kids that don't play transfer instead of doing staffs the courtesy of hanging around for depth reasons, true freshmen will play. You try to manage it and balance the classes but its rare that you have guys that are Jr and Srs that aren't good enough to play a lot but are good enough to trust. Mayes played over a number of older guys as did Moore
 

oleboy41 said:
The only RS's burned this year that anyone should have an issue with are Mayes and Moore. Both played due to injury, but I still wasn't pleased with it. That said We'll need both players to play real minutes next year too. At DT we'll have Richardson, Ekpe, Stetler and nobody else with real experience. Peppers and Timms are either hurt or in the dog house. I almost expect Mayes to be our starting G next year too.

Celestin and Williams played ST all year and Celestin played a good number of snaps as basically our 4th LB. Williams played well too.

In today's CFB where kids that don't play transfer instead of doing staffs the courtesy of hanging around for depth reasons, true freshmen will play. You try to manage it and balance the classes but its rare that you have guys that are Jr and Srs that aren't good enough to play a lot but are good enough to trust. Mayes played over a number of older guys as did Moore
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Ndondo Lay.
 

I hear that Gentry is drawing rave reviews in practice.

Anyone else hear that?
 




short ornery norwegian said:
AT some point, if this program is going to truly move to the "next level," they have to stop yanking redshirts off true FR. One of the main reasons why the Big Dogs are the Big Dogs is because they are playing a lot of 4-year and 5-year players as RS Jr's and RS Sr's. AT those schools, only the truly exceptional players see the field as true FR. Yes, the Big Dogs may lose more players to the NFL, but they tend to have equally-talented replacements waiting in the wings. Look at what the FR D-linemen have done this year for the Gophs - then imagine them playing as RS Sr's after 5 years in the program. Only, we'll never get to see that, because they all played as true FR.

The Coaches can't just think about this year. they have to be thinking about the next 3 to 4 years in order to recruit properly and manage the roster turnover.
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This.

As I heard one Ohio State star player say on "The Journey", "we practice against second and third stringers who are better than the starters on most of the teams we play". It seems to me the only way we can come close to the talent of the helmet schools is to either get better athletes or give them an extra year to improve/mature/season. Redshirting as many players as possible will eventually give us an extra one, two or three wins each season.
 

John Galt said:
This staff plays true freshman who they think will be competing for a starting spot the following year. Eric Murray, Derrick Wells, and Cedric Thompson all played sparingly as true freshman and it could have been argued their redshirts were "wasted," but getting them on the field paid big-time dividends the following year. If the program is truly making progress, our recruiting should improve and we should be getting players that are as good or better than the Gary Moore's of the world. Not to mention that if the players are studs (i.e. Maxx Williams), a redshirt doesn't do much good as they won't be around for a 5th year anyways.
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I think this is the key point. If you think a player is going to start and/or be significant in 2015, then play them if needed or possible in 2014. You are lucky to get three really good years out of a player and if the team improves, you should be getting better talent. Gentry would have played if not injured and he will probably start next year or play a significant role. The LBs will play significant roles. DB's, TE's, LB's all play big parts in special teams.

How many of the guys that played as true freshmen will start or play significant roles in 2015? Most of them IMO.

People say that Mayes red-shirt was wasted. Well we have four guys coming in as OL recruits. Talent wins!
 

Really excited to watch Gentry and Holland work their magic on the field together! They complement each other's games nicely. Now we just need a quarterback to get the ball to them...
 



GameDay said:
Really excited to watch Gentry and Holland work their magic on the field together! They complement each other's games nicely. Now we just need a quarterback to get the ball to them...
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And/or, we need an offensive line that can give him an opportunity to sit in the pocket a little longer and some route designs that give our receivers the opportunity to get in some open space in the middle of the field. The problem with our passing game is more complicated than Leidner.
 

die hard gopher said:
If they actually were the difference in winning an entire game then nobody would argue what to do. But they might not even be the difference in attaining or preventing a handful of first downs and as a result, people like me are upset.
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Of our 8 B1G games, we blew out two teams: Iowa and Michigan. Every other game was decided by 2-3 plays. Who is to say the outcome in some games wouldn't have been different if they played a lesser player who botched an assignment or was physically overwhelmed on a few plays. The staff isn't dumb, they were trying to win a B1G championship for the 1st time in 40+ years. They played guys that they felt gave them the best chance to do that, this year, and we almost did. And you're concerned about not having Connor Mayes and Gary Moore on the 2018 roster...
 

I already have high expectations for Gentry next year with the way Kill is talking about him. Did he really say he's the best WR he's ever coached? I know Kill came from the MAC and lower level football but that's still high praise.
 

DoubleAlum said:
This.

As I heard one Ohio State star player say on "The Journey", "we practice against second and third stringers who are better than the starters on most of the teams we play". It seems to me the only way we can come close to the talent of the helmet schools is to either get better athletes or give them an extra year to improve/mature/season. Redshirting as many players as possible will eventually give us an extra one, two or three wins each season.
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Until Connor Mayes played this year for the 1st time against Northwestern, we had redshirted every offensive lineman on the roster since Tommy Olson was forced into action his freshman year in 2011.
 

When he signed I wrote that I loved his size, stride, an balance. He runs fluidly, with his head steady. He catches the ball with his hands and can high point the ball. He is 6'4 and probably 220 by now. He runs and plays a lot like Randy Moss, I can only hope he has the dedication of Jerry Rice. If he is all I think he is, Minnesota has never seen a receiver like this.
 

husker70 said:
When he signed I wrote that I loved his size, stride, an balance. He runs fluidly, with his head steady. He catches the ball with his hands and can high point the ball. He is 6'4 and probably 220 by now. He runs and plays a lot like Randy Moss, I can only hope he has the dedication of Jerry Rice. If he is all I think he is, Minnesota has never seen a receiver like this.
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You think he has gained 30 pounds since enrolling?
 

I thought he (Gentry) and Holland were great for them to get. 6'4" and 6'3" and both could catch and run. Both were top 30 players in their states (#22 out of Ohio and #29 out of Virginia). They should both be real solid players that will definitely help.
 



You play the kids when they are ready if you need them. Recruit better players in the future then play them when you need them. It's a recruiting cycle. It is nice to get kids to their 5th year, but Maxx will not be here for his Sr. year, so play them when they are ready.
 

The point I was trying to make was more about philosophy - Unless you have an absolute can't miss talent at FR, I would prefer to redshirt every FR unless needed due to injuries/emergencies.

Yes, some true FR have contributed this year for the Gophs, but that is not (IMHO) a long-term blueprint for success. I just don't want to see the Gophs lurching from one year to the next without really developing quality depth.

"oh no, we've got problems on the d-line; we have to play the true FR."
"oh no, we've got problems with the D-backs; we have to play the true FR."
"oh no, we've got problems with the LB's; we have to play the true FR."

That is not the way to long-term success. It sure isn't the way that the perennial top-20 teams do things. And, it puts the coaches in a situation that impacts recruiting, because you wind up constantly recruiting to fill holes - not recruiting as part of a long-term plan to ensure roster balance.

My ultimate question is this: how do the Gophers manage to go from "we have to play the true FR," to "we don't need to play the true FR."
 

Could just be Kill pushing Jones to up his game. If he doesn't, Gentry will be our deep threat nextt year. I don't know that Gentry is necessarily better than Holland Jr or Krizancic, who are different types of players. I remember Leidner saying he thought Holland Jr was the most ready to play this year.

Whatever the case, we should be really excited about next year. As others have said, Leidner can hit beautiful throws if he isn't rushed. His mechanics fall apart under a heavy rush or perceived rush. I don't know how much of that can be beaten out of him but I'm sure they are working on it.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Regardless of Maxx's decision, I expect Duke Anyanwu to make some plays next season. They might be a little limited due to Maxx, but he will be a good one!
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. The word is Noah Scarver was the 2nd best TE on the roster behind Maxx so look for him to step into a major role next year. Big Target 6:6 270 and great hands !
 


play hard said:
. The word is Noah Scarver was the 2nd best TE on the roster behind Maxx so look for him to step into a major role next year. Big Target 6:6 270 and great hands !
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LOL - Are you his agent? On the official roster they are both listed at 250 with Noel Scarver at 6'5" and Duke at 6'4". We should have a better idea of their talents after spring practice is over. My money is on Duke but I would love to see Noel do well also.
 



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