2024 Commits Football Season Highlights/News

Some quick notes:

Wright had an apparent knee injury but came back in a few plays later to score a TD. Hopefully it wasn’t/isn’t anything serious

Lindsey looks good as expected. Good movement in the pocket and some really nice reads/throws. Had 3(?) TDs at half but should’ve had at least one more.

From what I can tell Jacob Simpson has nearly 200 YARDS AND 3 TDS AT THE HALF. Give this kid his 4* and then lock him away in a maroon colored cell until December.
 




3/45/1 for Smith in another high offense win last night.

Julian Johnson blocks a punt but can’t find any other stats. Played both TE/DE as before.

Sunram with a 44-13 win. Played every possible position/snap. I’m there was a few plays that he blew up and boy is it exciting to see! Once he gets college technique/SC he’ll be a problem. I do wonder if he’d be a better IOL prospect though too.
 




Some quick notes:

Wright had an apparent knee injury but came back in a few plays later to score a TD. Hopefully it wasn’t/isn’t anything serious

Lindsey looks good as expected. Good movement in the pocket and some really nice reads/throws. Had 3(?) TDs at half but should’ve had at least one more.

From what I can tell Jacob Simpson has nearly 200 YARDS AND 3 TDS AT THE HALF. Give this kid his 4* and then lock him away in a maroon colored cell until December.
I was at this game for Wright. He's normally a two way player but stopped defense after that injury. It was first drive of the game. He limped in to score on 3rd down from 1yd line. After that he only played part of the offensive plays and was almost always a decoy.
 







Madu’s tape from Baylor, TN. A very prestigious program filled with D1 talent. His athleticism jumps out. He also does a decent job with technique and play rec. I would’ve liked to have seen some better timing on the routes he defended and maybe some sharper angles on run D but those are things that can be coached up. Despite his team getting blown out I think it’s a good showing.
 






Good Lord, lol. Man among boys. That first tackle was....intense, lol. The best part might've been the last two plays though where he was downfield pancaking people as a blocker. Love the intensity.
As a Denfeld grad always good to see east getting punished.
 

Gophers top football recruit Koi Perich delivers three TDs in Esko's season opener​


Esko's Koi Perich, the top recruit in Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck's 2024 class, has been so spectacular in his career that scoring three touchdowns in his team's season opener last week seemed like a typical Perich performance to his coach.

Perich had two rushing touchdowns and a 40-yard punt return for a TD in Esko's 63-6 win at Duluth East last Thursday. His second game is Friday vs. Proctor at home.

"It's funny because you kind of just expect that from him," Esko coach Scott Arntson told the Star Tribune this week. "You expect him to do those types of things because we've now seen it for three years. He is who he is. He's a pretty dynamic football player."

The 6-1, 195-pound four-star safety and running back is ranked the No. 1 player in Minnesota's 2024 class by 247Sports.com, ranked just ahead of Rogers defensive end Wyatt Gilmore, who will play for Oklahoma.

Fleck landed seven of the top nine seniors in Minnesota this year. But the Gophers beat out several Big Ten schools for Perich, who also had scholarship offers from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern, and Wisconsin.

Last season, Perich recorded 75 tackles, three interceptions and recovered four fumbles for Esko. He also displayed his versatility with nearly 1,200 yards rushing and receiving combined. His 25 total touchdowns included five return TDs on punts and kickoffs.

The future Gopher can make an impact anywhere on the field, but Perich is known for delivering some menacing tackles.

"Defensively, he really doesn't come off the field," Arntson said. "He's very physical and he's very smart. He's bringing everything he has when he comes to hit you. He just explodes into people. Even when it doesn't seem like he's hitting you very hard people tend to go flying."


Go Gophers!!
 


The stream for Lindsey’s team got crazy so it started in the later 2Q and the score was 56-0. So Lindsey is done already but I can’t find his stats anywhere… yet.
 

Aaron "Traitor" Philo (former Gopher commit) apparently threw for 6 TDs and ran for 1 in his last game. Too bad he decided he didn't want to play for a winning college program.

 


Pretzlaff is a couple down. I get these are highlights and not every play is a highlight. But boy does this kid SHINE! The size, athleticism, IQ, tenacity. This kid is one up there with the must haves of the class. Should be at least a 89/90 on 247 and I am dead serious.
 


Mo Saine from Eden Prairie is on the sidelines again with no pads as he nurses a hamstring injury. I appreciate that EP is not in a hurry to rush him back because I think he has a bright future ahead after high school.
 

Traitor is a bit much.
Yea I just heard he’s afraid to play in a P5 conference.

Last few notes. Simpson gets neutralized until the 4Q with 1/2 catches. Almost had a TD.

Gerald’s team loses again. He continue to account for 90% of his teams yards and plays all 3 sides.

Smith and MW beat Andover in a prep spotlight game. The stream is unwatchable from my phone/WiFi but you can try your luck. No TDs I think so waiting to hear on targets/yards/etc
 


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Watched about 3/4 the stream for Madu’s game. I don’t want to be too harsh since these recruits are typically the projection type that take time to learn and grow, but I was hoping to see more. I’ll start by saying that I know nothing of the team he plays for or their level of competition. I also don’t know his assignments for each game or how long he’s even been playing FB. I try and keep all of that in mind as I review film. So I’ll do the things that I’d like to see improving first.

He’s a supreme athlete by all accounts. With that in mind I’d like to see him on more offensive and ST snaps. Maybe they have great WRs already but Madu has some speed and length. Have him run a go route or something. With his ability I’d like to see him impact the game more on other sides of the ball like some of our other recruits.

Another semi-issue I had was play recognition and his fits. Disclaimer: I’m not the DC so I don’t know what his responsibilities are. Still it seemed like he’d get blocked too easy by the WR or would wide angles to make a tackle even if he’s 2x faster than the ball carrier. One play even went right past him and another player had to track down the runner from across the field. As a D1 guy I was expecting a bit more down hill play and faster reactions/better angles. Maybe some of that is on the play call idk.

Besides that his athleticism and technique are both enticing. I do worry slightly about run D in the B1G for him but I’m a believer in training that ability/mentality as opposed to it being exclusively innate. He had a couple really nice coverages on stick/out routes which can be hard for even CFB corners to cover.

Overall it’s not that he was bad or a liability but more that I was hoping to see him fully leverage his size and athleticism. He may take a while to develop but the ability is there. If we retain our D staff I think they can do a lot with him. He could also enroll early and contribute to the team in year 1 in a Walley fashion who knows. As with 99% of the time, trust the staff.
 

Also I for the life of me can’t find a thing about Ijeboo, Hinds, Sims, Rainer, Johnson, or Carroll unless they post it themselves so we’re waiting on those guys too.
 




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