ESPN: Minnesota's 'All-Century' team: Best lineup since 2000

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per ESPN, here's a sneak peak of their All-Gopher team since 2000:

OFFENSE

QB Adam Weber: Thanks in part to his strong arm and a stranglehold on the job that produced 50 career starts, Weber rewrote the passing record book with the Golden Gophers -- in some cases claiming the top spot by huge margins.

RB Laurence Maroney: The bruising rusher finished his career No. 2 all time in yardage and scored 32 times before moving on to the NFL.

RB Marion Barber III: A dynamic weapon in a loaded backfield, Barber finished behind Maroney in yardage but topped him with 35 career rushing touchdowns.

WR Eric Decker: Owner of two of Minnesota’s top-three individual receiving seasons, Decker left school with the all-time lead in both catches and yardage before embarking on a successful NFL career.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/134593/minnesotas-all-century-team-best-lineup-since-2000

Go Gophers!!
 

Good squad, I think I'd replace Devandre Campbell with either Lawrence or Triplet
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

I'd take AAK and BC3 over AW8.


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I'm hoping Leidner has a season that will put him on this team.
 


I'd have to look at all the rosters, but this looks like a solid group. None of those selected produced a "no way" response.
 


bemidjigopher said:
Good squad, I think I'd replace Devandre Campbell with either Lawrence or Triplet
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The NFL would disagree with you - not saying you're necessarily wrong for the college game, but just saying that Campbell is/was seen as a much better talent than Lawrence or Triplet...to your point, though, I might include Aaron Hill with the LBs. I simply cannot forget his INT-TD against wisc...maybe, at the time, the most excited I have been at a Gopher's game ever. He was solid.
 

Triplet was essentially a ST player until his Sr year. He was great his Sr year, but one year doesn't get him on the list.


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I think I'd replace Cockran with someone like Darrell Reid. Aaron Hill could also replace Campbell but it's close.
 

OL most underwhelming to me. I've been a diehard and don't even recognize the Joe Quinn name.


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MaxyJR1 said:
OL most underwhelming to me. I've been a diehard and don't even recognize the Joe Quinn name.


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That's funny - I was thinking the same thing about Quinn. I do not remember him
 





Maroney one of my all time favorite Gophers. In my years of watching Gopher football the only two offensive players that I thought had a chance to take it to the house everytime they touched the ball was Maroney and Rick Upchurch . True story. Glen Mason at a outing told tidbit about Maroney. When he's was in for a recruiting visit they went to Manny's Steakhouse. With all those great cuts on the menu Maroney ordered a hamburger. Mason asked him: ' You don't like steak?....nope, just like hamburger better".
 

I might have gone with a 2 tight end line-up and dropped Johnson. Max could have split out and it seems we have had many good tight ends.
 


bemidjigopher said:
If we went two TE's as much as I like Maxx, I would go with Ben Utecht
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You can't go wrong with Utecht, Spaeth and Maxx! I just think that Maxx is best suited for moving into the slot out of the three of them.
 

GopherHomer said:
The NFL would disagree with you - not saying you're necessarily wrong for the college game, but just saying that Campbell is/was seen as a much better talent than Lawrence or Triplet...to your point, though, I might include Aaron Hill with the LBs. I simply cannot forget his INT-TD against wisc...maybe, at the time, the most excited I have been at a Gopher's game ever. He was solid.
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Triplett was also drafted just one round behind Campbell, and was a much better college player.
 

die hard gopher said:
Triplett was also drafted just one round behind Campbell, and was a much better college player.
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Triplet was a much better CFB player? You are joking, right. Nate had a very good Senior Year. He was essentially a ST player prior to that. Not a shot at Nate, but he wasn't "much better" than Campbell.


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Spoofin said:
Triplet was a much better CFB player? You are joking, right. Nate had a very good Senior Year. He was essentially a ST player prior to that. Not a shot at Nate, but he wasn't "much better" than Campbell.


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Agree. For Triplett's career he had 145 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 0 sacks and 2 int. De'Vondre Campbell had 206 tackles, 16 TFL, 6.5 sacks, and 2 ints.
 


die hard gopher said:
Triplett was also drafted just one round behind Campbell, and was a much better college player.
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"Fair point" for the first part of your post - but I strongly disagree with the second half (others have pointed out the reasons).
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Agree. For Triplett's career he had 145 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 0 sacks and 2 int. De'Vondre Campbell had 206 tackles, 16 TFL, 6.5 sacks, and 2 ints.
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Further, 105 of those 145 (which is combined solo + assist) were in his Sr Year. 40 in his earlier years combined.


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Overall the o-line and d-lines are really weak. For Epping, Quinn, Willie, and Cockran to make the team is pretty embarrassing. Out of our 5 best lineman in the last 15 years, we've had 2 in the NFL? And of the top 4 d-lineman, 2 made it.

Speaks volumes as to why we've been mediocre at best since 2000.
 

Were ranking college football players, not NBA all time greats here. Longevity of the career doesn't mean much to me in terms of a guys legacy. Triplett's best year was much better than Campbell's best year which is really what this should be based off of IMO. I don't really care how lackluster he was before that. Plenty of good or great players only really had one good year of college football. Alabama QB Blake Sims and Cordarrelle Patterson come to mind and I still consider them great even if it was for one year. I'd remember a guy much more fondly if he had one All American type year and nothing else than somebody who had 3 or 4 conference honorable mention type years.
 

die hard gopher said:
Were ranking college football players, not NBA all time greats here. Longevity of the career doesn't mean much to me in terms of a guys legacy. Triplett's best year was much better than Campbell's best year which is really what this should be based off of IMO. I don't really care how lackluster he was before that. Plenty of good or great players only really had one good year of college football. Alabama QB Blake Sims and Cordarrelle Patterson come to mind and I still consider them great even if it was for one year. I'd remember a guy much more fondly if he had one All American type year and nothing else than somebody who had 3 or 4 conference honorable mention type years.
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I feel ya - Triplett and Campbell's best are close enough that an argument isn't necessary. Using the definition of a single year, though - Maxx definitely is the TE. I haven't looked up what the exact numbers look like, but 2014 Maxx was the most dynamic year for a TE that we have had. If he had stayed the extra two years, he would have obliterated Spaeth's numbers.
 

die hard gopher said:
Were ranking college football players, not NBA all time greats here. Longevity of the career doesn't mean much to me in terms of a guys legacy. Triplett's best year was much better than Campbell's best year which is really what this should be based off of IMO. I don't really care how lackluster he was before that. Plenty of good or great players only really had one good year of college football. Alabama QB Blake Sims and Cordarrelle Patterson come to mind and I still consider them great even if it was for one year. I'd remember a guy much more fondly if he had one All American type year and nothing else than somebody who had 3 or 4 conference honorable mention type years.
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Much better?
Triplett's SR Year: 105 tackles, 5 TFL, 0 sacks, 2 INT
D Campbells SR Year: 92 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 1 INT.

That's pretty much a wash. I'd even give the edge to Campbell just for the 4 sacks, which led the team. Given that Campbell was also a playmaker his JR year, I'd definitely give him the nod over Triplett.
Not sure about the Cordarrelle Patterson comparison either. Justin Hunter had 300 more receiving yards than Patterson and Tennessee went 5-7 that year.
 

GopherHomer said:
Using the definition of a single year, though - Maxx definitely is the TE. I haven't looked up what the exact numbers look like, but 2014 Maxx was the most dynamic year for a TE that we have had. If he had stayed the extra two years, he would have obliterated Spaeth's numbers.
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In 2 years, Maxx had more TDs(13) than Spaeth(12) and Utecht(12) had in four years. His yardage total was only about 300 yards behind both despite having two years less games.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Much better?
Triplett's SR Year: 105 tackles, 5 TFL, 0 sacks, 2 INT
D Campbells SR Year: 92 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 1 INT.

That's pretty much a wash. I'd even give the edge to Campbell just for the 4 sacks, which led the team. Given that Campbell was also a playmaker his JR year, I'd definitely give him the nod over Triplett.
Not sure about the Cordarrelle Patterson comparison either. Justin Hunter had 300 more receiving yards than Patterson and Tennessee went 5-7 that year.
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I think when you look at the stats objectively, Campbell has the edge. That wasn't my first reaction though. I think many of us are having a hard time getting past all the bonehead-type plays that Campbell made (running himself completely out of position, etc.). And who can forget this play by Triplett: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgLi30NIiPc
 

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