Depth at Center??

[SRSKSM]

Any chance they move Bunders to center to add depth behind Burris?

 

[Ole]

Any chance they move Bunders to center to add depth behind Burris?

There have been whispers of impressive work done by walkon RSFr Zach Mottla, who was actually highly ranked nationally at center(if you are a "star watcher kind of guy"), he would be my guess as the primary backup, Wynn has also played there, though not in games. Bunders probably doesn't have the quickness for center, he's more of a big, strong, run grinding guard with fairly below average agility and feet.

 

[kearsm]

Currently Mottla is the second string center and it appears he is doing an outstanding job. Pretty much the whole second string is Redshirt Freshman.

 

[SRSKSM]

2nd String LT

Who is the 2nd string LT?

 

[jerdogg1]

Mottla

Any background on why this guy was rated so high but he's a walk-on?

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I'm not sure on the specifics about Mottla, but just from being a Cretin guy, i'll tell you what I know. I know he wasn't heavily recruited by any BCS conference schools (and specifically other Big 10 schools). He was the type of kid who was either going to go to an Ivy League school or walk on in the Big 10 and he decided to stay home. He probably didn't get a ton of attention because he was a bit smallish his SR season of HS, he was like 6'2" 255lbs, but he was a really good football player at CDH and i'm not surprised that he has worked hard enough to make himself into a legitimate Big 10 football player.

 

[mkAz]

he was like 6'2" 255lbs, but he was a really good football player at CDH and i'm not surprised that he has worked hard enough to make himself into a legitimate Big 10 football player.

Any word on his current size? I assume he's bulked up some.

 

[nsmike]

The team roster shows him at 274.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

I suspect Davis had been leap frogged on the depth chart and saw the writing on the wall.

Mottla was ranked as the 3rd best center in the nation as I recall (?) coming ut pof high school, but his size (on the short side) and the fact that center is not a highly coveted position led to him having limited options (I believe he did have a Air Force Academy offer!). Most thought he was a steal as a wak-on and would mature nicely into a contributing lineman. Reports from practice last season had Mottla, Olsen and Michel as the Freshmen standouts on the OL, so it seems he's progressed faster than most imagined. He's most likely our starting center 2011-2013.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Any word on his current size? I assume he's bulked up some.

Sorry, I haven't seen the kid since he graduated from Cretin. I know he was supposed to be a hard worker, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if he put on 20-30 lbs in the weight room over the last year.

 

[littlebigboy]

This is just another example for all the star watchers. You can never tell about heart and head, and wanting to be a Gopher football player. You have to wait and see who developes, and not get all bent out of shape about recruits as a 'Fr.