Who are our best players and are they all hurt?

Dano564

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Coming into the season would Brooks, R. Smith, and A. Winfield all be in the top 5 spots for best players on the team?

Who else would be in that group?
 

Personally in no particular order Winfield, Rodney Smith, Tyler Johnson, Carter Coughlin and Blake Cashman are our five best. Next five would be Thonas Barber, Shannon Brooks, Rashod Bateman, Jacob Huff and either Jarod Weyler or Terrell Smith. JMO, but with three of those guys out, one not playing his natural position and two being true freshman, not exactly ideal

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They would have been, with Donnell Greene, Tyler Johnson and Carter Coughlin maybe? But Greene hasn't looked that great.

Emmitt Carpenter might be the best player on the team.
 

What changed that Greene hasn't been as effective compared to last year?
 

I was thinking Green, Coughlin and Cashman.

Shannon Brooks probably doesn't seem as key since we had Rodney, but if Rodney was hurt first, losing Shannon would have seen bigger.
 


They would have been, with Donnell Greene, Tyler Johnson and Carter Coughlin maybe? But Greene hasn't looked that great.

Emmitt Carpenter might be the best player on the team.

You really would have put those three ahead of both Smith and Winfield?

To me Smith and Winfield have to be in the top 3 especially if you factor in toughest to replace. To the OP's question, I would not put Brooks in that top 3 but he would certainly make the top 10.
 

Coming into the year, I think TJ might have been a top 5 from an importance standpoint, but the WR's we have (and his drops) have lowered his importance.
 

I still think Greene needs to be in the conversation, but he had a rough game against Maryland. Losing him or Weyler would be a big loss.
 

What changed that Greene hasn't been as effective compared to last year?

I think it was just one game, though. Do we recall him getting beat badly in the first three games?? Between Greene, Schlueter, and when our TE's were 1-on-1 pass pro blocking ... we made Maryland's ends and rushing OLB's look like all-americans, at times.

It's actually not much different than the Bills game yesterday. Who the hell is Jerry Hughes??? He's not bad, but not an all-pro. We made him look like a hall of famer!
 




Our depth is getting better, however we still have a large talent/experience drop off after the 1st string it key positions. Hopefully people can step up, and get good in-game experience, but games like Fresno State and Maryland would have looked a lot different IMO if Rodney and Winfield hadn't been hurt.

Our passing game is getting better, but now our run game isn't enough of a threat for teams not to just key in on our top receiving targets. Kind of the opposite problem we had last year.
 

Coming into the year, I think TJ might have been a top 5 from an importance standpoint, but the WR's we have (and his drops) have lowered his importance.

TJ is a heck of a player but he has to figure out a way to stop dropping passes or as Annexstad gets more comfortable and confident he will start looking his way less and less in favor of the more reliable guys. He reminds me a lot of Ernie Wheewright in that regard. Ernie would make the circus catch or get the ball that nobody thought he could yet on the flip side on a key third down the ball would hit him right in the hands and he would drop it.

Not sure I would have had TJ in my top 5 coming into the season but he for sure would have been in the top 10. With the way Bateman and Autman-Bell have looked to date I am not positive TJ would still be in the top 10 because we appear to have some other more reliable options emerging who don't have the same issue with drops that TJ does.
 

Rodney Smith is undoubtedly the best player on the team.
I think most people would put Winfield at #2.
I personally would've put Brooks at #3, but as someone else mentioned his loss wouldn't have been as painful had Rodney stayed healthy.

So yeah, I'm going to say our best 3 players are hurt. Which obviously sucks. And which obviously kills a team with little depth. Depressing.

Others have all been mentioned, but I'd say TJ, Coughlin, and Greene are the obvious next tier. Oh, and Carpenter. Little drop off after that, but Barber, Weyler, and Bateman are probably the next tier. After that you've got below average B1G players at most positions. Guys like T. Smith, CAB, Annexstad, Andries, etc. won't always be below average, but I think most B1G coaches would keep their starters at those positions over our guys.
 



Rodney Smith is undoubtedly the best player on the team.
I think most people would put Winfield at #2.
I personally would've put Brooks at #3, but as someone else mentioned his loss wouldn't have been as painful had Rodney stayed healthy.

So yeah, I'm going to say our best 3 players are hurt. Which obviously sucks. And which obviously kills a team with little depth. Depressing.

Others have all been mentioned, but I'd say TJ, Coughlin, and Greene are the obvious next tier. Oh, and Carpenter. Little drop off after that, but Barber, Weyler, and Bateman are probably the next tier. After that you've got below average B1G players at most positions. Guys like T. Smith, CAB, Annexstad, Andries, etc. won't always be below average, but I think most B1G coaches would keep their starters at those positions over our guys.

I largely agree.

Cashman in that Barber, Weyler group?
 

If all were 100% healthy, I'd rank them 1. Winfield, 2. Coughlin, 3. Brooks/Smith. (I never value running backs quite as much unless they are named Barry Sanders)
 

What changed that Greene hasn't been as effective compared to last year?

he really wasn't that good last year in my opinion seemed like a lot of hype but I saw tons of plays he could have improved last year
 

To be fair to our tackles and particularly Greene the Maryland defensive ends Aniebonam and Cowart are high level college players. Cowart was the #3 overall recruit coming out of high school and the other had 9 sacks his prior season.

Personally I’d argue Brooks would *possibly* be a better three down back and more explosive than Smith but he has to be healthy for longer than a few games and that has been a major, major issue with him for years. He may never make it back?

Cashman is an impact player. TJ same. Winfield - yep but throw him in the glass jaw category with Brooks. Great freshman season and then trouble staying healthy. From a pure talent standpoint Bateman may rise above them all and he’s just a freshman. I love Coughlin, he brings that edge. He’s had a few personal foul penalties but maybe we need to play a little more aggressive and with some emotion at times.
 

To be fair to our tackles and particularly Greene the Maryland defensive ends Aniebonam and Cowart are high level college players. Cowart was the #3 overall recruit coming out of high school and the other had 9 sacks his prior season.

Personally I’d argue Brooks would *possibly* be a better three down back and more explosive than Smith but he has to be healthy for longer than a few games and that has been a major, major issue with him for years. He may never make it back?

Cashman is an impact player. TJ same. Winfield - yep but throw him in the glass jaw category with Brooks. Great freshman season and then trouble staying healthy. From a pure talent standpoint Bateman may rise above them all and he’s just a freshman. I love Coughlin, he brings that edge. He’s had a few personal foul penalties but maybe we need to play a little more aggressive and with some emotion at times.


Two of the plays with the most pressure were also blitzing LBers beating our TEs.
 


I recall at least two plays where our TE had to 1-on-1 pass pro against a defender that was either a DE or a rushing OLB (can't remember), and it was absolutely putrid. Went through the TE like toilet paper.

I just don't get that scheme. It's one thing to have a back come running up to take on a rushing defender, at least you can meet speed with speed. But to have a rushing defender 1-on-1 with a pass pro TE that is starting from a stand-still at the line ... it just makes zero sense.

Sure, TE staying in to help block, in general, IE "max protect" is fine. But don't put them 1-on-1. It will get blown up, every time. Heck, same thing happened to Rudolph in the Bills game. Just don't do it ...
 

TE are not pass protectors, if they were they would be called Tackles. TE should get out in routes and catch passes. I get leaving them in on occasion to pass protect, but when you rarely send them into a pass route, the other team really doesn't have to account for them in the passing game. Leaving DB's to solely concentrate on stopping WR(while also being afforded the ability to double one guy) and LB's to either rush the QB or drop into short passing lanes to disrupt the timing.
 

As far as the best players on the team - it's entirely possible that some of the true FR who haven't played yet could rank among the better players on the team. We just don't know because we haven't seen them.

I suppose this is wishful thinking, but it would be nice if the true FR and RS FR were among the better players on the team, because that would mean the overall talent level of the team is on an upswing. In a perfect world, when a SR graduates, you would like to have a better player waiting in the wings to replace him. Granted, for certain positions, some strength and maturity can be needed - especially in the O and D lines. But, a talented FR WR or RB can step right in and make a difference.

The Gophers' program needs some recruits to come in and make a difference. And not a marginal difference - a significant difference. that will be the only way the Gophers get out of the rut they're in.
 




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