Devon Wright, Lamonte Edwards or Donnell Kirkwood?

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Of these 3 backs who are coming in who do you see making the biggest impact in the next few years?
 


Not sure which, but it better be one of em...or our backfield will be in serious trouble again next year.
 

I think Devon Wright's insane productivity in one of the greatest high school football conferences in America speaks to his abilities. I say he's gonna be the Gopher feature back by midseason this year.
 



I think one or two of the these guys will get some significant playing time this year since our most effective back left. Bennett will likely start and be much improved over last year now that its been 2 years since his knee surgery. I can see Eskridge getting passed up by one of the freshmen.

Out of the three, I'm guessing Wright stands out the most this year. I haven't seen any video of him playing but it sounds like he was a great player on a marginal team in a very tough conference. Will we be saying the same next year?

I also liked what I saw from Kirkwood's and Edwards's video. Both showed some nice power and speed at the high school level. Assuming they all get into school, this could be one of the better running back classes we've seen in a while.
 

I live in Ft. Lauderdale (Broward County) and saw Wright play in the Dade-Broward All-Star game. It's tough to judge someones potential from an All-Star game particularly when he only got 4 or 5 carries. Having seen him up close he looks as though he's going to have to put on 10-15 lbs. of muscle to be Big Ten ready. He may turn out to be the best of the three but Edwards and Kirkwood look like they may be able to contribute sooner.
 


GopherFan75 said:
Edwards is not a LB some people need to realize that.
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Care to elaborate? I haven't watched enough film to make up my mind on Edwards yet so I'm not contradicting you. But many on this board seem to think it's a foregone conclusion he's going to play LB. It would be interesting to hear someone state the case for him to play RB.
 



AhliBobwa said:
Care to elaborate? I haven't watched enough film to make up my mind on Edwards yet so I'm not contradicting you. But many on this board seem to think it's a foregone conclusion he's going to play LB. It would be interesting to hear someone state the case for him to play RB.
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Brewster said on his radio interview on 1500 that edwards will play running back

the ideal scenario is one of the other two becomes a great back and edwards can play linebacker at a high lever
 

Edward's has said he wants to play running back and he would prefer redshirting his first year.
 

Goldteam said:
Brewster said on his radio interview on 1500 that edwards will play running back

the ideal scenario is one of the other two becomes a great back and edwards can play linebacker at a high lever
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I'm one of those that thinks it's a forgone conclusion that Edwards will end up at LB. It is a similar situation to Hageman (him wanting to play TE). I think the U is going to give Lamonte an honest and legitimate chance to play RB. But from what i've seen in him (on film and in person) and from what i've heard from people who know more than me, is that he is an outstanding athlete but he just has very average running skills (cutting, hitting the hole, etc.). His productivity at RB in HS was based almost solely on his physical tools (size, strength, speed) and you can't rely on that alone at the college level.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'm one of those that thinks it's a forgone conclusion that Edwards will end up at LB. It is a similar situation to Hageman (him wanting to play TE). I think the U is going to give Lamonte an honest and legitimate chance to play RB. But from what i've seen in him (on film and in person) and from what i've heard from people who know more than me, is that he is an outstanding athlete but he just has very average running skills (cutting, hitting the hole, etc.). His productivity at RB in HS was based almost solely on his physical tools (size, strength, speed) and you can't rely on that alone at the college level.
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Completely agree. Great athlete + Mediocre RB = position switch.

I'm very high on him, but not as a RB. The truth will become obvious.
 



I have a feeling this is the year Ponc Deleon Eskridge finds the fountain of yards!
 

Eskridge can get bigger & stronger, but he lacks quickness and speed. Those things won't change and his growth beyond a below-average back should not be expected.
 


Schnoodler said:
Completely agree. Great athlete + Mediocre RB = position switch.

I'm very high on him, but not as a RB. The truth will become obvious.
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I'm still not sure about that. I think if nothing else he'll be tried out at runningback early to see how he develops(technique,instincts, running through the right hole, pass protection, etc). If he doesn't pick these things up then they may move him. However, I don't believe he'll ever play on the defensive side of the ball. He really looks lost on defense every film I've seen, and his technique is much rawer at LB or DE than it is at RB. My theory is if he doesn't work out as a feature runningback, he'll be moved to fullback, think Tapeh. Say it's a waste, say he's too good of an athlete to be at fullback, but he's a heck of a lead blocker already, and if he can show some running/catching ability and puts on serious size like he very well could(235-250) he'd be a real weapon at fullback. Again provided he can't be the featured runner.
 


VACTERL said:
I enjoyed this.

No chance though. Guy cannot break a tackle.
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I'm not saying Eskridge is the answer, but it is hard to break a tackle when you are being tackled by the entire defensive line and all three linebackers at once.
 


I hope one of them can step in and take over. I think if that happens, it'll only mean good things for the Gophers. I'm not really impressed with any of the upperclassmen. I got my fingers crossed for Wright or Kirkwood if Edwards does redshirt.
 

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