STrib: WR Isaiah Gentry drawing rave reviews in practice

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BleedGopher

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per Joe:

Meanwhile, coach Jerry Kill continues to rave about the four wide receivers who redshirted this year, especially Isaiah Gentry. After coming back from knee surgery, Gentry has been opening eyes this month in practice. It sounds like Gentry has a very good chance to start next year. Desmond Gant, Melvin Holland Jr., and Conner Krizancic aren't far behind.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/286565281.html

Go Gophers!!
 

We will need at least two of these WR's to step-up next year, especially if Maxx heads to the NFL. I also don't think we will be able to rely as much on the ground game next year with Cobb leaving, but all this means is that Mitch needs to step it up too.
 

Man Kill keeps pimping Gentry. I'm getting excited to see what he can do next year. Also, surprised he is even impressing at practice - not far removed from an ACL tear, right?
 


afurry91 said:
We talkin bout practice.
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To my memory everyone that Kill has raved about in practice has turned out to be a player. Started with Wells who had injuries hurt him but there's also Maxx, Travis, and Cockran that I can think of. Poock got a lot of love before getting hurt as well
 


oleboy41 said:
To my memory everyone that Kill has raved about in practice has turned out to be a player. Started with Wells who had injuries hurt him but there's also Maxx, Travis, and Cockran that I can think of. Poock got a lot of love before getting hurt as well
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Gillum and Harbison.

Let's just not count our chickens before they hatch. We thought WR was taken care of when McDonald and Harbison walked on campus.
 

Hopefully he has the hands and quickness to catch anything thrown 5 yards outside the reach of the typical receiver.
 


Maye was also talked about a great deal and though he as had a couple great moments in his career he hasn't had a major impact.
 



WolfontheProwl said:
Maye was also talked about a great deal and though he as had a couple great moments in his career he hasn't had a major impact.
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Agree, but until this year Maye couldn't stay on the field due to injuries. He started to make plays down the stretch this year.
 

Spoofin said:
Man Kill keeps pimping Gentry. I'm getting excited to see what he can do next year. Also, surprised he is even impressing at practice - not far removed from an ACL tear, right?
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Must have been a scope. I can't imagine he'd be back that quickly from an ACL tear.
 


gopher56 said:
We will need at least two of these WR's to step-up next year, especially if Maxx heads to the NFL. I also don't think we will be able to rely as much on the ground game next year with Cobb leaving, but all this means is that Mitch needs to step it up too.
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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!
 



He is the best pure deep threat we have had in a while and you don't need to wait until he plays in a game to realize that. The moment you watch him his long strides, size and length just jump right out at you.
 

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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I thought Duke looked like an absolute stud in the practices I was at.
 



I will give Gentry the benefit of the doubt but I have a hard time believing the others will have much impact given that they didn't pull the redshirt at a position of huge need.
 

Winnipegopher said:
I will give Gentry the benefit of the doubt but I have a hard time believing the others will have much impact given that they didn't pull the redshirt at a position of huge need.
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I think we may have redshirted them because of their talent, not their lack thereof.
 


afurry91 said:
Gillum and Harbison.

Let's just not count our chickens before they hatch. We thought WR was taken care of when McDonald and Harbison walked on campus.
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Shoot I forgot about Gillum. That said Harbison was raved about during camp and came out as a starting WR before getting hurt in the first game. Who knows after that
 

Winnipegopher said:
I will give Gentry the benefit of the doubt but I have a hard time believing the others will have much impact given that they didn't pull the redshirt at a position of huge need.
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Takes time to adjust. If you don't feel a guy is ready until week 6 I can see keeping the RS on
 

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.
 

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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All schools play some true freshman. It means you've recruited some talented players, which is usually a good thing. With the exception of QB and WR, most of the positions were heavy with upperclassmen this year.

As for "coaches can't just think about this year," I couldn't disagree more. Kill is recruiting players and telling them they will play if they earn it. If the freshmen on the D-line are outplaying older guys, it's disingenuous for them to not see time. Plus it would be cheating the fans given that we were so close to the West division title.
 

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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True in some places. However, it has more to do with development. The Big Dogs get the fully developed 18-19 year olds that can step right onto the field and compete. (Richardson is one of these players) These players at times don't develop past that level and end up being the great college player that never plays in the NFL. Talent wins, not age. Ohio State is one of the youngest teams around.
 

John Galt said:
As for "coaches can't just think about this year," I couldn't disagree more. Kill is recruiting players and telling them they will play if they earn it. If the freshmen on the D-line are outplaying older guys, it's disingenuous for them to not see time. Plus it would be cheating the fans given that we were so close to the West division title.
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I agree to a point, but coaches are trying to build something that is sustainable. I have no problem with what Kill did at the WR position this year. He knew he had Cobb and Maxx Williams, and for most of the year Wolitarsky and Jones. Gentry would have played had he not hurt his knee from all indications.
 

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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On the flip side, what's the D-Line look like this year without the true freshmen playing? Something tells me the Gophers don't have this type of season without their contributions.
 

John Galt said:
All schools play some true freshman. It means you've recruited some talented players, which is usually a good thing. With the exception of QB and WR, most of the positions were heavy with upperclassmen this year.

As for "coaches can't just think about this year," I couldn't disagree more. Kill is recruiting players and telling them they will play if they earn it. If the freshmen on the D-line are outplaying older guys, it's disingenuous for them to not see time. Plus it would be cheating the fans given that we were so close to the West division title.
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I get why we may pull the shirt on guys like Richardson, Elmore, Stelter, Craig James etc. but there was absolutely zero need to burn a guy like Gary Moore's shirt. He is one of the rawest freshman we have and would have benefited the most from one yet we burn it and he plays barely any meaningful snaps at all. Williams and Celestin are other guys. The first quarter of the Iowa game and maybe part of the MTSU game are really the only times I can think of this year that they played meaningful snaps and actually contributed. I find it very hard to believe that they couldn't have played Dixon and Wipson for those few snaps when we actually needed them.

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.
 

die hard gopher said:
I get why we may pull the shirt on guys like Richardson, Elmore, Stelter, Craig James etc. but there was absolutely zero need to burn a guy like Gary Moore's shirt. He is one of the rawest freshman we have and would have benefited the most from one yet we burn it and he plays barely any meaningful snaps at all. Williams and Celestin are other guys. The first quarter of the Iowa game and maybe part of the MTSU game are really the only times I can think of this year that they played meaningful snaps and actually contributed. I find it very hard to believe that they couldn't have played Dixon and Wipson for those few snaps when we actually needed them.

If you look at Wisconsin's Rivals depth chart only one starter on offense and only 4 starters on defense redshirted. 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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Add Connor Mayes to the "stupidly burned redshirts" list.
 

die hard gopher said:
I get why we may pull the shirt on guys like Richardson, Elmore, Stelter, Craig James etc. but there was absolutely zero need to burn a guy like Gary Moore's shirt. He is one of the rawest freshman we have and would have benefited the most from one yet we burn it and he plays barely any meaningful snaps at all. Williams and Celestin are other guys. The first quarter of the Iowa game and maybe part of the MTSU game are really the only times I can think of this year that they played meaningful snaps and actually contributed. I find it very hard to believe that they couldn't have played Dixon and Wipson for those few snaps when we actually needed them.

If you look at Wisconsin's Rivals depth chart only one starter on offense and only 4 starters on defense redshirted. 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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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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