Class of 2018 National Signing Day Thread - Tweets, Analysis and More

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short ornery norwegian said:
On paper, looks like a good class. But none of these players has taken a snap for the Gophers yet, and for most of them, it may be a year or two before they see significant playing time. Now that they've signed, it's all about development and teaching. It's up to the coaches to help the players realize their potential.

It will be interesting to see how many of these players actually see game action during the 2018 season. Some of them may be ready to contribute right away, but I suspect a majority of the class will red-shirt. the JUCOs and transfers should play right away. as far as the true FR, I would guess that Bateman has a chance of playing right away, given the depth and production (or lack thereof) at his position.
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He red-shirted 23 of 26 in 2017. With a better class this year, 32 spots better, there better be at least 5 true freshmen that contribute to offensive and defensive rotation.

My guesses are Oliver, Dunlap, Bateman, Reigelsperger, Teague, and Edmonds or Williams all play in 2018.
 

Fire McHale said:
VV and Dickson are must-plays for this season, whether they start or not will obviously depend on their skills but both should absolutely get PT or we messed up. IMHO I would just assume let the entire rest of the class redshirt this year. Even though several of them are likely talented enough to win their position battle I'm looking at this from a long view and I'm ok with losing an extra game this season to win two games two years from now.
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I think he's less averse to playing true freshmen with his second recruiting class. He said all year this year that we'll be younger next year, and I take that to mean the freshman will play if they are ready.
This build up is for 2020 and 2021. VV will be a Senior in 2021 if he's the starter. His class from last year would all be Seniors then.
I think he'll be getting these guys on the field, unless the positions ahead are a longjam of competition.

O-Line, D-line, and CB are spots we were thin in talent so those would be likely true freshman plays.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
He red-shirted 23 of 26 in 2017. With a better class this year, 32 spots better, there better be at least 5 true freshmen that contribute to offensive and defensive rotation.

My guesses are Oliver, Dunlap, Bateman, Reigelsperger, Teague, and Edmonds or Williams all play in 2018.
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I agree on the RB, especially if Shannon Brooks doesn't play anymore.
 




CurveballJesus said:
Has there been any actual information on this, not just message board speculation? Not trying to pick a fight, genuinely curious.
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Someone posted something he said on Twitter fairly recently, but it was cryptic.
 

Face The Facts said:
By the way, one key thing PJ said which I think is important to take into consideration (and I didn't want to be the one who had to mention it being a big Fleck-supporter), but again, take it for what it's worth.

When talking about Bateman... he said when they went down to work him in camp, and they offered him, Bateman accepted on the spot.
PJ thought to himself, "Okay, that was too easy". So he mentions like "Oh you have time, etc.".
Bateman responded that "I've been researching schools, and waying possible options for some time. I've been doing my homework, and I've seen what you are about. You're the program I want to play for".

So by June or July, Bateman had heard enough about us to know he wanted to come here.

As much as I hate marketing, in this case it probably helped.
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He was probably watching "Being PJ Fleck".
 

My guesses on who will see the field this year...

Locks: Viramontes, Dickson, Bateman

Probable: Teague, Oliver, Manns, Reigelsperger, T Smith

Possible: Dunlap, Edmonds, CJ Smith, Sapp III, Williams, Okonji

Unlikely: Faalele, Spann-Ford, Beier, Gibson, York, Rush, Ahanotu, Sori-Marin, Norton, Aune, Boe, Annexstad
 




Can someone officially say if we are full or if we still have room for Verdis Brown?
 

You're bad at life ;)

Celebrate each of your successes. It's a good class, the coaches and fans can bask in that for now than get back to business tomorrow.

[Not taking a pop at you, just giving a bit of sh!t]
 

MennoSota said:
Have any of the kids won a game for the Gophers?
I am glad to hear and see that young men want to study and play football at UMN, but I withhold celebration until there are positive results in the classroom and on the football field. However, you are free to celebrate to your hearts content. I don't begrudge your Snoopy dance. [emoji41]
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You're bad at life ;)

Celebrate each of your successes. It's a good class, the coaches and fans can bask in that for now than get back to business tomorrow.

[Not taking a pop at you, just giving a bit of sh!t]
 

gophers141 said:
Can someone officially say if we are full or if we still have room for Verdis Brown?
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I'll give it a shot:

if we are full or if we still have room for Verdis Brown?

How'd I do?! :cool:

Go Gophers!!
 





Pewterschmidt said:
I count 85 scholarships with the 25 signings today.
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247 added up to 84 scholarships.

Add Smith from Alabama and Williamson from a Florida and there is a good uptick in talent coming in. It will be fun to see Fleck improve class rankings the next 3-4 years and build something special.
 

OMG, can Fleck talk. Wind him up and get out of the way! Go Gophers!
 

Fire McHale said:
I think that regardless of how the individuals ultimately pan out this entire process is a plus for the Gophers. Although PJ has an endless amount of schtick to his game, he's doing what he promised all along - creating a culture. PJ is changing the way the University of MN conducts business and it can only be viewed as a positive at this point. He's created a buzz with his target audience, he's put the U of MN on TV and clearly continues to strive to make the U a thing across the country, and he's injected never-ending energy into everything he does. When has this program ever had this amount of energy? When I look at how this program views social media and their relationships with fans, prospects, the media and more I feel like we went from a flip-phone to an IPhone. This is indeed a process and I fully expect this to be a 5 win team again next year, but the hope for the future is higher for me than it's ever been in my 40 years of being a fan. PJ needs to stay the course, redshirt his freshman and unfortunately remind the masses that programs get built, they don't just pop up overnight.
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I guess we disagree on this, "PJ is changing the way the University of MN conducts business and it can only be viewed as a positive at this point." Many people on Gopherhole see him as a positive, but many people outside of Gopherhole think he is a joke. He will have to win to convince them. Personally, I can't stand his approach or his culture. Hope he wins for the sake of the program, but an average recruiting class overall is not enough to get me excited enough to believe in him.

Regarding this comment, "When has this program ever had this amount of energy?" There were times in the Mason era, when we had the Jan 1 bowl with Kill that had even more energy because there was a lot of energy beyond the people on a site like this. Recruiting rankings don't mean much to the average fan.
 

Ozzy&Ray said:
I guess we disagree on this, "PJ is changing the way the University of MN conducts business and it can only be viewed as a positive at this point." Many people on Gopherhole see him as a positive, but many people outside of Gopherhole think he is a joke. He will have to win to convince them. Personally, I can't stand his approach or his culture. Hope he wins for the sake of the program, but an average recruiting class overall is not enough to get me excited enough to believe in him.

Regarding this comment, "When has this program ever had this amount of energy?" There were times in the Mason era, when we had the Jan 1 bowl with Kill that had even more energy because there was a lot of energy beyond the people on a site like this. Recruiting rankings don't mean much to the average fan.
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There are also people on Gopherhole who think he is a joke and many people outside of Gopherhole that see him as a positive. I don't get your point there. If it's that some people don't like him and the way he does things, I think everyone agrees with that. Even Fleck has says many times that he isn't for everyone.

You may not like him but there's no denying he's marketed the program and university extremely well in the year he's been the head coach. National attention and exposure is a good thing.
 

Torres9 said:
You're bad at life ;)

Celebrate each of your successes. It's a good class, the coaches and fans can bask in that for now than get back to business tomorrow.

[Not taking a pop at you, just giving a bit of sh!t]
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It's perfectly fine. I wouldn't have posted what I did had the original poster not poked the bear in wondering where the "not as boisterous" crowd had gone.
I am in wait mode and I honestly hope the excitable boy(s) [think Warren Zevon] turn out to be justified in their excitement.
 


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I've been a Gopher football fan a long time and I don't recall a class this strong, maybe ever. Well done PJ. If they can somehow top it off with Verdis Brown, that would be icing on the cake.
 



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