Gopher Football
Position Changes – In a dramatic, yet not totally unexpected move, Coach Mason announced that sophomore linebacker Alex Daniels has been moved to running back. Daniels was expected to be the starting Gopher middle linebacker this year, but a broken arm suffered during spring progress hampered his off season progress. It would appear that Mason is not comfortable enough with Daniels on defense, but he feels that his strength and athleticism can make a difference on offense. Daniels was the gem of the 2005 Gopher recruiting class, having chose Minnesota over his home state Ohio State Buckeyes.
The only other announced position switch was the move of incoming freshman DJ Burris from Center to Defensive Tackle. This move makes a good deal of sense to me. The Gophers were already pretty thin at defensive tackle, and at 6’3″ 275 pounds Burris physically fits the position. Though it might be a long shot, it wouldn’t totally surprise me to see Burris on the field this fall if he can pick things up fast enough.
Personnel Notes – Mason announced that the following players are not the team anymore: Pat McCarthy (graduation), Brian Moss (graduation), Jason Lamers (graduation), Marcel Jones (disciplinary), Josh Wiltse (graduation), and James Tindall (transfer). Brandon Owens and Mark Mullaney are still on scholarship but are injured, and Nhemi Theodore is not practicing yet pending the arrival of summer school grades.
Comments on the Offense:
- Mason is not worried about the offensive line. He acknowledges that Eslinger and Setterstrom are huge losses, but he likes the guys he has coming back. He said that just because they are losing Eslinger does not mean they will dramatically alter their blocking schemes. He is confident that new center Tony Brinkhaus will do a good job.
- He likes the wide receivers as well. Even though they are small in numbers he thinks that there are four guys who will all do well. He again mentioned that Erik Decker and Mike Chambers were two players who, if not redshirting, could’ve helped out the team last year.
- Mason predicted that Bryan Cupito is in for a huge year. He commended him for his leadership ability, toughness and command of the offense, not to mention his improvements as a passer.
- Mason downplayed the recent talk that passing will take over the offense. Even though the team does lose several key parts of its running game, Mason pointed to pre-2003 as a period when the team was still effective running the ball despite not being loaded with All Americans. Expect a good deal of running again, but the pass will surely be a more featured weapon this it has the past couple years.
Comments on the Defense:
- On the defensive line, Mason seemed excited about the duo of Steve Davis and Willie Van De Steeg on the ends. He compared the season Davis had last year as a true freshman to the years that Eslinger and Setterstrom had as true freshmen, and predicted that Davis should have a great career as well. At tackle Mason was less confident, saying that with the inexperience that they’re dealing with they’ll need to be creative to find a combo that works.
- Mason seemed a little more excited about the secondary. There is more talent and experience there that the coaches will be able to work with.
- The linebackers could be a little bit of a problem. Mason is a little worried about the depth, saying that if any of the starters get hurt there could be a little trouble. It appears that the injury to Alex Daniels during spring practice was a huge blow not to just the linebackers, but to the whole defense.
Academics – Lastly, Mason mentioned that as a whole the team did relatively well academically last semester. With the chances of losing scholarships increasing because poor graduation rates, any good academic news is certainly welcome.
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