Official 2021 Gophers Football Recruiting Updates Thread: Links, Tweets, Videos etc

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short ornery norwegian said:
if they are actively pursuing transfer portal OL, to me that indicates the coaches are not necessarily sold on some of their recent HS OL recruits - or they feel they need guys who are more ready to play right away.
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Linemen declaring early is not the only worry for teams that don't have enough linemen to cover contingencies.

IIRC, the Gophers in recent history had a player that died of cancer or other health conditions. Another had medical hardship.

We have players sustaining injuries that sideline them for a year. We don't know if they are going to return in their former form.
 

die hard gopher said:
A lot of it is because guys like Norton, York, Sassack and Umlor decided to transfer early.
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Umlor came here as DL after playing TE/DE in high school. I think he committed to Fleck at W Mich, then came with him to Minn. Did he even stay here a season after being asked to switch to OL?

Sassack medically retired.

Norton and York had committed to Fleck before he landed Dunlap and Faalele. Wild guess: once they figured out they weren't going to beat those two out, it made sense to look elsewhere.

note: Norton is the subject of this blog post: https://jasonstahl.substack.com/p/the-disappeared I'll let you read that and decide for yourself whatever you want to think about it. Google search doesn't show him on any football roster for 2020.

Google search on York shows he "committed" to FCS Stephen F Austin. But neither their 2020 or 2019 roster listed him, so not sure what happened.
 

MplsGopher said:
Umlor came here as DL after playing TE/DE in high school. I think he committed to Fleck at W Mich, then came with him to Minn. Did he even stay here a season after being asked to switch to OL?

Sassack medically retired.

Norton and York had committed to Fleck before he landed Dunlap and Faalele. Wild guess: once they figured out they weren't going to beat those two out, it made sense to look elsewhere.

note: Norton is the subject of this blog post: https://jasonstahl.substack.com/p/the-disappeared I'll let you read that and decide for yourself whatever you want to think about it. Google search doesn't show him on any football roster for 2020.

Google search on York shows he "committed" to FCS Stephen F Austin. But neither their 2020 or 2019 roster listed him, so not sure what happened.
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Didn't Umlor play some DL his first year? It was weird how he played so much as a freshman on DL and then basically never saw the field again.
 

Word said:
Didn't Umlor play some DL his first year? It was weird how he played so much as a freshman on DL and then basically never saw the field again.
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Yes, I think I recall both him as a RS fresh, and Mayan Ahanotu as a true freshman, getting some reps at DL in 2018. Could be mistaken.

EDIT: I was completely wrong on Umlor. His old roster bio tells the true story: https://gophersports.com/sports/football/roster/nate-umlor/1144

I have no idea how he started the final seven games in 2017 on the DL, but then had to redshirt in 2018.
 
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I see Big Dan on the CBS 2021 draft rankings as the the #52 overall prospect and #12 OL prospect. Perhaps he is considering a move up, and with Dunlap's recovery for 2021 a big question mark, OL depth is a must.
 


Redbird said:
I see Big Dan on the CBS 2021 draft rankings as the the #52 overall prospect and #12 OL prospect. Perhaps he is considering a move up, and with Dunlap's recovery for 2021 a big question mark, OL depth is a must.
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They also list Morgan and he has given zero indication he is going pro so I don't think I would read much into Faalele being on that list. Doesn't give a date for when it was last updated but a little surprised to see him that high coming off a year of not playing. That said, with his size and playing at a premium position someone will draft him pretty early on potential alone whenever he does come out.
 


I think all the recent posts pretty much summarize the situation. We have a lot of experienced linemen that we a very fortunate to have coming back next year. We also have a few guys that have NFL talent that may be leaving us. There will be a lot of change happening on that line in the next two years. We have also under recruited the position in the Fleck era and the ones that have stuck around tend to have the traits of tackles. Grabbing a few transfers for the interior that have a few years of eligibility is a wise move in my opinion.
 

paulser21 said:
I think all the recent post pretty much summarize the situation. We have a lot of experienced linemen that we a very fortunate to have coming back next year. We also have a few guys that have NFL talent that may be leaving us. There will be a lot of change happening on that line in the next two years. We have also under recruited the position in the Fleck era and the ones that have stuck around tend to have the traits of tackles. Grabbing a few transfers for the interior that have a few years of eligibility is a wise move in my opinion.
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It's a great move. Fleck has proven to be pretty good at leveraging the grad transfer market. He hasn't used the JUCO method much, but the grad transfers have worked out well. My guess is he feels they are lower risk than JUCOs and he seems to be able to find transfers with more than 1 year of eligibility a decent amount of the time.
 



Word said:
It's a great move. Fleck has proven to be pretty good at leveraging the grad transfer market. He hasn't used the JUCO method much, but the grad transfers have worked out well. My guess is he feels they are lower risk than JUCOs and he seems to be able to find transfers with more than 1 year of eligibility a decent amount of the time.
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JUCO land seems so hit or miss.

One year the #1 JUCO transfer player could be alright, other years it seems like they can't start anywhere but JUCO land....
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
JUCO land seems so hit or miss.

One year the #1 JUCO transfer player could be alright, other years it seems like they can't start anywhere but JUCO land....
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I agree - I think PJ has the better plan. I mean, I hope he's open to a JUCO if it's the right fit and a difference maker, but grad transfers seem safer.
 

MplsGopher said:
Umlor came here as DL after playing TE/DE in high school. I think he committed to Fleck at W Mich, then came with him to Minn. Did he even stay here a season after being asked to switch to OL?

Sassack medically retired.

Norton and York had committed to Fleck before he landed Dunlap and Faalele. Wild guess: once they figured out they weren't going to beat those two out, it made sense to look elsewhere.

note: Norton is the subject of this blog post: https://jasonstahl.substack.com/p/the-disappeared I'll let you read that and decide for yourself whatever you want to think about it. Google search doesn't show him on any football roster for 2020.

Google search on York shows he "committed" to FCS Stephen F Austin. But neither their 2020 or 2019 roster listed him, so not sure what happened.
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Umlor was on the two deep at OL his final year here.
 




MplsGopher said:
Yes, I think I recall both him as a RS fresh, and Mayan Ahanotu as a true freshman, getting some reps at DL in 2018. Could be mistaken.

EDIT: I was completely wrong on Umlor. His old roster bio tells the true story: https://gophersports.com/sports/football/roster/nate-umlor/1144

I have no idea how he started the final seven games in 2017 on the DL, but then had to redshirt in 2018.
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Wow, yeah I didn’t remember him starting all those games. Looks like eventually DeLattiboudere nailed down that end spot.
 


die hard gopher said:
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3 crystal ball predictions for us. Offer list is funny - USC, Arizona, ASU, BYU, UCLA, Utah, Oregon State, Wasshington State and......Minnesota. One of these things is not like the other but looks like the odd ball location wise might be the one that lands his services.
 

MNVCGUY said:
3 crystal ball predictions for us. Offer list is funny - USC, Arizona, ASU, BYU, UCLA, Utah, Oregon State, Wasshington State and......Minnesota. One of these things is not like the other but looks like the odd ball location wise might be the one that lands his services.
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MNVCGUY said:
They also list Morgan and he has given zero indication he is going pro so I don't think I would read much into Faalele being on that list. Doesn't give a date for when it was last updated but a little surprised to see him that high coming off a year of not playing. That said, with his size and playing at a premium position someone will draft him pretty early on potential alone whenever he does come out.
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Just curious, does anyone have Tanner going in the top 52 ? I would never take him that high.
 

Haven’t done anything to substantiate this, but doesn’t it seem like the past few years all of our o-line recruits have been offensive tackles?

I know the staff likes bigger o-lineman, and obviously would be pumped to get Saia, but just seems weird we don’t recruit guys who played guard/center in HS.
 


MNVCGUY said:
3 crystal ball predictions for us. Offer list is funny - USC, Arizona, ASU, BYU, UCLA, Utah, Oregon State, Wasshington State and......Minnesota. One of these things is not like the other but looks like the odd ball location wise might be the one that lands his services.
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Bayfieldgopher said:
Hearing Utah State OL transfer Karter Shaw has also committed to Minnesota today along with Mesa (Ariz.) Red Mountain offensive lineman Saia Mapakaitolo
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this would make me happy
 

I'm wondering if the coaches know that more guys won't be back.
 

tmvander said:
I'm wondering if the coaches know that more guys won't be back.
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Well we originally had 3 HS OL commits but Barber decomitted so taking this kid only gets us back to where we were in the summer.

Shaw also has 3 years left and we only took 2 OL in 2019 and 3 in 2020 and only 3 this year if we get the HS kid and none of them played on the interior in HS, Shaw is the only one.

I don’t think taking Shaw means anything for 20 but for 21 it could mean that some guys could go pro.
 

tmvander said:
I'm wondering if the coaches know that more guys won't be back.
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Definitely a possibility. The guys that saw little/no playing time last year have to be thinking of it a little bit. Most of the starters are coming back and there are a lot of quality recruits coming in. Always have to evaluate your value.
 


MplsGopher said:
Umlor came here as DL after playing TE/DE in high school. I think he committed to Fleck at W Mich, then came with him to Minn. Did he even stay here a season after being asked to switch to OL?

Sassack medically retired.

Norton and York had committed to Fleck before he landed Dunlap and Faalele. Wild guess: once they figured out they weren't going to beat those two out, it made sense to look elsewhere.

note: Norton is the subject of this blog post: https://jasonstahl.substack.com/p/the-disappeared I'll let you read that and decide for yourself whatever you want to think about it. Google search doesn't show him on any football roster for 2020.

Google search on York shows he "committed" to FCS Stephen F Austin. But neither their 2020 or 2019 roster listed him, so not sure what happened.
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Interesting read of Jason Stahl’s story of Norton, thanks for sharing.

I’ll have a story about a former player on my personal blog soon. Stay tuned.
 
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SPEGOPHER said:
Haven’t done anything to substantiate this, but doesn’t it seem like the past few years all of our o-line recruits have been offensive tackles?

I know the staff likes bigger o-lineman, and obviously would be pumped to get Saia, but just seems weird we don’t recruit guys who played guard/center in HS.
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Are most guys only suited for one position or the other? I don’t think size is necessarily a determining factor between playing guard vs tackle.
 
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