True freshmen of influence. Who is your pick?

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On offense I'm with Demetrius Douglas
On defense going with Rey Estes, or Justus Harris.
 

Offense: Douglas, hard not to pick him as there aren't many other freshmen that will have the opportunities he has. Makes it easy to pick him too if the reports on CAB being out a while are true

Defense: You basically have to take one of the corners. I'll go with Harris. Tough to pick Estes over him in my opinion cause it'll take some time for him to really adjust
 

Certainly hope Douglas is an impact player! Looks like Blaise Andreis may get plenty of opportunity as well to truly make a difference.
 

Offense: Douglas, hard not to pick him as there aren't many other freshmen that will have the opportunities he has. Makes it easy to pick him too if the reports on CAB being out a while are true

Defense: You basically have to take one of the corners. I'll go with Harris. Tough to pick Estes over him in my opinion cause it'll take some time for him to really adjust

RBG...I though about throwing Bell in on offense with Douglas but, with the injury he may not contribute.
 



I would have thought Autman-Bell but it will be one of KHH, Harris, or Beck most likely. Particularly if, cover your eyes, Winfield is out for longer than we hope.
 

Other than Douglas on offense I think Blaise could play if 1 or 2 injuries occur. He's already ahead of Schuelter.

For defense pretty much every Freshman defensive back is going to be needed with Durr still not practicing full go. Sucks Beck arrived late to campus because he might be behind in learning the defense
 

Offense: Douglas
Defense: Handy-Holly
Both have made a ton of plays through the first couple of weeks of camp and play positions where there is definitely playing time available.
 

I would have thought Autman-Bell but it will be one of KHH, Harris, or Beck most likely. Particularly if, cover your eyes, Winfield is out for longer than we hope.

Beck has to get on the field first, isn't he dealing with some academic issues?
 




Beck has to get on the field first, isn't he dealing with some academic issues?

Others here will know better, but on Ryan Burns' podcast Saturday he said Beck was still not on campus. He also said Durr is running with an obvious limp so that adds further concern on our DB depth.


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On offense, the 3 freshmen that probably play are Douglas, Andries and Autman-Bell (if he comes back from injury). Douglas is the obvious choice with the way Fleck has been raving about him.

On defense, we probably play Harris, Estes, Handy-Holly and maybe Malcolm Robinson. I've heard good things about Robinson and if he's the best freshman d-tackle, we are going to need him in the rotation next year, so we might as well give him some game experience this year. My guess for best freshman this year would be Harris followed by Handy-Holly.
 



I am really hoping they can redshirt Andries, but with Wright still out and now Greene banged up, it seems like they are going to need him at some point, if not right away. Autman-Bell would be my favorite on offense if he's healthy, just because he's a little bigger than Douglas.

I'll be surprised if they don't redshirt Malcolm Robinson. As long as Moore has jumped up as much as some have talked about, that gives them 4 solid DT's this year. The best case scenario is that they can redshirt both Robinson and Silver, then have a 4 man rotation of Moore, OJ Smith, Robinson, and Silver next year.

As for the DBs, I'd just draw one out of a hat. They're all likely to play.
 



I'm just curious....why do you hope he redshirts?

I think all OL and DL should redshirt in order to add strength and adjust to the speed of B1G football. It's an especially large jump from a school like Marshall to the B1G. If he's able to redshirt, then I think you can pencil him in as the starting LT next year through 2021.
 


I think all OL and DL should redshirt in order to add strength and adjust to the speed of B1G football. It's an especially large jump from a school like Marshall to the B1G. If he's able to redshirt, then I think you can pencil him in as the starting LT next year through 2021.

Okay that's fair. But I do think it's worth saying he's not a project who needs time to bulk up. He's already at B1G size. Most OL/DL don't come into their first camp at 6-foot-5 and 313 lbs.
 


Okay that's fair. But I do think it's worth saying he's not a project who needs time to bulk up. He's already at B1G size. Most OL/DL don't come into their first camp at 6-foot-5 and 313 lbs.

He definitely has the size, but we've had quite a few OL recruits come in near 300 lbs. Size is one thing, but the strength and speed to deal with B1G DL's and LB's, which are some of the best in the country is another. Unless they are a 5* recruit, the goal is to redshirt them.

The two most recent examples of Gopher OL who played as true Freshman are Connor Mayes and Tyler Moore. They both had the size to play right away, but Connor came out of a smaller TX high school, and it was obvious he was overmatched and needed to redshirt. Tyler came out of Houston and played in the highest class of Texas football. He likely had a much smaller adjustment to the speed of B1G football.

Jumping from a AAAA school in Minnesota to the B1G is a huge adjustment. If he was clear and away deserving to be a starter as a Freshman, I'd have no problem with him not redshirting. Even though it's early, it doesn't sound like that's the case. It sounds like he can hold his own and be a backup. I'd much rather have him redshirt, get used to this level in practice, then still have 4 years to start.
 

OL. DL. QB. 3 positions where every single recruit should be red shirted.


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Okay that's fair. But I do think it's worth saying he's not a project who needs time to bulk up. He's already at B1G size. Most OL/DL don't come into their first camp at 6-foot-5 and 313 lbs.

Size is one thing. Strength is another.


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