2021 Defensive Line

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Gophergrandpa

Gophergrandpa

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Here is a cut of the 2021 Defensive Line roster ... so far. The Pinckney and Martin transfers were clearly needed both for depth and for seniority/experience. This group has a LOT of potential at the younger levels, but definitely needed some patching at the upper levels for 2021. I really wish for Fleck to win the recruiting battles for local potential stars like Townley, but we have a lot of strength at the lower levels of this position group even without Townley,
 

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This is an area that intrigues me as well. I would love for us to build a solid corp here. But has been noted many times in the past, the D Line is the hardest to recruit to. The really good ones, tend to sign with the helmet schools.
 




There are a lot of, at least in theory, playable DTs on that list. If Treadway is back (I wasn't sure on him given how old he is), you've got him, the two transfers, Cheney, Schad, Carter and Richter. Might honestly not be a bad idea to adopt some heavy DL rotation with three of those guys on the field so people don't run for 9 yards a pop again next fall.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Here is a cut of the 2021 Defensive Line roster ... so far. The Pinckney and Martin transfers were clearly needed both for depth and for seniority/experience. This group has a LOT of potential at the younger levels, but definitely needed some patching at the upper levels for 2021. I really wish for Fleck to win the recruiting battles for local potential stars like Townley, but we have a lot of strength at the lower levels of this position group even without Townley,
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Thanks - pretty nifty with the PDF.
 

I thought Carter and Cheney showed promise and I've liked Dew-Treadway and Schad, so I was surprised they went so hard after the Clemson and NCSU transfers at DT...holding the edge on def end and generating pass rush beyond Mafe seem like the more pressing areas of concern on d-line
 

swingman said:
I thought Carter and Cheney showed promise and I've liked Dew-Treadway and Schad, so I was surprised they went so hard after the Clemson and NCSU transfers at DT...holding the edge on def end and generating pass rush beyond Mafe seem like the more pressing areas of concern on d-line
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The Gophers aren't waiting for mana from heaven to magically appear in the future. They want to win now.
 



Burns talking about early enrollees today: https://247sports.com/college/minne...nrollee-football-recruits-for-2021-159572090/

Good stuff about Pinckney, Martin, and Eastern.

But in Pinckney's portion in particular, he said this:

Minnesota defensive tackle rotation for 2021 is going to loaded with experience and upperclassmen.

- Nyles Pinckney (55 career games and 1,166 total snaps)
- Val Martin (fifth-year senior with 500+ total snaps)
- Micah Dew-Treadway (seventh (!!) year senior with 900+ total snaps)
- Keonte Schad (fifth-year senior with 300+ total snaps)

Plus, Rashad Cheney and De'Angelo Carter will still only be redshirt freshmen for 2021 . All four players mentioned above will be gone for 2022, so while I expect all six guys to rotate in some capacity, it allows Cheney and Carter one more off-season before becoming the full-time guys in 2022. Minnesota also had upperclassmean Noah Hickcox transfer out, and with Jamaal Teague also opting out for 2019, there's no word if he'll return as well, so taking Pinckney makes a lot of sense.

This also allows freshmen defensive linemen MJ Anderson, Logan Richter, Deven Eastern, Gage Keys, Jacob Schuster and Luther McCoy to mature in the weight room before being asked to really contribute in 2022.


I get that Martin and Pinckney weren't here in 2020, obviously. And they've been brought in to compete and contribute.

But Carter earned the starting role in 2020, already. That would be tough to demote him to a rotational contributor. Maybe he won't start, the best players should. But I would not be surprised to see him starting, or at least with a pretty even rotation at Nose.

3tech is the better position for pass rushing and disrupting strong side zone runs. So maybe Pinckney and Martin will compete with Schad and Dew at that spot? Or maybe Schad and/or Dew go over to Nose?
 

I think the way Wisconsin ripped us up the middle—no attempt to conceal, just plain, “here we come” power football—in a game the Gophers most likely would have won had they simply been able to stop Groshek and RUTM, had something to do with shoring up the DT position (and grabbing ILB grad transfer Gribbens) for the 2021 campaign. This move gives Rossi a lot of rotation possibilities, and lets Carter, Cheney and the other very talented youngsters continue their growth to B1G level play with less trauma.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
I think the way Wisconsin ripped us up the middle—no attempt to conceal, just plain, “here we come” power football—in a game the Gophers most likely would have won had they simply been able to stop Groshek and RUTM, had something to do with shoring up the DT position (and grabbing ILB grad transfer Gribbens) for the 2021 campaign. This move gives Rossi a lot of rotation possibilities, and lets Carter, Cheney and the other very talented youngsters continue their growth to B1G level play with less trauma.
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Well like Burns mentions, Hickcox is transferring out and Teague it is rumored will not come back. So the transfers are replacing them, in a sense, and I would argue are probably upgrades (though Teague did play a decent amount).
 

Geez, Dew-Treadway. Glad he is back but when I first read that I thought of John Belushi talking in Animal House. "seven years of college...."
 




It's great to see the strengthening of run stopping defense. Stopping Wiscy's run at will works for me.

The day of reckoning is coming when Gopher Defense can shove their RUTM up their throats. 🤕
 

hungan1 said:
It's great to see the strengthening of run stopping defense. Stopping Wiscy's run at will works for me.

The day of reckoning is coming when Gopher Defense can shove their RUTM up their throats. 🤕
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Had to shake my head just now and get the image out of my mind... I was just having flashbacks of the Gophers putting a very young Sam Renner (270lbs then) out there at DT against Wisconsin several years ago, right around the time where it felt like we bottomed out. Damn, I felt so sorry for that kid at the time. It was awesome to see him build his body and develop and become the player he was in his last season or so.
 

hungan1 said:
It's great to see the strengthening of run stopping defense. Stopping Wiscy's run at will works for me.

The day of reckoning is coming when Gopher Defense can shove their RUTM up their throats. 🤕
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That was key to winning in 2018 I think. OJ Smith had a heckuva game.
 

Just for yuks: Will we see this type of flagrant foul with the Gophers new DL? The Nebraska player got a flag for having his manhood messed around with in the pile by a Texas A&M DL.

 
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hungan1 said:
Just for yuks: Will we see this type of flagrant foul with the Gophers new DL? The Nebraska player got a flag for having his manhood messed around with in the pile by a Texas A&M DL.

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Just can't get away with anything these days, can you?
 

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