Donovahn Jones and Drew Wolitarsky will benefit much from spring practice

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EE_Gopher

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Donovahn Jones and Drew Wolitarsky need to learn to put their body between the defender and the ball. Drew Wolitarsky has a touchdown reception if he had done this and both of them would have had more receptions or drawn pass interference calls.

Maxx Williams does this well.

By the way, was the "make up call" by the referee after he missed the pass interference obvious on television? I was sitting next to a Badger fan and we were both laughing that it looked like the ref threw the flag prior to the contact actually occurring.
 

+1 Don't forget bowl practice either. I think there are 15 practices in the spring and 15 for the bowl.
 


We have a ton of starters (!) who need serious time int the weight room.

We have to get stronger. That includes our receivers.
 

Neither of these guys were early enrollees last year, were they? That would have helped as well.

Tough to go out there as a true freshman and jump right in. Add to that the fact that Jones wasn't even a full-time WR until after the first few weeks of practice and you can understand the lack of experience. I really like the upside on both of these guys.
 


Studwell55 said:
We have a ton of starters (!) who need serious time int the weight room.

We have to get stronger. That includes our receivers.
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4-5 years in weight program > 1/2-1 year in the program. They will get there.
 

The big things with Jones is he seems on board with the change to WR so he can now focus 100% on learning the position. Who knows how good he will end up being but he is definitely a great athlete so he is at least part of the way there. Remains to be seen if he can master running great routes and catching the ball.

As for Wolitarsky, I don't know that he will ever be more than a possession receiver at the college level but you need those guys so if he can develop into a solid #2 or #3 guy that would be great moving forward.

Still think we are looking for our true #1 receiver though, not sure if he is on the current roster or still waiting to be found.
 

MNVCGUY said:
The big things with Jones is he seems on board with the change to WR so he can now focus 100% on learning the position. Who knows how good he will end up being but he is definitely a great athlete so he is at least part of the way there. Remains to be seen if he can master running great routes and catching the ball.

As for Wolitarsky, I don't know that he will ever be more than a possession receiver at the college level but you need those guys so if he can develop into a solid #2 or #3 guy that would be great moving forward.

Still think we are looking for our true #1 receiver though, not sure if he is on the current roster or still waiting to be found.
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As well as Engel has played, I don't think he's what I would call a true #1 receiver, so you're right. I think Jones could develop into that, but I wonder if he's going to be a multi-purpose guy in the offense who moves around a bunch. He's truly a good athlete with good football instincts.

Has Eric Carter seen the field yet this season?
 

Need a quarterback with arm strength that can throw an accurate spiral. Ball cant hang and
be off target.

ESPN said Gophers cant throw because they use an old ball. Is it really the ball's fault?
 



gopherveteran said:
Need a quarterback with arm strength that can throw an accurate spiral. Ball cant hang and
be off target.

ESPN said Gophers cant throw because they use an old ball. Is it really the ball's fault?
Click to expand...

I'd love to see a deep ball hit a guy in stride. I agree the ball is late and hangs up a bit from Nelson.
 


50PoundHead said:
As well as Engel has played, I don't think he's what I would call a true #1 receiver, so you're right. I think Jones could develop into that, but I wonder if he's going to be a multi-purpose guy in the offense who moves around a bunch. He's truly a good athlete with good football instincts.

Has Eric Carter seen the field yet this season?
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I do not believe Eric Carter has seen the field, yet.
 

gopherveteran said:
Need a quarterback with arm strength that can throw an accurate spiral. Ball cant hang and
be off target.

ESPN said Gophers cant throw because they use an old ball. Is it really the ball's fault?
Click to expand...

I wish it was something as simple as the ball we were using....have a funny feeling there might be a bit more too it.
 



Badly need to go juco fishing for a receiver.

Find the best kid available and ask him if wants to be the #1 receiver on a competitive B10 team.

We did this back in '03, but then the kid blew out his knee.
 

Maybe Harbison shows something. Has McDonald moved to Miami yet? Haha
 

MNVCGUY said:
The big things with Jones is he seems on board with the change to WR so he can now focus 100% on learning the position. Who knows how good he will end up being but he is definitely a great athlete so he is at least part of the way there. Remains to be seen if he can master running great routes and catching the ball.

As for Wolitarsky, I don't know that he will ever be more than a possession receiver at the college level but you need those guys so if he can develop into a solid #2 or #3 guy that would be great moving forward.

Still think we are looking for our true #1 receiver though, not sure if he is on the current roster or still waiting to be found.
Click to expand...

Hopefully Jones can follow a similar path that Abbrederis took: Great athlete and High School QB that morphs into a big time B1G receiver. Jones has a chance to be a freak at the position at 6'3" with some good speed.
 

EE_Gopher said:
Donovahn Jones and Drew Wolitarsky need to learn to put their body between the defender and the ball. Drew Wolitarsky has a touchdown reception if he had done this and both of them would have had more receptions or drawn pass interference calls.

Maxx Williams does this well.

By the way, was the "make up call" by the referee after he missed the pass interference obvious on television? I was sitting next to a Badger fan and we were both laughing that it looked like the ref threw the flag prior to the contact actually occurring.
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I wouldn't call it a "make up call" though because it was the right call.
 

Can the receiving corp get together with Nelson this winter and practice catching the ball in cold weather?
 

GophersInIowa said:
I wouldn't call it a "make up call" though because it was the right call.
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I agree it was the right call as I had a good view of the play. But I do believe the flag was going to happen either way and the speed at which it came out of his pocket is what got me.
 

There is bowl practice, the Bowl game, winter conditioning to include 7 on 7 drills, then spring practice and game. Summer conditioning 7 on 7 till fall camp. Football is a 365 day sport, and it can be 5 years long. We need better route running, better hands, ability to hit receivers on the run. That comes from practice, practice, practice. The timing of the simple 12 yard out, is much more difficult when one receiver runs to the cut and cannot maintain speed out of it. Or he slows to the cut and explodes out of it. You multiply that by 5-8 receivers, and each throw could be different. In practice its receivers who can explode off the line, feint and explode out the cut. The ball is in the air on the outside at the cut. If any little thing is off its incomplete or worse. The QB launch point must be fixed. In practice hitting outs from pocket without pressure should be perfect, but add pressure make the QB roll or move off his spot and hit the receiver now you are replicating game conditions. And that's just a simple out. Now everyone thinks of the passing game as 35 to 40 yard post move, or a go route, or circle route. What you add when you go long. Is receiver speed, ability to adjust to the ball in the air, shield the defender from the ball, take it at the highest point and catch it. Not all that simple. Then you add the angle of the route, how the QB sees it, and the throw. Now you need to match the throw to the route. Is it a stove pipe throw, a direct throw to the numbers or gentle arch? Now you add weather, wind, rain, sleet, snow, a cold football, or a hot sweaty football.
 

husker70 said:
There is bowl practice, the Bowl game, winter conditioning to include 7 on 7 drills, then spring practice and game. Summer conditioning 7 on 7 till fall camp. Football is a 365 day sport, and it can be 5 years long. We need better route running, better hands, ability to hit receivers on the run. That comes from practice, practice, practice. The timing of the simple 12 yard out, is much more difficult when one receiver runs to the cut and cannot maintain speed out of it. Or he slows to the cut and explodes out of it. You multiply that by 5-8 receivers, and each throw could be different. In practice its receivers who can explode off the line, feint and explode out the cut. The ball is in the air on the outside at the cut. If any little thing is off its incomplete or worse. The QB launch point must be fixed. In practice hitting outs from pocket without pressure should be perfect, but add pressure make the QB roll or move off his spot and hit the receiver now you are replicating game conditions. And that's just a simple out. Now everyone thinks of the passing game as 35 to 40 yard post move, or a go route, or circle route. What you add when you go long. Is receiver speed, ability to adjust to the ball in the air, shield the defender from the ball, take it at the highest point and catch it. Not all that simple. Then you add the angle of the route, how the QB sees it, and the throw. Now you need to match the throw to the route. Is it a stove pipe throw, a direct throw to the numbers or gentle arch? Now you add weather, wind, rain, sleet, snow, a cold football, or a hot sweaty football.
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...not to mention over/under inflated....
 

diefirma said:
+1 Don't forget bowl practice either. I think there are 15 practices in the spring and 15 for the bowl.
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Exactly! The 15 Bowl Practices are the same amount as 15 Spring Practices. Coach Kill really stressed the importance of this when he got here & honestly it was something that I hadn't really grasped until then. It will be fun to watch some of the red-shirts play in the bowl game after an extra 15 practices as well.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
It will be fun to watch some of the red-shirts play in the bowl game after an extra 15 practices as well.
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This was addressed in another post. Coach Kill is lobbying for this to be changed, but at this point if a red-shirt plays in the bowl he will lose a year of eligibility.
 

Practice, game-experience, weight room...all good things towards getting better. Count on it. And, FWIW, I think both of our QBs throw well enough to be very successful. Our receiving corps will be a strength of our offense next fall.
 

Studwell55 said:
Badly need to go juco fishing for a receiver.

Find the best kid available and ask him if wants to be the #1 receiver on a competitive B10 team.

We did this back in '03, but then the kid blew out his knee.
Click to expand...

We are going to need two Juco receivers imo. I'm assuming Harbison won't be here next season, or he won't be a major contributor.
 

tikited said:
We are going to need two Juco receivers imo. I'm assuming Harbison won't be here next season, or he won't be a major contributor.
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Jones looks like he could become a legitimate #2 guy next year. His biggest problem right now is he's too weak.

We also have a future NFL tight end on our roster who is a (&@#$@# bad-a$$.
 

tikited said:
We are going to need two Juco receivers imo. I'm assuming Harbison won't be here next season, or he won't be a major contributor.
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knee jerk reaction much? don't jump to conclusions so fast please, wait for everything to get sorted out first before you say something like that
 

killme said:
This was addressed in another post. Coach Kill is lobbying for this to be changed, but at this point if a red-shirt plays in the bowl he will lose a year of eligibility.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I had that wrong.
 

killme said:
This was addressed in another post. Coach Kill is lobbying for this to be changed, but at this point if a red-shirt plays in the bowl he will lose a year of eligibility.
Click to expand...

I thought if the bowl was Jan 1 or after then the red-shirt could play and not lose any eligibility because it is a new year.

I am not certain of this however so does anyone know for sure?
 


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