Depth

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Schnoodler

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I'm not predicting Rose Bowl or national championship or anything along those lines, but I've been thinking about this team. It seems we are pretty solid all the way around. It seems as though we have the right people in the right places and that there are no holes.

Our tinkering is at the two deep and three deep levels and even that is with pretty good talent (think Hageman and stoudemire), we've got top freshmen that will have a tough time finding playing time, it really is showing classic signs of a program about to shine.


We've got a great QB, and even greater one in training, and a highly thought of one as a RS. We go five deep at RB. A very young O line with some talent and finally a little depth (still working on the depth). WR's that deserve a shot but will have a tough time getting reps.

We have two very nice DT's, and two very nice younger ones at the two deep, our DE's have questions about who starts and replacing the seemingly unreplaceable WVDS but not depth. LB's are strong and there is depth behind albeit unproven depth. And our secondary may be one of the best in the B10 and actually deep although the drop off to 2nd string is a bit dramatic.

The kicking game is suspect but only the kickers themselves and only because of them being unproven. The legs seem strong and talented, other phases of the special forces are coming into their own and may be one of our greatest strengths by seasons end.

Sure we have areas that could be better but at every position we seemingly have legitimate B10 players. I can't remember the last time I could say that. We've had decent teams through the years but they always seemed to really be lacking somewhere. We've had teams with more top calibre talent, but again they had massive weaknesses.

When was the last time we had such a complete team? I can't even remember one but my memories don't go back as far as some. The only thing this team seems to be lacking is greatness and an Identity. I'm hoping this is the year we start working on that.

Again I'm not predicting a great year, but i think this is the year we feel like we've built the foundation to enable greatness to thrive, and to build that identity Brewster so desires but has been lacking.
 

Great post. :)

I completely agree about the depth both from a position standpoint and pure athleticism. Do we have a Maroney or MBIII on this team? I guess it remains to be seen, but probably not. But, to your point, what we lack in pro-level starpower, we make up for in top-to-bottom potential. They key will be to actualize that talent by manner of consistency and big plays. Aside from the stadium and the challenging schedule, I'm the most excited I've been about a Gopher squad in as long as I can remember. We may not win more than 7 games this year, but the tables should be set for us to be a top 5 team in the Big Ten for the foreseeable future.
 

I think the one place that lacks depth is the OLine. The success of this team will begin and end with the OLine and how they can move the chains.

Also, as MBAGuy alluded to, who are the studs on this team? Decker for sure. Weber? I wouldn't classify him as a stud. Depth if fine but you need more than just depth of average players. You need a couple game breakers.
 

I am concerned about a pass rush... losing Willie hurt a lot, and I don't know if we are going to be able to generate much of a pass rush with our front four. (against big ten teams and cal at least) I see this as our biggest weakspot this year, and as always, I sure hope I am wrong about this.
 

I agree with Darren - the OL is a big question mark in my mind.

With the emphasis put on the run for the last eight months I was disappointed with what I saw at the scrimmage (only saw the BTN version). The 1st offense struggled running the ball against the 2nd defense. If we can't gain 3-5 yards against our own second defense we are going to be in trouble against OSU.

Every time I get excited about this team the OL tempers my enthusiasm. I know you can't really predict the success of the season off a scrimmage, but I was hoping for a better ground game. Hopefully with the playbook opened up, two more weeks of practice, and Bennett and Whaley healthy things will look better than they did.

That said, there is a lot of talent at a lot of positions.
 


I'm not too worried about what was seen in the scrimmage. It was all so vanilla. Very few guys in motion, no 'wildcat' looks, etc. etc. Nearly everything was straight ahead and being defenced by guys who have seen the same plays run at them for two straight weeks. I am looking forward to the season but it is very hard to know exactly how they'll end up.
 

I thought Matt Carufel was supposed to be the big stud for our O-line?
What happened to that?
Who else is going to be alongside him?
 

Right now

I am most worried about the defensive ends. I dont see how you can be dominate without at least one good one. Jury is still out on the offensive line too. Not sleeping completely at ease yet.
 

You are right - scrimmages are scrimmages and you can't take too much from it, but I just can't shake that I expected more, even from basic run plays. Power run games need to be able to run between the tackles even when they know it is coming and we showed no ability to do that on Saturday. The OL has to be able to blow guys off the line and the left side of the line didn't show me much to be optimistic about.

DE is probably another area of concern - our uncommonly strong DT group has probably led me to overestimate the DL as a whole.
 



I agree

I do agree with your post. The last time I thought we had a chance to have a really good team was in 2003. This team has a lot better defense then the 2003 team did. I'm not saying Big Ten championship either but this team does have a shot to contend for the title.

I still think the two biggest games on our schedule will be Illinioss and Iowa. I know people say that OSU and PSU reload and do not rebuild, but this year they will have some rebuilding to do. They still are top 25 teams but definetly not top 10 teams like they were last year.

I know my standards my be higher but I'd be dissappointed if we didn't at least go 8-4 on the season. I know the schedule is tougher but at the same time the Big Ten has no dominate team this year and every game we have a realistic shot at winning.

This year will determine if Brewster is the right guy for the job. I hope he is, but it will be up to the coaches on how this team performs. We have talent, depth and speed this year so it's the coaches responsibilty in getting this team ready to play.
 

froggopher said:
I thought Matt Carufel was supposed to be the big stud for our O-line?
What happened to that?
Who else is going to be alongside him?
Click to expand...

By all accounts, Carufel has been a stud. The right side of the O-line looked pretty good at the scrimmage, with him and Wills doing a decent job of grading the road. While the left side left a little to be desired, o-lines are notorious for the seemingly endless amount of time it takes for them to gel as a unit.

The major difference from last year's o-line, and the reason I'm optimistic going into the season, is that our talent seems significantly improved. When 3+ of last year's starters have been relegated to second team, it says something about the strength, conditioning, and talent of the guys who have come into the program. In short, once this unit gels, and I believe they will by Week 1, they will be much improved over last year's squad.
 

O-Line Depth? I think it is one of the areas, along with Receiver and linebacker, that we do have some depth. I'm not saying its quality depth, but depth nonetheless. Maybe experience is a better way of putting it? Burris, Alford, and Tavale, all formerly starters, are all now running with the second team. I'm in no way saying the offensive line is a great one, or even a strenght of the team, but my hope is that it should at least be better than last year and if we have injuries we can at least plug in some folks with experience.

I also think we will be in much better shape two years from now when the big beef that was brought in this year (Michel, Olson, and hopefully Campion) are around with Gjere. That will be some SERIOUS size.
 

There are no secrets to succcessful football and the good teams have NFL talent scattered at various spots and solid OL and DL players. We are lacking in both categories. The depth appears to be better as many past starters are now in the two deep. Still the OL remains a huge ??? and holds the key to the season. IMO, Stommes still needs a lot of work. DE is next in line.

One thing I want to see this Fall is continued improvement along the OL. We didn't see that last year due to injuries and the glaring lack of game ready players. If the improvement is there, we could have a decent and experienced OL in 2010. But I expect the OL to struggle and still not be the caliber we need to beat the good teams.
 



O-line!

I sure hope Jedd Fisch has the offense ready this year! They have more talent and depth this year and everything looks good to go!!

I really feel the Syracuse game will answer many questions about the Gophers this year.

Any predictions about Wisconsin this year?

Will this be Brett B's last year?

Go Gophers!!:clap:
 

I actually am more worried about Weber. 1. He seems up and down. As the recent practices indicate, he throws a few to the receivers, then gives the defense theirs. And 2. he may be to keyed in on Decker that he fails to make good use of the other receivers.
 

Defensive depth

What I see is more defensive talent overall. DT are strong (because they are Seniors). Linbackers are more athletic, and Carter looks strong for a freshman. With Cooper, Reeves and hopefully Maresh, strong potential there. Yes the key to a top team is O line and D line dominance. Controling the line of scrimage is crucial. However Brewster has brought in more talent, that is easy to see. Minnesota hasn't had this much defensive depth in a long time.
 

This should be a good year.

The Gophers schedule is tough and that might curb the record. I see this team winning 8 games 7 is also possible but the team will be better than a year ago. The key starts on the offensive line for the Gophers where they hopefully can show great improvement over the struggles of last season when the lack of depth, talent, and injuries killed the teams offense. I see this new offense controlling the ball more than what the spread did ball control and big plays should help this team.

The defense will always be a question until we can prove that we can stop some of the better teams in the Big Ten. The defense will be helped if the running game is better and the team can control the ball a bit more than last year. The defense up the middle should be strong with the DT's and LBers being experienced and the secondary should be atleast solid.

Can the offensive line turn things around from last year? If they can be a solid group 8 wins are possible if they cant 7 wins will be tough.
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
O-Line Depth? I think it is one of the areas, along with Receiver and linebacker, that we do have some depth. I'm not saying its quality depth, but depth nonetheless. Maybe experience is a better way of putting it? Burris, Alford, and Tavale, all formerly starters, are all now running with the second team. I'm in no way saying the offensive line is a great one, or even a strenght of the team, but my hope is that it should at least be better than last year and if we have injuries we can at least plug in some folks with experience.

I also think we will be in much better shape two years from now when the big beef that was brought in this year (Michel, Olson, and hopefully Campion) are around with Gjere. That will be some SERIOUS size.
Click to expand...

I agree. At least experience-wise in the number of players, this might be the deepest OL we've had in a while. The boys that started last year are going to fight for playing time. That's a good thing. I think that another year of weight training has improved this group as well. Along with our 3 deep TE's (Tow-Arnett, Lair, Hageman), there is NOTHING BUT UP with the OL.

I don't know if I've ever seen this many quality OL's and DB's on a Gopher team.
 

I hate to be pessimistic but every college team has depth this time of year. We have 5 rbs but will any of them be a top 5 Big Ten back? I hope so but I have seen nothing to indicate this. Of course MB3 came out of nowhere so it could happen but I don't feel very confident about the running backs.
 

Winnipegopher said:
I hate to be pessimistic but every college team has depth this time of year. We have 5 rbs but will any of them be a top 5 Big Ten back? I hope so but I have seen nothing to indicate this. Of course MB3 came out of nowhere so it could happen but I don't feel very confident about the running backs.
Click to expand...

I agree that RB should be a concern. I like Bennett some, but Eskridge doesn't do much for me. He's not very big, not very fast, and not very shifty. I'd like to see Whaley, but we've never seen him! He's been hurt since before he even got to campus. Thomas? A sad case, but no longer a Big Ten starter. SlimShady? See Eskridge, but maybe a little more physical. No, none of these guys are top 5 Big Ten backs (although I think Bennett could get there eventually) and given the emphasis we are apparently going to be putting on the run, this could be a problem.

If there is a big-time RB recruit out there still considering the Gophers, know you should have a legit opportunity to play right away next year!
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
If there is a big-time RB recruit out there still considering the Gophers, know you should have a legit opportunity to play right away next year!
Click to expand...


That is where the loss of Lipscomb hurts. He was that big-time RB recruit. hopefully he can gets his grades in line and suit up for the Gophs next season.
 

Whaley

I heard Whaley sprained a toe but he's suppose to be practicing this week. I'm not a big Eskridge fan either. I think if we are going to run well this year Bennet and Whaley need to be the guys carrying the ball.
 

Bennet, Whaley and Eskridge in that order
 

I think there's depth on the Dline (specifically DT) and at Corner for the first time I can remember. That said, I question the safeties in Royston and Theret. Everyone has raved about Royston, but I have not seen him play a game yet and while I admire Theret's tackling his coverage skills are lacking.

On offense, their could be depth at QB, WR, and TE if the younger players live up to their advanced billings. We hardly are mentioning Kuznia at WR, and he played quite a bit last season.

The Oline is the major question mark. It's re-tooled, but is it any good? The Gophers win a minimum of 2 more games last year if the line play was merely below average instead of putrid.
 

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