In-state recruiting dream team

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If you could sign 10 MN high school seniors to LOI's this season, who would you try to sign? Rank in order 1-10, 1 being your top choice. I know several have already made commitments but just rank them anyhow. Here is my list:
1. OL Tommy Olson 6'4" 275 Mahtomedi
2. QB Brian Athey 6'4" 215 Eden Prairie
3. LB Peter Westerhaus 6'3" 205 Chanhassen
4. WR Devin Crawford-Tufts 6'2" 180 Edina
5. OL Tyler Marz 6'8" 280 Springfield
6. RB Reggie Gandy 5'8" 180 MPLS
7. OL Joe Bjorklund 6'5" 285 Rosemount
8. DE Bernie Hiefort 6'5" 225 Bemidji
9. OL Ross Windfield 6'5" 318 St. Cloud
10 WR Jameer Jackson 6'3" 210 Osseo
 


I doubt most people have ever heard of these players - much less be able to rank them 1-10. Minnesota high school football is so very mediocre and and watching parts of the Prep Bowl were difficult.
 

MN needs to get a core of MN kids on the team. I believe MN kids are late bloomers and can be coached up. Any MN kis should almost always be red-shirted and expected to contribute in their 3-5 years. This is why we need a coach that can get things going locally and still have national appeal. They need 5-8 years to do this.

I officiate HS football and don't know 1/2 of these names.
 

Let's just make an in-state dream team instead. Here, I'll get the ball rolling...

QB - Joe Mauer...
 


I would agree with Art (I'll never say that again), but most (including myself) know little about the hs football in the state.

That said I was impressed with the Grayson Levine interview GH did (link is still at the top of the page.). We can always use the help in the secondary.

James Farrow another DB from Minnetonka, has legit D1 talent. If you will remember he originally committed, something happened, and he is now going to WVU. Might have been grades, IIRC. But he would have been a nice addition too.

And if we are just giving scholarships away Ayrton Scott QB from Minneapolis Southwest should def get one.
 

gophergrad said:
James Farrow another DB from Minnetonka, has legit D1 talent. If you will remember he originally committed, something happened, and he is now going to WVU. Might have been grades, IIRC.
Click to expand...

VT, not WVU. And grades was the reason posted at the time. We'll probably never know for sure, but I don't buy that. Virginia Tech is more or less on par with the U academically, perhaps slightly below if anything. If he couldn't get in here, how is he going to get in there? Let's watch on signing day - if he's a non-qualifier, I'll gladly admit I was wrong.
 

KoolAid said:
Let's just make an in-state dream team instead. Here, I'll get the ball rolling...

QB - Joe Mauer...
Click to expand...

Sounds like fun. I'll pick two:

WR - Larry Fitzgerald
LB - James Laurinaitis
 




OT Ryan Harris
OT Seantrel Henderson
G Ryan Setterstrom
G Ben Hamilton
TE John Carlson
WR Michael Floyd
DT Trevor Laws
 

K - Rhys Lloyd

Now Nystrom may have been better, but Lloyd was my favorite - jumping over Sconnie's bench to grab the axe. Let's see, who else...

DT - Trevor Laws
TE - John Carlson
FB - Rashawn Powers-Neal
WR - Michael Floyd (little bit of a theme there)
 

There's been some pretty good players born in the state of Minnesota, especially back in the day. For OL you could go with John Fina (Rochester), James Langer (Little Falls) and Keith Fahnhorst (St. Cloud), LB Jim Fahnhorst (St. Cloud), WR/KR/K/DB the incomparable Gino Cappelletti (Keewatin, and yes he did do all of those things), K Chip Lohmiller (Woodbury), and on and on and on. All of those guys made at least one Pro Bowl and/or All Pro team, but there are tons more. So anyone saying that Minnesota is incapable of producing some darn good football players is just plain incorrect.
 

I noticed Reggie Gandy was at the Iowa game Saturday, FWIW.
 



KoolAid said:
K - Rhys Lloyd

Now Nystrom may have been better, but Lloyd was my favorite - jumping over Sconnie's bench to grab the axe. Let's see, who else...
Click to expand...


Rhy was cool as hell, and I will never forget that moment either. At the time, I honestly thought he had *no* shot at the NFL just due to not being accurate enough, so I'm very pleased to see he's caught on in Carolina and they're using him to his strength, which is as a kickoff specialist rather than a FG kicker. He always could boot the ball a mile, and I believe with Carolina he's already twice led the league in touchbacks.

He's British born btw, but I'm sure you knew that.

Anyway, he was one of my favorite Gopher players.
 

I think there are the obvious ones:

Tommy Olson, Anthony Hayes, Westerhaus, Farrow, Crawford-Tufts

but I also wouldn't mind seeing Veldman get offered here, possibly Bjorklund, Gandie, and just for Wheaton, what about that Jordan Suhonen (track guy, one of the fastest kids in the state and not tiny)?
 

Ernie Heifort not Bernie

That's Ernie Heifort 6'6" 245 of Bemidji.. Watched that kid play and Minnesota needs to keep him. Read an interview on him and he is being recruited by Michigan State, Wisconsin, Airforce, Harvard... 3.9 GPA and athletic, he needs to stay in Minnesota!
 

Joe Bjorkland has picked up 4-5 offers this week. Including Sconnie. It will be interesting to see if whoever the new coach is attempts to get him.
 

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