Gophers add OL Ashton Beers to 2022 recruiting class

By: Tony Liebert |

Dec. 6, 2021: One time North Dakota State offensive tackle commit Ashton Beers (Slinger, Wisc.) flipped and committed to the Gophers Sunday (Dec. 5).

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The recruiting train rolls on! Only four days after South Dakota State linebacker commit Joey Gerlach flipped and committed to the Gophers, Ashton Beers became the newest addition to the team’s 2022 recruiting class. Beers, a 6-foot-5-inch, 295 pound offensive lineman also held top offers from Central Michigan, Buffalo and Air Force. 247sports ranks him as the 14th best player in the state of Wisconsin and 128th ranked at his position in the country. He now becomes the second offensive lineman to join the Gophers incoming recruiting class.

Who is Ashton Beers?:

Ashton Beers is a senior student-athlete who attended Slinger High School in Slinger, Wisconsin. Slinger is a small town of just over 1,000 people about 40 minutes north of Milwaukee. The high school’s enrolment is just over 1,000 taking in students from a few surrounding towns. The Slinger Owls compete in the North Shore Conference and finished 5-5 in 2021. Beers played both offensive and defensive tackle as a senior, earning All-Conference honors at both positions as well as co-offensive lineman of the year honors in the conference.

  • Scouting Report:

Beers is all you want from a Big Ten offensive lineman. He has the sheer size, motor and athleticism to be a productive player for the Gophers. His strength and motor consistently show up on film, imposing his will on smaller defenders with ease. When scouting offensive lineman at the high school level you want to see them dominate, as they’re often facing much smaller defenders than they would be matched up against at the D1 level. Beers does just that his highlight tape is 10 minutes of dominance. He is a force in run blocking, but still has some room to grow with his pass sets, which is not out of the ordinary for someone his age. His athleticism gives him a very high ceiling, and under the Gophers coaching, he should have every chance to grow into a starting offensive lineman down the road.

**High School Football Hudl Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/v/2GGx8b

Instant Reaction:

As the Gophers are set to lose anywhere from 5-6 offensive linemen this season, it is good to see them continue to address the position. Beers joins MN native Tony Nelson as the second offensive lineman in Minnesota’s 2022 class, and both players have the versatility to likely play at tackle or guard at the next level. Both players are not as highly recruited as some, but for how the Gophers have developed players like Blaise Andries and John Michael Schmitz, there is no reason why you can’t expect the same to happen with Nelson and Beers. Ashton Beers sounds like he needs to be an offensive lineman in the Big Ten, so that is a plus too.

What is next?:

Overall, this Gophers’ recruiting class is shaping up to not necessarily have the same high-level ranking talent as some of Fleck’s in the past, but I am still not too down on it. Both Trey Bixby, and Anthony Smith will be viewed as the blue-chip prospects of this class, but skill position players, Kristen Hoskins, Ike White, Zach Evans and QB Jacob Knuth should also be viewed as big additions to the program. With National Signing Day only nine days away on Dec. 15, I will have a more in-depth analysis of the class as a whole, but so far I am a fan of how things are shaping out.

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