DL Xion Chapman commits to the Gophers

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btowngopher said:
I just don’t believe it’s a strategy of spreading NIL money around instead of investing in a few expensive guys by choice. I think it’s we can’t afford the big time guys. If we could we would go for them and also be adding a lot of cheap guys. I have a hard time believing it takes a bunch of of money to get a guy with 20 catches from Tulsa to come here.
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He probably didn’t cost a lot but WR4/5 (or in my opinion WR in general) isn’t a place to spend a lot of money.
 



gopherbadgerman said:
That’s not a very nice thing to say.
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I actually think you are a realist on many of your posts and you have had some good insights. I’ll keep you on my non-ignore list. I do have to laugh because a lot of folks have a lot of people on the ignore list. Pretty soon it’s just them talking to themselves in their echo chamber. But maybe that’s how their real world is for them?

Back to this signing…love it. Big body at a position of need. Him and Crowder from Marshall, will help a lot with the interior rotation. They were thin there and needed some support. I do think Sunram will be a player though. I’m not sure how the other younger fellas are since we haven’t really seen them in action.
 


I have 70% of this board on my ignore list. Automatic ignore status for anyone that has golf, fishing, or Lakeville in their moniker. Not because I dislike golf or fishing, just because I already know too much about your potential posting tendency. And nothing good has ever came out of Lakeville.
 

GreasyGopher said:
He probably didn’t cost a lot but WR4/5 (or in my opinion WR in general) isn’t a place to spend a lot of money.
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I hope we aren’t adding guys through the portal that we hope can be a WR4/5. I’d rather go for upside and if he’s a complete bust let an inexperienced high school recruit step into that role.
 

btowngopher said:
I hope we aren’t adding guys through the portal that we hope can be a WR4/5. I’d rather go for upside and if he’s a complete bust let an inexperienced high school recruit step into that role.
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It will be interesting to see if Fruechte can get more out of that group.
 

btowngopher said:
I hope we aren’t adding guys through the portal that we hope can be a WR4/5. I’d rather go for upside and if he’s a complete bust let an inexperienced high school recruit step into that role.
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They have 4 WRs total returning from last year’s team. Of those 4, only two saw PT last season and the other 2 are redshirt freshmen.

They needed to fill out the depth chart with players that had some experience. Hence, the additions of Jennings and Steptoe who are likely to be WR4/5.

Smith and Tracy and 7 freshman wasn’t going to cut it.

I don’t disagree that money is better spent elsewhere but next years team is really thin at WR and I think Jennings and Steptoe are 1 year guys.
 




Gold Vision said:
I have 70% of this board on my ignore list. Automatic ignore status for anyone that has golf, fishing, or Lakeville in their moniker. Not because I dislike golf or fishing, just because I already know too much about your potential posting tendency. And nothing good has ever came out of Lakeville.
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I-35?
 

GoldRush said:
It will be interesting to see if Fruechte can get more out of that group.
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I hope so. Indiana has receivers that know how to fake the defender and get open. It was fun watching them school the Oregon DBs. If Fruechte can teach our WR that, we’ll be much better.
 

WAGopher said:
It looks like Xion was not ranked coming out of high school (Allentown, PA), and now he’s a high 4 Star. Does anyone know why he seemed to slip by the rankings in high school? Did he not play foosball?
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I believe he went JUCO out of HS. Not sure of the reason though.
 



Panthadad2 said:
Yes, no one talks about the downside of the portal for players. I suppose teams that use it effectively need to be a bit ruthless in culling the herd.
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PJ looks to be moving in that direction. We have a lot of portal rntries and, with a few exceptions, they are leaving to upgrade their team or payday.
 

btowngopher said:
I hope we aren’t adding guys through the portal that we hope can be a WR4/5. I’d rather go for upside and if he’s a complete bust let an inexperienced high school recruit step into that role.
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Just so you know, besides the 2 or 3 WRs PJ is bringing in from the portal, he is also bringing in 5 WRs in the 2026 HS class (plus an Athlete who PJ has recruited as a DB but who was a prolific HS WR). PJ basically cleaned house after the season, carrying over only 4 wide receivers. This WR haul in the FR class, plus the experienced depth pieces and/upside gambles from the portal, create an entire different WR “room” for Fruechte and Harbaugh. I think it will be a dramatic change next year—hopefully for the better!
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Just so you know, besides the 2 or 3 WRs PJ is bringing in from the portal, he is also bringing in 5 WRs in the 2026 HS class (plus an Athlete who PJ has recruited as a DB but who was a prolific HS WR). PJ basically cleaned house after the season, carrying over only 4 wide receivers. This WR haul in the FR class, plus the experienced depth pieces and/upside gambles from the portal, create an entire different WR “room” for Fruechte and Harbaugh. I think it will be a dramatic change next year—hopefully for the better!
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I'm optimistic about the HS recruits. I hadn't really looked at their offer lists in detail but solid

Blassingame - Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, North Carolina, Purdue, Texas A&M, UCF, Washington, wisconsin

Moore - Boston College, Iowa, Penn State, Vanderbilt

Dozier- Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt

Hendryx- Syracuse, Nebraska, West Virginia

Stevens- West Virginia, Nebraska, (James Madison)
 

USAF said:
Both "97" and "91" have names.

Continually using numbers is annoying and rather insulting
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I can't tell if this USAF is always trolling all of us or if he's actually this grumpy 24/7. I'm not even mad, I'm actually impressed. Every reply is something passive aggressive. It's 2026, new year, new you. If you need a hug, I'm here for you big guy.
 

pharmacygopher said:
I'm optimistic about the HS recruits. I hadn't really looked at their offer lists in detail but solid

Blassingame - Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, North Carolina, Purdue, Texas A&M, UCF, Washington, wisconsin

Moore - Boston College, Iowa, Penn State, Vanderbilt

Dozier- Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt

Hendryx- Syracuse, Nebraska, West Virginia

Stevens- West Virginia, Nebraska, (James Madison)
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Four pretty decent FR WR prospects plus the fifth, Stevens, who is not very big but supposed to be a speed merchant. Lot to work with in those five guy, especially Blassingame. The new depth pieces PJ has taken from the portal have more experience and production than the Gopher guys they replaced, and allow the Freshman 5 to develop over the year rather than be rushed.
 



Gophergrandpa said:
Just so you know, besides the 2 or 3 WRs PJ is bringing in from the portal, he is also bringing in 5 WRs in the 2026 HS class (plus an Athlete who PJ has recruited as a DB but who was a prolific HS WR). PJ basically cleaned house after the season, carrying over only 4 wide receivers. This WR haul in the FR class, plus the experienced depth pieces and/upside gambles from the portal, create an entire different WR “room” for Fruechte and Harbaugh. I think it will be a dramatic change next year—hopefully for the better!
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That’s interesting if he really wanted Coleman, Lanier, and Lyons to move on already.
 

btowngopher said:
That’s interesting if he really wanted Coleman, Lanier, and Lyons to move on already.
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I have no inside info. But with only Jalen Smith and Javon Tracy returning a sure starting WRs, there was a lot of room to move up to 3rd and 4th WR for Coleman, Lanier and Lyon ... unless they got told that 20226 RS FR Martino was ahead, and that 2026 FR Blassinggame was near ready to play, and that PJ was going hunting for some transfer WRs as well. Writing was on the wall ...
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Our current count of enrolled, carryover players from the 2025 season, plus our HS signs, plus our transfer portal guys is significantly in excess of the permitted roster size of 105. Several more rostered guys must leave or be trimmed before the 2026 season just to get us down to the maximum permitted roster. So I don't think this year's portal activity is about filling empty roster spaces. My hunch is that PJ is looking for (1) 3 or 4 instant impact guys, such as Xion Chapman, who might immediately start in key roles; (2) several guys, with multiple years of eligibility, who will provide competitive upgrades from current depth pieces, as well as development opportunities in future seasons; and (3) a few diamonds in the rough--WR Thompson from Auburn?--guys with great but as yet unrealized upside, one or two of whom might well blossom in the Gophers' supportive environment. Good strategy for a team that is returning a lot of quality starters, but has some noticeable gaps and some depth weaknesses.
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You seem worried about the amount of guys on the team. I assure you it will workout where they are not over the allowed amount. Just like every other year the scholarship totals have worked out.
 






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