MnB B1G Preview: The 'Greenest' Golden Gophers



Very solid work. Always good to see positive input from places outside of the gopher realm. We get too caught up with our own opinions, that a breath of fresh air is nice.

Also, F Michigan.
 


After reading this review, I'm not excited about Jamel Harrison's chances of success with the Gophers.
 



Looks like maizenbrew is doing a week long feature of the Gophers. Again it's a fair well written piece. But god it's embarrassing when everyone compares you to Indiana.

http://www.maizenbrew.com/2012/5/14/3019445/minnesota-football-2012-preview

Mason apologists to comment in 3...2...1..

Solid outside perspective.
Considering our showing at Michigan this year nothing positive should have been expected, even though we did beat Iowa who beat Michigan, and finished up the season with a near shock of their in state rivals and a solid win against ILL. We didn't get on the plane the only live showing they would recognize at the Big house.

As far as the recruiting goes, they obviously did actual video review of our class and came away impressed. A good sign from a big fish in the conference with no reason to puff up our expectations.

McDonald looks better and better every time I see his film, hopefully he puts in the time to hone his craft and make himself better as he matures at the U.

KJ Maye might be the speed/slot/scatback threat our O has lacked for awhile, Marcus Jones aside. Maye has some innate open field skills that you have to be impressed by. Don't sleep on a skill kid from alabama's toughness either.

I see Williams as a very similar type back to Marcus Coker, maybe slightly less physically advanced, but his size by the time he's an upperclassman should be close to 250, and his hands are suprisingly good from some highlights i've seen. A nice plus.

On D, their questions about our LB/S hybrids are legit, although i see Rallis with some growth potential considering how much bigger his brother got once he got here.
Lynn will be an interesting body type to watch grow too, he's built more like a WR in the tape I saw, i bet he's around the same size as McDonald 6'4'' 215ish.

Roland Johnson is my sleeper in this class, JUCOs are scary to project, but he could fill a pass rushing DT role nicely, especially if he is kept fresh and healthy since he's not nearly as big as listed, more likely he's about 5'11 265 than 6' 290. I remember how Eric Small struggled early in his career when he was just not big enough to man up against BIG linemen. Johnson has speed, quicks, and an explosive finish to his tackles I think will make him a threat to cause havoc on occasion.

Looking forward to seeing where the pieces fall come fall camp, at the very least our team won't be running freshmen safeties out at CB(Theret 07), or have TE's with OL numbers ready in case our 5th of 5 healthy Olineman gets hurt(ILL 2010), our depth will be better.
 


Roland Johnson is my sleeper in this class, JUCOs are scary to project, but he could fill a pass rushing DT role nicely, especially if he is kept fresh and healthy since he's not nearly as big as listed, more likely he's about 5'11 265 than 6' 290. I remember how Eric Small struggled early in his career when he was just not big enough to man up against BIG linemen. Johnson has speed, quicks, and an explosive finish to his tackles I think will make him a threat to cause havoc on occasion.

I am curious as to why you think Johnson is 5'11" and 265 as he is listed on Rivals as 6'2" and 295 (6'1" and 295 on Gopher Sports). I do recall Kill raving about him on a Sports Huddle and it seemed that he expects Johnson to step right into the two deeps (or start).
 



Apparently, Max Shortell is the starter as well.


As Sprortsfan24 likes to say, "my man", for once we recieve a solid, in depth take on our squad from an outside source, and all you and DP can say are two negative remarks related to such small errors? I hate to say, but that's Reuseeish.

I for one fully enjoyed this piece, ANd it was written during the worst time of year to be a college football fan.
 

As Sprortsfan24 likes to say, "my man", for once we recieve a solid, in depth take on our squad from an outside source, and all you and DP can say are two negative remarks related to such small errors? I hate to say, but that's Reuseeish.

I for one fully enjoyed this piece, ANd it was written during the worst time of year to be a college football fan.

Where did I say I didn't enjoy it? I just ask for simple errors to be noticed before something goes out for publishing. It's not hard. When I taught, I expected no less from high schoolers. Should I expect less from "professional" *snicker* writers?
 

Jamel Harbison

After reading this review, I'm not excited about Jamel Harrison's chances of success with the Gophers.

I wouldn't put too much stock in his comments re Harbison. I read nothing but rave reviews about Harbison last fall and early winter by people that are probably more perceptive than this guy. He also expressed concern over how thin the gophers will be at qb when IMO this is the best stable of quarterbacks the gophers have EVER had. He also has concerns about the gopher offensive line which most people on gopherhole think will be one of our great strengths. We will all have a more informed opinion by mid Oct.
 

I wouldn't put too much stock in his comments re Harbison. I read nothing but rave reviews about Harbison last fall and early winter by people that are probably more perceptive than this guy. He also expressed concern over how thin the gophers will be at qb when IMO this is the best stable of quarterbacks the gophers have EVER had. He also has concerns about the gopher offensive line which most people on gopherhole think will be one of our great strengths. We will all have a more informed opinion by mid Oct.

I dunno, I liked the article even if the mis-spelling of a yet-to-be freshman was a little annoying, but I believe the depth at quarterback behind Gray is not solid. Shortell played well against USC because they didn't have a gameplan for him. He stunk in the other games. The other quarterbacks projected behind him are true freshmen, and if they see the field, we'll probably see more games like Michigan and Purdue last year. I can probably see both Harbison and McDonald both being impact players in the future, but I can't see them making any all-conference teams this coming season.

He means to talk about this coming season, and with the players we have, and even though we got some talent in recruiting, I don't foresee the payoff for a couple more years.

As far as this season goes, I feel it hinges on Gray staying healthy, an improved oline, and an improved defensive unit. If anything else seems to click, I will be pleasantly surprised.



Sent from my PLAYSTATION PHONE using tapatalk

P.s sorry about my crappy grammars and what-not
 



As Sprortsfan24 likes to say, "my man", for once we recieve a solid, in depth take on our squad from an outside source, and all you and DP can say are two negative remarks related to such small errors? I hate to say, but that's Reuseeish.

I for one fully enjoyed this piece, ANd it was written during the worst time of year to be a college football fan.
:cool:
 




Top Bottom