2024 Offensive Line

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Breakin' The Plane said:
Karter Shaw was the backup C this year.
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Center is a blank slate next year. Several names come to mind as possibilities (for some reason, I think I have heard McConnell). The Center of the future could well be 2024 recruit Brett Carroll from Kansas. Also supposed to be a very special player. Maybe not "Roy" special, but close.
 


MplsGopher said:
Is this the only such game?

No offense meant even in the slightest .... but part of me wonders if they have certain criteria for "geographic diversity" in order to maximize ratings?

It's not like playing in this game shows you off to colleges. You're committed before you ever play.
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There are a couple of such games. Here's my point: in most years (regardless of the numbers of such games) the Gopher have at best one or two recruits in these games (and none in several years). We had two in the 2023 class. Having four players in such games, rather than one or two--or none--is meaningful to me. Four is better than two, or zero.
 

We're replacing Boe at Center, likely with Cade McConnell who is considered next man up. Reports are that McConnell is very good. He'll be a r-So so we'll lose some maturity from Boe, but talent-wise he's an upgrade. Jerome Williams & Brett Carroll will both be given a chance in camp, but McConnell is the heavy favorite.

Tackles are probably set with Ersery & Quinn Carroll again. All the Quinn Carroll haters will probably just have to deal with a RT who was named HM All-B1G the past two seasons. It's fair to expect at least that level of production again next season, if not a higher level.

Guards will have some drama if Cooper's back, which I understand he will be? He played very well this year, so Cooper looks set again. Greg Johnson got more & more snaps as the season went on, mostly at Lewis' expense. Will they start Johnson at LG & slide Cooper over to RG? Will they rotate the 3 of them again?

Probably the most ready of the rest at this point is Ashton Beers, who the staff really likes, but he's a Guard, and we have a log-jam in front of him.
 
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MplsGopher said:
If Fleck has to promise true freshmen playing right away to get them here, our OL rotation is going to be 20 guys per game in a couple years …
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Yeah lets figure out a way to complain about swiping an instant impact OL from Wisconsin; this is at minimum the caliber of OL recruit they send to the league every year.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
We're replacing Boe at Center, likely with Cade McConnell who is considered next man up. Reports are that McConnell is very good. He'll be a r-So so we'll lose some maturity from Boe, but talent-wise he's an upgrade. Jerome Williams & Brett Carroll with both be given a chance in camp, but McConnell is the heavy favorite.

Tackles are probably set with Ersery & Quinn Carroll again. All the Quinn Carroll haters will probably just have to deal with a RT who was named HM All-B1G the past two seasons. It's fair to expect at least that level of production again next season, if not a higher level.

Guards will have some drama if Cooper's back, which I understand he will be? He played very well this year, so Cooper looks set again. Greg Johnson got more & more snaps as the season went on, mostly at Lewis' expense. Will they start Johnson at LG & slide Cooper over to RG? Will they rotate the 3 of them again?

Probably the most ready of the rest at this point is Ashton Beers, who the staff really likes, but he's a Guard, and we have a log-jam in front of him.
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Spot on.

I wouldn't be shocked to see one of the log jam guards take some reps at C (Cooper or Beers) just to give some depth across the board.
 

It's all going to depend on 2 things: who plays Center and is Tony Nelson or Philip Daniel ready to play RT.

If Nelson or Daniel is ready at RT:
Ersery - Cooper - McConnell/Johnson - QC - Daniel/Nelson


If they aren't ready (which is what I'm assuming will happen)
Ersery- Cooper - Johnson/Mcconnell- Lewis/Johnson - Carroll

If Cooper decides to retire:
Ersery - Johnson - McConnell- Lewis/Carroll - Carroll/Daniel/Nelson
 

MplsGopher said:
Johnson could be an All-American and the next JMS, if he would agree to give Center a shot. Good path to the NFL too.

Not that he couldn't do just as well at Guard. But we have Cooper and Lewis already at Guard, and we will need a rock solid Center for the next three years.

Just sayin
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I think for this year Johnson's best "ability" was his "mobility". For a guard/center in the B1G he is very athletic. Which is a refreshing change of pace for our interior o-line the last few cycles.
 



I think offensive line is a strength for the team.

Team could use another better than average wide receiver for the new QB to throw to.

We assume a healthy LB crew will be solid when healthy.

Secondary fell apart last year at times, so maybe it's more a learning/progression thing. Gophers did sign a decent CB from the transfer portal, unclear how great he is but looks solid. An elite safety prospect is coming in.

And so the D-line is the uncertain, big impact area. Who is taking a step forward. This is such an important group and probably an expensive group. In the NFL, top d-linemen get paid top dollars. And high d-line prospects get drafted higher than projection. D-line is an expensive, difficult area to stock.
 

One thing I really fail to understand is the opinion that Quinn Carroll needs to be replaced. Two time honorable mention All Big Ten.

If McConnell comes through, we have a real good offensive line next year.
 

Uffda said:
My speculation is that Johnson earned the starting spot.
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And when guys are projected to start the next year, you might want them to play. I have a feeling he or Cooper with be Center next year.
 

restovich said:
One thing I really fail to understand is the opinion that Quinn Carroll needs to be replaced. Two time honorable mention All Big Ten.

If McConnell comes through, we have a real good offensive line next year.
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OL is #100 of concerns heading into 2024. Obviously guys could move on after Spring ball and create some more clarity, but we have 19-20 guys in the OL Room and pretty much all of them are on scholarship.
 



restovich said:
One thing I really fail to understand is the opinion that Quinn Carroll needs to be replaced. Two time honorable mention All Big Ten.

If McConnell comes through, we have a real good offensive line next year.
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I don’t think anyone is wants to straight up replace him. There has been a fair amount of talk that as good of a T he is, he could be an even better G. So if another T could step in and perform well and Carroll can go to G where he potentially has a 1st all B1G/AA type year then I think at the very least you explore that possibility
 

short ornery norwegian said:
well, Boe and Shaw are done. assuming everyone returns,
you have Ersery, Cooper, Johnson, Lewis and Carroll as the top 5 linemen. the big question is who plays Center? do they move Johnson to C, or bring up one of the younger OL candidates at C?

without a depth chart, I honestly couldn't tell you who the backup C was this season.
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I believe if Carroll does not move inside to guard the offensive line will not be better than it was this year. We need a more athletic RT.
 

erickjohnson11 said:
I believe if Carroll does not move inside to guard the offensive line will not be better than it was this year. We need a more athletic RT.
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is that person on the roster? from what I understand, the original plan was to put Carroll at G and Lewis at OT - but the coaches decided Lewis couldn't handle OT so it was safer to leave Carroll at OT and Lewis at G.

looking at the roster, I don't see an obvious choice as a better candidate for OT. there are some younger guys with potential, but I have no idea who might be the best candidate of the group.

so the question remains - do you stick with Lewis or throw a less experienced player in at OT in order to be able to move Carroll to G? some people have said Roy - but I'm skeptical about throwing a true FR to the wolves at OT.
 

Costa Rican Gopher has proven to have insight re the OL. I take his opinions as close to gospel relative to same. I believe in the past Tony Nelson has been solidly behind Esery at left tackle but I’d like to see him given a chance somewhere else along the line. I still am somewhat convinced that we’d be better off with four new starters next year. I’d be OK with some learning curve issues. I just personally think that Carroll is soft. Let the young pups play. We were decidedly average at best last year on the OL.
 

JoeCool said:
Yeah lets figure out a way to complain about swiping an instant impact OL from Wisconsin
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Let’s ignore that what I actually said is factually true?

You literally cannot keep a promise to every major OL recruit you bring in to play right away, year after year after year. How?
 

MplsGopher said:
Let’s ignore that what I actually said is factually true?

You literally cannot keep a promise to every major OL recruit you bring in to play right away, year after year after year. How?
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It's not factually correct that Fleck is promising playing time to freshmen linemen.
 

MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
It's not factually correct that Fleck is promising playing time to freshmen linemen.
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Correct, and I said if in the original post #30.

The poster was claiming that Roy should be expected to play right away.

Johnson did last year.

Where does it end? It’s a good problem to have, don’t get me wrong.
 

I'm not even sure what you're saying? Greg Johnson started because Cooper(I think) was injured. And where does what end? Only two freshmen have started on the O-line under Fleck from what I can remember.
 

Gopherchase said:
Costa Rican Gopher has proven to have insight re the OL. I take his opinions as close to gospel relative to same. I believe in the past Tony Nelson has been solidly behind Esery at left tackle but I’d like to see him given a chance somewhere else along the line. I still am somewhat convinced that we’d be better off with four new starters next year. I’d be OK with some learning curve issues. I just personally think that Carroll is soft. Let the young pups play. We were decidedly average at best last year on the OL.
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Gopherchase said:
Costa Rican Gopher has proven to have insight re the OL. I take his opinions as close to gospel relative to same. I believe in the past Tony Nelson has been solidly behind Esery at left tackle but I’d like to see him given a chance somewhere else along the line. I still am somewhat convinced that we’d be better off with four new starters next year. I’d be OK with some learning curve issues. I just personally think that Carroll is soft. Let the young pups play. We were decidedly average at best last year on the OL.
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Costa Rican Gopher & OL = 100. Let’s see what we’ve got, let the fresh talent learn on the fly.
 

Will be interesting to see if Johnson moves to center and can snap well. Cooper is 100% back and might be the best. Quinn Carroll will not move to guard now after 2 years. Coach Callahan really likes Lewis.
 

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