Kill says Gophers expect to have 5 players on D drafted next year, maybe 1 on O

BleedGopher

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Go Gophers!!
 


Murray, Travis, Campbell, Cockran, Boddy-Calhoun?

Parski, diehard, station19, bleedgopher, Gopher Warrior and GopherLady for the head cheerleader of the Vikings. :cool02:

Tinyarch on offense because he is very offensive.
 


per Joe:

Kill said the Gophers will probably have five more players drafted next year on defense and maybe one on offense. He didn’t mention names but candidates would include Eric Murray, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Damarius Travis, Antonio Johnson, De’Vondre Campbell, Theiren Cockran, Josh Campion and punter Peter Mortell.

But for Kill, it’s more than putting kids in the pros. He pointed to the seven who just landed in the NFL and said, “Every one of those kids, except for Maxx, has graduated. And Maxx, I mean, I think he has about 10 [credits] left, and he’ll get that in a heartbeat because of the way his mom and daddy raised him. He ain’t got no choice.”

http://www.startribune.com/kill-tal...880011/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

Go Gophers!!
 


per Joe:

Kill said the Gophers will probably have five more players drafted next year on defense and maybe one on offense. He didn’t mention names but candidates would include Eric Murray, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Damarius Travis, Antonio Johnson, De’Vondre Campbell, Theiren Cockran, Josh Campion and punter Peter Mortell.

But for Kill, it’s more than putting kids in the pros. He pointed to the seven who just landed in the NFL and said, “Every one of those kids, except for Maxx, has graduated. And Maxx, I mean, I think he has about 10 [credits] left, and he’ll get that in a heartbeat because of the way his mom and daddy raised him. He ain’t got no choice.”

http://www.startribune.com/kill-tal...880011/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

Go Gophers!!

pffft, he's no Calipari...
 


Cochran feels like a long shot at this point

Nah he's going to get an NFL look. He has the measureables and his play as a soph had him looking like a potential early round pick. Last year he fell off a bit but still was a solid player. The real question for him is if he has the ability to play as a 3-4 OLB as he's not real big nor is he overly explosive (for the NFL) to be a pass rushing specialist.
 




Cochran feels like a long shot at this point

He is currently a projected 3-5th rounder on WalterFootball and CBS before their last update, had him as the #9 DE. Also Rivals did a piece and rated him as the 4th best draft prospect for the 2016 class of all the two star recruits. He was actually higher than Murray who was 5th.

https://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1766322&PT=4&PR=2

Cockran was not ranked at his position or in Florida in the Class of 2011. At the high school level, Cockran was always athletic, but also very raw and a skinny 6-foot-6, 210-pounds. Now playing in the Big Ten, Cockran has been overshadowed by some of the big name pass rushers in the league, but he has developed into a legitimate NFL caliber end. At 6-foot-6 and 265-pounds, Cockran has shown impressive quickness and athleticism. If he can show more consistency this fall, there is no reason to believe that Cockran won't be an early round pick next spring.

Also Bleacherreport (yes, I know it's only BR with amateur writers) ranked him as our best draft prospect ahead of Murray or BBC.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ball-teams-top-2016-nfl-draft-prospect/page/6

At 6'6" and 257 pounds, Minnesota's Theiren Cockran currently plays defensive end for the Golden Gophers, but projects as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense at the next level. Regardless of what position he was playing, Cockran showed he has the skills to be an NFL pass-rusher in 2014, when the Homestead, Florida, native recorded four sacks.

CBSSports.com currently projects Cockran as the No. 9 defensive end in the 2016 draft class, while WalterFootball.com has him as the No. 15 outside linebacker. That would likely land him somewhere between the third and fifth rounds of next year's draft, with the potential to move up with a big senior season.

Travis at this point is easily the biggest long shot IMO and if it weren't for the coaches comments (which are definitely worth listening to and valid) there would be almost zero NFL talk on GH for him.
 

Nah he's going to get an NFL look. He has the measureables and his play as a soph had him looking like a potential early round pick. Last year he fell off a bit but still was a solid player. The real question for him is if he has the ability to play as a 3-4 OLB as he's not real big nor is he overly explosive (for the NFL) to be a pass rushing specialist.

Disagree, if he gets drafted, it will be almost solely for his ability or at least potential as a pass rusher and a switch to a 3-4 OLB would increase his opportunities and effectiveness at pass rushing, not limit them. And he does have a 6-9 wingspan to make up for a lot of the explosiveness.
 

Beat TCU and the floodgates of interest will open.

Do you want to pick a big name school where you may be a bench player with stiff competition, or do you pick a school that will put 5-7 players each year in the NFL?
 

Disagree, if he gets drafted, it will be almost solely for his ability or at least potential as a pass rusher and a switch to a 3-4 OLB would increase his opportunities and effectiveness at pass rushing, not limit them. And he does have a 6-9 wingspan to make up for a lot of the explosiveness.

Meant pure pass rushing DE. At least one worthy of a early draft pick
 



Rodrick Williams is primed for a big year, thats about the only offensive guy I can think of that could get draft consideration, he is also a senior, so it makes sense.
Maybe its a lineman, but I admittedly don't know much about NFL type o-line prospects.

I don't think he was talking about Mortell, otherwise I think he would have said "one special teamer."
 

Rodrick Williams is primed for a big year, thats about the only offensive guy I can think of that could get draft consideration, he is also a senior, so it makes sense.
Maybe its a lineman, but I admittedly don't know much about NFL type o-line prospects.

I don't think he was talking about Mortell, otherwise I think he would have said "one special teamer."

He was talking about Campion.
 

Rodrick Williams is primed for a big year, thats about the only offensive guy I can think of that could get draft consideration, he is also a senior, so it makes sense. Maybe its a lineman, but I admittedly don't know much about NFL type o-line prospects. I don't think he was talking about Mortell, otherwise I think he would have said "one special teamer."

If Christenson returns to form, he could have a shot.

Pirsig also, if he fulfills his potential and has a big year. Hopefully around 2 more years, but how many people had Maxx about to turn pro at this point last year?

And if Isaac Freuchte can get an NFL contract, I'm not ruling out KJ Maye. Senior WRs can break out.
 

If Christenson returns to form, he could have a shot.

Pirsig also, if he fulfills his potential and has a big year. Hopefully around 2 more years, but how many people had Maxx about to turn pro at this point last year?

And if Isaac Freuchte can get an NFL contract, I'm not ruling out KJ Maye. Senior WRs can break out.

Campion
 

If Christenson returns to form, he could have a shot.

Pirsig also, if he fulfills his potential and has a big year. Hopefully around 2 more years, but how many people had Maxx about to turn pro at this point last year?

And if Isaac Freuchte can get an NFL contract, I'm not ruling out KJ Maye. Senior WRs can break out.

Im guessing the one player Kill was referring to is a senior. He isnt going to fill his junior player's heads with NFL dreams without having a scholarship. The defensive players that are being speculated about are all seniors, I a pretty sure the one offensive player is a senior too. So that rules Pirsig out. Also, Fruechte didnt get drafted. I wouldnt rule Maye out as signing as an undrafted free agent like Fruechte did, but it seems doubtful that he is a draft prospect. Although, if any receiver type breaks out on this offense like Maxx did last year, they will get consideration. It's pretty hard to put up good receiving numbers with this offense, and Mitch at QB.
 

Considering how humble Jerry Kill is this statement carries some exciting merit. Can't wait for the season.
 

Parski, diehard, station19, bleedgopher, Gopher Warrior and GopherLady for the head cheerleader of the Vikings. :cool02:

Tinyarch on offense because he is very offensive.

More like a GH All-Star Team ;-)
 

Actually when Kill was on Sports Huddle, he told Sid and Dave that Hank Ekpe would be a first, second or third round pick. Doubt he was talking about him though.
 

per Joe:

Kill said the Gophers will probably have five more players drafted next year on defense and maybe one on offense. He didn’t mention names but candidates would include Eric Murray, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Damarius Travis, Antonio Johnson, De’Vondre Campbell, Theiren Cockran, Josh Campion and punter Peter Mortell.

But for Kill, it’s more than putting kids in the pros. He pointed to the seven who just landed in the NFL and said, “Every one of those kids, except for Maxx, has graduated. And Maxx, I mean, I think he has about 10 [credits] left, and he’ll get that in a heartbeat because of the way his mom and daddy raised him. He ain’t got no choice.

http://www.startribune.com/kill-tal...880011/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

Go Gophers!!

Kill is one of the few coaches that can probably get away with a line like "he ain't got no choice" when discussing a player graduating from college.

Always tough to predict who will get drafted and where but it would be pretty cool to get 5 guys on the defense drafted. Of course the scary part about that is that it means you have 5 really good players to replace, will be interesting to see how the defense shakes out in 2016 because there will be some really big shoes to fill, especially at the CB position and that can be a tough spot to find great players. As long as Sawvel sticks around I like our chances but it also won't shock me if he is a hot commodity as a potential DC at the end of this season based on how well the secondary has performed under his watch.
 

Kill is one of the few coaches that can probably get away with a line like "he ain't got no choice" when discussing a player graduating from college.

He's dumb like a fox and schmucks like us eat it up. I bet Limey and Claeys just shake their heads and laugh about it all the time.
 

- BBC
- Murray
- Travis
- Campbell
- Cockran
- Campion

Outside shots:
- Rodrick Williams
- Jon Christenson
 

He is currently a projected 3-5th rounder on WalterFootball and CBS before their last update, had him as the #9 DE. Also Rivals did a piece and rated him as the 4th best draft prospect for the 2016 class of all the two star recruits. He was actually higher than Murray who was 5th.

https://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1766322&PT=4&PR=2

Cockran was not ranked at his position or in Florida in the Class of 2011. At the high school level, Cockran was always athletic, but also very raw and a skinny 6-foot-6, 210-pounds. Now playing in the Big Ten, Cockran has been overshadowed by some of the big name pass rushers in the league, but he has developed into a legitimate NFL caliber end. At 6-foot-6 and 265-pounds, Cockran has shown impressive quickness and athleticism. If he can show more consistency this fall, there is no reason to believe that Cockran won't be an early round pick next spring.

Also Bleacherreport (yes, I know it's only BR with amateur writers) ranked him as our best draft prospect ahead of Murray or BBC.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ball-teams-top-2016-nfl-draft-prospect/page/6

At 6'6" and 257 pounds, Minnesota's Theiren Cockran currently plays defensive end for the Golden Gophers, but projects as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense at the next level. Regardless of what position he was playing, Cockran showed he has the skills to be an NFL pass-rusher in 2014, when the Homestead, Florida, native recorded four sacks.

CBSSports.com currently projects Cockran as the No. 9 defensive end in the 2016 draft class, while WalterFootball.com has him as the No. 15 outside linebacker. That would likely land him somewhere between the third and fifth rounds of next year's draft, with the potential to move up with a big senior season.

Travis at this point is easily the biggest long shot IMO and if it weren't for the coaches comments (which are definitely worth listening to and valid) there would be almost zero NFL talk on GH for him.

Disagree. All you have to do is watch him walk on the field & you can see he has the look of an NFL player. That's the part you can't coach. He was raw coming out of HS of course, so it's taken a while for the light to go on, but he was our best safety last season & you could chart his progression as the season went on. There's no reason to think he won't continue on that arc given the physical tools he's working with & the coaching he's receiving. Also, he's a gamer, consistently having his best performances against our best opponents. Lastly he plays DB which is a fairly easy position to get drafted since the league loves using those guys on special teams.
 

Disagree. All you have to do is watch him walk on the field & you can see he has the look of an NFL player. That's the part you can't coach. He was raw coming out of HS of course, so it's taken a while for the light to go on, but he was our best safety last season & you could chart his progression as the season went on. There's no reason to think he won't continue on that arc given the physical tools he's working with & the coaching he's receiving. Also, he's a gamer, consistently having his best performances against our best opponents. Lastly he plays DB which is a fairly easy position to get drafted since the league loves using those guys on special teams.

+1. Travis has more upside than Brock Vereen, Cedric Thompson, and Derrick Wells. Costa mentioned his size, and he moves very well for it. At 6'2, 210-215 he will have absolutely no problem playing in the box as a Strong Safety, and for those who've been to spring practice over the past few years, Travis can absolutely bring the wood. Plenty of guys share similar size and movement, but what makes Travis special is his man to man ability at his size. To this point, Travis has been used a lot as a big Nickel defender, often handling the slot receiver. At his size, that is remarkable and will certainly catch the eye of NFL evaluators. What he will have to answer this year is if he can play backwards, defending deep halves and putting it all together as full-time player.
 

Travis is highly underrated among Gopher fans IMO. He was better than Cedric Thompson last year and is very valuable in our defense. He can play in the box against the run and is also solid in coverage. Barring any severe injury or a complete regression, he'll get drafted.
 

Nah he's going to get an NFL look. He has the measureables and his play as a soph had him looking like a potential early round pick. Last year he fell off a bit but still was a solid player. The real question for him is if he has the ability to play as a 3-4 OLB as he's not real big nor is he overly explosive (for the NFL) to be a pass rushing specialist.

That was the benefit of having a player like Rashede Hageman...took all the focus off Cochran. Hopefully
Steve Rich can have that effect this year, bulldozing through the middle and releasing TC to be one on one
on the edge.
 

Kill is one of the few coaches that can probably get away with a line like "he ain't got no choice" when discussing a player graduating from college.

When Kill said "he aint got no choice" he was referring to the fact that his parents give him no choice as they insist he gets his degree, not that Kill gives him(his players) no choice.

And Maxx, I mean, I think he has about 10 [credits] left, and he’ll get that in a heartbeat because of the way his mom and daddy raised him. He ain’t got no choice.
 

I think Alex Keith has a chance to at least be an undrafted free agent,maybe a late round pick.
 




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