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.