Desmond Gant

[die hard gopher]

I was just thinking about it and I don't know if many people noticed this but on signing day Kill said Gant just tested with a 40 inch vertical and is up to 220 now. He is 6-3 and a half and was also tied for 5th fastest on the entire team last summer at 21.3 MPH per Duke's tweet. For comparison, Rodney Williams had a 42.5 vertical at his pro day which was the second highest in the 2013 NBA draft and he is 20 pounds lighter than Gant. I was much much more excited about Holland and Gentry but after seeing this I think Gant has easily the most upside and a decent shot at a possible NFL career with these insane measurables.

 

[Sparlimb]

I was just thinking about it and I don't know if many people noticed this but on signing day Kill said Gant just tested with a 40 inch vertical and is up to 220 now. He is 6-3 and a half and was also tied for 5th fastest on the entire team last summer at 21.3 MPH per Duke's tweet. For comparison, Rodney Williams had a 42.5 vertical at his pro day which was the second highest in the 2013 NBA draft and he is 20 pounds lighter than Gant. I was much much more excited about Holland and Gentry but after seeing this I think Gant has easily the most upside and a decent shot at a possible NFL career with these insane measurables.

Assuming he can run a route and catch. To be seen. Rodney Williams wasn't drafted and never played an NBA game, so it doesn't always mean something.

 

[diehard]

2015 is the breakout year for the Gophers. There are many surprises ahead! Leidner with his receiving corps is one of them. Gant will be making some big plays.

 

[JoeDirt]

2015 is the breakout year for the Gophers. There are many surprises ahead! Leidner with his receiving corps is one of them. Gant will be making some big plays.

I believe! We're more than due for our pieces to finally fall into place and have "that magical season"

 

[#1nHkyCfbBsbDncSolarDebat]

Man I hope you are right about 2015. I see bright things for the future of Gopher football. I will admit that I thought Mason was going to be great for the Gophers, and he did deliver some good memories, the rushing records, got us some winners of Awards and got us a few NFL players, and a few AAs, and a couple fun/semi-big wins, something we hadn't experienced for a very long time. But he just didn't build up much in the way of depth. Seems like we had seasons like 2000, where one or two big injuries did our season in.

Seems to me, so far, that Kill is doing an incredible job of building up depth. Seems to me that instead of winning 8 one season and dropping to 6 and then 4 wins and jumping up to 8 and then 10 and then dropping again, I could so easily see Kill keeping us at a more steady consistent pace. If we win another 8 or more games next season, will that be the first time since forever that has happened?!

 

[balds]

2015 is the breakout year for the Gophers. There are many surprises ahead! Leidner with his receiving corps is one of them. Gant will be making some big plays.

2015 and beyond. There isn't one position group that I'm not optimistic about. I think we can and will continue to improve at every position.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

I think we are on the "edge" with a good number of Gopher RSFR or RS Sophs. Young guys who may be ready to see the field and make an impact this Fall; Mayes, Gentry, Gant, Duke, Ekpe, Holland, Jones, Moore, Poock, Smith. E Williams, McGhee, Hart, etc. to compliment "young vets" like Elmore, Richardson, Lingen, Stelter, Celestin, James, Hayes,etc.

Kill has played a lot of underclassmen and for a reason. The talent has improved on an annual basis. And we could see as many of the 2015 class burn their RS as we did this Fall.

 

[60's Guy]

"Since Forever"

Man I hope you are right about 2015. I see bright things for the future of Gopher football. I will admit that I thought Mason was going to be great for the Gophers, and he did deliver some good memories, the rushing records, got us some winners of Awards and got us a few NFL players, and a few AAs, and a couple fun/semi-big wins, something we hadn't experienced for a very long time. But he just didn't build up much in the way of depth. Seems like we had seasons like 2000, where one or two big injuries did our season in.

Seems to me, so far, that Kill is doing an incredible job of building up depth. Seems to me that instead of winning 8 one season and dropping to 6 and then 4 wins and jumping up to 8 and then 10 and then dropping again, I could so easily see Kill keeping us at a more steady consistent pace. If we win another 8 or more games next season, will that be the first time since forever that has happened?!

If the Gophers win 8 or more games next year that would be the first time ever they have done it 3 years in a row.
But Glen Mason had a 3 year stretch of 8,10 and 7, which is one more win than 3 x 8. The Rose Bowl years were 8,8 and 6 wins. Bernie had some back to back 8 and 0 seasons. (They obviously only played 8 games) Win 8 or more in 2015 and do it again in 2016 and numbers of wins wise it'll be the best Gopher football stretch ever, without argument, regarding consecutive wins per season or total wins. Win 10 in 2015 and it's best total in any 3 years. Three years of 8 would be impressive in Gopher history!

 

[Sparlimb]

[/B]
If the Gophers win 8 or more games next year that would be the first time ever they have done it 3 years in a row.
But Glen Mason had a 3 year stretch of 8,10 and 7, which is one more win than 3 x 8. The Rose Bowl years were 8,8 and 6 wins. Bernie had some back to back 8 and 0 seasons. (They obviously only played 8 games) Win 8 or more in 2015 and do it again in 2016 and numbers of wins wise it'll be the best Gopher football stretch ever, without argument, regarding consecutive wins per season or total wins. Win 10 in 2015 and it's best total in any 3 years. Three years of 8 would be impressive in Gopher history!

Since we're comparing to 8 games seasons, maybe we should compare loss totals instead. 8-0 > 9-3.

I don't care how well we do this year. It won't be 3 consecutive national titles. Nor should it. I'd like this year to be good enough we can debate the point, however.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Gant is an exciting prospect. DHG makes good points about his size/athletic ability. I don't expect much from him this year, but I think he's got as good of chance as anyone of being the big breakout WR on this team down the road a bit.

 

[play hard]

Hopefully we will improve our 122 out of 124 ranking on pass attempts and yardage gained.

 

[jaymil]

Assuming he can run a route and catch. To be seen. Rodney Williams wasn't drafted and never played an NBA game, so it doesn't always mean something.

Yep. Kill's comments are promising but I'll wait until he catches a pass in a college game before debating his NFL chances.

 

[diehard]

Yep. Kill's comments are promising but I'll wait until he catches a pass in a college game before debating his NFL chances.

+1.

I can't find where he caught a single pass in his redshirt season.

 

[Halsey Hall]

+1.

I can't find where he caught a single pass in his redshirt season.

very clever

 

[caliGopher]

Hopefully we will improve our 122 out of 124 ranking on pass attempts and yardage gained.

It should help, but the lower our passing totals the better, in my opinion. If we're moving the ball on the ground well, and are up and eating clock in the 2nd half on the ground, I'm not going to complain if our passing stats aren't huge.

Being able to keep the D honest with the real credible threat of a pass is more important to me than being a top 10 passing team.