Biggest offseason questions for the Big Ten West- Minnesota : ESPN

[Iceland12]

Minnesota: Can P.J. Fleck work his magic in Season 1?

Despite coming off a nine-win season, this is a completely different Minnesota team. There are big holes on the roster and issues with depth, which Fleck has noted in the past.

Offensive and defensive line numbers were an issue; quarterback Mitch Leidner is gone and because of sexual assault allegations; the secondary is depleted. But a good challenge has never scared off Fleck and he almost seems to thrive in the underdog position.

Dealing with the roster issues and a team that was divided early in his tenure could mean a rocky season for the Gophers. That is, unless Fleck can work his magic and get the team working together early in the season. In his first season with Western Michigan, the Broncos only won one game, so this isn’t new territory for Fleck and his staff.

This is somewhat of a different situation than Western Michigan, though, and there are some pieces that could work this season. At quarterback, the Gophers have former four-star Seth Green, Demry Croft and Conor Rhoda.

While the job is up in the air, there is competition and depth to build with, which should help. If Fleck can find his quarterback, that will help to row this boat away from a one-win season and toward another nine-win season for the Gophers.

http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/142463/biggest-offseason-questions-for-the-big-ten-west

 

[Section2]

ESPN might now be worse than Athlon.

 

[Iceland12]

Questions for the Other Teams (Abbreviated)

IL: The defensive unit ranked 61st in yards allowed per game in 2016 and is losing its leading tackler in Nickerson and three leaders in sacks from last season.

How this staff can replace those names and that production will be a question that will remain until the season starts. The numbers don’t show a lot of promise for Smith and his staff.

Iowa: Ferentz has a big task in front of him, and this season will pose a challenge to stay consistent throughout. Penn State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Nebraska are all on the schedule and should field good defenses.

Expectations might not be high for the Hawkeyes’ offense, but frustration levels could be if this season ends in a disappointing manner.

NE: At Tulane, Lee threw for 23 touchdowns and 21 interceptions, 14 of which came during his freshman season. Those numbers aren’t exactly reassuring for Nebraska fans, but Lee has been on campus for a year taking in the offense and getting adjusted.

Also, Armstrong only ranked 75th in passing yards last season, 76th in touchdown passes and 77th in passing efficiency, and the Huskers still won nine games. Lee doesn’t need to light the world on fire, especially with a defense that should be improved.

If Lee can manage games and not make big mistakes, the Huskers could be on their way to an excellent season. But at this point, it remains a question of what the quarterback position will look like with Lee.

NW: If he duplicates his rushing yards from last season, Jackson would be second all-time in Big Ten career rushing yards, behind Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne and ahead of Ohio State’s Archie Griffin.

That would be a huge boost and a big help to keep Thorson in control of the offense throughout the season. Those two will be the main pieces to how this offense runs, but they will need other names to step up and produce big numbers to finish this season the way fans are hoping it does.

Purdue: This offense will very likely look different than what he had at Western Kentucky for quite some time, so the question is whether Brohm has enough pieces to create something that can be effective.

No one is expecting huge results in Season 1, but if he can show big improvements with this roster, that could be a good sign for the next few years under his regime.

WI: The defense loses team sack leader T.J. Watt, safety Leo Musso, who lead the team in interceptions, corner Sojourn Shelton, who was second on the team in interceptions, and linebacker Vince Biegel.

Those are big shoes to fill in a short amount of time for a new coordinator. Wisconsin opens with Utah State and Florida Atlantic, so there will be somewhat of an adjustment period that Leonhard and his defense will have to get everyone acclimated.

 

[RodentRampage]

Offensive and defensive line numbers were an issue; quarterback Mitch Leidner is gone and because of sexual assault allegations; the secondary is depleted.

The way that sentence is written, it's saying that Leidner is gone because of sexual assault allegations.

 

[Tlsbhansen]

ESPN might now be worse than Athlon.

My thought exactly!

 

[SKOOKM]

Offensive and defensive line numbers were an issue; quarterback Mitch Leidner is gone and because of sexual assault allegations; the secondary is depleted.

The way that sentence is written, it's saying that Leidner is gone because of sexual assault allegations.

Yeah I thought about that too. They could have written that better.

 

[joshvanklomp]

Replace semicolons with commas and it reads much better

 

[Gopher Gildy]

"Depleted" secondary? Really? Words matter. I don't think our secondary is depleted, anyone else have a thought on this?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pompous Elitist]

I bet Barikmo wouldn't make that mistake.

Illinois: hard to argue with questions everywhere. They're terrible and so was Jeff George Jr.

Iowa: biggest question is QB. Stanley is supposed to be the messiah. We'll see.

Nebraska: yep

NW: replacing Austin Carr - huge loss; their Corey Davis. Also, can Jackson survive? They have been riding him like a rented mule.

Purdue: the biggest question is whether they can play defense. They can't.

Wisconsin: the biggest question has to be who the Wisconsin fan commenter "Jasper Munch" is. I suspect the guy who went digging for backside gold in the infamous video.