Gophers receive a commitment from Annandale, Minn. OT Logan Purcell

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The Gophers received a commitment from Annandale, Minn. offensive tackle Logan Purcell. He chose Minnesota over an offer from South Dakota. The 6-foot-7, 245-pound tackle is a 2021 recruit that offensive line coach Brian Callahan will develop.

Purcell has a basketball background and also played defensive end for Annandale. Those athletic traits and footwork can be utilized at the next level. Players with above average movement skills fit well within zone blocking schemes. Many offensive line coaches search for tackles with above average athleticism that can be developed. When these recruits arrive in the strength and conditioning program, the athletic traits are paired with additional physical growth.

Here’s a look at this film:

 




He might not be Carroll or Mahlman, but this looks like a classic WI/Iowa pickup that gets molded into a big nasty. In addition to his sisters basketball prowess, his dad played shooting guard for the outstate team in the ‘94 Minnesota HS Basketball all-star game and won the three-point contest.
 
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I just hope he develops better than our other Logan project to date.
 



The Gophers received a commitment from Annandale, Minn. offensive tackle Logan Purcell. He chose Minnesota over an offer from South Dakota. The 6-foot-7, 245-pound tackle is a 2021 recruit that offensive line coach Brian Callahan will develop.

Purcell has a basketball background and also played defensive end for Annandale. Those athletic traits and footwork can be utilized at the next level. Players with above average movement skills fit well within zone blocking schemes. Many offensive line coaches search for tackles with above average athleticism that can be developed. When these recruits arrive in the strength and conditioning program, the athletic traits are paired with additional physical growth.

Here’s a look at this film:

This kid could open up his own pancake house. Plus, maybe he could become a DE. Great prospect.
 



What do you mean? Redshirt freshmen Logan Richter?
Yes- May be unfair but this will be his 3rd year in the program since he also grey shirted. With all the fanfare about how much of a specimen he is and what a great athlete he is I was figuring we’d be seeing a lot of predictions of him being a candidate for a breakout year or at least in the rotation at DT.
 

The OL is very challenging to recruit as a group. They don't grow on trees, and the highly rated ones in the state get scooped up by the likes of Wisconsin and Notre Dame.

Purcell on film looks like the type of player you'd want to develop into a Big Ten lineman. He appears to possess all the tools. Richter IMHO appeared much more raw coming out of HS. We don't know how these guys are going to develop or whether they are going to be contributors. They will contribute in practice squad at a minimum. We don't hear much about these players that help the team succeed.

We want to build good team depth and the players behind them who are happy and content playing their roles really well. For others, they have a desire to be starters. These are guys that will have difficult conversations.

The physical attributes is only part of the story. What determines the heart of a champion is a willingness and burning desire to succeed. The other part of the story is career changing injuries. Every kid is different. You will get mid to low three star winners like Jared Weyler, Donnell Greene, John M. Schmitz that blossom into good to great players for the Gophers. On the other hand, you've got other higher rated OLs recruits that don't pan out as well.

To build a championship team, PJ Fleck must constantly have constant competition at all positions at a high level for the starting positions. He will be having difficult conversations every year. That won't change. It is up to the recruits once they are signed. They can't control injuries and other circumstances. This is a brutal sport. Look Kyle at Sassack. He is medically retiring from football.
 
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Yes- May be unfair but this will be his 3rd year in the program since he also grey shirted. With all the fanfare about how much of a specimen he is and what a great athlete he is I was figuring we’d be seeing a lot of predictions of him being a candidate for a breakout year or at least in the rotation at DT.
He's spent exactly one year at the university, so to claim it's his third year in the program is baseless. Its wild to claim that a 19 year old red shirt freshman is a bust.
 




Annandale is a small town of 3370 souls, but they had a football team that punched above its weight class. They used to belong to the former Wright County Conference which featured excellent teams like Hutchinson, Glencoe-Silver Lake, Becker, among others.
 


Annandale is a small town of 3370 souls, but they had a football team that punched above its weight class. They used to belong to the former Wright County Conference which featured excellent teams like Hutchinson, Glencoe-Silver Lake, Becker, among others.
Don't forget Maple Lake in that conference. I got tossed out of the Annandale game for fighting. The other guy was way bigger and I was taking one for the team.
 

Annandale is a small town of 3370 souls, but they had a football team that punched above its weight class. They used to belong to the former Wright County Conference which featured excellent teams like Hutchinson, Glencoe-Silver Lake, Becker, among others.

Don't forget the microbrewery!

https://www.spilledgrainbrewhouse.com/
 




From his tape, and with him being a good two sport athlete, I'm will eat a shoe if he isn't given a ratings bump (likely a substantial one) by early signing day.
 

From his tape, and with him being a good two sport athlete, I'm will eat a shoe if he isn't given a ratings bump (likely a substantial one) by early signing day.
I will nominate mine after a Friday fish fry... Hell after any day in a kitchen
 


We care about ratings, unless we don’t.

Ratings for Juniors shouldn't be relied upon anyway. And anyone that values a recruit solely on what a recruiting service says about them is taking a really narrow view of things. Clearly the staff sees something they like in him. Might be the kind of player who will need a few years to mature but that is not uncommon for offensive lineman.
 

Ratings for Juniors shouldn't be relied upon anyway. And anyone that values a recruit solely on what a recruiting service says about them is taking a really narrow view of things. Clearly the staff sees something they like in him. Might be the kind of player who will need a few years to mature but that is not uncommon for offensive lineman.
I couldn't agree more.
 

Annandale is a pretty chill town. Will try to catch a hoops game soon to see him in person. I drive through there a lot to visit the in-laws.

I trust this staff to identify guys like this. Glad he is committed.
 

Yes- May be unfair but this will be his 3rd year in the program since he also grey shirted. With all the fanfare about how much of a specimen he is and what a great athlete he is I was figuring we’d be seeing a lot of predictions of him being a candidate for a breakout year or at least in the rotation at DT.
Incredibly unfair since this is not his third year and there wasn't much fanfare at all for him. Just your silly over expectation.
 



Annandale is a pretty chill town. Will try to catch a hoops game soon to see him in person. I drive through there a lot to visit the in-laws.

I trust this staff to identify guys like this. Glad he is committed.

It's interesting how that plays out.

Keep getting better, have a good year and then a great one and we're all good.

Floundering or not so hot ... we get nervous about how many of these guys we see.
 




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