P.J. Fleck, Tanner Morgan laud Mo Ibrahim for development as running back, leader at Minnesota

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BleedGopher

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per Dustin:

There’s no question Minnesota’s running back room took a hit following the 2019 season. Both Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks have departed with eligibility expiring after last year, leaving the Gophers without their first- and third-most productive backs from an 11-2 campaign.

It puts a lot of pressure on junior back Mohamed Ibrahim, who was the team’s second-leading rusher a season ago and the top ball carrier for the Gophers in 2018. Experience isn’t something the running back is missing, but his role as a leader at the position will be a new task.

“Mo is gonna be the leader of that room. And Mo has developed not only in the run game, I think better than he was, but the pass game, as well,” Fleck said. “He is the leader. His energy is infectious. …That’s the leadership that you want of what the culture should look like all the time. And it’s really good to have Mo teaching those young guys of how it should look.”

saturdaytradition.com

P.J. Fleck, Tanner Morgan laud Mo Ibrahim for development as running back, leader at Minnesota

Ibrahim finished with 604 yards and 7 touchdowns last season.
saturdaytradition.com saturdaytradition.com

Go Gophers!!
 

If Mo stays healthy all year, he is going to have some monster games. I know many are concerned with depth at the RB position, but because of the shortened season, Mo should carry the load. I would love to see him carry the ball 20-25 times per game. He may be the most productive back in my lifetime, now that's saying something.
 


Mo was our best back last year.

If he gets hurt, we're in trouble.
 




Mo is such a beast. As much as we all love Rodney, Mo just has a little more juice to him. I think he's our best back since Gary Russell. There's a lot of variables in play for the 2020 season, but I think he still goes for 1,000 yards on the ground
 

Governor Sibley said:
Mo was our best back last year.

If he gets hurt, we're in trouble.
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Hopefully this won't be a problem. It's like Fleck said, sometimes when you let the grasshopper out of the jar they produced very well. You just never know until you let them play.
 

KoolAid said:
Mo is such a beast. As much as we all love Rodney, Mo just has a little more juice to him. I think he's our best back since Gary Russell. There's a lot of variables in play for the 2020 season, but I think he still goes for 1,000 yards on the ground
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I am pretty sure he’s better than Russell... If he can hold up physically, I believe he’ll be very much there with MBIII and Maroney...
 




PoockItInfor6 said:
Agreed he was our best back last year, but I think you’re undervaluing our depth!!
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Mentioned this before, but I think Wiley will get a lot of carries and yards in relief of Mo. He has definitely looked like the real deal in the practices I have been at in the past.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Mentioned this before, but I think Wiley will get a lot of carries and yards in relief of Mo. He has definitely looked like the real deal in the practices I have been at in the past.
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Agreed. Wiley's an up and comer just like Mo was.
 

OnI’ll
HoustonTXGopher said:
If Mo stays healthy all year, he is going to have some monster games. I know many are concerned with depth at the RB position, but because of the shortened season, Mo should carry the load. I would love to see him carry the ball 20-25 times per game. He may be the most productive back in my lifetime, now that's saying something.
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You used to pump Rodrick Williams jr.
 



Bryce Williams has huge upside as well. If our line blocks like they did in that Auburn game... his speed would be a huge problem for opposing defenses. As a freshman he hit a number of big runs, and I think has put in work in the weight room to help break more arm tackles.
 

PoockItInfor6 said:
Bryce Williams has huge upside as well. If our line blocks like they did in that Auburn game... his speed would be a huge problem for opposing defenses. As a freshman he hit a number of big runs, and I think has put in work in the weight room to help break more arm tackles.
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Pretty sure I’m the highest of all Gopher fans on him, but I think he still has a chance to be really special. His skill set magnifies the effectiveness of the line relative to Mo though.
 

Mo has momentum coming into this season for sure.

Where's BeavCoon for a Mo poem anyways...?
 

PMWinSTP said:
Mentioned this before, but I think Wiley will get a lot of carries and yards in relief of Mo. He has definitely looked like the real deal in the practices I have been at in the past.
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Good information, hope you're right.
 



PoockItInfor6 said:
I am pretty sure he’s better than Russell... If he can hold up physically, I believe he’ll be very much there with MBIII and Maroney...
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Good post and I agree 100%. He is carving out his spot in our collective conscious and Furry Rodent History.

Mo will be a Pro.

We have an embarrassment of riches at the skillz spots - so this is what it feels like at a higher level program, Uffda - the great thing about us, is I don't think we'll take it for granted!
 


Since someone brought up Gary Russell -

I would say Russell had as much potential as any back the Gophers have had - but he did not realize that potential, for a variety of reasons. He really only had one good year with the Gophers in 2005 - went over 1100 yards as the #2 back.

Reading up on him, I did not realize he scored a TD in a Super Bowl Game - even though his pro career was very short-lived.

As far as this year, I know Fleck likes to use a lot of backs, but I would not be surprised if they lean a little more heavily on Mo at the start of the season.

this is where losing the non-conference games will have a big impact. Coaches may not be as willing to throw younger players out there when every game matters in the conference race. So the coaches will really have to have a lot of confidence in a younger back to throw them out in the action. Williams could get more work just because he has the experience.
 

Governor Sibley said:
Mo was our best back last year.

If he gets hurt, we're in trouble.
Click to expand...

Much like when Smith and Brooks went down and Mo stepped up to show that he was a legit starting calibur RB....I think the same goes here. The Gophers have a few guys waiting that haven't gotten a shot because of the logjam yet. But there's legit talent behind Mo too.
 

PoockItInfor6 said:
Bryce Williams has huge upside as well. If our line blocks like they did in that Auburn game... his speed would be a huge problem for opposing defenses. As a freshman he hit a number of big runs, and I think has put in work in the weight room to help break more arm tackles.
Click to expand...
Bryce is our worst back that has seen playing time. If he sees real playing time we will be relying on our passing game. He has the vision of a star-nosed mole
 


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