Official 2014 Recruiting Updates Thread: Links, Tweets, Videos, Stories, Rumors, etc.

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Ohio State has 19 OL on Roster. 5 seniors. 4 OL commits. That is still more than Minnesota at 16. So, the two best schools hold more OL than Minnesota.
Auburn has 1 OL commit. They have no seniors. So, they are going from 16 to 17.
Florida St has 19 OL. They have 2 seniors. They have 4 commits. Going from 17 to 21 on the roster.

Minnesota needs more than 1 OL recruit because all the big boys have more OL hanging around their teams. I am telling ya all, we need 3 more OL recruits to make it work over 4 to 5 years. We are on the low end of carrying OL on the roster. Almost all of them have Sophmores and Juniors on their rosters, just like Minnesota. Every year, people say we have a very young team. We really don't. Every team seems to have huge stables of younger players.

Wisconsin has 17 OL on its roster. They have 3 seniors or 17% of their roster. Only 1 senior starts. Wisconsin has recruited 5 OL. The number of OL that keeps coming up again and again is close to the number 21. Why is Minnesota's number the lowest out of this small sample size?

Purdue has 19 OL on roster. They have 2 commits.
Nebraska has an astounding 28 OL on its roster. They have 2 commits.
 

Dean S said:
Ohio State has 19 OL on Roster. 5 seniors. 4 OL commits. That is still more than Minnesota at 16. So, the two best schools hold more OL than Minnesota.
Auburn has 1 OL commit. They have no seniors. So, they are going from 16 to 17.
Florida St has 19 OL. They have 2 seniors. They have 4 commits. Going from 17 to 21 on the roster.

Minnesota needs more than 1 OL recruit because all the big boys have more OL hanging around their teams. I am telling ya all, we need 3 more OL recruits to make it work over 4 to 5 years. We are on the low end of carrying OL on the roster. Almost all of them have Sophmores and Juniors on their rosters, just like Minnesota. Every year, people say we have a very young team. We really don't. Every team seems to have huge stables of younger players.

Wisconsin has 17 OL on its roster. They have 3 seniors or 17% of their roster. Only 1 senior starts. Wisconsin has recruited 5 OL. The number of OL that keeps coming up again and again is close to the number 21. Why is Minnesota's number the lowest out of this small sample size?

Purdue has 19 OL on roster. They have 2 commits.
Nebraska has an astounding 28 OL on its roster. They have 2 commits.
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You're listing them as how many they have on roster. How many currently hold scholarships?
 



Gopherprof said:
A few notes from that list:

-8 out of the 10 current commits received a visit this weekend. The only ones that didn't are Jerry Gibson (recent commit) and Julien Kafo (recent commit and lives in Montreal). Nice to see them continuing to recruit the guys they've got.

-Of the guys that aren't commits we're focusing on two linebackers, two wide receivers, three defensive backs, a runningback, and Ragnow. This is nice to see, as the speed positions need the most attention and depth at the moment, particularly the defensive backfield.

-If by the grace of God we got those nine non-committed players to commit (and Jones to stay) that would give us a class of 19, which I think is where we'll end up.

-Interesting guys to not get a visit:
- Christian Russell (who reportedly is leaning towards UCF)
- J'Vonte Herrod (who has a bunch of Appalachian State predictions popping up, indicating something)
- Deron Thompson (don't think I would read anything into this, but interesting they are going right through Kansas and apparently not stopping)
- James Folston (reportedly leaning towards Pitt. I think he's more of a backup plan anyway)
- Demetrius Hill, Gregory Howell, Rashad Canty (Canty received a visit in November. I think the former two are out of the picture)
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What about that James CB that was between us and Indiana? Any word on him yet?
 


sconnygopher said:
What about that James CB that was between us and Indiana? Any word on him yet?
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He's taking his official here next weekend, so we won't hear anything until the week of 12/16. Based on everything I've read, he'll be a Gopher commit before Christmas.
 

sconnygopher said:
What about that James CB that was between us and Indiana? Any word on him yet?
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Sawvel stopped in to see James on Monday. He's taking an OV to Kansas this weekend and then, as dpo said, will be visiting Minnesota next weekend.
 

Gopherprof said:
4 is too high if you're considering that most offensive lineman redshirt. You simply can't carry 20 offensive lineman on scholarship. That's almost 25% of your scholarships dedicated to one position.

We currently have 16 offensive lineman on scholarship. That itself is a little high because we've rewarded a few walk-ons. Given that only Eddie Olson is graduating with a scholarship, it's not surprising we're only looking to take 2 offensive lineman this year.

The classes are unbalanced because we have so many upcoming senior and junior offensive lineman but for now it is what it is.
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25% of scholarships for 1 position? It is 5 out of 22 starters. That is 23% of the starters (fine, 21% if you include kicker and punter [yes, they are people too]). That doesn't seem all that out of proportion to have that many scholarships for offensive linemen. Especially considering it is a position that takes years to develop the strength and skill set. You can't replace a senior with an underclassmen easily. I believe stocking up and using 25% of scholarships on offensive linemen is perfectly appropriate.
 




We have 19 listed Offensive Lineman on our team and 2 seniors. So it sounds like we're pretty much par for the course
 

LBJ said:
25% of scholarships for 1 position? It is 5 out of 22 starters. That is 23% of the starters (fine, 21% if you include kicker and punter [yes, they are people too]). That doesn't seem all that out of proportion to have that many scholarships for offensive linemen. Especially considering it is a position that takes years to develop the strength and skill set. You can't replace a senior with an underclassmen easily. I believe stocking up and using 25% of scholarships on offensive linemen is perfectly appropriate.
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i think part of the idea that you don't scholly so many lineman is the ability to use walk ons in those spots. i (think) that bama is only holding about 14 kids on scholly at offensive line (at least that's how it was speculated on sites i found, they don't release the actual breakdown). so i'd say right now we're right around where we need to be. we could have some issues in the future though if we don't bring in walk on talent. but given our running game and guys seeing walk ons being rewarded, i don't see it becoming a huge issue
 

upnorthkid said:
then i apologize. just have seen far too many people being picked apart for small little typos and details. must be the finals week grind having me on edge.
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Nice capitilization...



Joking!
 

LBJ said:
25% of scholarships for 1 position? It is 5 out of 22 starters. That is 23% of the starters (fine, 21% if you include kicker and punter [yes, they are people too]). That doesn't seem all that out of proportion to have that many scholarships for offensive linemen. Especially considering it is a position that takes years to develop the strength and skill set. You can't replace a senior with an underclassmen easily. I believe stocking up and using 25% of scholarships on offensive linemen is perfectly appropriate.
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Except you need more backups at other positions both for different sets and special teams. A backup offensive lineman is insurance and for development, but that's it. Plus, a backup guard can usually play both sides, as well as a tackle can, so while it's 5 starting positions, comparing it to something like runningback or quarterback doesn't make much sense. Your backup RB usually can't be your QB in a pinch.

The average NFL team keeps 9 offensive lineman on a 53-man roster (I've seen 8, and I'm sure there have been 10, but 9 is the standard). That's 17%, or 14-15 guys on a team with 85 scholarships. Right now we have 16 scholarship offensive lineman and will potentially have more next year.

If Dean comes back and says that he got those numbers based on a scholarship grid then I'll concede that I'm wrong. But I'm guessing he went to the team's roster and just counted players, not taking into account walk-ons, which is obviously wrong.
 



The Goofy Gopher said:
We have 19 listed Offensive Lineman on our team and 2 seniors. So it sounds like we're pretty much par for the course
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This isn't a question of numbers, it's a question of scholarships. We could have 500 guys at offensive line for all I care, but using 20 scholarships on them is excessive.
 

Gopherprof said:
Except you need more backups at other positions both for different sets and special teams. A backup offensive lineman is insurance and for development, but that's it. Plus, a backup guard can usually play both sides, as well as a tackle can, so while it's 5 starting positions, comparing it to something like runningback or quarterback doesn't make much sense. Your backup RB usually can't be your QB in a pinch.

The average NFL team keeps 9 offensive lineman on a 53-man roster (I've seen 8, and I'm sure there have been 10, but 9 is the standard). That's 17%, or 14-15 guys on a team with 85 scholarships. Right now we have 16 scholarship offensive lineman and will potentially have more next year.

If Dean comes back and says that he got those numbers based on a scholarship grid then I'll concede that I'm wrong. But I'm guessing he went to the team's roster and just counted players, not taking into account walk-ons, which is obviously wrong.
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All are good points. I didn't think about it that way. I guess I'm just paranoid about that nightmare when the previous coach left us with zero O-linemen in a recruiting class and we got burned 3-4 years later. Which you don't condone either. I see where you are coming from, thanks for the explanation.
 

Coach Anderson was supposed to visit Herrod. I believe that has been rescheduled. I dont think they have cooled on him at all.
 

I am not clear why the Gophers are in pursuit of so many RBs. With Cobb, Kirkwood, Williams and Edwards returning and Jones still committed. Rodney Smith, J'vonte Herrod, Greg Howell, and Deron Thompson all have offers. What gives?
 

Likely recruiting them as athletes and slotting some for wr or db
 

Howell and Thompson are probably Plan B guys. Smith and herrod i heard they definetly want
 

It's a Pig Man! said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Ala. CB Patrick Porter (<a href="https://twitter.com/Pat_Porter11">@Pat_Porter11</a>) plans to announce his commitment on Jan. 10 between <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Minnesota&src=hash">#Minnesota</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Miami&src=hash">#Miami</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Wazzu&src=hash">#Wazzu</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/Gobie247">@Gobie247</a></p>— Josh Edwards (@JEdwar247) <a href="https://twitter.com/JEdwar247/statuses/407581004786696192">December 2, 2013</a></blockquote>
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This same guy reported 6 months ago that Porter received a Gopher offer but Ryan Burns says otherwise. Apparently Sawvel is meeting with him this week, though.

Pretty good offer list: http://247sports.com/Recruitment/Patrick-Porter-30865/RecruitInterests
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he will make an official visit here on the 10th of january, the same day of his decision per his 247 profile, i want this kid BAD, he has offers from 11 BCS schools, normally i don't really care at all about the recruitments of 2 and 3 star recruits at all in both football and basketball only 4 stars but this year i have gotten really excited about the possibility of landing certain three stars from seeing guys like Ben Lauer a 2 star recruit start over a guy like isaac Hayes or Pirsig, both high 3 and 4 stars who were in the same class, and 3 star guys like Wolitarsky and Jones being much bigger of an impact freshman year then 4 star WRs Mcdonald and Harbeson
 


Crystal ball moving towards Appalachian State for Herrod. To me that says they've either cooled on him, or he's a plan B guy.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/AppNation247">@AppNation247</a> and I both have <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> RB target J'Vonte Herrod crystalballed to Appalachian State now.</p>— Matt Gravett (@GravettMatt) <a href="https://twitter.com/GravettMatt/statuses/408297507056521216">December 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
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mkAz said:
Crystal ball moving towards Appalachian State for Herrod. To me that says they've either cooled on him, or he's a plan B guy.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/AppNation247">@AppNation247</a> and I both have <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> RB target J'Vonte Herrod crystalballed to Appalachian State now.</p>— Matt Gravett (@GravettMatt) <a href="https://twitter.com/GravettMatt/statuses/408297507056521216">December 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Yeah, seems like their RB wish list keeps changing. Jeff Jones has always been on top, but I think Rodney Smith is next on the list right now.
 

You have to wonder what the coaches tell the plan B guys. "We like you but only if Jones reneges on his commitment."
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Cincinnati Colerain LB Tegray Scales hosted <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23IUFB&src=hash">#IUFB</a> coaches in-home on Monday, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> coaches on Tuesday <a href="http://t.co/rHBKScW4cu">http://t.co/rHBKScW4cu</a></p>— Josh Helmholdt (@JoshHelmholdt) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshHelmholdt/statuses/408432312905236480">December 5, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Go Gophers!!
 

Dean S said:
Alabama has 18 on its roster with 2 seniors. They have 6 committed recruits across the offensive line of scrimmage. You were saying...
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You're making a different argument though. I bet there isn't a single team in the country that has 20 OL on scholarship. Some of the 17 at Alabama (their roster shows 17, not 18) are walk-ons.

The Gophers currently have 19 O-lineman on the roster but not all are on scholarships. I think one or two scholarship OL are fine this year as long as we can get a preferred walk on or two.
 

gopherMD said:
You have to wonder what the coaches tell the plan B guys. "We like you but only if Jones reneges on his commitment."
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"We like you and are trying really hard to make sure a scholarship is available for you. Hang with us and we'll keep you posted on developments."
 

gopherMD said:
I am not clear why the Gophers are in pursuit of so many RBs. With Cobb, Kirkwood, Williams and Edwards returning and Jones still committed. Rodney Smith, J'vonte Herrod, Greg Howell, and Deron Thompson all have offers. What gives?
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Cobb and Kirkwood are seniors next year, Williams will be a junior and had some off-the-field issues, and Edwards has never played. The time to replenish at RB is now.
I think Howell missed his opportunity and Thompson is potentially a DB. Jones is priority #1, with Smith close behind, and would also take Herrod as a bigger back to replace Kirkwood/Edwards. Jones would get the opportunity to get some pt as a true freshman, and Smith/Herrod would get a redshirt year. It would space the classes out nicely and allow them to focus on only getting 1 RB in the class of 2015.
 

The Gophers dream scenario was to get 3 O-lineman in this class: Mayes, Ragnow, and JC. Interesting that everyone viewed JC as a distant 3rd until the Bama offer, but I digress. Mayes is as solid as they come, we've got a good shot with Ragnow, and we possible get one more if they can get someone they really like here on an OV, someone like McNeil. Otherwise we start focusing on Grant Schmidt and others in the class of 2015....
 

John Galt said:
Cobb and Kirkwood are seniors next year, Williams will be a junior and had some off-the-field issues, and Edwards has never played. The time to replenish at RB is now.
I think Howell missed his opportunity and Thompson is potentially a DB. Jones is priority #1, with Smith close behind, and would also take Herrod as a bigger back to replace Kirkwood/Edwards. Jones would get the opportunity to get some pt as a true freshman, and Smith/Herrod would get a redshirt year. It would space the classes out nicely and allow them to focus on only getting 1 RB in the class of 2015.
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Your explanation makes sense. You would have to have a lot of confidence in yourself to commit to a school that has a commitment from a highly rated back like Jones.
 

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