We have 6 better pass catchers and 2 better pass throwers than ‘17

swingman

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Tyler Johnson is much improved. All Big Ten talent. Hope he doesn’t go early to NFL.
Rashod Bateman could break some Gopher records. He will star from day one.
Chris AutmanBell is quick, agile, can sky catches the ball.
Demetrious Douglas runs great routes, catches the ball, faster than you think.
Phil Howard gets better every week. Great acceleration, good hands, tough.
Seth Green is the big surprise. He could be AllBig Ten this year.
Plus, our backs look good catching the ball.

Annexstad is the best thrower since Nelson. Great zip, accurate, leads rcvr well. Tall, poised. He will start.
Morgan is better thrower than Croft or Rhoda. Also leads rcvr well. Better runner than Annexstad.

The four veteran returning starters on the o-line look really good. Weyler moving very well. Greene looks like an NFL tackle. Olson visibly stronger, moving better than last year. Schlueter looks bigger, has good feet, smart with hands.
Andries will be pushed by Dovich.

Good depth. Schmitz is really good. Oseland is solid. Faalele And Dunlap both big and strong. Dickson would have helped for depth. Sassack moves up.

Kieft and Beebe both good blocking tight ends.

The young backs can all play if Rodney gets hurt. Ibrahim, Williams, Edmonds.

Get pumped. This offense will be night and day better.
 

Wow.

Thanks for the report. That's great to hear.

Does Seth Green look TE size like Kyle Rudolph, Tony Gonzalez, or does he look "strong WR" size like Andre Johnson / Shannon Sharpe?
Think there is any chances Seth Green plays any end around type running plays, or is he too big (not fast enough) for some trickery like that?
 

Is Dickson still on the team and just can't play due to grades?
 

How many oars do we have in the water here:confused:
 

Tyler Johnson is much improved. All Big Ten talent. Hope he doesn’t go early to NFL.
Rashod Bateman could break some Gopher records. He will star from day one.
Chris AutmanBell is quick, agile, can sky catches the ball.
Demetrious Douglas runs great routes, catches the ball, faster than you think.
Phil Howard gets better every week. Great acceleration, good hands, tough.
Seth Green is the big surprise. He could be AllBig Ten this year.
Plus, our backs look good catching the ball.

Annexstand is the best thrower since Nelson. Great zip, accurate, leads rcvr well. Tall, poised. He will start.
Morgan is better thrower than Croft or Rhoda. Also leads rcvr well. Better runner than Annexstad.

The four veteran returning starters on the o-line look really good. Weyler moving very well. Greene looks like an NFL tackle. Olson visibly stronger, moving better than last year. Schlueter looks bigger, has good feet, smart with hands.
Andries will be pushed by Dovich.

Good depth. Schmitz is really good. Oseland is solid. Faalele And Dunlap both big and strong. Dickson would have helped for depth. Sassack moves up.

Kieft and Beebe both good blocking tight ends.

The young backs can all play if Rodney gets hurt. Ibrahim, Williams, Edmonds.

Get pumped. This offense will be night and day better.

You mean best passer since Leidner. Right? Cuz otherwise you are saying your a better judge of football talent than Jerry Kill.
 



You mean best passer since Leidner. Right? Cuz otherwise you are saying your a better judge of football talent than Jerry Kill.

Lame. Nelson wasn't forced out. He just wasn't guaranteed the job after his second year and decided to go elsewhere. He also said he wanted to play on a more passing offense. Nelson probably was a better passer than Leidner but that's not all that's involved in deciding who starts at QB. Finally, so what if the poster did think he was a better judge of QB passing talent than Jerry Kill? That's not a crime.
 

Do you have Seth Green as All Big 10 at TE? Or WR? Because according to Kirk C. on the BTN camp show tonight, they moved Green to WR.
 

Tyler Johnson is much improved. All Big Ten talent. Hope he doesn’t go early to NFL.
Rashod Bateman could break some Gopher records. He will star from day one.
Chris AutmanBell is quick, agile, can sky catches the ball.
Demetrious Douglas runs great routes, catches the ball, faster than you think.
Phil Howard gets better every week. Great acceleration, good hands, tough.
Seth Green is the big surprise. He could be AllBig Ten this year.
Plus, our backs look good catching the ball.

Annexstad is the best thrower since Nelson. Great zip, accurate, leads rcvr well. Tall, poised. He will start.
Morgan is better thrower than Croft or Rhoda. Also leads rcvr well. Better runner than Annexstad.

The four veteran returning starters on the o-line look really good. Weyler moving very well. Greene looks like an NFL tackle. Olson visibly stronger, moving better than last year. Schlueter looks bigger, has good feet, smart with hands.
Andries will be pushed by Dovich.

Good depth. Schmitz is really good. Oseland is solid. Faalele And Dunlap both big and strong. Dickson would have helped for depth. Sassack moves up.

Kieft and Beebe both good blocking tight ends.

The young backs can all play if Rodney gets hurt. Ibrahim, Williams, Edmonds.

Get pumped. This offense will be night and day better.

Hats off to thee. Thx for the elite report.

Starting a true freshman walk-on QB will be news.

2 more week....
 




I have to say this sort of optimism is normally only seen post-spring game.
 

This is the kind of optimism that used to annually convince me that the national predictions for the Gophers were waaaaaay underestimating them (and those national predictions usually were a lot closer to reality than the expectations I had built up). I'm not saying this can't all be true, and I sure hope you are right.
 

I feel like Howard had quite a few dropped passes last year.
 



Hats off to thee. Thx for the elite report.

Starting a true freshman walk-on QB will be news.

2 more week....

Would it be Annexstad and Baker Mayfield as the only two walkon freshmen in P5 history to start game 1?
 

This is the kind of optimism that used to annually convince me that the national predictions for the Gophers were waaaaaay underestimating them (and those national predictions usually were a lot closer to reality than the expectations I had built up). I'm not saying this can't all be true, and I sure hope you are right.

I think most national predictions just look at history and copy and paste from other articles.

Most years they wouldn't be wrong.... so they keep at it until they're wrong.

Many years ago on an NFL prediction show Steve Young once said something like "I'll never pick the Vikings to win a Super Bowl until they do." It was an amusing comment .... not wrong.
 

Lame. Nelson wasn't forced out. He just wasn't guaranteed the job after his second year and decided to go elsewhere. He also said he wanted to play on a more passing offense. Nelson probably was a better passer than Leidner but that's not all that's involved in deciding who starts at QB. Finally, so what if the poster did think he was a better judge of QB passing talent than Jerry Kill? That's not a crime.

It's high treason to assume you know more about college football than Jerry Kill.
 

I feel like Howard had quite a few dropped passes last year.

I felt that Howard wasn’t the same after he got destroyed and concussed. I cannot remember which game it was but Rhoda led him with a lofty pass that hung in the air long enough for the safety to get there.
 

We'll surprise a few teams this year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


Would it be Annexstad and Baker Mayfield as the only two walkon freshmen in P5 history to start game 1?

I think the walk-on part for Annexstad is overblown. I’m thinking he was recruited all the same as the scholarship guys.

Wild guess: Fleck worked with him and the family to convince them to delay the scholarship one year. The family can obviously afford Minnesota tuition, as they paid for IMG. And it allowed Fleck to bring in one more guy who couldn’t afford it without the scholarship, in the class.

Now you could say that “extra” guy was VV, and he had already left. But it was good competition for spring. Pushed each other harder.

Suspect scholarship for Annexstad is coming as soon as NCAA rules allow it. I consider him scholarship now, for all intents and purposes.
 

As far as Green goes, if he has been moved to WR, then I suspect Fleck had a separate position in the offense for “inside WR”. He’s not an outside burner. But lined up in a “tight slot”, drawing coverage from an OLB, could be a fantastic mismatch!

EDIT: this post appears to be incorrect, given quotes from Fleck in another thread, where he talks about Green on the edge. We will see!
 
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I think the walk-on part for Annexstad is overblown. I’m thinking he was recruited all the same as the scholarship guys.

Wild guess: Fleck worked with him and the family to convince them to delay the scholarship one year. The family can obviously afford Minnesota tuition, as they paid for IMG. And it allowed Fleck to bring in one more guy who couldn’t afford it without the scholarship, in the class.

Now you could say that “extra” guy was VV, and he had already left. But it was good competition for spring. Pushed each other harder.

Suspect scholarship for Annexstad is coming as soon as NCAA rules allow it. I consider him scholarship now, for all intents and purposes.
I am sure he will get one once he's eligible after his sophomore year

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

You mean best passer since Leidner. Right? Cuz otherwise you are saying your a better judge of football talent than Jerry Kill.

You're neck and neck with Mennosota for my annual Boner of the year/worst Gopherhole poster award.
 

As far as Green goes, if he has been moved to WR, then I suspect Fleck had a separate position in the offense for “inside WR”. He’s not an outside burner. But lined up in a “tight slot”, drawing coverage from an OLB, could be a fantastic mismatch!

EDIT: this post appears to be incorrect, given quotes from Fleck in another thread, where he talks about Green on the edge. We will see!

It's possible the shift from TE to WR is about ability or lack thereof to Block as a TE when necessary. It's really tough to decipher where guys are until we see who actually plays. Everyone right now seems to be "special" or "really special" TE group seems more open than WR group. If Green gets lots of snaps at WR then I'll believe that he's just moved there because they saw something special. If he remains buried at WR behind the "really special" guys then it's just another shuffle for a guy that seems real athletic but can't quite find a fit.
 

Tyler Johnson is much improved. All Big Ten talent. Hope he doesn’t go early to NFL.
Rashod Bateman could break some Gopher records. He will star from day one.
Chris AutmanBell is quick, agile, can sky catches the ball.
Demetrious Douglas runs great routes, catches the ball, faster than you think.
Phil Howard gets better every week. Great acceleration, good hands, tough.
Seth Green is the big surprise. He could be AllBig Ten this year.
Plus, our backs look good catching the ball.

Annexstad is the best thrower since Nelson. Great zip, accurate, leads rcvr well. Tall, poised. He will start.
Morgan is better thrower than Croft or Rhoda. Also leads rcvr well. Better runner than Annexstad.

The four veteran returning starters on the o-line look really good. Weyler moving very well. Greene looks like an NFL tackle. Olson visibly stronger, moving better than last year. Schlueter looks bigger, has good feet, smart with hands.
Andries will be pushed by Dovich.

Good depth. Schmitz is really good. Oseland is solid. Faalele And Dunlap both big and strong. Dickson would have helped for depth. Sassack moves up.

Kieft and Beebe both good blocking tight ends.

The young backs can all play if Rodney gets hurt. Ibrahim, Williams, Edmonds.

Get pumped. This offense will be night and day better.


Someone's chili is scalding hot !!! I like it! :clap:
 

This is the kind of optimism that used to annually convince me that the national predictions for the Gophers were waaaaaay underestimating them (and those national predictions usually were a lot closer to reality than the expectations I had built up). I'm not saying this can't all be true, and I sure hope you are right.

Spoken like a seasoned gopher fan.
 

As far as Green goes, if he has been moved to WR, then I suspect Fleck had a separate position in the offense for “inside WR”. He’s not an outside burner. But lined up in a “tight slot”, drawing coverage from an OLB, could be a fantastic mismatch!

EDIT: this post appears to be incorrect, given quotes from Fleck in another thread, where he talks about Green on the edge. We will see!

Yep, wide out left is where he has lined up, even in sets with four WRs...with Johnson wide right Douglas and Bateman in the slots. Man do I want to see that formation in action...mismatches everywhere. That's what Fleck did at WMU with his RPO, use formations with mismatches and movement that forced the defense to make choices before the snap to reveal to the QB the best target (run or pass). The plays themselves are simple and straightforward, it's what happens before the snap that made it so effective.
 

It's a weird feeling to be optimistic about the long term health of the offense. It may not be great immediately, but the pieces are in place and should grow together.
 


Tyler Johnson is much improved. All Big Ten talent. Hope he doesn’t go early to NFL.
Rashod Bateman could break some Gopher records. He will star from day one.
Chris AutmanBell is quick, agile, can sky catches the ball.
Demetrious Douglas runs great routes, catches the ball, faster than you think.
Phil Howard gets better every week. Great acceleration, good hands, tough.
Seth Green is the big surprise. He could be AllBig Ten this year.
Plus, our backs look good catching the ball.

Annexstad is the best thrower since Nelson. Great zip, accurate, leads rcvr well. Tall, poised. He will start.
Morgan is better thrower than Croft or Rhoda. Also leads rcvr well. Better runner than Annexstad.

The four veteran returning starters on the o-line look really good. Weyler moving very well. Greene looks like an NFL tackle. Olson visibly stronger, moving better than last year. Schlueter looks bigger, has good feet, smart with hands.
Andries will be pushed by Dovich.

Good depth. Schmitz is really good. Oseland is solid. Faalele And Dunlap both big and strong. Dickson would have helped for depth. Sassack moves up.

Kieft and Beebe both good blocking tight ends.

The young backs can all play if Rodney gets hurt. Ibrahim, Williams, Edmonds.

Get pumped. This offense will be night and day better.

While I appreciate the optimism, this is all based on what? Practice?

Wozniak supposedly never dropped passes in practice. We all know how that worked out on the field.

I hope everything you said is indeed a fact, but at this point we have no proof that Morgan or Annexstad will be any better than Croft and/or Rhoda. How many highly touted QB's have come through this program and never amounted to anything? Too many for me to get too excited until we see a few games.

How is Johnson much improved? Again, like every other receiver last year, he had too many drops. Not as many as some other guys, but he had a few critical ones. Supposedly he was playing hurt toward the end of the year, so hopefully that was the cause, but until I see him consistently hauling in passes.

As far as Dickson, didn't Fleck say they were planning on RS'ing him this year?
 




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