Chris Monter: Joe Bjorklund Gets Late Gopher Interest

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Joe Bjorklund, a 6-foot-6, 285-pound offensive tackle from Rosemount (MN) High, is one of the top lineman in the state. Bjorklund helped lead the Irish to a 12-1 mark as they lost to Wayzata 31-14 in the Class 5A Prep Bowl. GopherHole.com recently caught up with Bjorklund to learn the latest on his senior season and his recruitment.

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1246
 

Kind of strange that Bjorklund himself doesn't mention his "Badger offer"...
 


Sounds like late interest from MSU and WIS. Mentioned somewhere on this board that he could be a gray shirt to WIS. Hope the U brings him in.
 

much like joe bjorklund, i've found that i also have the ability to put more weight on my frame.
 


Gopherphile said:
much like joe bjorklund, i've found that i also have the ability to put more weight on my frame.
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Same here. Too bad I'm 5-9 and run the 40 in about 9.0 these days.

Glad to see Kill reaching out to kids like this. As I mentioned in different thread, these are the kinds of kids we have to take a long look at signing.
 



I don't think he has a Wisc offer.
Great kid...good head on his shoulders...hard worker.
Even with his limited experience on Defense, he looked dang good in the championship game when forced to play 2 ways because of injuries.
I would love to have him at the U, but Coach Kill will have to work hard to sway him.
 



I hope Coach Kill sees to it to offer young Mr. Bjorklund and he accepts. It would send out a srong message to other MN kids that historically have been overlooked in favor of similar players/ability/upside from other zipcodes. The Olson kid at NIU is a good example. MN players good enough to start at the Dakota schools would get some PT as a Gopher and some could possibly start.
 

Good point Bayfield. Kill can go to Bjorklund and point out that he has personally worked with a Minnesota kid who was overlooked and that he knows better than the previous football staffs that these kids should not be overlooked.
 

How about Billy Turner from Moundsview. I think his pops is a former NFLer, so he had great genes, and was overlooked by Brew. Now he is at NDSU and starting for them as a true Frosh. I never saw him play, but why wouldn't have Brew saw enough in him to get him on campus???
 

Just like Zach Vraa the year before. He was "too slow" for coach Dou che-ster. Ran a 4.5 and went to state in track, though. Timmy was too busy recruiting deadbeat thugs from Texas and Florida to keep him in town.
 



Joe Bjorklund would be a great addition to the Gophers next fall. Tommy Olson and Byorklund were the best O-lineman in Minnesota this fall and are the type of road-graders that Kill needs to run the ball. They both play with bad intentions which is also what the Gophers need from their incoming recruits.
 

BoneLakeMafia said:
Just like Zach Vraa the year before. He was "too slow" for coach Dou che-ster. Ran a 4.5 and went to state in track, though. Timmy was too busy recruiting deadbeat thugs from Texas and Florida to keep him in town.
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Yeah I don't know why Brewster brought in deadbeat thugs like McKnight. :rolleyes:
 

Zach Vraa didn't even see the field this year at NDSU. There's more to playing WR than running a 4.5 40.

Why didn't anyone else offer him?
 

GophersInIowa said:
Yeah I don't know why Brewster brought in deadbeat thugs like McKnight. :rolleyes:
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Didn't you know that the only kids who will get into trouble are from Texas and Florida and the MN kids will always stay out of trouble? It's a fact, MN kids work hard and Texas kids just come up here and cause trouble.









sarcasm
 

Billy Turner went to a few few Gopher games as a senior, so they did know who he was. Bjorklund attended the Gophers' Big Man Camp in June, which was the first time I interviewed, but he never was at any of the home games. I actually interviewed four different times, but have never written a story on him since he was not getting much "Gopher love" and didn't see like a good fit writing about him for a Gopher site. He is very nice kid, always friendly when I run into him (including this past Sunday) and hopefully the new staff will show him more interest.

Chris Monter
 


Chris Monter said:
Billy Turner went to a few few Gopher games as a senior, so they did know who he was. Bjorklund attended the Gophers' Big Man Camp in June, which was the first time I interviewed, but he never was at any of the home games. I actually interviewed four different times, but have never written a story on him since he was not getting much "Gopher love" and didn't see like a good fit writing about him for a Gopher site. He is very nice kid, always friendly when I run into him (including this past Sunday) and hopefully the new staff will show him more interest.

Chris Monter
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Brew blew it with Turner. He'd would have redshirted last season, but would have seen action as a Gopher for sure.
 

tikited said:
Brew blew it with Turner. He'd would have redshirted last season, but would have seen action as a Gopher for sure.
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Every Division 1 school in the country blew it with Turner. He didn't get an offer higher than an FCS level program. In fact, Jerry Kill looked at him at Northern Illinois and didn't offer him a scholorship.

So if he could have played in the Big 10 as a RS-FR, than Iowa, Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Iowa St., and every MAC school whiffed on this kid. That is entirely possible.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Every Division 1 school in the country blew it with Turner. He didn't get an offer higher than an FCS level program. In fact, Jerry Kill looked at him at Northern Illinois and didn't offer him a scholorship.

So if he could have played in the Big 10 as a RS-FR, than Iowa, Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Iowa St., and every MAC school whiffed on this kid. That is entirely possible.
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Brew had the kid in his own back yard so to speak. Just saying.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Yeah I don't know why Brewster brought in deadbeat thugs like McKnight. :rolleyes:
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Pick the one decent on just for the sake of arguing? You ever hear of David Pittman, Hayo Carpenter, Brandon Green, Xzavian Brandon, ect, ect?

Sooo sorry that I saw some Decker-like similarities in Vraa. He was also just rolling in the offers, right?
 

BoneLakeMafia said:
Pick the one decent on just for the sake of arguing? You ever hear of David Pittman, Hayo Carpenter, Brandon Green, Xzavian Brandon, ect, ect?

Sooo sorry that I saw some Decker-like similarities in Vraa. He was also just rolling in the offers, right?
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Brandon Green is a poor example here. He is a very good player w/ a big time knee problem that was pointed out in another thread. I think he has a similar knee problem to what Brandon Roy has in the NBA.
 

BoneLakeMafia said:
Pick the one decent on just for the sake of arguing? You ever hear of David Pittman, Hayo Carpenter, Brandon Green, Xzavian Brandon, ect, ect?

Sooo sorry that I saw some Decker-like similarities in Vraa. He was also just rolling in the offers, right?
Click to expand...

What did those guys do to make them thugs?

It makes me have a pretty good idea what you meant by "Decker-like".
 

Brandon Green and Xzavian Brandon both sustained serious injuries. Is that Brewster's fault? Did he pick the wrong kids?

Pittman and Carpenter were both heavily recruited by a bunch of major schools.

If Vraa is so good why didn't he play this year at NDSU? Are they waiting for him to get bigger? Faster? Are they so deep with top-shelf WR talent that he just couldn't move up the depth chart?
 

Wow, there is a lot of estrogen on this board. I guess I will just STFU.

Bjorklund is solid and it would be great to have him. That's all.
 

Vraa was hurt this year..just throwing that out there
 

BoneLakeMafia said:
Wow, there is a lot of estrogen on this board. I guess I will just STFU.

Bjorklund is solid and it would be great to have him. That's all.
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Well then don't call guys thugs for no reason. There was no reason to do that. Even the guys you mentioned (Green, Pittman, etc.) don't help your argument. Just because guys don't pan out, doesn't make them thugs.
 

tpbeight said:
Zach Vraa didn't even see the field this year at NDSU. There's more to playing WR than running a 4.5 40.

Why didn't anyone else offer him?
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To be fair he broke his collarbone in camp and took the redshirt. He will be a solid player for them. I didn't necessarily have a problem with him not getting an offer from the U of M though. Though after Marquise Hill failed to qualify I thought it wouldn't have hurt to give him an offer (the staff should have known he wouldn't qualify).
I thought they really missed on Zach Zenner from Eagan last year. He was wayy under the radar cause he didn't put up big numbers till his senior year. The internet recruiting culture really worked him over. No doubt in my mind he would be playing special teams as a redshirt freshman next year. And i think he would have competed for time at FB or TE (he played WR his junior and sophomore years). He redshirted at SDSU this year and will probably play a major role next season (averaged 9 yards per carry in the lake his senior year)
 

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