Kristen Hoskins - a Gopher recruiting hidden gem

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hungan1 said:
The most important attributes: He wants to be a Gopher - the one offer he was waiting for was from the Gophers; he has a burning desire to be elite.

He has overcome a lot of adversities in his life.
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Two things that cannot be measured via a stopwatch or any other tool. This is where a coach's experience in reading his players during a recruiting visit come in play. A motivated player with a burning desire to succeed coupled with natural physical ability is going to be successful. Really looking forward to watching this kid play.
 

One way of measuring recruiting success is more instate and even the five-state area kids dreaming of becoming Gophers.

I hope that there are more Kristen Hoskins. The Gophers cannot take them all. They have to recruit the best talent nationally. They have to keep quality kids on the team in-state and regionally. You may never hear from them a lot, but they are a big part of the team's success.

I am happy to see PWOs from Wisconsin, Michigan, and elsewhere in addition to Minnesota kids. PJ Fleck is also good at tapping the legacy player channels.

Eventually, we hope to convince many top MN kids to stay home or come back home through the portal. There will be peaks and valleys in recruiting. However, you'd want smaller valleys and high peaks.

I can hear a Big Ten West Champ chant closing in from a distance with my ears peeled to the railroad tracks.
 


One disappointment that I see is letting the 2021 Minnesota Mr. Football Emmett johnson get way to Big Ten West rival Nebraska. The Gophers did not anticipate Ky Thomas leaving plus they have Zach Evans from Texas signed.

Hopefully, he won't be a reminder of a terrible recruiting mistake in the next four or five years.
 

hungan1 said:
One disappointment that I see is letting the 2021 Minnesota Mr. Football Emmett johnson get way to Big Ten West rival Nebraska. The Gophers did not anticipate Ky Thomas leaving plus they have Zach Evans from Texas signed.

Hopefully, he won't be a reminder of a terrible recruiting mistake in the next four or five years.
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Emmett Johnson isn’t the player I would’ve given a scholarship to if we had to take one more Minnesota guy

i would rather have the Collins kid from
Mankato in terms of upside potential
 

Some guy said:
Emmett Johnson isn’t the player I would’ve given a scholarship to if we had to take one more Minnesota guy

i would rather have the Collins kid from
Mankato in terms of upside potential
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You never know how these recruits will turn out for sure. The Gophers must be looking for a specific type of runner that compliments or fit the Running Room.
 

Highlites
Well, if the Gophers put together this highlight tape for Hoskins and those are the most spectacular exciting plays they could find from his season...that's not encouraging.
Also, he doesn't exhibit any wiggle or amazing "one of the fastest guys we've ever recruited" speed either.
So, hopefully he surprises.
(just a side note: I did not record or edit this video)
 



60's Guy said:
Highlites
Well, if the Gophers put together this highlight tape for Hoskins and those are the most spectacular exciting plays they could find from his season...that's not encouraging.
Also, he doesn't exhibit any wiggle or amazing "one of the fastest guys we've ever recruited" speed either.
So, hopefully he surprises.
(just a side note: I did not record or edit this video)
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I strongly disagree.

:28 is pretty impressive "wiggle". The KO return at the end if kind of insane. He was outrunning people after already sprinting 40 yards east to west.

I have no idea if he turns out or not. There is also the issue of being the fastest guy next to a bunch of slow guys. But I think his highlights are pretty impressive.
 

Some guy said:
Emmett Johnson isn’t the player I would’ve given a scholarship to if we had to take one more Minnesota guy

i would rather have the Collins kid from
Mankato in terms of upside potential
Click to expand...
I would have tried really hard to find a spot for both of these guys. I know that's a cop out, but I think they are both contributors at the Big 10 level.
 

60's Guy said:
Highlites
Well, if the Gophers put together this highlight tape for Hoskins and those are the most spectacular exciting plays they could find from his season...that's not encouraging.
Also, he doesn't exhibit any wiggle or amazing "one of the fastest guys we've ever recruited" speed either.
So, hopefully he surprises.
(just a side note: I did not record or edit this video)
Click to expand...
I mean he seems pretty impressive to me. Is there a more exciting play maker in Minnesota?
 

hungan1 said:
One disappointment that I see is letting the 2021 Minnesota Mr. Football Emmett johnson get way to Big Ten West rival Nebraska. The Gophers did not anticipate Ky Thomas leaving plus they have Zach Evans from Texas signed.

Hopefully, he won't be a reminder of a terrible recruiting mistake in the next four or five years.
Click to expand...
I don't think he is that impressive honestly. I think Evans is better, I'd take Kellman over him too. I'll be surprised if he carves out a starting role.
 



Some guy said:
Emmett Johnson isn’t the player I would’ve given a scholarship to if we had to take one more Minnesota guy

i would rather have the Collins kid from
Mankato in terms of upside potential
Click to expand...
I'd be fine taking either, or not taking either. One thing with Collins is that I like his size, and am curious why we haven't been able to land some bigger wrs after Bateman and Johnson's success. So glad we got Wright. But I trust the staff with evaluating wrs and rbs. They've been able to bring in good ones every year.
 

60's Guy said:
Highlites
Well, if the Gophers put together this highlight tape for Hoskins and those are the most spectacular exciting plays they could find from his season...that's not encouraging.
Also, he doesn't exhibit any wiggle or amazing "one of the fastest guys we've ever recruited" speed either.
So, hopefully he surprises.
(just a side note: I did not record or edit this video)
Click to expand...
Geez, you must have grown up in Willmar. Home of the faux Cardinals.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I strongly disagree.

:28 is pretty impressive "wiggle". The KO return at the end if kind of insane. He was outrunning people after already sprinting 40 yards east to west.

I have no idea if he turns out or not. There is also the issue of being the fastest guy next to a bunch of slow guys. But I think his highlights are pretty impressive.
Click to expand...
I'm not saying Hoskins is a bust and didn't deserve a scholarship. But, just picking a recent Gophers' hilites, Ky Thomas, tell me Thomas isn't faster and much more impressive. They line up in different spots but the hilite plays are very comparable.
Like I said earlier, I'd love to be wrong about Hoskins instant impact to the Gophers.
Ky Thomas HS Hilites
 

60's Guy said:
I'm not saying Hoskins is a bust and didn't deserve a scholarship. But, just picking a recent Gophers' hilites, Ky Thomas, tell me Thomas isn't faster and much more impressive. They line up in different spots but the hilite plays are very comparable.
Like I said earlier, I'd love to be wrong about Hoskins instant impact to the Gophers.
Ky Thomas HS Hilites
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Thomas isn’t faster. Much more impressive? I dunno, you are comparing highlights of a rb who gets 30+ touches a game to a wr who probably got like 10. They both looked impressive in my opinion.
 
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60's Guy said:
I'm not saying Hoskins is a bust and didn't deserve a scholarship. But, just picking a recent Gophers' hilites, Ky Thomas, tell me Thomas isn't faster and much more impressive. They line up in different spots but the hilite plays are very comparable.
Like I said earlier, I'd love to be wrong about Hoskins instant impact to the Gophers.
Ky Thomas HS Hilites
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If Hoskins is slower than Thomas, then yes he'll be a bust. Thomas didn't have break away speed and got caught from behind frequently.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I would have tried really hard to find a spot for both of these guys. I know that's a cop out, but I think they are both contributors at the Big 10 level.
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I think in a year without the “extra” year of eligibility the class is 23-24 instead of 18 and they likely offer both
 

60's Guy said:
I'm not saying Hoskins is a bust and didn't deserve a scholarship. But, just picking a recent Gophers' hilites, Ky Thomas, tell me Thomas isn't faster and much more impressive. They line up in different spots but the hilite plays are very comparable.
Like I said earlier, I'd love to be wrong about Hoskins instant impact to the Gophers.
Ky Thomas HS Hilites
Click to expand...
Ky Thomas is not faster than Hoskins. Also, Hoskins isn’t recruited as a RB; he is coming as a WR. So different positions and skill sets. Apples to oranges. Hard to say who is more impressive. Ky Thomas is clearly more impressive as a RB than Bateman would have been as a RB. Therefore Bateman is not an impressive player?
 
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60's Guy said:
I'm not saying Hoskins is a bust and didn't deserve a scholarship. But, just picking a recent Gophers' hilites, Ky Thomas, tell me Thomas isn't faster and much more impressive. They line up in different spots but the hilite plays are very comparable.
Like I said earlier, I'd love to be wrong about Hoskins instant impact to the Gophers.
Ky Thomas HS Hilites
Click to expand...
This is one of the more “unique”takes on here - I’d bet a ton of cake the numbers Fleck mentioned are legit otherwise why mention them and have egg in your face - meaning they were likely timed at a football camp.

that type of speed is more akin to Jalen Myrick (whose on the list below) than Ky Thomas. Bucky Irving us much faster than Thomas as well and that is patently obvious watching them in a game together.

Even at the slower version 4.32 he is just outside the fastest ever at the NFL combine and 4.25 puts him squarely in the list
ftw.usatoday.com

The fastest 40-yard dash times in NFL combine history

Can any 2020 draft prospects break John Ross’ 40-yard dash record?
ftw.usatoday.com ftw.usatoday.com

also I’ll trust a professional staff’s eval over yours and sorry you get up in Elbow Lake and not Alex; time to let it go😎
 
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60's Guy said:
I'm not saying Hoskins is a bust and didn't deserve a scholarship. But, just picking a recent Gophers' hilites, Ky Thomas, tell me Thomas isn't faster and much more impressive. They line up in different spots but the hilite plays are very comparable.
Like I said earlier, I'd love to be wrong about Hoskins instant impact to the Gophers.
Ky Thomas HS Hilites
Click to expand...
Ky Thomas is a lot of good things, but really fast is not one of them. You must not have watched him get caught from behind during the bowl game when he had a lot of daylight to the end zone. I’d be surprised if Thomas com could run a 4.5 or 4.6. 40.
 

I don’t get the no wiggle comment either. He has several plays where they flip it out to him and he somehow gets by like three defenders that are in position to make the play. I can’t remember the last commit that had as much “wiggle”.
 


GoldenRowpher said:
The guy lost me when he brought up Ky Thomas's speed. Hoskins will have a major impact for the gophers and it may be early. Reminds me of Rondale Moore. If Hoskins played in a bigger city he would have every offer in the Big Ten West. Great find for PJ.
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Tyreek Hill 2.0
 

The one thing that may make him not look as fast is that he tends to run just fast enough to stay ahead of the defense. I think he knows he is faster than everyone he has played against and tends to “toy” with the defender. That is something they will have break him from doing in the B1G.
 


Allshade said:
Tyreek Hill 2.0
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I think it's more than safe to say that PJ Fleck will never make an offer to a player like Tyreek Hill... So I've no worries that Kristen Hoskins will become a 2.0 version. Seems like a pretty good kid, from what I've seen so far.
 

laazrakit said:
I think it's more than safe to say that PJ Fleck will never make an offer to a player like Tyreek is Hill... So I've no worries that Kristen Hoskins will become a 2.0 version. Seems like a pretty good kid, from what I've seen so far.
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I don't follow pro football but I did watch parts of the game last night and if you don't think Hill is lightning in a bottle then I'm not sure what is. I've never seen a player that fast and shifty. I hope Hoskins is just like that. If you're suggesting Hill is a jerk, then I have to apologize cause I know nothing about him. Is he bad news?
 

Allshade said:
I don't follow pro football but I did watch parts of the game last night and if you don't think Hill is lightning in a bottle then I'm not sure what is. I've never seen a player that fast and shifty. I hope Hoskins is just like that. If you're suggesting Hill is a jerk, then I have to apologize cause I know nothing about him. Is he bad news?
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I mean it depends on how you feel about domestic violence
 

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