Athlon: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017 Spring Football Preview (5 Storylines)

per Athlon:

5 Storylines to Watch During Minnesota's Spring Practice

1. P.J. Fleck's Energy and Culture
Fleck is a very positive and outgoing person taking over a situation in Minnesota that ended on a negative note any way you look at it. It will be interesting to see how the Gophers respond to the very different energy he brings to a program. It's tough to envision it not working out, but stranger things have happened. The primary difference will be Fleck's approach centering on players and convincing them to buy into their own talents, whereas the previous coaching staff was about getting players to buy into the scheme.

2. Who Takes the Reins at Quarterback?
Mitch Leidner has finally moved on and the timing seems perfect. The new head coach can now work with a new starting quarterback and perhaps have an easier time molding the would-be leader of the offense to fit the desired offensive approach. It appears that the job is wide open heading into the spring, as four quarterbacks with limited experience comprise the depth chart. My best guess is that it turns into a two-man race between senior Conor Rhoda and redshirt freshman Seth Green. Green's size and skill set could be the deciding factor, as athletes like him at the quarterback position are rare.

3. Solidifying the Defensive Line
The departure of the Ekpe brothers leaves a couple of sizeable voids along the Gopher defensive front. Fleck and his staff will need to find adequate replacements early while also looking for the best rotation. Veterans Gaelin Elmore and Steven Richardson are solid, but they are not players you need to game plan around as an offensive coordinator. Finding a dominant run-stuffer and an elite edge rusher must be priorities. Keep an eye on defensive end Winston DeLattiboudere as a guy who could have a breakout season.

4. Starting from Scratch in the Secondary
The NFL Draft and some off-field, legal issues have gutted the depth chart of the Gopher defensive backfield. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and corner Antonio Shenault look like the most dependable returning veterans. They'll need younger guys like Ken Hany-Holly and Kindre Thomas to step up and grow up quickly. The Big Ten West is going to be a division full of gunslingers in 2017. A shaky secondary could doom the Gophers.

5. Can the Running Game be Dominant?
Minnesota has a chance to be one of the better rushing teams in the Big Ten. The Gophers return four starting linemen and have one of the better running back duos in the conference in Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith. Fleck knows a thing or two about pounding the rock. Western Michigan averaged more than 228 rushing yards per game (24th in the FBS) a season ago. An elite rushing attack would help ease in a new quarterback while keeping opposing offenses off the field against what looks to be one of the more inexperienced defenses in the Big Ten.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/minnesota-golden-gophers-2017-spring-football-preview

Go Gophers!!

From the bowl game 2 deeps we lose the following on defense:
Ekpe and Ekpe
Timms
Rallis and Lynn
Amoako
Travis
Myrick

so, that leaves 14 guys returning from the top 22 on defense, but some guys not listed also likely return..Winfield, Poock etc
But of the 8 guys who graduated...maybe Travis... is anybody else really that difficult to replace? plus, at least 16 returning guys played a lot...so, is this even close to true?
"against what looks to be one of the more inexperienced defenses in the Big Ten."

60's Guy said:

From the bowl game 2 deeps we lose the following on defense:
Ekpe and Ekpe
Timms
Rallis and Lynn
Amoako
Travis
Myrick

so, that leaves 14 guys returning from the top 22 on defense, but some guys not listed also likely return..Winfield, Poock etc
But of the 8 guys who graduated...maybe Travis... is anybody else really that difficult to replace? plus, at least 16 returning guys played a lot...so, is this even close to true?
"against what looks to be one of the more inexperienced defenses in the Big Ten."

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We also lost Hardin and Buford. So basically our top 3 CBs from last year.

Tamarion and Dior Johnson weren't in the 2-deeps last year, but could have been this year. Overall depth becomes an issue when you lose guys that have been in the program for a few years and will have to replace them with true freshman.

The Ekpe brothers were 2 of our top 4 d-lineman. Both were multi-year starters.

We lose Lynn and Rallis at LB but still have a ton of depth.

-

We do have some holes to fill on D, but overall we are not that inexperienced at any position. Considering we played an awful lot of guys last year that are returning this year.
Teams do have to game plan for Steven Richardson, so our D-Line should be solid, but will lack depth early on.

Yes the Ekpes were multi year starters, which I can appreciate, but hardly irreplaceable. Defensive back is the only area of concern on D when it comes to graduation.

GFBfan said:

We do have some holes to fill on D, but overall we are not that inexperienced at any position. Considering we played an awful lot of guys last year that are returning this year.
Teams do have to game plan for Steven Richardson, so our D-Line should be solid, but will lack depth early on.

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Yeah, that was a bizarre statement in the article.

Additionally, we aren't thin at DL next season, we will be thin the following season. I think the writer read something and misinterpreted some of the chatter over how thin we'd be in 2018.

The NFL Draft and some off-field, legal issues have gutted the depth chart of the Gopher defensive backfield. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and corner Antonio Shenault look like the most dependable returning veterans. They'll need younger guys like Ken Hany-Holly and Kindre Thomas to step up and grow up quickly. The Big Ten West is going to be a division full of gunslingers in 2017. A shaky secondary could doom the Gophers.

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Luckily former walk-on Kunta Kinte will be back at safety

"The Big Ten West is going to be a division full of gunslingers in 2017." Doesn't everybody have an inexperienced or question mark quarterback?

Bob_Loblaw said:

Yeah, that was a bizarre statement in the article.

Additionally, we aren't thin at DL next season, we will be thin the following season. I think the writer read something and misinterpreted some of the chatter over how thin we'd be in 2018.

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DT will be fine next year, but incredibly thin in 2018. DE is thin for this year. Elmore and WDL as the starters, Devers and ??? as the primary back-ups.

John Galt said:

DT will be fine next year, but incredibly thin in 2018. DE is thin for this year. Elmore and WDL as the starters, Devers and ??? as the primary back-ups.

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DE has been thin for multiple years but yeah the situation on the DL for next year is far scarier then it is for this year. I know Fleck has said he is not a huge fan of going the JC route but at least along the DL they may have to strongly consider finding some JC guys ready to go up against Big Ten offensive linemen.

60's Guy said:

"The Big Ten West is going to be a division full of gunslingers in 2017." Doesn't everybody have an inexperienced or question mark quarterback?

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Depends on who the poster is...been down that rabbit hole with a few GHers who seem to think Gophs always have it worse and the glass is always half-empty, at best.

60's Guy said:

"The Big Ten West is going to be a division full of gunslingers in 2017." Doesn't everybody have an inexperienced or question mark quarterback?

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I honestly have no clue what the writer is talking about with this one either. Looking at last year, of the top 7 passing offenses in the conference (based on yards per game) only 2 of them were from the West (Purdue, Northwestern). 4 teams in the West averaged less then 200 yards a game (Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa). And only Purdue and Northwestern compiled over 20 TD passes. Going by pass efficiency doesn't paint a better picture as only 2 of the top 8 spots in that went to the West.

So I honestly have no clue where all these gunslingers are hiding. Kind of feels like the writer wanted to use a line involving West and Gunslinger and didn't bother to check if that was actually the case. Fits in with the current climate of the day where you pretty much say whatever you want regardless of whether there are facts to back it up or not.

60's Guy said:

"The Big Ten West is going to be a division full of gunslingers in 2017." Doesn't everybody have an inexperienced or question mark quarterback?

Click to expand...

I had the same thought. Wisky has Hornibrook back, Purdue has Blough and NU has Thorson but every other team needs to replace their starter.

Halsey Hall said:

I had the same thought. Wisky has Hornibrook back, Purdue has Blough and NU has Thorson but every other team needs to replace their starter.

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And of those three I would maybe consider Thorson a gunslinger maybe? Blough threw for a lot of yards because they were always behind, he also had 21 picks. Like I said, pretty sure the writer wanted to sound cool with West and Gunslinger, had no clue what he was really talking about.

Think they're thinking about transfer QBs (Lee at NE, maybe even Zaire to Sconnie) being a big factor?

BleedGopher said:

per Athlon:

5 Storylines to Watch During Minnesota's Spring Practice

1. P.J. Fleck's Energy and Culture
Fleck is a very positive and outgoing person taking over a situation in Minnesota that ended on a negative note any way you look at it. It will be interesting to see how the Gophers respond to the very different energy he brings to a program. It's tough to envision it not working out, but stranger things have happened. The primary difference will be Fleck's approach centering on players and convincing them to buy into their own talents, whereas the previous coaching staff was about getting players to buy into the scheme.

2. Who Takes the Reins at Quarterback?
Mitch Leidner has finally moved on and the timing seems perfect. The new head coach can now work with a new starting quarterback and perhaps have an easier time molding the would-be leader of the offense to fit the desired offensive approach. It appears that the job is wide open heading into the spring, as four quarterbacks with limited experience comprise the depth chart. My best guess is that it turns into a two-man race between senior Conor Rhoda and redshirt freshman Seth Green. Green's size and skill set could be the deciding factor, as athletes like him at the quarterback position are rare.

3. Solidifying the Defensive Line
The departure of the Ekpe brothers leaves a couple of sizeable voids along the Gopher defensive front. Fleck and his staff will need to find adequate replacements early while also looking for the best rotation. Veterans Gaelin Elmore and Steven Richardson are solid, but they are not players you need to game plan around as an offensive coordinator. Finding a dominant run-stuffer and an elite edge rusher must be priorities. Keep an eye on defensive end Winston DeLattiboudere as a guy who could have a breakout season.

4. Starting from Scratch in the Secondary
The NFL Draft and some off-field, legal issues have gutted the depth chart of the Gopher defensive backfield. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and corner Antonio Shenault look like the most dependable returning veterans. They'll need younger guys like Ken Hany-Holly and Kindre Thomas to step up and grow up quickly. The Big Ten West is going to be a division full of gunslingers in 2017. A shaky secondary could doom the Gophers.

5. Can the Running Game be Dominant?
Minnesota has a chance to be one of the better rushing teams in the Big Ten. The Gophers return four starting linemen and have one of the better running back duos in the conference in Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith. Fleck knows a thing or two about pounding the rock. Western Michigan averaged more than 228 rushing yards per game (24th in the FBS) a season ago. An elite rushing attack would help ease in a new quarterback while keeping opposing offenses off the field against what looks to be one of the more inexperienced defenses in the Big Ten.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/minnesota-golden-gophers-2017-spring-football-preview

Go Gophers!!

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This is when I realized he was clueless. Exact opposite of what Fleck does.