Official 2011 Gopher Fall Camp Thread: Updates, Analysis, Links, etc.

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CrocShots said:
Anyone know why the O-linemen have white tape on the back of their helmets? Something to watch on tape where their heads are looking?
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That's how it has been explained in the past. I imagine the OL's are taught a progression of "looks" to ID the defense and potential blocking targets and then, probably when the line-calls have been made, they have to stop looking around so they don't give away the play.
 

60's Guy said:
After watching practice a couple days I'm curious about a couple guys on the roster. Is Luke Trucilla a scholarship guy? Was he highly rated?

I know Drew Goodger is a scholarship guy. He is a 6'5" 250 pound TE but seemed very immobile and awkward if he's healthy? And as a tight end possession is a component...catching the ball was not a strength. Anybody familiar with him?

Sahr Ngekia another similar to Goodger big tight end from Holy Angels. Is he on scholarship?

Last year there was talk how hard JD Pride worked. I didn't see that at wide receiver. Unfortunately catching the ball again is a weakness in my observations.

I think Devin Crawford Tufts is going to be really good at some point. He catches the ball! He has such grace, acceleration and speed. Fun to watch him run and catch.

Lamonte Edwards runs hard. It's hard to tell when they are not tackling people but he looks to be the clear #2 before they start tackling. Is Kirkwood a guy who will just always be hurt? Wright certainly appears to be in the mix.

Foreman looked to be given third team reps when I was there. Alipate was a ghost to the coaches.

We have 14 to 16 big time contributors in the senior class of 20 guys. I wasn't aware that many seniors were such solid essential factors on the team.

I could be off but I think we have 30 new freshmen in the 105 plus 6 other new performers for a total of 36 new guys?

My impression was we look pretty good two deep on both sides of the ball.
But Gray, Bennett, McKnight and Lair are pretty significant to offensive success. Stoudermire for defense and returns is critical. I didn't watch defense as much but Rallis seems to run things and be in the right place all the time. He makes plays. Don't think we can replace any of those guys.

I agree with everbody Tommy Olson looks impressive. Somebody else who got raves was one of the McAvoys especially. Both were solid I think.
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Thanks for the update, i'll try and answer some of your questions to the best of my ability.

(1) Luke Trucilla is a walk on kid from PA. He was considered a pretty good get for a walk on, he was a good HS football player. How does he look?
(2) Goodger was always a player that most people thought would end up being much more of a blocking TE. He is pretty big already.
(3) Ngekia is not on scholarship. He was considered a WR/TE tweener but supposedly has bulked up a little bit.
(4) I think JD does work hard, he just has really never been a WR. I think his best case scenario is that he ends up like Shady. He will be a special teams guy and work hard, and maybe by the time he is in his 4th or 5th season, he has a shot at contributing.
 

Marcus column said something about him thinking that Cedric Thompson and Derek Wells would not be RS this season. Has anyone watched these guys?

I assumed Thompson would end up a CB and Wells would end up a S (I could be way off). I am just a little surprised because most people agreed that Montgomery was our most ready to contribute FR DB (even the coaches when they introduced them). Thompson was considered a speed guy who was All Section RB (not CB).

So I am just curious? Has anyone took notice of these two guys?
 

In Marcus Blog he noted Lamonte Edwards showed the ability to catch the ball, which to my mind makes him a target, on a screen, the circle route, or tailback divide.
Marcus went on to note he appears to be a large reciever with good speed.
What we have is a big back with speed, and the ability to catch the ball. And he is a red shirt freshman.
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
Marcus column said something about him thinking that Cedric Thompson and Derek Wells would not be RS this season. Has anyone watched these guys?

I assumed Thompson would end up a CB and Wells would end up a S (I could be way off). I am just a little surprised because most people agreed that Montgomery was our most ready to contribute FR DB (even the coaches when they introduced them). Thompson was considered a speed guy who was All Section RB (not CB).
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The one day I attended practice, Thompson was definately lining up at RB and got a few positive comments from Kill.

edit: I apologize. I was thinking of David Cobb. I don't know about Thompson.
 

Thank You

Bob_Loblaw said:
Thanks for the update, i'll try and answer some of your questions to the best of my ability.

(1) Luke Trucilla is a walk on kid from PA. He was considered a pretty good get for a walk on, he was a good HS football player. How does he look?
(2) Goodger was always a player that most people thought would end up being much more of a blocking TE. He is pretty big already.
(3) Ngekia is not on scholarship. He was considered a WR/TE tweener but supposedly has bulked up a little bit.
(4) I think JD does work hard, he just has really never been a WR. I think his best case scenario is that he ends up like Shady. He will be a special teams guy and work hard, and maybe by the time he is in his 4th or 5th season, he has a shot at contributing.
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(1) Well, Luke looks small and in over his head but if he is a walk on more power to him. Likely very nervous and didn't perform well catching hopefully for the same reason. Some speed but not overly so. Lets hope he keeps pushing.

(2) He is big but what I saw ended there for plusses.

(3) Not a wide receiver on any team in my analysis. Maybe just raw?
Again awesome he's there and hopefully he surprises.

(4) Shady was pretty good as a freshman running back. I think they looked at what he couldn't do versus what he could. Now as defensive back I'm guessing he'll contribute a fair amount this year. He was very active on defense in practice. Regarding J.D....maybe I saw two bad days...maybe it is just the lack of confidence not feeling comfortable at wide receiver. I'll root for him to figure it out.

Thanks for your info Bob.
 

Regarding Thompson and Wells....I watched offense more on breakdown drills. In 7 on 7 or 11 on 11 I never noticed them but I wasn't looking for them either. I do remember looking up Montgomery on the roster for something positive.

Regarding Thompson playing running back...there were two 27s on the Tuesday roster...Thompson listed as a DB and Cobb as a RB....there was a 27 in the backfield who didn't look out of place. Then Wed a different roster had only one 27 at first glance...but right after number 44 ?? came a second 27 again who was David Cobb RB. Only guessing but I think Cobb is the RB not Thompson. #27 looked competent with potential for a true freshman a couple days in.
 




Strib links

Srtib blog --Updated: August 12, 2011 - 9:36 PM
"Saturday figures to be a big day for the Gopher football team, and a long one, too. It's the first of five sets of two-a-days, with workouts scheduled for 8:50 a.m. and 4:50 p.m.
But it's also the first time the coaches will begin to make decisions about players and roles (and perhaps for the freshmen, redshirts). The afternoon session will include a series of situational scrimmages, defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys said, "and that's going to answer a lot of questions. We're going to put a lot of pressure on the kids to perform well."
And once they see the results, Claeys said, the staff will set its first depth chart. Plenty of time to change it, of course, but you can sense that the Gophers are ready to leave the acclimation part of camp behind and start getting serious about the shape of the team.
First, though, a few notes from Friday's practice, the fifth of the fall and the first in full pads:
-- With the pads comes an increase in physicality. There were a lot more big hits -- including one on the quarterback, which isn't supposed to happen. But during an 11-on-11 drill, Max Shortell came through the line and linebacker Aaron Hill instinctively made the stop. Shortell bounced up, though.
-- Shortell had a generally rough day throwing the ball, but he did connect on a couple of memorable passes. He threaded a pass between two defenders once to connect with fellow freshman Logan Hutton, a dangerous play that resulted in a big gain when the defenders collided. And he led Hutton on a sideline route that finished with an impressive, and successful, dive for the ball.
-- Also a rough day for the running backs; Devon Wright, Lamonte Edwards and David Cobb all fumbled the ball, much to coach Jerry Kill's annoyance.
-- The practice ended with a series of four-down scrimmages, with three units rotating in, and most notable was the quarterbacks: MarQueis Gray and a pair of freshmen, Shortell and Dexter Foreman. I don't know if Kill simply wanted to give the kids a chance or if Foreman is really in the mix now, but the coach certainly seems impressed by his freshmen.
-- Those get-a-first-down scrimmages didn't go well for the offense; at least the first four or five "drives" fizzled. Not until Foreman handed off to David Cobb -- yep, another true freshman -- for an eight-yard gain did the offense pick up a first down. "You gotta be getting first downs!" Kill yelled at his players as he made them do up-downs as punishment. Cobb, incidentally, had just been loudly lectured a few plays earlier for bad technique, resulting in a short gain; Kill derisively called him "rookie," as he walked away.
-- Minor injuries are keeping DE Matt Garin, CB Brock Vereen and OG Ryan Orton out of practice. Josh Campion got extra playing time with the starters on the offensive line as a result, while Ben Perry was getting reps on the defensive line. And in the secondary? There must have been two dozen different combinations, as the lineup kept changing. "I couldn't keep track of them all," agreed Claeys.
But the extra work is good, he said. "During the season, you don't get to rep a lot of kids. So with all these reps we get now, if we have an injury and they have to go in one week, hopefully they can bring back some of the memory and be ready to go," Claeys said, shortening "repetition" as both a noun and verb. "You don't learn anything by standing on the sidelines watching, and just watching film. You've got to get in there, get burned every now and then and give up a big play, and you learn a lot quicker."
Claeys said he's beginning to get a clearer picture of the defense everywhere but on the defensive line. But "I think we're ahead of where we were in the spring. We've got a long way to go, but we are ahead."
"
http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/127630763.html
Salamon link
http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/127631068.html
 

In his BTN interview, when Claeys was asked to name any young players standing out early, Derrick Wells was the only name he mentioned. He did say subsequently that they recruit front 7 players based on where they will be in 2 years, so it takes a pretty special player to contribute early in the front 7.
 

husker70 said:
In Marcus Blog he noted Lamonte Edwards showed the ability to catch the ball, which to my mind makes him a target, on a screen, the circle route, or tailback divide.
Marcus went on to note he appears to be a large reciever with good speed.
What we have is a big back with speed, and the ability to catch the ball. And he is a red shirt freshman.
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Watched Lamonte from 7th grade through his senior year in HS. Amazing athlete with great strength but unless he has suddenly developed his pass catching ability he was never known as a player with good hands catching the ball. In fact, that was the only knock on him. Short passes out of the backfield yes, but beyond that no. He would make the easy catches but was not one who was good at going up and making a catch that wasn't expected. I do think that his stength, athletic ability, and speed will be very effective on screens and other routes out of the backfield but as I said before, unless things have dramatically changed since HS, he does not have the ball catching ability you would expect of a WR. I do think that he will have a great year and is a position to step up and fill the power RB role. Remember he was dinged up early last year so was not 100%. He is also a great blocker and I still remember some of the numerous pancake blocks he made on blitzing LBs over the years on pass plays when he was left in the backfield for max. protection. Looking forward to some great things from Lamonte!
 









Any news on the depth chart? They were supposedly going to name the 2 deeps after yesterday's scrimmage.



***It appears that Phil Miller's article answered my question:

" -- The Gophers won't post 11-man depth charts for offense and defense, Kill said. "It's a starting 22 on offense and a starting 22 on defense. We'll play a lot of people," he said. "It's just going to be an educated guess going into the first game of the season. A hypothesis. You're just not going to know until they play on Saturday." "
 

BleedGopher said:
Phil Miller blog: Offensive blues? Limegrover expected them

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/127670568.html

Go Gophers!!
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Quote:
-- Sean Ferguson filled in for Jimmy Gjere at left tackle during the latter part of practice, mostly to see how he would respond to the pressure of playing with the first unit. The former defensive lineman, a redshirt freshman from Philadelphia, "has wonderful physical gifts, but there's a consistency factor with Sean," Limegrover said. "I wanted to give him some sugar and see what he could do."

Now there's a football motivation tactic I've never seen before :p
 

From Sid:

"Seals meet with U

Jerry Kill wanted the Gophers to learn how to be tough, so he recruited two people associated with the U.S. Navy Seals -- Dave Morrison, who was a captain, and Mark Courrier, a former special welfare operator master chief -- to speak to the team Friday.

Also on Friday, 79-year-old Roger French, who has coached at Minnesota, Wisconsin and Brigham Young, among other places, attended Gophers practice. As a person who is a good judge of what goes on at a football practice, French said he had never seen coaches and players work harder. French, whose most recent head coaching job was at Minneapolis Henry High School, will serve as volunteer coach for Minnetonka coach Dave Nelson this season."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/127699738.html

Go Gophers!!
 

GopherSports: Camp Blog Day 7: Gopher Photo Day Unlike Any Other

http://www.gophersports.com/blog/

From the blog:

"I was personally involved in something cool, too. Gopher defensive lineman Curran Delaney was taking part in a photo shoot for ESPN The Magazine. Delaney was in the Marines prior to attending the University of Minnesota and served as a sniper. ESPN The Magazine will be profiling him as part of a story focusing on athletes who have served in the military. The magazine sent a photographer to Minneapolis today to get images of Delaney for that story, which will tie into the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks ."

Go Gophers!!
 

My Take

MinnMarchDTF said:
Quote:
-- Sean Ferguson filled in for Jimmy Gjere at left tackle during the latter part of practice, mostly to see how he would respond to the pressure of playing with the first unit. The former defensive lineman, a redshirt freshman from Philadelphia, "has wonderful physical gifts, but there's a consistency factor with Sean," Limegrover said. "I wanted to give him some sugar and see what he could do."

Now there's a football motivation tactic I've never seen before :p
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It's 2011...rather than saying Gjere makes too many mistakes and we need to find somebody more consistent...Limegrover doesn't diminish Gjere's confidence by saying it that way and in this way he motivates Ferguson by telling him he can play if he isn't making mistakes yet Gjere doesn't feel threatened. Both guys keep the confidence they got this way. Pretty cool....I agree. They'll both eventually realize the one that makes the least mistakes will play. But there is less pressure, hopefully allowing them both to relax and play.

More common to say Gjere sit down. Ferguson get in there. Lets see if we can find somebody who can play the position. Gjere loses confidence. Ferguson isn't ready....fails and he loses confidence. Limegrover's way is good.
 

BleedGopher said:
PiPress: Shady Salamon resurfaces from a dark period

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_18677146


Go Gophers!!
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I am definitely partial to this kid. If anyone ever met this kid or even just read about his life story, you would definitely be pulling for him.

I'm really excited for him that he has a legitimate chance of seeing significant playing time, and it's entirely off of his hard work. He isn't the most physically talented kid but he did everything the right way. He worked hard, switched positions when needed, worked his butt off on special teams, is an honor roll student and has worked himself from being buried on the depth chart to a key player. His story is the reason why I love college football!
 

60's Guy said:
It's 2011...rather than saying Gjere makes too many mistakes and we need to find somebody more consistent...Limegrover doesn't diminish Gjere's confidence by saying it that way and in this way he motivates Ferguson by telling him he can play if he isn't making mistakes yet Gjere doesn't feel threatened. Both guys keep the confidence they got this way. Pretty cool....I agree. They'll both eventually realize the one that makes the least mistakes will play. But there is less pressure, hopefully allowing them both to relax and play.

More common to say Gjere sit down. Ferguson get in there. Lets see if we can find somebody who can play the position. Gjere loses confidence. Ferguson isn't ready....fails and he loses confidence. Limegrover's way is good.
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I took the pointing out of "Gave him some sugar..." to be interpreted as coach giving him a kiss.:eek:
 


Any Comments on the Big Ten Tour Show? Man, was it boring. Barely showed anything or talked about anything. Some real bland interviews. I guess it was more for the broadcasters to get to know the team a bit better.
 

CrocShots said:
Any Comments on the Big Ten Tour Show? Man, was it boring. Barely showed anything or talked about anything. Some real bland interviews. I guess it was more for the broadcasters to get to know the team a bit better.
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The only really interesting things about the show were in the last two minutes when they talked about top newcomers and surprise players(?, not sure if that was what they labeled it) for the year. I believe those were Jimmy Gjere and Brendan Beal for top newcomers. Devon Wright and Marcus Jones rounded out the surprise picks.

Also, interesting when they talked about how it's a night and day difference between the team from spring practice to fall. Sounds like they have the feeling that they still aren't sold on the defense, although there are "signs" it's improving. Still worried we will not get any pressure on the QB. Say that they are focusing on fundamentals of each position during practice and that in itself should help them improve a lot. Raised questions on whether Marquise will be able to perform at a high level at QB this season. Not sure if his ability to pass the ball is at a high level right now (we all know that).

Finally, they were quick to say that you won't be able to get a sense for how the team is going to perform by looking at the USC game. I think they feel like we are going to get beat up to open the season.
 

Pump up the negativity, I mean "realisiticivity," or something... This TV crew knows less about this team than the average season ticket holding fan. Let's see what happens over the next 2 1/2 weeks before we throw in the towel on the D and MarQueis.
 


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