DeLeon Eskridge will not return to the U

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per this tweet from Phil Miller:

"Bad news for Gophers: DeLeon Eskridge, UM's leading rusher last year, won't return for his senior season."

"Eskridge asked for release in order to deal with a family situation, presumably will transfer to school closer to his San Fran home."

"Eskridge Rushed for 698 yards and 7 TDs last year, both tops on Gophers. Had strong spring for new coaches, too. 1 year of eligibility left."

Go Gophers!!
 


Looks like at least one of the redshirt freshman are going to be getting a lot more carries now.
 





I wonder if Salamon will move back to rb, he actually reminds me of Eskridge, I dunno if that's a good thing or not.
 

Meh. I wish the guy well, and best of luck to him on his family problems, but it's not a big deal.
 

I do NOT want to see..."I heard that...", "I wonder if..." "Do you suppose that..." Whatever it is, it is DeLeon's to deal with and I wish him the best.
 




Good thing we have some RB depth and some awesome potential.
 


He was the best of the known backs IMO...but not by much. I was hoping that one of the younger guys would see some serious reps anyways. Hopefully all goes well for him.
 





I don't think it's a huge loss. He was a solid player but I think some of the younger guys have more upside and with the departure will get increased reps. Good luck to him though, he was a solid contributor to the past few seasons.
 

I wish him the best, but he was not the answer. He had neither the ability to run through an arm tackle or break away. I think we are better without him. Bennet has to take the bit and run with it, Kirkwood and Edwards can both runover people.
 

Based on Coach Kill's comments about Eure, was he an academic casualty?
 


I will never forget that Illinois game Eskridge had.....the was the high water mark of the Brewster era (Actually the high water mark might have been going into the drive that produced the pick-6 against Northwester).
 

Eskridge was decent, but wouldn't be a big ten starter on a decent team (just my opinion). I preferred Bennett (when healthy) every day of the week over Eskridge. Eskridge was average at everything - steady, relatively reliable hanging on to the football, but not a game changer in any way.

That said, it never hurts to have a semi-productive, steady senior back, even if for depth purposes alone, so it's too bad he is gone.

If Wright is eligible, and Cobb is placed at RB, we at least have a fair amount of bodies to choose from. That said, in terms of experience, after Bennett we are ridiculously thin. A

As I've said before, RB is no different than any of the Gophers other positions - our starters (Bennett) are fine compared to other teams, but health is going to make or break the Gophs this year; we have little quality, experienced depth at a number of positions, and now, that includes RB.
 

Lets see the youth.

Kirkwood looked like he might be the best back last year before he had to sit. I think at RB we have some good players that are young. Kirkwood and Edwards should get a bunch of carries and that is fine by me. Young Rbs if they are talented can have an impact. Its to bad Eskridge had to leave but there is talent around.
 

You guys are morons.

True, he had no business being on the field as a frosh. But he had matured into a very serviceable back. And now we lose him after all those snaps.

I repeat: this sucks.
 

Studwell55 said:
You guys are morons.

True, he had no business being on the field as a frosh. But he had matured into a very serviceable back. And now we lose him after all those snaps.

I repeat: this sucks.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is saying this is a good thing (if they are I might call them an idiot too).

I am simply saying if you have to lose an impact player at any position on the team....RB would be the place to do it. The only position thats deeper than RB on this team is LB.


Any word on where he might go? Will he sit a year or will he go down a level?
 

Eskridge had some good moments. I always thought he had fairly good instincts, but lacked the explosiveness and strength to excel. I always thought he was fairly steady though.
 

I liked Eskridge, but it's not losing Barber or Maroney or Pinnix or someone like that. He was a veteran with experience and it'll be hard losing that. But our best proven back is Kirkwood, and Eskridge's departure will allow Lamonte Edwards to enter in and show what he can do, and i'm very very excited for that.

It's tough to lose a veteran back in his senior year like Deleon, but.....

..... it's not a huge loss talent wise.

Best of luck to him and Euree, hope they both do well.
 

Studwell55 said:
You guys are morons.

True, he had no business being on the field as a frosh. But he had matured into a very serviceable back. And now we lose him after all those snaps.

I repeat: this sucks.
Click to expand...

I disagree. This news deserves a simple shoulder shrug and thats it.
 

Studwell55 said:
You guys are morons.

True, he had no business being on the field as a frosh. But he had matured into a very serviceable back. And now we lose him after all those snaps.

I repeat: this sucks.
Click to expand...

Would I rather have Eskridge on the team than not? Yes.

But if someone held a gun to my head and said I had to remove one scholarship RB from the roster, I would say Eskridge with no hesitation. I would have said the same 1, 2, or 3 years ago.
 

Studwell55 said:
You guys are morons.

True, he had no business being on the field as a frosh. But he had matured into a very serviceable back. And now we lose him after all those snaps.

I repeat: this sucks.
Click to expand...

Are we talking about the same Deleon Eskridge? This will not have any negative affects on our season whatsoever. It's time for Kirkwood, Wright, and Edwards to finally show what they can do, and all three are probably more talented than Eskridge.
 


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