Offensive optimism

Goph33

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There’s no way around it our offense sucked last year. However, these are the reasons I think we will be much improved. Last year yeah our qbs were terrible, but our receivers didn’t help them. Only two weapons were Tyler Johnson and Demetrius Douglas who got hurt so majority of the year only one good receiver and 0 at the end of the year. This year we have Tyler Johnson, hears Chris Bell is looking really good, Demetrius Douglas depending on how he comes back from injury, Rashod Bateman stud 4 star who turned down SEC, and Jornell Manns (so we have 5 weapons). Online has 4 of 5 starters back plus really good freshmen so improved line. Quarterback in Morgan and Annexstead...slight improvement over last qbs AND receivers. Rodney smith at RB. Losing McCrary and brooks really hurts but Nolan Edmonds and Bryce Williams should be really good. Tight ends will probably be slightly worse but i really like Brevyn Spann Ford. So overall, I expect a much better offense this year but we still got a ways to go
 

There’s no way around it our offense sucked last year. However, these are the reasons I think we will be much improved. Last year yeah our qbs were terrible, but our receivers didn’t help them. Only two weapons were Tyler Johnson and Demetrius Douglas who got hurt so majority of the year only one good receiver and 0 at the end of the year. This year we have Tyler Johnson, hears Chris Bell is looking really good, Demetrius Douglas depending on how he comes back from injury, Rashod Bateman stud 4 star who turned down SEC, and Jornell Manns (so we have 5 weapons). Online has 4 of 5 starters back plus really good freshmen so improved line. Quarterback in Morgan and Annexstead...slight improvement over last qbs AND receivers. Rodney smith at RB. Losing McCrary and brooks really hurts but Nolan Edmonds and Bryce Williams should be really good. Tight ends will probably be slightly worse but i really like Brevyn Spann Ford. So overall, I expect a much better offense this year but we still got a ways to go

Love the optimism. Unfortunately, I have been a gopher fan for too long and have jumped on the hype train one too many times only to be let down with painful losses and incompetent offenses. I don't see anything to make me believe that this season is going to be anything other than long and painful. I hope I am wrong, but without a qb with any real game experience, I have a feeling this is going to be another disappointing season.
 

I'm hopeful, but I don't see any reason for automatic optimism...pratices and spring games are nice ....but don't tell you much.



Unless you want to talk about the QBs fumbles too?
 

I think my annual favorite is the 'we are hiding our best offensive plays'. After we fans see crap offense in the first 3 games. A tradition that is easily entering its 6th year.
 

I think my annual favorite is the 'we are hiding our best offensive plays'. After we fans see crap offense in the first 3 games. A tradition that is easily entering its 6th year.

I think you are selling yourself short. I remember hearing that the entire Mason era. Mason did run trick plays during the non-conference portion of the season. IIRC He said sometimes he did it just to give opponents something extra to prepare for.

Anyway, I think estimate of six years is way too low.;)
 


I think you are selling yourself short. I remember hearing that the entire Mason era. Mason did run trick plays during the non-conference portion of the season. IIRC He said sometimes he did it just to give opponents something extra to prepare for.

Anyway, I think estimate of six years is way too low.;)


Mason had good offense, defense was his issue
 

There’s no way around it our offense sucked last year. However, these are the reasons I think we will be much improved. Last year yeah our qbs were terrible, but our receivers didn’t help them. Only two weapons were Tyler Johnson and Demetrius Douglas who got hurt so majority of the year only one good receiver and 0 at the end of the year. This year we have Tyler Johnson, hears Chris Bell is looking really good, Demetrius Douglas depending on how he comes back from injury, Rashod Bateman stud 4 star who turned down SEC, and Jornell Manns (so we have 5 weapons). Online has 4 of 5 starters back plus really good freshmen so improved line. Quarterback in Morgan and Annexstead...slight improvement over last qbs AND receivers. Rodney smith at RB. Losing McCrary and brooks really hurts but Nolan Edmonds and Bryce Williams should be really good. Tight ends will probably be slightly worse but i really like Brevyn Spann Ford. So overall, I expect a much better offense this year but we still got a ways to go

Jornell Manns is expected to redshirt after tearing a knee ligament in basketball last winter. (source: The Daily Gopher)
 

If the O-Line could have given our QBs a half-second protection the last three or four years, that could mean an extra win or two each season. Of course, it didn't help that the WR corpse had rigor mortis.

Instead, the Gophers RUTM to an average 5th place B1G West finish from 2011-2017.

It is good to have optimism, but this has been the story of the Gophers which we hope PJ Fleck can change.
 

There’s no way around it our offense sucked last year. However, these are the reasons I think we will be much improved. Last year yeah our qbs were terrible, but our receivers didn’t help them. Only two weapons were Tyler Johnson and Demetrius Douglas who got hurt so majority of the year only one good receiver and 0 at the end of the year. This year we have Tyler Johnson, hears Chris Bell is looking really good, Demetrius Douglas depending on how he comes back from injury, Rashod Bateman stud 4 star who turned down SEC, and Jornell Manns (so we have 5 weapons). Online has 4 of 5 starters back plus really good freshmen so improved line. Quarterback in Morgan and Annexstead...slight improvement over last qbs AND receivers. Rodney smith at RB. Losing McCrary and brooks really hurts but Nolan Edmonds and Bryce Williams should be really good. Tight ends will probably be slightly worse but i really like Brevyn Spann Ford. So overall, I expect a much better offense this year but we still got a ways to go

All of this is good and fine, but it really will come down the offensive line. If they can get a push and help our running game, this alone will greatly improve our offensive output. I agree we should be better on scoring side of the football, but the O-Line will dictate that success.
 



The offense has sucked since 2008 when Decker got hurt

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Mason had good offense, defense was his issue
I am well aware of that. The problem was that it wasn't always at it's best when it needed to be.

My point was that even during the Mason era you'd hear comments about segments of the offense being hidden for later.
 

The Mason offenses were worn down and ineffective after 3 and a half quarters against the good teams. We couldn't drive the ball at the end of games like we needed.
 

I would say there is the potential for a more productive offense, but whether they realize that potential will depend on a lot of factors:

how fast will the QB's develop? How quickly does the OL gel into a cohesive unit? who emerges at the WR position? what happens with depth at RB?

If all of the questions are answered positively, then yes, the Gophers could be better on offense. But, if some of those questions are not answered positively, then it's a whole different story.

And beyond that, I'm still waiting to get a real handle on what type of offensive identity this team is going to have. Are they going to air it out - or is it going to be a 60% run scenario.

As I've said before, the non-conference games this year are going to be very interesting, and very important for evaluating the development of the younger players. Even if you think the non-conference games are "gimmees," there is a reason to watch to see what this team looks like. BTW, I do not think the non-conf games are gimmees. I expect at least the Fresno State game to be close.
 



I would say there is the potential for a more productive offense, but whether they realize that potential will depend on a lot of factors:

how fast will the QB's develop? How quickly does the OL gel into a cohesive unit? who emerges at the WR position? what happens with depth at RB?

Kirk is proven very good developer of QBs...the new TE coach Patterson has a nice track record with QBs, especially in RPO...we also have a former Ohio State quarterback coach serving as a quality control guy...the Norseland kid had great tutelage at IMG...QB development will be fine

the oline returns four starters...Andries was practicing with those guys all last year...should gel very easily...my guess is Callahan knows what Ciarrocca wants the oline to do better than Warinner did...

WR biggest problem is not enough balls to go around, but Kirk and PJ and Simon have had years with multiple 1,000 yard rcvrs, so I think they know how to deal with that...Tyler Johnson set to emerge as star; Bell, Douglas, Bateman, Howard, Green, Paulson, SpannFord, VanDyne, VanDyne, Gossage, Gibson, Geary, Morse, Annexstad, and True give Fleck and Simon 15 really good options to compliment him.

the depth at RB is so good, I am guessing two guys transfer out at end of season, if not sooner

Offense will make a major jump forward like it did in year two at WMU (ranked 118 in scoring offense in first year then 33, 27, 12).
 

Hopefully the offense isn't as offensive this year. I was impressed with Kill and Limey offense at NIU, but it never translated on a consistent basis here, hopefully Fleck and Co it does. I'll be honest I'm not sure what we were trying to do last year, hopefully we can establish more of an identity as more of his recruits come in on that side of the ball.

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I'm in the camp with the original poster.....I'm cautiously optimistic:
-O-Line: I'm expecting better and solid play this year
-QB: I believe that we will see better play, despite the inexperience
-WR: We will see better play; hard not to compared to '17
-RB: The big if. If Smith stays healthy, the Gophers will be fine. The experience behind him is low. But, I've always felt that RB is one position where if the next guy comes in, the difference isn't as vast as other positions.
-TE: Similar play to '17. Hoping we don't miss Woz's blocking.

Don't turn the ball over & the Gophers will have a chance to win most of their games...
 

I don't think they'll improve enough to where we would say "the offense is really good" but I do expect them to be better. I think we'll see more explosive plays.
 

Biggest difference maker will be a much improved O line with depth. Nice to have more playmakers but you have to be able to get it to them.


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There’s no way around it our offense sucked last year. However, these are the reasons I think we will be much improved. Last year yeah our qbs were terrible, but our receivers didn’t help them. Only two weapons were Tyler Johnson and Demetrius Douglas who got hurt so majority of the year only one good receiver and 0 at the end of the year. This year we have Tyler Johnson, hears Chris Bell is looking really good, Demetrius Douglas depending on how he comes back from injury, Rashod Bateman stud 4 star who turned down SEC, and Jornell Manns (so we have 5 weapons). Online has 4 of 5 starters back plus really good freshmen so improved line. Quarterback in Morgan and Annexstead...slight improvement over last qbs AND receivers. Rodney smith at RB. Losing McCrary and brooks really hurts but Nolan Edmonds and Bryce Williams should be really good. Tight ends will probably be slightly worse but i really like Brevyn Spann Ford. So overall, I expect a much better offense this year but we still got a ways to go

Love the optimism but you list multiple freshman as a reason to be optimistic and the probability of all of those freshman figuring it out and performing at a high level is statistically very unlikely. Even stud 4 and 5 star freshman at the helmet schools have their struggles so hoping that all of our 3 star freshman (exception is Bateman) perform in year 1 is unlikely.
 

The change no one has mentioned is Brian Callahan as offensive line coach. Ed Warinner was on loan. I never thought he would stay or give everything he had. Brian has a history with Fleck. And we are deeper in the offensive line than I can remember. I am sure Callahan has his starting 5. The summer is critical to come together as a unit. The fall is the time to show it. It all starts up front. I would like to see the starters play until they have a 4 score lead and then its time to get playing time for the second 5.
 




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