Olson at OT, Michel at OG? Gjere in fall?

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Ole

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Interesting tidbits from Brew in he spring interviews/pressers.
Olson will be playing outside and competing with Wills, Michel will compete for a guard spot with Carufel and Wynn? BTW good to Wynn is immediately back in competition for a job, his back injury must be recovered. Wynn has good athleticism and feet, his issues at RT in 08 were strength and size related, maybe playing him at guard where he can pull and trap is a better fit.

Brewster also mentions Gjere as if he's going to get a long look in the fall, if he is indeed 6' 8'' and 315 he's got the size already, strength could be close to ready with a summer working out at the U. You hate to see true freshmen start on the line, but maybe he's one of those rare prospects.
Pretty interesting offensive line shuffling/competition. Any thoughts/insight?
 

I always assumed that they were going to groom Gjere to play RT after Wills graduates this spring. Allow him to reshirt, learn the system, gain more man muscle and so fourth. I also thought that Olson or Michel would be our starting LT................but I don't know much :)
 

I would also like to add that I am extremely optimistic about our OL in the next five or so years. I really am intrigued by all the size and length that the staff is bringing on.

I really don't care who plays and where, I just want a good OL. We need a good OL to get where we want to go. Period.
 

RaT said:
I always assumed that they were going to groom Gjere to play RT after Wills graduates this spring. Allow him to reshirt, learn the system, gain more man muscle and so fourth. I also thought that Olson or Michel would be our starting LT................but I don't know much :)
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Just by some of the recent interviews, it looks likely to have those 2 flipped around, with Olson appearing to be the RT of the future and Gjere maybe getting looks at LT.
I really don't know what to think if Gjere is a legit candidate for playing next year, on one hand he may just be better than the rest of the linemen, on the other, if he's there already, a redshirt season could help him achieve epic levels during his Gopher career.
 

If Wynn plays guard

Does that leave Burris and Davis to play center? I think Gjere will serve to push Wills. Wills will have to make a quantum leap in conditioning, and the weight room to be the player he needs to be.
 


husker70 said:
Does that leave Burris and Davis to play center? I think Gjere will serve to push Wills. Wills will have to make a quantum leap in conditioning, and the weight room to be the player he needs to be.
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Burris will start out at C according to Youngblood's strib article. It does mention Olson as pushing for time with Wills AND Alford, so I guess he's an option at both LT and RT.
Husker any insight into what kind of weight room numbers Gjere would have to be putting up over the summer to earn a spot as a true freshman?
 

I am not sure what number Gjere needs, but if Wills started and played all year in that condition it is a clue as to either his committment or that of the Coaches. He was overweight, and vastly under powered. I would think an offensive lineman in this day and age should be able to squat 500, bench 225 at least 25 reps, and hang and clean 400. I have no idea how many Offensive lineman can do all three. Maybe Burris. Maybe Olson. Its one thing to be competitive, and another to excell in weight and conditioning. I remember when I talked about lean muscle mass being another measure. Percent of body fat. Can you hear me Jeff? I know that Nate Triplett coming out of high school was measured between 7 and 9 percent which is about as lean as you can get.

Gjere should be able to come close in the power clean or hang and clean. His bench may need some work, and the squat I would imagine he needs, all the linemen need improvement there. Squat is a measure of explosion. The bench and clean moves more designed to deliver a blow.
 

Competition is good and it's fun to speculate on the O-Line of the future, but I'd be shocked if Alford (LT), Carufel (RG) & Wills (RT) don't start this season.

The only real battle's I foresee in camp are at C between Alford & Davis and LG between Bunders & whoever wants it. I expect Gjere to red-shirt and play RG after Carufel leaves.

At any rate it'll be a long season, so we need to get Olsen, Michel, Gjere, et al some reps in camp/practice in case of injury, suspension, etc where they might be called on to play significant snaps.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Competition is good and it's fun to speculate on the O-Line of the future, but I'd be shocked if Alford (LT), Carufel (RG) & Wills (RT) don't start this season.

The only real battle's I foresee in camp are at C between Alford & Davis and LG between Bunders & whoever wants it. I expect Gjere to red-shirt and play RG after Carufel leaves.

At any rate it'll be a long season, so we need to get Olsen, Michel, Gjere, et al some reps in camp/practice in case of injury, suspension, etc where they might be called on to play significant snaps.
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I wouldn't be so sure about Alford and Wills, Carufel seems to be a lock,but is probably thrown into Brewster's quotes for motivation purposes. Alford isn't a center, Burris and Davis will man that position.
Bunders hasn't been mentioned, again possibly for motivation purposes, it does seem though that the addition of Olsen, Michel, and Wynn to the Oline pool has intensified competition and added intrigue to these position battles. Bunders/Orton/Davis might be outside looking in caught between talented young guys and servicable 5th year seniors.
I think the writing on the wall is nobody is safe, and after last year there's really not one offensive player that should be, especially the linemen.
 



The positive sign is that the Gophers appear to have more young talent on the O line. I would make a bet that Wills will be stronger and less heavy by the time September 1st comes around. Remember he was at a JC and they don't have the regimented programs like a 4 year school. I suspect Coach Davis has been keeping tabs on him all off season to see time in the weight room and monitoring his weight. Lastly Wills improved more than any other lineman during the season. He was confused and too slow against Cal and Air Force. He progressed as the season went on. Unfortunately it still wasn't more than a mediocre lineman by Big ten standards, but again I'm optimistic he will be a good tackle this fall.
 

weight room numbers

I'm not sure of the numbers for everyone, but I do know that D.J. Burris can do the most bench press reps at 225 of anyone on the team - offense or defense. He reportedly did 40 reps at 225 earlier this spring. That's pretty impressive.
 

WillieBurton said:
I'm not sure of the numbers for everyone, but I do know that D.J. Burris can do the most bench press reps at 225 of anyone on the team - offense or defense. He reportedly did 40 reps at 225 earlier this spring. That's pretty impressive.
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That is very impressive. I'd like to see their squat and clean numbers. Those are much more important for lineman.
 

Does Mottla figure in the calculus anywhere? Especially now with Davis concentrating on track and field.
 



i have no problem starting a true freshman on the offensive line if he is something special, which i hope gjere is. osu started mike brewster at center as a true freshman in 2008 and center is a position that requires even more maturity than tackle. tackle is the position on the o-line that is the most conducive to starting young. you don't have to be extremely strong to pass block, just have size and have great footwork. whereas guards need to be very powerful and centers have the most responsibility on the line.
 


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