Gold Rush
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 1,857
- Reaction score
- 1,193
- Points
- 113
Granted, this year's recruiting has not been finalized and there might be a few changes the next several months, but right now things are looking very good. Many casual fans (not Gopherholers) think this program is stagnant or mediocre but there is a great deal of optimism on here and those in the know. The Big Ten should be on notice that this is a program on the rise and could be a very improved team next season.
QB - Morgan and Annexstad have a year under their belts and SHOULD be improved. They also get Clark coming in for competition and Seth Green is now established as a very good wildcat QB and short yardage specialist. This position is in much better hands than where it was a year ago. Slight improvement forecast next year.
RB - Ibrahim turned in a solid season but the additions of Smith and Brooks coming back from injury add to a stable and depth we just did not have. MAJOR improvement next year.
WR - All major components - Johnson, Autman-Bell, Douglas and Bateman give a lot of weapons returning. All have looked good and I expect slight improvement from this unit next year.
OL - We lose Greene who looked very good particularly in the Wisconsin game and Weyler at center but the rest return. Fleck has done a good job of upgrading the quality and depth here and I feel much better about this unit than I have the past 2 years. Usually it is nice to get that year of redshirting under the belts, but I feel Faalele really needed to get that game experience to improve and he should be a beast. Dunlop should take over a spot and he should be ready to go next year. With the added horses, I will go with slight improvement with a couple question marks. I think it will be in great hands as the season goes on, barring injuries.
K - Losing Carpenter is a loss - hopefully someone steps in and does the job, but slight downgrade for next year.
DL - Fleck is infusing a lot of incoming talent which should help provide depth and talent immediately. Slight improvement early - but will get a lot better as they gain more experience.
LB - We lose Cashman and Huff - two very good tacklers but Barber, Martin and possibly Coughlin step in. Slight downgrade but with incoming talent this could move up to a wash. The DL help will help the LB's immensely next year.
DB - Just getting Winfield back next year will help us improve quite a bit overnight. It will have a little more experience next year as they continue to upgrade from the scandal era which decimated the entire group. Moderately better.
P - Herber returns - I expect this to be as good as last year.
So -- offense looks to be quite a bit better and defense should continue to improve. Maybe Rossi will be the greatest addition for them, but in the end - this team should come into next year quite a bit better than last year with a lot better depth than it has had in some time. I like what I see!
QB - Morgan and Annexstad have a year under their belts and SHOULD be improved. They also get Clark coming in for competition and Seth Green is now established as a very good wildcat QB and short yardage specialist. This position is in much better hands than where it was a year ago. Slight improvement forecast next year.
RB - Ibrahim turned in a solid season but the additions of Smith and Brooks coming back from injury add to a stable and depth we just did not have. MAJOR improvement next year.
WR - All major components - Johnson, Autman-Bell, Douglas and Bateman give a lot of weapons returning. All have looked good and I expect slight improvement from this unit next year.
OL - We lose Greene who looked very good particularly in the Wisconsin game and Weyler at center but the rest return. Fleck has done a good job of upgrading the quality and depth here and I feel much better about this unit than I have the past 2 years. Usually it is nice to get that year of redshirting under the belts, but I feel Faalele really needed to get that game experience to improve and he should be a beast. Dunlop should take over a spot and he should be ready to go next year. With the added horses, I will go with slight improvement with a couple question marks. I think it will be in great hands as the season goes on, barring injuries.
K - Losing Carpenter is a loss - hopefully someone steps in and does the job, but slight downgrade for next year.
DL - Fleck is infusing a lot of incoming talent which should help provide depth and talent immediately. Slight improvement early - but will get a lot better as they gain more experience.
LB - We lose Cashman and Huff - two very good tacklers but Barber, Martin and possibly Coughlin step in. Slight downgrade but with incoming talent this could move up to a wash. The DL help will help the LB's immensely next year.
DB - Just getting Winfield back next year will help us improve quite a bit overnight. It will have a little more experience next year as they continue to upgrade from the scandal era which decimated the entire group. Moderately better.
P - Herber returns - I expect this to be as good as last year.
So -- offense looks to be quite a bit better and defense should continue to improve. Maybe Rossi will be the greatest addition for them, but in the end - this team should come into next year quite a bit better than last year with a lot better depth than it has had in some time. I like what I see!