Young Gopher LBs Emerging as Stars

per GopherSports:

The future is now for three young Minnesota linebackers.
With five upper classmen and ten different players seeing action, linebacker is one of Minnesota’s deepest and most experienced positions on defense. Even with a deep rotation and vast experience at the position, three sophomores, Thomas Barber, Carter Coughlin and Kamal Martin have shined so far for the Gophers.

“I think it is really important to note that they are really young. They are going to be around for a long time,” head coach P.J. Fleck said. “To have them playing significant roles with a lot of youth on our football team, that is only good for the future. That really helps us now and that really helps us for the future. So when I talk about the future, the future is talking right now. My focus has to be embracing our past, learning everything we can to create our future. Guys like that really help that.”

These three have certainly helped the Gophers in the present. They have started every game and combined for 60 tackles and three takeaways this season.

No one on the Gophers has done a better job forcing turnovers than Barber, who is a legacy Gopher from Plymouth, Minn. Through five games, he has forced two fumbles and also notched his first career interception. Barber has also been a menace for offenses to handle, as he is tied for second on the team with 36 tackles. Barber has turned up his play in the Big Ten as he has 20 tackles in his last two games.

Coughlin, who is playing as a rush end this year, has been a nightmare for opposing offensive linemen, especially of late. Against Purdue, Coughlin broke out for the best performance of his young career. Late in the first quarter, he cause disruption in the backfield and helped fellow sophomore Barber drag down Purdue’s quarterback for a sack. Coughlin would later find his way into Purdue’s backfield again, utilizing his speed to get to the quarterback for the second time that day. Coughlin set a career high with 1.5 sacks at Purdue and through five games, the Eden Prairie, Minn., native leads the team with 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/101117aaa.html

Go Gophers!!

They are having really good years. Looking forward to seeing them get better and better.
They are not really young. All three could be gone by the end of next season if they declare early for the draft. Yes, I know that is probably highly unlikely,, but it is a possibility.

Coughlin is getting destroyed on a regular basis.

It's not his fault.

He's completely out of position, at least at his current weight.

Cashman is a liability for similar reasons.

Studwell55 said:

Coughlin is getting destroyed on a regular basis.

It's not his fault.

He's completely out of position, at least at his current weight.

Cashman is a liability for similar reasons.

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Can you explain? I haven't seen a lot of him playing specifically. I just know they moved him. He seems to still be making a lot of great plays though.

Taji34 said:

Can you explain? I haven't seen a lot of him playing specifically. I just know they moved him. He seems to still be making a lot of great plays though.

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I think he might be talking about the Maryland game and to some extent the Purdue game where they ran at his side and he lost the edge leading to big runs.

I think star is bit too much for any of the players mentioned. I think all of them could be that type of player at some point, but none of them are playing at a star level now. I think the only guy on the defense you could make a star argument for this year is/was Winfield Jr. That said, that Kamal Martin pick against Purdue was a perfect example of the heights some of these guys could reach. He drops in coverage, extends and makes a hands catch in the endzone. That's not the type of ball skills you expect from your linebackers. It will be interesting if we can move Coughlin back to a more traditional LB next year or if we need him at DE and he continues to bulk up. He's made some nice pass rush moves off the edge on occasion, but is (not surprisingly) struggling when OT's get there hands on him.