Sid: Shannon Brooks, Rodney Smith healthy

BleedGopher

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per Sid:

Smith, Brooks healthy

The Gophers football team finished eighth in the Big Ten in rushing yards last season despite losing their top two running backs, Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks, to knee injuries.

Smith rushed for 2,805 yards from 2015-2017; Brooks ran for 1,728 in that stretch.

Coach P.J. Fleck said this week that Smith and Brooks, both redshirt seniors, have been granted an extra year of eligibility and look as if they’ll be ready for the start of spring practice.

“They’re both coming back, both got the year. They’re doing a great job working,” Fleck said. “You look at them right now and you think they’re ready to go just based on how they work and how they look and watching them run and lift. They’re still months away from being ready to be involved in true football activity, but they’re working really hard.”

In addition to Smith and Brooks, redshirt sophomore Mohamed Ibrahim and sophomore Bryce Williams combined for 1,696 yards rushing last season and are going to challenge for carries.

“I think that whole competition has made everybody better,” Fleck said. “It has just completely uplifted the running back room. I’m really proud of Rodney and Shannon and what they’re becoming and the type of men they’re becoming as well, and what they’ve learned from their past to create their future. They’re getting better every day.”

http://www.startribune.com/timberwo...ut-ryan-saunders-shows-he-can-lead/505482832/

Go Gophers!!
 

Hopefully the coaches will have their hands full figuring out who should start. I anticipate some growth with Ibrahim and Williams to compete with Brooks and Smith.
 



Redshirt Williams, other than the four games.

Ride those other three (literal) horses, till the wheels fall off!
 



My hope would be that they mix-and-match depending on situations: 1st and 2nd-down plays; short-yardage plays; goal-line plays; 3rd-and-long plays; and have different packages for each back.

the goal is to put each back in a situation that emphasizes their strengths.
 

Good, I hadn't actually seen that Rodney was granted a 6th year up until now. Seems like it's a lot easier to get 6th years now with Rodney, OJ and Alex Mayes all getting theirs granted.
 

Was it confirmed Brooks tore a ligament in his knee (ACL or MCL)? Because that was during the Indiana game on 10/26. Historically short injury rehab, if so.
 



Was it confirmed Brooks tore a ligament in his knee (ACL or MCL)? Because that was during the Indiana game on 10/26. Historically short injury rehab, if so.

Wouldn't be surprised if Fleck never released that info. He tries to release as little info as humanly possible.

So maybe it was a sprain ... enough to end his season, but shorter rehab than a full tear?
 

Great news ! I hope they both can stay healthy and we get back 2 being running back U.
 

Wouldn't be surprised if Fleck never released that info. He tries to release as little info as humanly possible.

As you are aware, universities have strict privacy rules regarding information about their students. The University of Minnesota is no different. (Except in the case of injuries occurring while arm wrestling, this must be reported to the public immediately ;) )
 

1000 yard seasons for everyone!!

Yeah the way folks are sizing up next season we're gonna need to be able to trot 13-14 guys out there on offense. Can you imagine being a Bama fan?
 





I don’t know why everyone is so interested in Williams redshirting. The odds that Smith and Brooks are healthy all season is slim.

We redshirted Edmonds and have 2-3 backs coming in. Plus we’ll bring in someone else this year. A redshirt for Williams really isn’t that important.
 

Wouldn't be surprised if Fleck never released that info. He tries to release as little info as humanly possible.

You can’t release any info on an injury without permission. Your dope-slip is showing.
 



I don’t know why everyone is so interested in Williams redshirting. The odds that Smith and Brooks are healthy all season is slim.

We redshirted Edmonds and have 2-3 backs coming in. Plus we’ll bring in someone else this year. A redshirt for Williams really isn’t that important.

Why wouldn't you use it though? He gets four games-which will be needed at some point but there is a chance one of Brooks/Smith will make it through the whole season. Play him more if season ending injuries happen but capitalize on the red shirt if possible.
 

Why wouldn't you use it though? He gets four games-which will be needed at some point but there is a chance one of Brooks/Smith will make it through the whole season. Play him more if season ending injuries happen but capitalize on the red shirt if possible.

Exactly
 

Does anyone read Sid with a straight face anymore? It has been years for me. Now, the only stuff related to him that I see are either headlines for his column in the paper, or occasional columns linked here, like this one. I think I recently saw a headline he is convinced the young interim Saunders with no previous head coaching experience is the T-Wolves coach of the future just as the team goes into an ugly nosedive and losing streak.
 

Brooks was fun to watch vs Hoosiers. Pulling for him to get a chance to show out.

Rodney is already high up in the all-time Gopher record books at 7th, but could end up behind only Darrell with a 1,000 yards. Seems like a class act all around.
 

A guy isn’t “healthy” 3-4 months after an ACL tear. Sid should say their rehab is going well.

I would bet a million dollars that neither does anything this spring. There would be no point.
 


I don’t know why everyone is so interested in Williams redshirting. The odds that Smith and Brooks are healthy all season is slim.

We redshirted Edmonds and have 2-3 backs coming in. Plus we’ll bring in someone else this year. A redshirt for Williams really isn’t that important.

Why wouldn't you redshirt him? You have Smith, Brooks, and Mo coming back who are proven running backs when healthy. Nolan Edmonds was our highest rated running back for the class of 2018 so P.J. decided to redshirt him, he will see playing time. In addition, we have a couple additional freshman running backs for 2019. I would let Williams play in 4 games, unless we experience a plethora of injuries at RB, and save an extra year of his eligibility for the future.
 


Mo should be the number 1 guy by far... Smith #2a Brooks #2b and Edmunds#3.
 

I’d have Brooks, Smith, Mo, Williams. All three have been injury prone at one time or another so it’s an open guess on how many snaps each will get. I’m excited to watch Brooks one more time behind an improving line and the benefit of a viable passing attack. It’s going to be fun.
 

A guy isn’t “healthy” 3-4 months after an ACL tear. Sid should say their rehab is going well.

I would bet a million dollars that neither does anything this spring. There would be no point.

Just checking back in - do you have that link yet? I looked on Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Metacrawler, Lycos, AskJeeves, LexisNexis, the U of M Biomedical Library, and my magic 8 ball, and none of them said anything about an ACL tear. Any information you can share would be appreciated.
 




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