3 potential personnel changes for Minnesota football in 2021 (LB, K, RB)

[BleedGopher]

per Ervin:

Here are three positions that are likely to see a shakeup for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 2021.

Linebacker
You can’t pit the defensive struggles of Minnesota — which spent most of the season ranked dead last in opponent yards per play — on one man or one position group. But when it comes to stopping the run, the Gophers’ linebackers simply weren’t up to the task. Junior middle linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin bore the brunt of negativity, but he was often trying to compensate for his younger teammates being out of position.

So what happens next? Sori-Marin will probably be back. But the outside spots are likely up for grabs. Look for a big leap from freshman James Gordon IV, one of several rookies who played more than expected this fall and gained valuable experience. Donald Willis and Cody Lindenberg both fall into that category, too. And don’t count out incoming freshman Devon Williams, either.

Kicker
Even before COVID-19 turned every single boot of the ball into an adventure, it had been years since Minnesota had a notably consistent kicker. Its backups cost it in overtime losses to Maryland and Wisconsin, and the Gophers’ inability to kick off reliably gave opponents good field position all year. If there’s a big leg in the transfer portal this offseason, Minnesota would be wise to take a hard look.

Running back
This one’s still up in the air. 2020 Big Ten running back of the year Mohamed Ibrahim says he wants to come back and finish his degree. But even if he does, someone needs to step up and spell him during what’s hopefully a 12-game 2021 season. Ibrahim was an iron man in seven games, but it’s hard to hold up in a true B1G season carrying almost 30 times per game. Cam Wiley, Treyson Potts and Bryce Williams could be the next three-headed monster at running back in the Twin Cities. Next season is time for at least one of them to start making a name for himself.

3 potential personnel changes for Minnesota football in 2021

Here are three positions that are likely to see a shakeup for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 2021.

saturdaytradition.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Oregon Gopher]

Doesn’t even mention Braelin Oliver??

 

[Mitu]

Doesn’t even mention Braelin Oliver??

Or Jack Gibbens, the transfer from ACU? Lazy journalism.

 

[Rickman55]

I could have written this or even done better.

 

[Pete smith]

I am telling you it is the drinking water. Look how poor ( rotten) the Vikings tackled at NO. Don’t blame our LB’s it has to be something else. Coaching ???

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

He sort of picked these positions completely at random.

I think we have every single RB and LBer back. It'll be interesting to see how some of CURRENT personnel ends up playing out on the depth chart (does Potts take RB2? Does Gibbons push Aune, Gordon, Willis, Tank?) But you could literally say that about every single position group.

If you're looking at interesting personnel changes next year, how about CB? We lose St. Juste. Who knows about Howard and Harris?

How about OL? We seem to have a ton of depth next year, who doesn't start?

 

[#2Gopher]

I could have written this or even done better.

Would you do it please?

 

[laazrakit]

Piss-poor writtng, to be sure... The omission of Oliver and Gibbons was an obvious goof to anyone who pays even slight attention to Gophers football.

No mention of Ky Thomas, either? To think that this talented young man won't force himself into the backfield picture is also pretty foolish.

 

[SixBySix]

Even before COVID-19 turned every single boot of the ball into an adventure, it had been years since Minnesota had a notably consistent kicker.

Emmit Carpenter wasn't that long ago, was he?

 

[EG#9]

I think Mo will be back, but everyone's favorite "draft scout" Matt Miller has Mo rising to a top 10 back for the draft if he were to come out. Now that could still mean a 5th or even 6th round draft pick if he's 9th or 10th.

I worry about the RB position after Mo, he's really special for this program. At the end of the Nebraska game that 3rd (or 4th?) and goal was all Mo as there was simply no hole there and he found a way in the end zone. Against Wisconsin, he got every yard possible and there was a noticeable dropoff when anyone else took a carry. I wouldn't doubt that both Wiley and Willams have better testing numbers than Mo, but they don't have his vision and don't run with his force. I hope the next Mo is on the roster, but I haven't seen it from anyone else to be honest. Maybe Ky Thomas (injured this year) shows us something in the unfortunate (for Gopher fans) event that Mo decides to move on.

 

[laazrakit]

I think Mo will be back, but everyone's favorite "draft scout" Matt Miller has Mo rising to a top 10 back for the draft if he were to come out. Now that could still mean a 5th or even 6th round draft pick if he's 9th or 10th.

You have to think that even if Mo explores the possibility, everyone will advise him to come back... If he can replicate his performances next season (and there's no reason he shouldn't) he'd put himself into a position to raise his draft stock significantly, which would translate into significantly Mo $$$.

For dollar and cents reasons, it is in his best interest to come back. Thankfully, he doesn't seem to have any other, ulterior motives for moving on.

 

[BTChamp]

I think Mo will be back, but everyone's favorite "draft scout" Matt Miller has Mo rising to a top 10 back for the draft if he were to come out. Now that could still mean a 5th or even 6th round draft pick if he's 9th or 10th.

I worry about the RB position after Mo, he's really special for this program. At the end of the Nebraska game that 3rd (or 4th?) and goal was all Mo as there was simply no hole there and he found a way in the end zone. Against Wisconsin, he got every yard possible and there was a noticeable dropoff when anyone else took a carry. I wouldn't doubt that both Wiley and Willams have better testing numbers than Mo, but they don't have his vision and don't run with his force. I hope the next Mo is on the roster, but I haven't seen it from anyone else to be honest. Maybe Ky Thomas (injured this year) shows us something in the unfortunate (for Gopher fans) event that Mo decides to move on.

Is this the same Matt Miller with"character issues"? Meaning Mo would be top 5 based off this guy's analysis.

 

[Word]

Emmit Carpenter wasn't that long ago, was he?

2017 was his last year. His accuracy dropped considerably when PJ took over, which doesn't help the perception of our kicking woes under Fleck's tenure.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

2017 was his last year. His accuracy dropped considerably when PJ took over, which doesn't help the perception of our kicking woes under Fleck's tenure.

Emmit's last year was 2018.

We've actually had pretty solid kicking for almost the entire decade (Carpenter, Santoso, Wettstein).

Our kicking wasn't great the last two year (short kickoffs and only 1 FG over 40). For me this is especially problematic because we have four scholarships tied up in specialists (Lantz, Ryerson, Crawford and long snapper). So this needs to get fixed in a hurry.

 

[hungan1]

The kicking game could cost the Gophers close games like it did this season. The coaching staff need to focus on Special Teams. This part of the Gophers repertoire makes me nervous moving forward more than any other group.

The Gophers could have easily be 5-2 instead of 3-4 in this shortened Covid Season.

 

[amk8930]

Wasn’t one of our kickers rated one of the best in the country when recruited? What happened to make him regress this badly?

 

[FredCoxRocks]

The kicking game could cost the Gophers close games like it did this season. The coaching staff need to focus on Special Teams. This part of the Gophers repertoire makes me nervous moving forward more than any other group.

The Gophers could have easily be 5-2 instead of 3-4 in this shortened Covid Season.

How Rob Wenger has gone through his time here at Minnesota virtually unscathed baffles me.

 

[hungan1]

Yup. I am just saying that the kicking may have cost us the Axe. If this is the case, I'd like for them to fix this apparent Achilles Heel.

Anytime you can win the field position game, you can demoralize the opponent.

 

[U2Gopher]

Wasn’t one of our kickers rated one of the best in the country when recruited? What happened to make him regress this badly?

Michael Lantz was rated the 8th best kicker in the nation by 247. I don’t think he “regressed” as you mentioned above. He was injured and had COVID and only appeared in three games. Not sure he attempted a field goal this year. As a true freshman last year he won the job. Was 8-11 on field goals and finished the year strong making his last 4 including a season long 40 yarder in the bowl game against Auburn. I don’t think that’s too bad for a true freshman. It has been mentioned on here that the 40 yarder was the longest field goal we made last year. I don’t think that means Lantz can’t kick it further. After all, his career long in high school was 50 so he has the leg. I honestly don’t remember us attempting many long field goals last year. I’m sure someone on here though can and probably will do the research to respond to this.

I have confidence that Lantz will be better in 2021. You would naturally expect to see improvement from any player after their freshman season. Why would he be any different? This year, due to his injury and COVID, is a throwaway. If the staff doesn’t bring in a transfer kicker, I’d take it as a sign that they are comfortable with Lantz as well.