James Johannesson Commits to Gophers!!

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mkAz said:
Highlights!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7xtj9pR50gQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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He shows off some nifty cutting ability in this video. Has nice explosiveness also. He's definitely going to get a shot at RB.
 

Excellent pick up for the gophers. He looks to be a great athlete with some versatility at either RB, FB, or LB - looks to have a frame they could add some weight to after working with the training staff. The Rex Burkhead comparison is exciting. Could also venture to compare to Owen Marecic and his ability to cover both FB and LB duties.
 

Athletic looking kid this Johanesson.

atsgopher said:
Yeah, I',m with you. I think the staff is recruiting this kid to play RB, and not using it as a carrot to get an LB in the fold.

They like the power run game. He's Roderick Williams eventual replacement and will be able to redshirt. Always nice to have a Back that can thump some skull. I would guess they see an athletic looking bowling ball, and figure it would be a neat toy.
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Alstot was deceptively quick, and a bull moose to tackle and played in the NFL. I can see why NDSU wanted Johannesson, he is the kind of kid they succeed with. Alstot knew how to stay low and run right through peoples tackles, he was just one strong dude that was also quick. Johanneson should watch some tape of Mike Alstot on how to protect the ball and yourself.

Johanesson look's fast but he runs a little to upright, to high a lean going though the line, leaving the football to exposed in college will get him in trouble. He is going to have to learn to protect the football against better competition.
I think the coaches will give him a shot to play and stay at running back, but he is going to have some stiff competition to compete against, hopefully he is up to the challenge.
Good luck James Johannesson, welcome to the Gophers and SKI-U-Mah.
 

I don't understand why some here and at TDG think he won't get a shot at RB. Smells like racism...

Kid is built like a ballpeen hammer, quick enough, has some shiftiness, much more athletic than Mike Henry (bad comparison IMO) and his highlight reel looks similar to Tobey Gerhart with many impressive broken tackles at the line and linebacker level. Obviously that won't always translate to FBS football, as I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the level of competition in ND pales to Norco, CA. If the coaches saw him in person playing against other FBS candidates and thought he can compete that's good enough for me.

He could be our Gerhart or Weisman-type Nordic Nightmare.
 



Pompous Elitist said:
I don't understand why some here and at TDG think he won't get a shot at RB. Smells like racism...

Kid is built like a ballpeen hammer, quick enough, has some shiftiness, much more athletic than Mike Henry (bad comparison IMO) and his highlight reel looks similar to Tobey Gerhart with many impressive broken tackles at the line and linebacker level. Obviously that won't always translate to FBS football, as I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the level of competition in ND pales to Norco, CA. If the coaches saw him in person playing against other FBS candidates and thought he can compete that's good enough for me.

He could be our Gerhart or Weisman-type Nordic Nightmare.
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I agree. Though I am not sure it is due to his being a white kid from Fargo. It seems they look at his size and think he will get too big to be any good as a RB so the only logical spot for him is LB. Give him a chance on offense. This team can't have too many weapons.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
I agree. Though I am not sure it is due to his being a white kid from Fargo. It seems they look at his size and think he will get too big to be any good as a RB so the only logical spot for him is LB. Give him a chance on offense. This team can't have too many weapons.
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I must be missing something here. We are talking about a kid we needed to beat NDSU and North Dakota to get like he is some future superstar. He may be a good/great player for us but on the surface regardless of whether he ends up playing offense or defense this strikes me as a roll player pickup, not a superstar addition. Don't get me wrong you need those roll players and none of us knows how good he may or may not end up being but let's not go too overboard with the projections.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I must be missing something here. We are talking about a kid we needed to beat NDSU and North Dakota to get like he is some future superstar. He may be a good/great player for us but on the surface regardless of whether he ends up playing offense or defense this strikes me as a roll player pickup, not a superstar addition. Don't get me wrong you need those roll players and none of us knows how good he may or may not end up being but let's not go too overboard with the projections.
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It is premature to crown him the next Mike Alstott, Toby Gerhart, or Rex Burkhead. What I agree with is Johanneson having the ability and potential to be a weapon on offense. Obviously, the coaching staff does too or else they wouldn't have worked him out exclusively at RB this summer.
 

Nobody is crowning anybody anything but when speculation is that he's going to be a FB (because?) or switched to LB when he clearly has some level of ability at RB it seems obligatory to point out some players that Johannesson has the potential to emulate.
 



Pompous Elitist said:
Nobody is crowning anybody anything but when speculation is that he's going to be a FB (because?) or switched to LB when he clearly has some level of ability at RB it seems obligatory to point out some players that Johannesson has the potential to emulate.
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+1, comparisons are type of back we're looking for, not necessarily prescient skill level projections. Gophers keep mining large blocks of granite and are assembling a 7 blocks of granite style offense. This kid coupled with Jerry Gibson, Almonzo brown, etc, seems more thematic than just trying to pull someone in the fold.
 

I just got around to watching highlights, and you can consider me wowed.

[video]http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1288431/highlights/103881375[/video]
 

you have watched much more football than me so i'll accept your high praise. the video is impressive. bout time we get someone with a decent jumpcut.
 

wait!what? said:
you have watched much more football than me so i'll accept your high praise. the video is impressive.
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What I liked a lot was his runs were not on miss-directional plays. In most cases, it was right up the middle with the defense anticipating he'd have the ball. Big guy with speed and moves. Granted, this is North Dakota football, but even so; he is completely dominating whether he has one or three guys trying to tackle him.
 



everybody knows my name said:
I just got around to watching highlights, and you can consider me wowed.

[video]http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1288431/highlights/103881375[/video]
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No kidding. Let's hope his "Yards After Contact" translates to the next level. That dude is tough to bring down.
 

Not trying to start something, just an observation. But so far in this thread he's been compared to Mike Alstott, Rex Burkhead, and Toby Gerhart. Reminds me of the time Brent Musberger called Iowa's Tim Dwight "The next Steve Tasker".

It's ok to compare white athletes with black athletes, and vice versa. Not every comparison to Johannesson needs to be a white guy. Again, just thought it was funny. Not making a big deal out of it.
 

DMB123 said:
Not trying to start something, just an observation. But so far in this thread he's been compared to Mike Alstott, Rex Burkhead, and Toby Gerhart. Reminds me of the time Brent Musberger called Iowa's Tim Dwight "The next Steve Tasker".

It's ok to compare white athletes with black athletes, and vice versa. Not every comparison to Johannesson needs to be a white guy. Again, just thought it was funny. Not making a big deal out of it.
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But he's a real gritty, gym rat, lunch pail type of guy. Might even be a coach's son.
 

DMB123 said:
Not trying to start something, just an observation. But so far in this thread he's been compared to Mike Alstott, Rex Burkhead, and Toby Gerhart. Reminds me of the time Brent Musberger called Iowa's Tim Dwight "The next Steve Tasker".

It's ok to compare white athletes with black athletes, and vice versa. Not every comparison to Johannesson needs to be a white guy. Again, just thought it was funny. Not making a big deal out of it.
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I felt nothing was racist at all until your post...
 

mnrat said:
I felt nothing was racist at all until your post...
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If 6'1'', 210 James Johannesson happened to be a black guy, you think the Rex Burkhead (5'10'', 215) comparison would still pop up?
 



I'm so glad this thread has turned into a bunch of jackasses trying to outflame each other. Just what it was missing.
 


Is ND high school football worse than MN (I assume so, because...well everything in ND is worse)?
 

Johannesson is now ranked the #1 FB on ESPN. Still a low 3 star though. And yes the only reason why people are comparing Johannesson to Burkhead is because of their skin color. It is completely fine and natural and i do it all the time but to deny it is naive.
 


DMB123 said:
Not trying to start something, just an observation. But so far in this thread he's been compared to Mike Alstott, Rex Burkhead, and Toby Gerhart. Reminds me of the time Brent Musberger called Iowa's Tim Dwight "The next Steve Tasker".

It's ok to compare white athletes with black athletes, and vice versa. Not every comparison to Johannesson needs to be a white guy. Again, just thought it was funny. Not making a big deal out of it.
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I thought more Merril Hoge, Rick Fenney, comparison. He seems more old school.
 



On a side note, a big congrats to James. I hope he has a great career at the U.
 


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