National Impact Red-shirts (J.Jones)

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Jeff Jones, RB, Minnesota

The Golden Gophers still don’t quite know what they have in Jones, as he was forced to sit out fall practices due to academic issues. As standout David Cobb graduates, Jones is prepared to compete for the starting job this spring. He’ll have to beat out Rodrick Williams, Berkley Edwards and Rodney Smith, but brings immense talent to the table. The MVP of the 2014 Under Armour All-American Game, Jones was a major coup for head coach Jerry Kill. He tallied more than 2,000 yards of total offense as a senior at Washburn (Minn.) High.

Go Gophers!!
 

Jones expectations likely need to be tempered. He's a Freshman eligibility wise. I hope we get 2 solid years out of him as the main guy. I think it would be best for the program if Nugget were to be our work horse and we saw sprinklings of Smith and Jones in blowouts and as change of pace. I hope Edwards gets some more time as a stretch and 3rd down rb in the backfield.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Jones expectations likely need to be tempered. He's a Freshman eligibility wise. I hope we get 2 solid years out of him as the main guy. I think it would be best for the program if Nugget were to be our work horse and we saw sprinklings of Smith and Jones in blowouts and as change of pace. I hope Edwards gets some more time as a stretch and 3rd down rb in the backfield.
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Me too. But, to major things Berkley needs to improve are his pass catching ability and his pass blocking if he wantes to stay on the field, even though he probably won't be asked to pass block too often outside of chip blocking a defender.
 

e.bigelow said:
Me too. But, to major things Berkley needs to improve are his pass catching ability and his pass blocking if he wantes to stay on the field, even though he probably won't be asked to pass block too often outside of chip blocking a defender.
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Hard to be a 3rd down back if you can't protect when the play calls for it.
 


Sparlimb said:
Hard to be a 3rd down back if you can't protect when the play calls for it.
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Exactly. I wonder if he won't become more of a hybrid type player. Meaning, spending sometime in the slot as well as in the backfield. That could certainly change his pass blocking requirements.

But yes, if he is to be a true RB, especially on 3rd down, hands and pass blocking will determine his snaps.
 

I'm excited and pumped Jones is here; however, I'm skeptical about his high expectations as well. To my knowledge (not an expert on his hs schedule), He's played a total of one game against an "average talent" or above team (the UA game). Albeit, he had a very nice game, but one game isn't enough to sell me.

I saw him play his last two hs games…Bloomington Kennedy and Apple Valley. I thought he looked like a very good South Suburban RB in those games not an elite national recruit (Kennedy game impressed me…A.V. not so much). I understand he didn't have much to work with, but my assumption is that elite national recruits would be able to do more.

I'm hopeful he has a great career, but from what I saw, I wouldn't be handing him the keys in his first year of NCAA football.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Jones expectations likely need to be tempered. He's a Freshman eligibility wise. I hope we get 2 solid years out of him as the main guy. I think it would be best for the program if Nugget were to be our work horse and we saw sprinklings of Smith and Jones in blowouts and as change of pace. I hope Edwards gets some more time as a stretch and 3rd down rb in the backfield.
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Sophomore eligibility wise in fact he technically shouldn't be on this list because he didn't redshirt this past year.
 





If Nugget was good enough, he would have beaten out Cobb. I could see him as a goal line back, but not as a 3 down back. And on Jones, why can't he become an immediate impact for us? Justin Jackson did it for Northwestern last year, and he doesn't even have the body for it yet. Justin Jackson was so skinny. The wild card is Rodney Smith. I really hope Jeff Jones wins the job though, his talent is a once in a lifetime type talent.
 

Jackson appears to have more speed and quickness than I've seen from Jones.
 

die hard gopher said:
Sophomore eligibility wise in fact he technically shouldn't be on this list because he didn't redshirt this past year.
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AMEN. Thank You. Haven't we been over this again and again? Really not that complicated guys.


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OddStack said:
I thought dpod would be the one that would split hairs. I was wrong.
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Freshman vs Sophomore. 3 years versus 4.
Splitting hairs?


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RolGnav said:
If Nugget was good enough, he would have beaten out Cobb. I could see him as a goal line back, but not as a 3 down back. And on Jones, why can't he become an immediate impact for us? Justin Jackson did it for Northwestern last year, and he doesn't even have the body for it yet. Justin Jackson was so skinny. The wild card is Rodney Smith. I really hope Jeff Jones wins the job though, his talent is a once in a lifetime type talent.
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Look at what Nick Chubb, Leonard Fournette, Royce Freeman, Nick Wilson along with Jackson were able to do as a freshman. All were over 1,000 yard rushers as true frosh and Jeff was in the same boat as all of them in the rankings. Jalen Hurd and Dalvin Cook were instant impacts for their teams as well. RB is an easy position to contribute for a younger guy with pure talent and the transition is easier. It's also easier to project and much less of a crapshoot than other positions.
 

Spoofin said:
Freshman vs Sophomore. 3 years versus 4.
Splitting hairs?


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Yes, the premise of the article is about kids that didn't see the field last year that graduated in 2014. It's not about whether they have 3 or 4 years of eligibility remaining.
 

OddStack said:
Yes, the premise of the article is about kids that didn't see the field last year that graduated in 2014. It's not about whether they have 3 or 4 years of eligibility remaining.
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I was more pointing out Winnesota saying he is a sophomore eligibility wise. I am fine with the article including Jeff and would have been upset had he not been, just pointing out that he technically shouldn't be.
 

We are in good hands at RB. Williams, Smith, and Jones can carry the load. Edwards has done zero outside of one run against Eastern Illinois to show he will be in the top 3 next year. I think any resemblance of a passing game to WR's will help these backs even more. You just don't by accident get named MVP of an All-Star game. There is no need to temper expectations for backs behind our OL.
 

Spoofin said:
AMEN. Thank You. Haven't we been over this again and again? Really not that complicated guys.


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Honestly, I don't follow the Football team close enough to "know" he didn't get a redshirt this year. Now that I was corrected I remember there was a difference and that him sitting out and not being eligible at the start made it so he didn't get the redshirt.

Thats my bad.
 

OddStack said:
Yes, the premise of the article is about kids that didn't see the field last year that graduated in 2014. It's not about whether they have 3 or 4 years of eligibility remaining.
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The title of the article is Jabrill Peppers headlines 10 redshirt freshmen ready to break out in 2015.
 

Spoofin said:
Freshman vs Sophomore. 3 years versus 4.
Splitting hairs?


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From the perspective of appearing in this article, fine, sure, whatever.

From the perspective of what it actually means for the Gophers, he'll get 4 years of playing eligibility beginning in 2015 as long as (basically) he doesn't flunk out and takes a bare minimum courseload towards a degree.
 


die hard gopher said:
And thats the title, not the premise...
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How hard is it to be accurate in writing headlines?

Honest to gawd, this place is turning into such a toilet. No wonder I post less and less often.

Rather than talk about what JJ might be able to do this upcoming year, and getting some nice national publicity, it's (once again) devolved into worthless crap about semantics, etc. Yeah, I'm guilty too, and I feel dirty about it.

Oh, by the way, I'm really excited to see JJ on the field when I go to one of the several open practices I attend every year with my boys. I think he can be really special.
 

fryguy22 said:
From the perspective of what it actually means for the Gophers, he'll get 4 years of playing eligibility beginning in 2015 as long as (basically) he doesn't flunk out and takes a bare minimum courseload towards a degree.
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For now he has 3-years of eligibility. Until he files for the 4th and is approved, he doesn't have it. Silly to argue any differently no matter how easy you feel it will be to get that approval. In case you haven't noticed, the NCAA does some odd things.



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die hard gopher said:
Sophomore eligibility wise in fact he technically shouldn't be on this list because he didn't redshirt this past year.
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Hate to say it but you're pretty much wrong. He gets a 4th year if he keeps his grades in order. He's a Freshman next year, just doesn't get his Senior year if his grades suck. If his grades suck, he's off the team before that.

Spoofin said:
For now he has 3-years of eligibility. Until he files for the 4th and is approved, he doesn't have it. Silly to argue any differently no matter how easy you feel it will be to get that approval. In case you haven't noticed, the NCAA does some odd things.



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Doesn't have to "apply". If his grades are up to NCAA standards, he get the 4th year automatically. If they don't, he's done anyway.
 

highwayman said:
Doesn't have to "apply". If his grades are up to NCAA standards, he get the 4th year automatically. If they don't, he's done anyway.
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Different than how it was explained to me, but ok. I'd be happy if it was that easy.


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highwayman said:
Hate to say it but you're pretty much wrong. He gets a 4th year if he keeps his grades in order. He's a Freshman next year, just doesn't get his Senior year if his grades suck. If his grades suck, he's off the team before that.



Doesn't have to "apply". If his grades are up to NCAA standards, he get the 4th year automatically. If they don't, he's done anyway.
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Key word: IF and no matter how likely it may seem. As of right now the NCAA considers him a sophomore as he has not completed over 80% of his degree, not a RS frosh.
 

die hard gopher said:
Key word: IF and no matter how likely it may seem. As of right now the NCAA considers him a sophomore as he has not completed over 80% of his degree, not a RS frosh.
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So I would say it's 50/50. That means everybody is half wrong?!?!
 

Everyone outside of a few on this board (including coaches in the press) seem to deem Jones as a freshman for this upcoming season. I get the whole 80% thing, but as long he doesn't fall behind it appears he will have 4 more seasons to play for the Gophers (I mean, really, all players are subject to academic eligibility). Let's just quit the petty infighting...he's a redshirt freshman. If in three years he's still in school and deemed ineligible, y'all can say 'I told you so' but until then he's a freshman.
 

GopherHomer said:
Everyone outside of a few on this board (including coaches in the press) seem to deem Jones as a freshman for this upcoming season. I get the whole 80% thing, but as long he doesn't fall behind it appears he will have 4 more seasons to play for the Gophers (I mean, really, all players are subject to academic eligibility). Let's just quit the petty infighting...he's a redshirt freshman. If in three years he's still in school and deemed ineligible, y'all can say 'I told you so' but until then he's a freshman.
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It's the other way around. The NCAA does not assume he will have 4 years until deemed ineligible, the NCAA assumes he only has 3 years until deemed eligible.
 

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