Craig McDonald ...come on down ....

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tjgopher said:
Bryson played the Tyler Nubin spot in NYC.

Green played the Flip Dixon spot in NYC.


I think this:

Henderson is locked in to start in the Dixon spot this fall.

Green will start in the Howden spot this fall.

Bryson probably backs up both Nubin and Green this fall, which is nice depth.

McDonald (if eligible) backs up Henderson this fall.

There will be various "Rossi" situational sub packages that offer versatility because of the depth.

Safety/Nickel could be a position of strength for the Gophers for sure.
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Great post, thank you!

I'd "think" you'd want the bigger guy playing the nickel role, if it's more about being defacto OLB than about being a cover corner. But if the other way around, then yes makes sense Green would have done that.

Henderson 6-3 210 (y)
 


GopherLaundry2013 said:
He's out of transferable options after this and is playing at home. Might not be exciting but at the very least he'll be a depth piece in a position of need for the next 3 years!
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Be interesting if the idea for him/his family is that he's only coming to the Gophers because they're very confident he'll be able to get a waiver here, vs all but guaranteed to have to sit out elsewhere.
 


Gophers_4life said:
Dixon was 6-2 210, which is what Bryson is listed at, while Green is listed as 6-1 190.

Is the position more concerned with being an extra corner to cover a slot receiver, or is it more like an outside linebacker that's a bit quicker and better at coverage but can bring the wood? I thought it was more the latter, which would seem like Bryson a better fit than Green.

You sure?
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The way we use the nickel position is more like a hybrid linebacker, because we play a 4-2-5 base defense, with only 2 LB's. So our 'nickel' needs to act as a de facto 3rd LB, and thus be able to stand up against the run first, but also be a cover guy.

Cedric Thompson, Chris Williamson, Justus Harris, & Michael Dixon all started at our nickel position. Some have been CB's, some have been Safeties.

Green is a strong safety, probably the biggest hitter on the team, and likely the starter next to Tyler Nubin next season. Bryson is a free safety, will play plenty next season, and will likely be the starting free safety spot after Nubin graduates.

Craig McDonald is a strong safety, who is being brought in to compete at the 'nickel' or hybrid position along with Jack Henderson. Those who're saying he's depth behind Henderson are only speculating. If McDonald is cleared to play this season, it could just as easily be McDonald who wins the nickel job, with Henderson backing him up.

Bottom line, Craig McDonald played quite a bit at ISU, and played well enough that he decided he wanted to play at a higher level, so he entered the portal and moved to Auburn in the SEC. He was playing for Auburn in the first couple games, got an ankle injury, which caused him to miss the rest of the season. That ankle injury is now healed, he's back home with the Gophers, and he should give us plenty of quality snaps. This is good news.
 


GopherLaundry2013 said:
He's out of transferable options after this and is playing at home. Might not be exciting but at the very least he'll be a depth piece in a position of need for the next 3 years!
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Correct. That's the worst case scenario. The best case scenario, is that we got a guy who played well in the Big-12, got run in the SEC before injury, is now fully healed & becomes a solid starter for us for the next three years.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Be interesting if the idea for him/his family is that he's only coming to the Gophers because they're very confident he'll be able to get a waiver here, vs all but guaranteed to have to sit out elsewhere.
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That's certainly a glass-half-empty spin on the situation.

We've done pretty well with DB's transferring in from quality programs like Chris Williamson from Florida, or Benjamin St Juste from Michigan. Not sure why people aren't a little more excited about another DB transfer, this time from Auburn?
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
The way we use the nickel position is more like a hybrid linebacker, because we play a 4-2-5 base defense, with only 2 LB's. So our 'nickel' needs to act as a de facto 3rd LB, and thus be able to stand up against the run first, but also be a cover guy.

Cedric Thompson, Chris Williamson, Justus Harris, & Michael Dixon all started at our nickel position. Some have been CB's, some have been Safeties.

Green is a strong safety, probably the biggest hitter on the team, and likely the starter next to Tyler Nubin next season. Bryson is a free safety, will play plenty next season, and will likely be the starting free safety spot after Nubin graduates.

Craig McDonald is a strong safety, who is being brought in to compete at the 'nickel' or hybrid position along with Jack Henderson. Those who're saying he's depth behind Henderson are only speculating. If McDonald is cleared to play this season, it could just as easily be McDonald who wins the nickel job, with Henderson backing him up.

Bottom line, Craig McDonald played quite a bit at ISU, and played well enough that he decided he wanted to play at a higher level, so he entered the portal and moved to Auburn in the SEC. He was playing for Auburn in the first couple games, got an ankle injury, which caused him to miss the rest of the season. That ankle injury is now healed, he's back home with the Gophers, and he should give us plenty of quality snaps. This is good news.
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Awesome post, thank you!
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
That's certainly a glass-half-empty spin on the situation.

We've done pretty well with DB's transferring in from quality programs like Chris Williamson from Florida, or Benjamin St Juste from Michigan. Not sure why people aren't a little more excited about another DB transfer, this time from Auburn?
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I’m talking very specifically: like he chose Minnesota over other opportunities because this is the only place he has a chance to be immediately eligible. He’s from here.

Why would he be able to get a waiver to be immediately eligible at Oklahoma, for example?

That’s all.


Not commenting at all on his potential here.
 



Costa Rican Gopher said:
Correct. That's the worst case scenario. The best case scenario, is that we got a guy who played well in the Big-12, got run in the SEC before injury, is now fully healed & becomes a solid starter for us for the next three years.
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I'm not sure about his eligibility this coming year, but even in this worst case scenario, we add depth and someone who can play special teams.

One of the scary things about the portal, even when you lose guys who weren't at the top of the depth chart, is that you start losing really quality special teams players. We've lost a number of depth LBs and depth DBs.

IMO, a realistic look at the signing is that he's a guy who has already been a good player at a P5 school with a good defense as a FR. I'm not saying he is going to walk into a starting spot, but he has the athletic profile to be a very good player.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'm not sure about his eligibility this coming year, but even in this worst case scenario, we add depth and someone who can play special teams.

One of the scary things about the portal, even when you lose guys who weren't at the top of the depth chart, is that you start losing really quality special teams players. We've lost a number of depth LBs and depth DBs.

IMO, a realistic look at the signing is that he's a guy who has already been a good player at a P5 school with a good defense as a FR. I'm not saying he is going to walk into a starting spot, but he has the athletic profile to be a very good player.
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Special teams for the Gophers seem to feature a lot of starters.
 

Nice to get a kid from a developmental program like Auburn. Let him work through stuff there and come here to fight for playing time. Auburn is a respectable feeder school to Minnesota IMO.
 

Gophers_4life said:
I’m talking very specifically: like he chose Minnesota over other opportunities because this is the only place he has a chance to be immediately eligible. He’s from here.

Why would he be able to get a waiver to be immediately eligible at Oklahoma, for example?

That’s all.


Not commenting at all on his potential here.
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Gotcha. I suppose that's a possibility?
 



Indiana Gopher said:
I am on the other end of the ledger. Feel he can contribute, has experience, has multiple years of eligibility, and plays a position of need. Welcome home!
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Of course I want him to contribute, but I think having a Minnesota high school player come back home could have an added benefit of shoring up local recruiting. I'm not one of those fans who bemoans every high school kid that heads out of state to play, but it doesn't hurt to have in-state guys on the team and provided they have a positive experience be able to strengthen our in-state profile.
 

50PoundHead said:
Of course I want him to contribute, but I think having a Minnesota high school player come back home could have an added benefit of shoring up local recruiting. I'm not one of those fans who bemoans every high school kid that heads out of state to play, but it doesn't hurt to have in-state guys on the team and provided they have a positive experience be able to strengthen our in-state profile.
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Having more alumni around town can only help recruiting.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Cedric Thompson, Chris Williamson, Justus Harris, & Michael Dixon all started at our nickel position. Some have been CB's, some have been Safeties.
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Blast from the past! You're going back almost a decade for Cedric, who was a three-year starter at safety and played for Jerry Kill. His freshman year was 12 years ago. He was a great Gopher with a great story. Got some run in the NFL.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Gotcha. I suppose that's a possibility?
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Almost like, "they got assurances that it would come through". Wild guess. We will see

Then again, I have no idea what other offers he had. But you'd think a guy who played at Iowa State and then at Auburn before getting hurt, would get P5 interest?
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
The way we use the nickel position is more like a hybrid linebacker, because we play a 4-2-5 base defense, with only 2 LB's. So our 'nickel' needs to act as a de facto 3rd LB, and thus be able to stand up against the run first, but also be a cover guy.

Cedric Thompson, Chris Williamson, Justus Harris, & Michael Dixon all started at our nickel position. Some have been CB's, some have been Safeties.

Green is a strong safety, probably the biggest hitter on the team, and likely the starter next to Tyler Nubin next season. Bryson is a free safety, will play plenty next season, and will likely be the starting free safety spot after Nubin graduates.

Craig McDonald is a strong safety, who is being brought in to compete at the 'nickel' or hybrid position along with Jack Henderson. Those who're saying he's depth behind Henderson are only speculating. If McDonald is cleared to play this season, it could just as easily be McDonald who wins the nickel job, with Henderson backing him up.

Bottom line, Craig McDonald played quite a bit at ISU, and played well enough that he decided he wanted to play at a higher level, so he entered the portal and moved to Auburn in the SEC. He was playing for Auburn in the first couple games, got an ankle injury, which caused him to miss the rest of the season. That ankle injury is now healed, he's back home with the Gophers, and he should give us plenty of quality snaps. This is good news.
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Great breakdown and great points. I couldn't agree more.
 

tjgopher said:
Blast from the past! You're going back almost a decade for Cedric, who was a three-year starter at safety and played for Jerry Kill. His freshman year was 12 years ago. He was a great Gopher with a great story. Got some run in the NFL.
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Yep, we started using the 4-2-5 formation under KIll, because his buddy Gary Patterson was using it successfully at TCU. Remember those trips the Gopher staff took down there to study what they were doing? This was one of the results.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Yep, we started using the 4-2-5 formation under KIll, because his buddy Gary Patterson was using it successfully at TCU. Remember those trips the Gopher staff took down there to study what they were doing? This was one of the results.
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So really, Claeys.

But what about Robb Smith?
 

Gophers_4life said:
So really, Claeys.

But what about Robb Smith?
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We played it a lot but we didn't really have the personnel for it by 2018. If you actually look at what Rossi did in 2018, it's shocking our defense was decent at the end of the year.

The truth is that we didn't really have the guns at safety. Williamson was battling injuries early in the season and he eventually took over that big nickel spot in our 4-2-5 (remember he had that pick in the Wisconsin game).

But we were really thin at S - we were starting a true FR in Howden, Winfield was the other safety, Swensen was getting run, Aune as in the depth chart at S. We were thin, so it made the 4-2-5 difficult (with our version of putting a big nickel). We played Justus Harris there quite a bit.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Remember those trips the Gopher staff took down there to study what they were doing? This was one of the results.
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For sure I remember. I was thinking Cedric was more a true safety, for sure he was the safety his final three years, not much nickel (I don't think).

Derrick Wells (before he became a CB), Antonio Johnson and Antonio Shenault I think mostly played that "nickel" later in the Kill/Claeys regime (between 2013-16). They played the 4-2-5 scheme - it seemed to me - more when Claeys took over than earlier with Kill.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
We played it a lot but we didn't really have the personnel for it by 2018. If you actually look at what Rossi did in 2018, it's shocking our defense was decent at the end of the year.

The truth is that we didn't really have the guns at safety. Williamson was battling injuries early in the season and he eventually took over that big nickel spot in our 4-2-5 (remember he had that pick in the Wisconsin game).

But we were really thin at S - we were starting a true FR in Howden, Winfield was the other safety, Swensen was getting run, Aune as in the depth chart at S. We were thin, so it made the 4-2-5 difficult (with our version of putting a big nickel). We played Justus Harris there quite a bit.
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You and CRG really knocked it out of the park in this thread with great info. Appreciate it!
 




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