Best 2012 MN Recruits

[60's Guy]

We have verbals from Nick Rallis, Phillip Nelson and Andre McDonald for 2012- correct?
All from Minnesota. Are they the three best Minnesota recruits? Who do you hope we get next of the Minnesota kids? Seems like somebody else would make the plunge after junior day this weekend with the momentum of those three?

The Blue Earth kids are big but they are not the crucial people for us in 2012 are they? Pirsig has buzzz because of his size and may be designated the top recruit but is he? Aren't some other guys more crucial? Or no?

It's February after all... ha

 

[THE Chitown Gopher]

I'm in no position to gauge who is the best, but I think we have 3 of the top 5 already signed on. The remaining two are Dunbar and Hayes, with Persig right behind. All three already have size, talent, speed and with Dunbar some great football IQ.

Personally, I would love to see Harden commit soon. He is a Blue Collar, get it done every play type player. He will be THAT guy that kills you if he is on the other side of the field. He is a bit undersized, but he plays a position where that is not as damning as others. That could also open up CDH to Brewster and Moreno and whoever else they have in their own pipeline.

 

[JackiO]

I'm in no position to gauge who is the best, but I think we have 3 of the top 5 already signed on. The remaining two are Dunbar and Hayes, with Persig right behind. All three already have size, talent, speed and with Dunbar some great football IQ.

Personally, I would love to see Harden commit soon. He is a Blue Collar, get it done every play type player. He will be THAT guy that kills you if he is on the other side of the field. He is a bit undersized, but he plays a position where that is not as damning as others. That could also open up CDH to Brewster and Moreno and whoever else they have in their own pipeline.

I am going to have to say that Pirsig is the top recruit to be honest with you. He already has an offer from Ohio State. That means he is big time.

 

[sonnygarcia]

I'd say we have 3 of the top 6 right now. If I had to rate from what I've seen:

1. Pirsig
2. Webb
3. Rallis (GOPHERS)
4. McDonald (GOPHERS)
5. Hayes
6. Nelson (GOPHERS)
7. Harden
8. Dunbar
9. Mollberg
10. Wells

 

[corcoran1]

He also looks like the kid who is already the most biased to go out of state, which is a surprise. Once they get the tOSU offer, everything goes BigTime. Too bad we did not have more time to build a realtionship before the helmet schools showed up, but that is life and why lack of continuity hurts. The good news to me is that from a practical team building perspective, losing an O-lineman is not the biggest loss we can have because we can build good O-linemen; losing really good local Dbacks, RBs , or DTs, if we have them, would be a bigger loss for us because we do not produce that many. Just my opinion.

 

[sonnygarcia]

He also looks like the kid who is already the most biased to go out of state, which is a surprise. Once they get the tOSU offer, everything goes BigTime. Too bad we did not have more time to build a realtionship before the helmet schools showed up, but that is life and why lack of continuity hurts. The good news to me is that from a practical team building perspective, losing an O-lineman is not the biggest loss we can have because we can build good O-linemen; losing really good local Dbacks, RBs , or DTs, if we have them, would be a bigger loss for us because we do not produce that many. Just my opinion.

What have you read to suggest this? I haven't seen one thing come out of him mouth to ever suggest that he is not considering staying home. With that being said I don't have a Rivals subscription so there may be something in there???

 

[WAGopher]

What have you read to suggest this? I haven't seen one thing come out of him mouth to ever suggest that he is not considering staying home. With that being said I don't have a Rivals subscription so there may be something in there???

I've seen at least 2 sources say he will wait and see how the Gophers do this year. While it seems a sensible comment, I also can't recall any Minnesota players who've said that and then stayed home. Let's hope Pirsig likes what he sees enough to do so.

 

[MaxyJR1]

I've seen at least 2 sources say he will wait and see how the Gophers do this year. While it seems a sensible comment, I also can't recall any Minnesota players who've said that and then stayed home. Let's hope Pirsig likes what he sees enough to do so.

Sounds to me like he is keeping all options open.

 

[60's Guy]

Agree but

I am going to have to say that Pirsig is the top recruit to be honest with you. He already has an offer from Ohio State. That means he is big time.

Pirsig is big time but is he crucial to us? Yes, we would like to have him. He'd be awesome as a Gopher. PR wise, status wise, stars wise, momentum wise he'd add a lot. There are only so many people that big on the planet. I get all that.

But unlike the Floyd year and the Henderson year...there are a lot of good Minnesota kids this year. And we have a lot of big offensive linemen in house already. We seem to be able to find those the last couple years. It's the rest we have a hard time with. Which is why in a maybe twisted way I think the other kids are more important to us? Or maybe I just think Pirsig is going to be star struck by all the offers and go elsewhere? So, I'm justifying?

Either way unlike some years...I don't think Pirsig alone determines if we have a great in state recruiting year or not? It is a unique year. I'd rather have 5 or 6 of the other big Minnesota names than to lose all of them and just add Pirsig of all the Minnesota candidates in 2012?

I know we want them all.

 

[gophervet]

He also looks like the kid who is already the most biased to go out of state, which is a surprise. Once they get the tOSU offer, everything goes BigTime. Too bad we did not have more time to build a realtionship before the helmet schools showed up, but that is life and why lack of continuity hurts. The good news to me is that from a practical team building perspective, losing an O-lineman is not the biggest loss we can have because we can build good O-linemen; losing really good local Dbacks, RBs , or DTs, if we have them, would be a bigger loss for us because we do not produce that many. Just my opinion.

Being from SW MN, I really feel like we need to be more worried about Iowa, Wisky, and Nebraska for Pirsig. The schools in smaller towns, college centered towns are traditionally more appealing. Add in their recent success and those schools have a good shot.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

It's hard to really judge who is the best and all that kind of stuff, but we got three important kids but I really think that Pirsig and McDonald would probably be our highest two rated recruits (with Nelson in third). But the group from 1-5 is all pretty equal (IMO)

The thing about McDonald, Dunbar, Harden, and Webb is that these are positions that are difficult for us to recruit really well in MN. We have to put a ton of effort in to land a high quality WR. We usually have to go into another state and talk a recruit into coming to MN. So the fact that McDonald is such a rare instate commodity in MN, makes him that much more valuable to us. The same thing can be said about Webb or Dunbar and Harden.

I remember when I heard an interview with someone (I think it was actually Ed Orgereon) talk about recruiting and he would always talk about the allocation of time that goes into getting a big name recruit to sign is so vital that most of the issues in recruiting happen when you simply "run out of time".

The fact that we have these kids who are playing positions that are rare instate is a benefit for our coaching staff in building the rest of this class around these kids. Don't get me wrong, McDonald, Nelson, Rallis are great talents in their own right, but they also have this extra bonus.

On a side note, I follow MN HS football quite a bit and I am usually not a rube in terms of thinking that every decent MN kid should get an offer, but I really hope this class holds 10 maybe 12 MN kids, this class really is THAT good.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Pirsig is big time but is he crucial to us? Yes, we would like to have him. He'd be awesome as a Gopher. PR wise, status wise, stars wise, momentum wise he'd add a lot. There are only so many people that big on the planet. I get all that.

But unlike the Floyd year and the Henderson year...there are a lot of good Minnesota kids this year. And we have a lot of big offensive linemen in house already. We seem to be able to find those the last couple years. It's the rest we have a hard time with. Which is why in a maybe twisted way I think the other kids are more important to us? Or maybe I just think Pirsig is going to be star struck by all the offers and go elsewhere? So, I'm justifying?

Either way unlike some years...I don't think Pirsig alone determines if we have a great in state recruiting year or not? It is a unique year. I'd rather have 5 or 6 of the other big Minnesota names than to lose all of them and just add Pirsig of all the Minnesota candidates in 2012?

I know we want them all.

I agree with this for the most part. Guys like Floyd and Henderson were "head and shoulders" above other in-state recruits. As of right now, I don't think there is a huge difference in talent between the top 6-8 guys. One or two guys don't seem to be way better than the others. Of course things can change this summer and fall.

 

[JackiO]

I agree with this for the most part. Guys like Floyd and Henderson were "head and shoulders" above other in-state recruits. As of right now, I don't think there is a huge difference in talent between the top 6-8 guys. One or two guys don't seem to be way better than the others. Of course things can change this summer and fall.

I agree that the top 2-8 might not have a major talent difference, but Pirsig does stick out. How many recruits has this state had lately which Ohio State has offered in January of his Junior year? Super rare for that to happen so yes, I do believe he could end up being head and shoulders above the rest. By far the top lineman in the state, if not the tops in the upper Midwest. He would be a game changer, definitely.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I agree that the top 2-8 might not have a major talent difference, but Pirsig does stick out. How many recruits has this state had lately which Ohio State has offered in January of his Junior year? Super rare for that to happen so yes, I do believe he could end up being head and shoulders above the rest. By far the top lineman in the state, if not the tops in the upper Midwest. He would be a game changer, definitely.

Pirsig is one of those kids who has a ton of upside. It is just incredibly rare to find a guy who is 6'9" 300 lbs who is athletic. I don't think Pirsig is the best player in the state right now and I think Tommy Olson was much further along at this point in his career, but Pirsig has the frame to be 6'9" 335-340 lbs and still athletic enough to be very effective.

He is raw but his upside is through the roof.

 

[JackiO]

Pirsig is one of those kids who has a ton of upside. It is just incredibly rare to find a guy who is 6'9" 300 lbs who is athletic. I don't think Pirsig is the best player in the state right now and I think Tommy Olson was much further along at this point in his career, but Pirsig has the frame to be 6'9" 335-340 lbs and still athletic enough to be very effective.

He is raw but his upside is through the roof.

Yeah I was basing my ranking off of upside but he still has a year of high school left and a red-shirt year most likely before he would have a chance at seeing the field at an upper tier school so when he's ready hes going to be really ready to go. And yes, being that I saw Tommy annihilate people all year i definitely know what you are talking about; He's going to be a good one. Pirsig's size though is un-real and something that could easily take him to the next level if he panned out.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Yeah I was basing my ranking off of upside but he still has a year of high school left and a red-shirt year most likely before he would have a chance at seeing the field at an upper tier school so when he's ready hes going to be really ready to go. And yes, being that I saw Tommy annihilate people all year i definitely know what you are talking about; He's going to be a good one. Pirsig's size though is un-real and something that could easily take him to the next level if he panned out.

Yeah, I was agreeing with you. His upside is so impressive that I think he is the clear #1 despite not being the best player in the state right now.

 

[Southoftheriver]

Sometimes the small town kids go where it is familiar. Blue Earth's Eustice brothers both went to Iowa to wrestle. Hopefully that is not a factor. I think Luke is on the Iowa staff.

 

[Ski-U-Mah24]

Sometimes the small town kids go where it is familiar. Blue Earth's Eustice brothers both went to Iowa to wrestle. Hopefully that is not a factor. I think Luke is on the Iowa staff.

True, but some of you may recognize the name Shannon Schonrock who played on the Gopher women's basketball team from 2002-2006. I believe she hailed from a small town called Winnebago, MN (part of Blue Earth Area district) and was quite the standout basketball player at the U. The road runs both ways with this stuff.

 

[Cosmo Kramer]

True, but some of you may recognize the name Shannon Schonrock who played on the Gopher women's basketball team from 2002-2006. I believe she hailed from a small town called Winnebago, MN (part of Blue Earth Area district) and was quite the standout basketball player at the U. The road runs both ways with this stuff.

im sure he is real close with shannon schonrock.... (sarcasm)

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

im sure he is real close with shannon schonrock.... (sarcasm)

I don't think he was saying that he was close to Shannon Schonrock, I think he was just pointing out an example of small town athletes who prefer to play in a more urban environment. I think he was just saying that some athletes prefer smaller town feels (Blue Earth wrestlers) and some prefer bigger cities (Schonrock).

 

[Cosmo Kramer]

gotcha

 

[corcoran1]

Pirsig probably has the most upside of any recruit in the state, he is likely the guy with the greatest potential to spend years in the NFL. That is great and it also helps future recruiting, but that is not the same thing as being the guy who will make the biggest impact on a college football team, especially ours, and I am a big O-line fan. The thing that has killed us is lack of speed and play making ability at the skilled postions, especailly DB, and terrible pass rush skills at DE. We had two years of poor O-line play, and we have a couple more years to develop the kids we have, but Pirsig is not going to make that happen any faster, he will redshirt anywhere he goes.
Unless he is a one man line, a really terrific DE would be a bigger help to us than Pirsig, as good as he may be. That doesn't mean we should not try like hell to get him, but I don't think that is our biggest hole by a lot, in fact it may be long term a good position for us already, based on the talent in the pipeline.

 

[60's Guy]

yup

Pirsig probably has the most upside of any recruit in the state, he is likely the guy with the greatest potential to spend years in the NFL. That is great and it also helps future recruiting, but that is not the same thing as being the guy who will make the biggest impact on a college football team, especially ours, and I am a big O-line fan. The thing that has killed us is lack of speed and play making ability at the skilled postions, especailly DB, and terrible pass rush skills at DE. We had two years of poor O-line play, and we have a couple more years to develop the kids we have, but Pirsig is not going to make that happen any faster, he will redshirt anywhere he goes.
Unless he is a one man line, a really terrific DE would be a bigger help to us than Pirsig, as good as he may be. That doesn't mean we should not try like hell to get him, but I don't think that is our biggest hole by a lot, in fact it may be long term a good position for us already, based on the talent in the pipeline.

To me, getting the other nine of the top 10 Minnesota kids is more important. And if we have to revise the top 10 list, arguably, by a kid or two who goes elsewhere so be it. We are are in a great opportunity cycle. Get er done Jerry!