A lot of Freshmen on the field

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Gopher_Devil

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PJ said it and nothing seems to energize the diehards like seeing guys play early. His comments seemed more aimed towards the T-Fr but it wouldn’t surprise if he was thinking about the redshirts too. Also special teams can be a huge role/opportunity for young guys.

Howie, Voss, Estrada/Bates are all easy picks.
What about Stevens, Hopkins, Aaytch? There were some good OL/WR too. For year 2 guys there’s a lot of OL/DL that could definitely boost their rooms and push older guys.

With that who do you think they are and where/how much do they play?
 

Gopher_Devil said:
PJ said it and nothing seems to energize the diehards like seeing guys play early. His comments seemed more aimed towards the T-Fr but it wouldn’t surprise if he was thinking about the redshirts too. Also special teams can be a huge role/opportunity for young guys.

Howie, Voss, Estrada/Bates are all easy picks.
What about Stevens, Hopkins, Aaytch? There were some good OL/WR too. For year 2 guys there’s a lot of OL/DL that could definitely boost their rooms and push older guys.

With that who do you think they are and where/how much do they play?
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Aaytch is a borderline 5* according to On3/Rivals service. If they see that level of skill, I think he will see the field early and eventually find his way into the starting role at some point.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
Aaytch is a borderline 5* according to On3/Rivals service. If they see that level of skill, I think he will see the field early and eventually find his way into the starting role at some point.
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He is quietly one of the biggest gets in recent history and I’m excited to see him play. I think the plethora of DE/Edge players we have and the fact he didn’t enroll early kind of hurt his case but maybe he is just that good.
 

Any true freshman that will say push for starting position in their second year should be playing special teams as a freshman so that they are on the travel roster and get used to the atmospheres around the Big Ten and the travel routine and all of that. I don’t really see any need to red shirt a whole lot of kids, especially the skill players in today’s world and having some of those kids play special teams instead of say our four year in the program fifth string linebacker probably adds some athleticism to a ST squad that needs it.
 

So if we're a developmental program and, in year 10, there are a bunch of true freshmen "on the field," what does that say about the program's development side?

The "Die Hards" want to see a team that shows up for 12+ games per year, from the opening kickoff until the final whistle, not fewer than half of the conference games, like last year.
 


caliGopher said:
So if we're a developmental program and, in year 10, there are a bunch of true freshmen "on the field," what does that say about the program's development side?

The "Die Hards" want to see a team that shows up for 12+ games per year, from the opening kickoff until the final whistle, not fewer than half of the conference games, like last year.
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Why wouldn’t such a program play people who need to develop?
 


caliGopher said:
So if we're a developmental program and, in year 10, there are a bunch of true freshmen "on the field," what does that say about the program's development side?

The "Die Hards" want to see a team that shows up for 12+ games per year, from the opening kickoff until the final whistle, not fewer than half of the conference games, like last year.
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I think it’s a really good model for a team to start 75-90% upperclassmen who have developed in the program over 3+ years and then the rest be young, high-ceilings guys who we got from recruiting really well. Heck even Bama and OSU have 18 year olds start for them and they’re doing okay.
 

caliGopher said:
So if we're a developmental program and, in year 10, there are a bunch of true freshmen "on the field," what does that say about the program's development side?
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You're misinterpreting those statements:

- Developmental program: We aren't competing with the top of the B1G and SEC in NIL, where those top teams can just restock due to high-paid transfers every offseason. We have to play the long game and find guys who will likely stick around.

- Playing a bunch of true freshman means that PJ is recruiting better and better talent each year that is good enough to beat out older guys on the depth chart. Anyone with eyes has seen this over the last few years. We are getting bigger, faster, stronger across the board with the younger guys.

I can see how you took that as us being a stagnant program, but, again, we can all see that PJ has raised the floor of this program
 



Gopher_Devil said:
He is quietly one of the biggest gets in recent history and I’m excited to see him play. I think the plethora of DE/Edge players we have and the fact he didn’t enroll early kind of hurt his case but maybe he is just that good.
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Anthony Smith, Bush, Menz, Howard. I just don’t see him starting this year. Playing time possibly but yes I don’t see any that didn’t enroll early getting much of it including Voss. Surprisingly Stendel from Caledonia was one of the few freshman who didn’t use a red shirt last year but most came from special teams.
 

minnyrules11 said:
Hayden Moore looked like most explosive receiver on the roster at the spring game.
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PJ specifically called out the RB and WR rooms as containing freshmen who would see time on the field (in addition to calling out Howie Johnson by name).

Hayden Moore was the first guy who came to mind. To look at him in the Spring Game, it's hard to believe the genie is going back in the bottle.

In a previous press conference, PJ has mentioned that Braiden Stevens is simply so fast that they'll find a way to get him on the field (I'm paraphrasing).
 

Traditional redshirting and the four-game participation limit are effectively obsolete in NCAA Division I football. The NCAA officially approved a new sweeping "5-in-5" age-based eligibility model, allowing athletes to compete for five seasons within a five-year eligibility window regardless of how many games they appear in. Athletes can't compete past age 24.
 




touchdownvikings said:
Hayden Moore was the first guy who came to mind. To look at him in the Spring Game, it's hard to believe the genie is going back in the bottle.
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This. Moore looked every bit the part. My only hesitation is that all his PT came with Lansu at QB. I do wonder what his chemistry is with Drake.
 
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touchdownvikings said:
PJ specifically called out the RB and WR rooms as containing freshmen who would see time on the field (in addition to calling out Howie Johnson by name).

Hayden Moore was the first guy who came to mind. To look at him in the Spring Game, it's hard to believe the genie is going back in the bottle.

In a previous press conference, PJ has mentioned that Braiden Stevens is simply so fast that they'll find a way to get him on the field (I'm paraphrasing).
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Wonder if Johnson is playing inside and not on the end?

I wonder Stevens can start as a returner.
 

minnyrules11 said:
Wonder if Johnson is playing inside and not on the end?

I wonder Stevens can start as a returner.
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I saw Johnson at the MSHSL State Track Meet walking up to the podium for shot put and he did NOT have a Big Ten end/edge build. I don't say that in a negative way, just that he has the physique of a DT.
 


My totally uneducated guess would be Johnson, Voss, WRs and CBs have the best chance of getting significant playing time.
 

I definitely think TE Voss plays early. We were playing a lot of 12 and had 3-4 TEs getting snaps. Geers, Biber, and Bierman all graduated and only 1 transfer in Helms came in, so a 4 star TE has a shot, even if there are still some vets. Could also see RB Estrada just because RB is the spot if you want to see a freshman, if he's like some previous studs, he could rise to the top of an unproven behind Taylor RB room, although healthy Turner should beat him out. Howie Johnson was name dropped, and the iDL room is a bit sketchy in that it's built around G5 transfers and random vet 3 stars, so that'd be nice. 5 in 5 means that if they're the guys, no reason not to play them. It was already getting that way in the NIL/portal era due to not being able to assume you'll get them for 5 years anyway.
 

Gopher_Devil said:
He is quietly one of the biggest gets in recent history and I’m excited to see him play. I think the plethora of DE/Edge players we have and the fact he didn’t enroll early kind of hurt his case but maybe he is just that good.
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Honest question. How is he one of the biggest gets in recent history if he’s never played a snap yet?
 


gopherbadgerman said:
Honest question. How is he one of the biggest gets in recent history if he’s never played a snap yet?
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In terms of recruiting I meant, we’ll see how or when he plays. Otherwise Rivals made him #32 overall and the 8th best DE recruit in the country. I get it’s only 1 of the 2/3 services but that would put him within a hair of being a 5 star and make him the highest rated recruit we’ve ever got by a significant margin.

People have been clamoring for PJs first 5 star for years now. One service basically said we got one and there was not an appropriate amount of coverage on it imo.
 

Gopher_Devil said:
In terms of recruiting I meant, we’ll see how or when he plays. Otherwise Rivals made him #32 overall and the 8th best DE recruit in the country. I get it’s only 1 of the 2/3 services but that would put him within a hair of being a 5 star and make him the highest rated recruit we’ve ever got by a significant margin.

People have been clamoring for PJs first 5 star for years now. One service basically said we got one and there was not an appropriate amount of coverage on it imo.
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Got it. He is one of if not the highest rated recruit (at least on Rivals) that PJ has landed.
 

GophEnEspaña said:
You're misinterpreting those statements:

- Developmental program: We aren't competing with the top of the B1G and SEC in NIL, where those top teams can just restock due to high-paid transfers every offseason. We have to play the long game and find guys who will likely stick around.

- Playing a bunch of true freshman means that PJ is recruiting better and better talent each year that is good enough to beat out older guys on the depth chart. Anyone with eyes has seen this over the last few years. We are getting bigger, faster, stronger across the board with the younger guys.

I can see how you took that as us being a stagnant program, but, again, we can all see that PJ has raised the floor of this program
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Well if you go by record we are pretty stagnant.
 




Special teams way too important to just give Freshmen a chance to take the field. You and I have seen many games lost because of mistakes on the special teams. Special teams equals hidden yardage.
 

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