Campus Insider: Minnesota Spring Football Practice Preview: 3 Storylines To Watch

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Campus Insider:

Here are three storylines to watch as Minnesota’s spring football practice starts Tuesday.

Minnesota Spring Football Practice Storylines

1. Fleck’s influence

Fleck is quite possibly the best quote in college football, and his relentless attitude and unmatched intensity make for a great face of Minnesota’s program. Ultimately, though, wins and losses will determine Fleck’s success or failure.

He got started immediately, convincing prospects he recruited to Western Michigan to flip to the Gophers. Some committed without even seeing the Minnesota campus. So far, Fleck has made all the right moves and said the right things to make believers out of Gophers fans.

2. But is there enough talent?

Rodney Smith finished fourth in the Big Ten in rushing with 1,158 yards, but there are plenty of question marks otherwise. Quarterback Mitch Leidner is gone, and defensive backs Damarius Travis and Jalen Myrick are off pursuing NFL careers. Plus, the depth chart certainly will change with Fleck, offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who followed Fleck from Western Michigan, and defensive coordinator Robb Smith now running the show.

Spring practice is going to provide an opportunity for the holdovers to impress and the newcomers to compete for jobs. Things should clear up by the time the spring scrimmage roles around.

3. Wide-open quarterback competition

Of all the position battles, this one should be the most competitive. Conor Rhoda is back after playing in three games last season, and fellow returnee Demry Croft also has his name in the hat along with junior college transfer Neil McLaurin and redshirt freshman Seth Green. The wild-card might be 3-star dual-threat quarterback Reyondous Estes, who is eager to prove he can win the job.

Estes should have just as good of a shot at being named the Gophers’ starter given Rhoda’s limited experience, Croft not throwing a pass all of last season and no one else having game experience at this level. However, Fleck and Ciarrocca worked with a strictly pocket-passing quarterback at Western Michigan in Zach Terrell, so they might be partial to going that route. Time will tell.

Minnesota’s spring football practice concludes on Saturday, April 15 with the Gopher Spring Football Game.

https://campusinsiders.com/news/minnesota-spring-football-practice-storylines-to-watch-03-01-2017/

Go Gophers!!
 

Weird they mention Estes but not Tanner Morgan who is actually on campus for spring ball. Estes will join for summer.

Weep for journalism.
 

It was weird they didn't mention Morgan and did Estes.
Also found it odd that it asks if we have enough talent. Yes we are looking for a QB and some DB's, but our DL, LB are as solid as they have ever been. OL will be a little short on bodies during the spring, but there is talent there and all will be healthy by fall. At WR there are many bodies to look at, and with Fleck doing such a good job with the WR at Western, you would think he will be able to find some guys on the current roster who he can turn into stars.
Talent isn't a concern, it's the depth and experience at some positions that are a concern.
 

GFBfan said:
It was weird they didn't mention Morgan and did Estes.
Also found it odd that it asks if we have enough talent. Yes we are looking for a QB and some DB's, but our DL, LB are as solid as they have ever been. OL will be a little short on bodies during the spring, but there is talent there and all will be healthy by fall. At WR there are many bodies to look at, and with Fleck doing such a good job with the WR at Western, you would think he will be able to find some guys on the current roster who he can turn into stars.
Talent isn't a concern, it's the depth and experience at some positions that are a concern.
Click to expand...

Talent on offense is definitely a concern. Last year was the worst S&P offense of the Kill/Claeys era, even worse than Kill's first year. Bodies at QB, WR, and OL just do not equate to talent. These positions were awful last year and are not likely to improve significantly until Fleck completes a few more recruiting classes to improve the talent.
 

overall just a very weird series of takes there.
 


The talent wasn't as big of a problem as the overall scheme of the offense and play calling of Johnson. Either that or Johnson was really conservative with the play calling because of the talent.
 

If we don't get some speed at wide receiver - thus getting separation - it won't make any difference who plays QB. We will be back to our run game with some perimeter screens just to keep the defense honest. That would seem to be the game plan for this spring with limited offensive linemen available. I also question our secondary with the voids created by graduation. Will we have true lock down corners? I guess time will tell. September can't get here fast enough.
 

upnorthkid said:
overall just a very weird series of takes there.
Click to expand...

The this and the ESPN Minnesota post season story are proof most of the outlets are just pumping out crap that could be auto-generated by software (or a group of monkeys at typewriters).
 

on Sid's show this morning, Fleck said that all the QB's will get reps with the first team for the first week of practice, and then the coaches will start developing a depth chart and allocating reps based on where QB's are ranked (#1, #2 and so forth.)

Made the point that all the QB's are new in this offense, so they're all starting from the same place - meaning that the #1 job is wide open. (as if we didn't know that already....)
 



short ornery Norwegian quote: Made the point that all the QB's are new in this offense, so they're all starting from the same place - meaning that the #1 job is wide open. (as if we didn't know that already....)

I don't think Phillip Nelson realizes that #1 Quarterback job is to be earned and not given.
 

Jack jones said:
If we don't get some speed at wide receiver - thus getting separation - it won't make any difference who plays QB. We will be back to our run game with some perimeter screens just to keep the defense honest. That would seem to be the game plan for this spring with limited offensive linemen available. I also question our secondary with the voids created by graduation. Will we have true lock down corners? I guess time will tell. September can't get here fast enough.
Click to expand...

Posted this numerous times. Good explanation of his passing offense.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/11/19/13577022/pj-fleck-coach-western-michigan-wmu
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
Yeah and you still don't get it. It takes talent to make that offense work, especially at QB and WR which are our two least talented positions.

If it was so easy to be successful, PJ would either have the #1 offense every year, or everyone would do it.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure I do...he did it with less talent at WMU than he has here. I have complete confidence that he will be able to implement it successfully with the smart, talented players he has here at the U.

Sounds like Preposterous Statement material...

You must have me on "Alert", too funny.
 



BleedGopher said:
per Campus Insider:

Here are three storylines to watch as Minnesota’s spring football practice starts Tuesday.

Minnesota Spring Football Practice Storylines

1. Fleck’s influence

Fleck is quite possibly the best quote in college football, and his relentless attitude and unmatched intensity make for a great face of Minnesota’s program. Ultimately, though, wins and losses will determine Fleck’s success or failure.

He got started immediately, convincing prospects he recruited to Western Michigan to flip to the Gophers. Some committed without even seeing the Minnesota campus. So far, Fleck has made all the right moves and said the right things to make believers out of Gophers fans.

2. But is there enough talent?

Rodney Smith finished fourth in the Big Ten in rushing with 1,158 yards, but there are plenty of question marks otherwise. Quarterback Mitch Leidner is gone, and defensive backs Damarius Travis and Jalen Myrick are off pursuing NFL careers. Plus, the depth chart certainly will change with Fleck, offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who followed Fleck from Western Michigan, and defensive coordinator Robb Smith now running the show.

Spring practice is going to provide an opportunity for the holdovers to impress and the newcomers to compete for jobs. Things should clear up by the time the spring scrimmage roles around.

3. Wide-open quarterback competition

Of all the position battles, this one should be the most competitive. Conor Rhoda is back after playing in three games last season, and fellow returnee Demry Croft also has his name in the hat along with junior college transfer Neil McLaurin and redshirt freshman Seth Green. The wild-card might be 3-star dual-threat quarterback Reyondous Estes, who is eager to prove he can win the job.

Estes should have just as good of a shot at being named the Gophers’ starter given Rhoda’s limited experience, Croft not throwing a pass all of last season and no one else having game experience at this level. However, Fleck and Ciarrocca worked with a strictly pocket-passing quarterback at Western Michigan in Zach Terrell, so they might be partial to going that route. Time will tell.

Minnesota’s spring football practice concludes on Saturday, April 15 with the Gopher Spring Football Game.

https://campusinsiders.com/news/minnesota-spring-football-practice-storylines-to-watch-03-01-2017/

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

Missing Tanner Morgan
 

PMWinSTP said:
Pretty sure I do...he did it with less talent at WMU than he has here. I have complete confidence that he will be able to implement it successfully with the smart, talented players he has here at the U.

Sounds like Preposterous Statement material...

You must have me on "Alert", too funny.
Click to expand...

He had one of the best WRs in this year's draft and a QB who could also be drafted in the late rounds. That was in the MAC. He doesn't have that at Minnesota this year, and is now in the B1G.

He will get it done here a few years down the road when he has the talent.

As for 'alert' I haven't responded to one of your posts in a long time because you are the most clueless poster on here. You get called out repeatedly by more than just me, maybe someday you'll figure it out.
 

BleedGopher said:
per Campus Insider:

Here are three storylines to watch as Minnesota’s spring football practice starts Tuesday.

Minnesota Spring Football Practice Storylines

1. Fleck’s influence

Fleck is quite possibly the best quote in college football, and his relentless attitude and unmatched intensity make for a great face of Minnesota’s program. Ultimately, though, wins and losses will determine Fleck’s success or failure.

He got started immediately, convincing prospects he recruited to Western Michigan to flip to the Gophers. Some committed without even seeing the Minnesota campus. So far, Fleck has made all the right moves and said the right things to make believers out of Gophers fans.

2. But is there enough talent?

Rodney Smith finished fourth in the Big Ten in rushing with 1,158 yards, but there are plenty of question marks otherwise. Quarterback Mitch Leidner is gone, and defensive backs Damarius Travis and Jalen Myrick are off pursuing NFL careers. Plus, the depth chart certainly will change with Fleck, offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who followed Fleck from Western Michigan, and defensive coordinator Robb Smith now runn

https://campusinsiders.com/news/minnesota-spring-football-practice-storylines-to-watch-03-01-2017/

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

Addition by subtractiion
 

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