GH: Gopher Football Mailbag

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Gopher Football Mailbag - GopherHole.com

Each week, one of my weekly articles is asking beat writers who cover the Gophers’ opponents questions to give us perspective on who they are playing. With Minnesota on a bye week, I thought it would be a good idea if Gopherhole members asked me questions. A huge thanks to all who asked...

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Each week, one of my weekly articles is asking beat writers who cover the Gophers’ opponents questions to give us perspective on who they are playing. With Minnesota on a bye week, I thought it would be a good idea if Gopherhole members asked me questions. A huge thanks to all who asked questions. Below are my answers.

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Gopher_In_NYC: If there are any changes to the O-Line starters for the Maryland game, whose in and out, and why?

Great question. In my opinion, the offensive line is the area the Gophers need to improve the most out of the bye week. Which is frustrating because I thought this unit would be one of the biggest strengths of this Minnesota team heading into the season. They entered this season with so much experience, but that really hasn’t translated yet. The whole line outside of Aireontae Ersery has been the definition of inconsistent. The interior has been a glaring weakness. I’m not sure what changes you would make. We know that they want Quinn Carroll at guard, but they can’t do that with the poor play of others at right tackle. The only thing I could possibly see is putting Ashton Beers at center (where he has played some) and putting Martes Lewis in at right guard. Either way, the whole unit has to step it up after the bye.

Upnorthkid: Koi Perich has been a revelation on defense and special teams this year. Who is the last true freshman to make a similar impact, and what do we think the ceiling is for Koi in maroon and gold?

Koi was the second Gophers freshman to win Big Ten defensive player of the week. The first player to do it was also a safety, Tyrone Carter. Carter went on to win the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in the country. I would say his ceiling is that of Tyrone Carters. Carter would finish as one of the best players to ever put on the maroon and gold by the end of his career. No reason to see why Koi can match everything that Tyrone Carter did and break Tyler Nubin’s career interception record.



We all know about Aireontae Ersery's draft prospects. Any other gophers who have played themselves into contention or any who have hurt their stock this year?

Stock Up: Cody Lindenberg. We are seeing what a healthy Cody Lindenberg can do, and he is having a great year. Reese’s Senior Bowl named him their player of the week for his play against UCLA. You also can’t ignore Ethan Robinson’s play either. The Bucknell transfer has been really impressive so far this season.

Stock Down? It hurts me to say this, but it’s Dragan Kesich. The reigning Big Ten kicker of the year has already missed more field goals this year than he did last year. Last year, he was 5 for 6 from 50 yards or longer; this year he is 2 for 5. Every miss this year has gone to the right; I have no clue if that is a good or bad thing. I know nothing about kicking. Either way, my hope is that this bye week was a time where Dragan could do whatever he needed to do to finish the rest of the year strong.

Winston DeLattiboudere is now in year two. What has been his impact on the Gophers line, and how has he been received on the recruiting trail? Any possibility of him moving on to a DC role elsewhere, or does he seem content here?

Winston’s impact has been nothing but positive. In just his second year, he was promoted to Assistant Head Coach. Per the U: DeLattiboudere's first season with the Gophers, the defense improved its sack totals from 19 in 2022 to 26 in 2023. The production by the defensive line was even more impressive, as that unit had 10.5 sacks in 2022 but then recorded 20 sacks in 2023 for an improvement of 9.5 sacks.

He is still the “Newcomer Coordinator” for the Gophers, which should speak to his ability in connecting to recruits. I will say this while I watched the Gophers warm up against UCLA. No coach was more passionate than Winston. He is very proud to be teaching at his alma mater. Do I see him possibly moving on? Sure, only because he is a great coach, and I think any school would be lucky to have him.



Mr.131: The last three games, the Gophers coaching staff has shown growth in their ability to make 2nd half adjustments. Is this a flash in the pan or indicative of true mindset change within PJ?

I think it’s a little bit of both. The first half against UCLA was so awful, Fleck even said it was one of the worst halves of football he has seen, so they had to do something. USC was the Gophers most complete game of the season so far. Which made that first half against UCLA even more frustrating, in my opinion. Against Michigan, it took them forever to wake up as well.

While the coaches know they will always need to make in-game adjustments against teams, you just know those adjustments would be easier to make if the team can play with a little more consistency.



Gopherbadgerman: Will Max Brosmer be a top-half QB in the second half of the season?

I mean, why not?!. Especially since the majority of the games left on the schedule are definitely winnable. Right now, Brosmer is in the top half or right in the middle of the Big Ten in the categories that really matter. He is seventh in throwing percentage (68%), 11th in yards per game (208), and his rating of 135.10 is tenth. If the offense can just be a little more consistent from here on out, there's no reason to think those statistics won’t improve. He has shown that if you give him time, he makes the right decision.

Tech Machine: What happened to the wide receiver Hoskins from Alexandria?

Kristen Hoskins is still on the roster at Minnesota. The three-star recruit did not see any game action last year after playing in two games his redshirt year. The Alexandria native has impressed coaches with speed, but we have yet to see him play any snaps so far this season. While we all know Fleck keeps those things close to the chest, my guess is that you have players who are just simply outperforming in practice.



A_Slab_of_Bacon: Brosmer, best quarterback, or bestest quarterback?

Ha! He is pretty good. He has led the team to back-to-back game-winning drives over the LA schools the last two games. He would have three if Kesich’s kick against North Carolina was good. He is the definition of calm, cool, and collected. Where would this season be if we didn’t have Max?

STPGopher: Will we see more stretch zone runs and/or RPO this season?

I asked myself this question just the other day. I was thinking about the RPO the Gophers mastered in 2019, where they either gave it to Mo or hit Bateman on the slant. It seemed like they did that all day. That was definitely something that former OC Kirk Ciarrocca loved having in his playbook. We have yet to see current OC Greg Harbaugh use it as much. I would love to see more stretch zone runs, though. I can recall a few times against USC where that stretch zone was successful.

Short ornery Norwegian: Is there a backup plan at PK if Kesich continues to struggle?

This is a tough one. Because you can go about answering this in a few ways, and I think P.J. Fleck will answer this question in different ways too.

I think it all depends on the situation. If Kesich continues to struggle from 50 yards plus, I think you might see Minnesota go for it on fourth down more or punt it to pin down the other team deep in their own territory. I see that as the realistic backup plan if Kesich continues to struggle. I am not sure you’re going to see Concordia transfer Sam Henson or Memphis transfer David Kemp replace him unless things take a very dramatic turn.

MaxyJR1: With 4 seniors on the OL, what does the current depth look like as far as next in line to play?

I think it looks okay. Not great, but not horrible. I fully anticipate Fleck to hit the portal hard for offensive linemen after this season. Tyler Cooper, Aireontae Ersery, and Quinn Caroll will for sure be gone after this season. The question is if Martes Lewis will stay. He will have one more year of eligibility after this season. The Gophers should return a few players with experience next year, though. Ashton Beers and Greg Johnson will be back. I have heard good things about Tony Nelson as well. Phillip Daniels will also be back to compete for a starting spot. Again, I would expect Fleck to find a starter or two in the portal after the season.

Restovich: Has Quinn Carroll played his way into being drafted for the NFL?

The problem with Carroll right now is that he is playing tackle for the Gophers while many see him with NFL potential as a guard. Talk about the ultimate team player; the Edina native started at guard this season after playing right tackle all of last year. That only lasted about a game, as the Minnesota coaching staff wasn’t too pleased about the play at right tackle, so they inserted Quinn back at that position. So to answer your question, I have no idea. I hope some NFL teams can see all that he has done for Minnesota and give him a chance.

Pompous Elitist: WR transfer Williams What’s the deal with this guy?

The Georgia transfer will be heavily counted on next year. I didn’t really see him being in the mix this year with the guys ahead of him on the roster. Look for him to be a starter next year.

RB Mangham—when will he be back?

Jaren Mangham had that great run against Michigan a few weeks ago but clearly looked banged up after the play. His name has not been seen on the Gophers availability report since then, which means that he is ready to play. Even with that being said, it’s pretty clear that he is third or fourth on the depth chart behind Taylor and Major.

QB Kaliakmanis: How ugly is the stat line vs. MN going to be?

I’ll just say this. We are Minnesota sports fans. Two things will happen when the Gophers play Rutgers. Athan will throw for 500 yards with four touchdowns or throw 150 yards with four interceptions. This is the way.

Thank you to all who submitted questions!