Projected 2026 Lineup

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TommieGopher45

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I believe the Gophers are in an incredible spot going into next season, considering they really only lost 2 impact players (Perich, Brockington). This upcoming season will be the best Gopher team since 2019, and their roster might be one of the most experienced in the big ten.

QB: Drake Lindsey SO
RB1: Darius Taylor SR
RB2: AJ Turner JR
WR1: Javon Tracy SR
WR2: Perry Thompson JR
WR3: Jalen Smith SO
TE1: Pierce Walsh? JR
TE2: Julian Johnson? FR?
LT: Nathan Roy SO
LG: Greg Johnson SR
C: Ashton Beers SR
RG: Tony Nelson Sr
RT: Bennett Warren? SO

Edge: Anthony Smith SR
DT: Naquan Crowder JR
DT: Riley Sunram? FR Theorin Randle? SO
Edge: Karter Menz JR
LB: Maverick Baranowski SR
LB: Matt Kingsbury JR
LB: Emanuel Karmo: SO
CB1: John Nestor SR
CB2: Ayden West SO
FS: Mekhi Smith JR
SS: Kerry Brown SR

On paper this is one heck of a squad, with a lotttt of seniors on their last year of eligibility, meaning this is a hugeee season ahead for gopher football! Ski u mah!
 
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the RT, TE, CB2, & S2 are going to be some fun battles to follow this spring and into fall camp. we got some young guys in the secondary to challenge the transfers coming in for sure....especially at Safety as you never know how a D2 player will transition to D1

and then how the pecking order at WR turns out as well.
 

TommieGopher45 said:
I believe the Gophers are in an incredible spot going into next season, considering they really only lost 2 impact players (Perich, Brockington). This upcoming season will be the best Gopher team since 2019, and their roster might be one of the most experienced in the big ten.

QB: Drake Lindsey SO
RB1: Darius Taylor SR
RB2: AJ Turner JR
WR1: Javon Tracy SR
WR2: Perry Thompson JR
WR3: Jalen Smith SO
TE1: Pierce Walsh? JR
TE2: Julian Johnson? FR?
LT: Nathan Roy SO
LG: Greg Johnson SR
C: Ashton Beers SR
RG: Tony Nelson Sr
RT: Bennett Warren? SO

Edge: Anthony Smith SR
DT: Naquan Crowder JR
DT: Riley Sunram? FR Theorin Randle? SO
Edge: Karter Menz JR
LB: Maverick Baranowski SR
LB: Matt Kingsbury JR
LB: Emanuel Karmo: SO
CB1: John Nestor SR
CB2: Ayden West SO
FS: Parker Knutson JR
SS: Kerry Brown SR

On paper this is one heck of a squad, with a lotttt of seniors on their last year of eligibility, meaning this is a hugeee season ahead for gopher football! Ski u mah!
Click to expand...
Defense is hard to predict because of how diverse different down packages are these days. For example on the d-line, I bet we see rush packages with Karmo, Smith, Howard, Menz (goosebumps, that's a nasty lineup)
 


TommieGopher45 said:
I believe the Gophers are in an incredible spot going into next season, considering they really only lost 2 impact players (Perich, Brockington). This upcoming season will be the best Gopher team since 2019, and their roster might be one of the most experienced in the big ten.

QB: Drake Lindsey SO
RB1: Darius Taylor SR
RB2: AJ Turner JR
WR1: Javon Tracy SR
WR2: Perry Thompson JR
WR3: Jalen Smith SO
TE1: Pierce Walsh? JR
TE2: Julian Johnson? FR?
LT: Nathan Roy SO
LG: Greg Johnson SR
C: Ashton Beers SR
RG: Tony Nelson Sr
RT: Bennett Warren? SO

Edge: Anthony Smith SR
DT: Naquan Crowder JR
DT: Riley Sunram? FR Theorin Randle? SO
Edge: Karter Menz JR
LB: Maverick Baranowski SR
LB: Matt Kingsbury JR
LB: Emanuel Karmo: SO
CB1: John Nestor SR
CB2: Ayden West SO
FS: Parker Knutson JR
SS: Kerry Brown SR

On paper this is one heck of a squad, with a lotttt of seniors on their last year of eligibility, meaning this is a hugeee season ahead for gopher football! Ski u mah!
Click to expand...
Don’t forget about Gousby at S. Adding a starting caliber OL, DT and potentially TE would be huge.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
I'm not sure why you think Smith is wr3. I'd put him at wr1 right now.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think Smith and Thompson on outside and Tracy as more of a slot but all of them starters. Although wouldn't it be nice to bring Thompsons teammate Coleman?

Also don't think Kingsbury starts over Marshall

I think Hopkins will see the field at corner.
 

Gophs24 said:
the RT, TE, CB2, & S2 are going to be some fun battles to follow this spring and into fall camp. we got some young guys in the secondary to challenge the transfers coming in for sure....especially at Safety as you never know how a D2 player will transition to D1

and then how the pecking order at WR turns out as well.
Click to expand...
RB2 will be a battle as well. Estrada, Washington, Thomas I think will be looking to challenge the injured Turner. WR, pots a new faces battling for reps, we've recruited well at Safety, Reiner and Harden will have an opportunity to battle Knutson, plus will see who emerges for Nickel snaps
 

minnyrules11 said:
Yeah I think Smith and Thompson on outside and Tracy as more of a slot but all of them starters. Although wouldn't it be nice to bring Thompsons teammate Coleman?

Also don't think Kingsbury starts over Marshall

I think Hopkins will see the field at corner.
Click to expand...
I think Marshall is depth, but will see another fun battle, hopefully Carrier in the mix as well. See who emerges at WILL and SAM
 




The Deliberate Stranger said:
I think Marshall is depth, but will see another fun battle, hopefully Carrier in the mix as well. See who emerges at WILL and SAM
Click to expand...
Forgot about my SE Minnesota roots. Ethan Stendel did not red shirt this year as a true freshman but mostly special teams. Has the size so hope sees the field more this year.
 






minnyrules11 said:
Yeah I think Smith and Thompson on outside and Tracy as more of a slot but all of them starters. Although wouldn't it be nice to bring Thompsons teammate Coleman?

Also don't think Kingsbury starts over Marshall

I think Hopkins will see the field at corner.
Click to expand...
LB will be interesting, not sure what to make of Marshall. We haven’t had great luck with MAC players that weren’t great in the MAC. I’m not getting my hopes up that he’s more than a depth piece at this point.
 


TommieGopher45 said:
I believe the Gophers are in an incredible spot going into next season, considering they really only lost 2 impact players (Perich, Brockington). This upcoming season will be the best Gopher team since 2019, and their roster might be one of the most experienced in the big ten.

QB: Drake Lindsey SO
RB1: Darius Taylor SR
RB2: AJ Turner JR
WR1: Javon Tracy SR
WR2: Perry Thompson JR
WR3: Jalen Smith SO
TE1: Pierce Walsh? JR
TE2: Julian Johnson? FR?
LT: Nathan Roy SO
LG: Greg Johnson SR
C: Ashton Beers SR
RG: Tony Nelson Sr
RT: Bennett Warren? SO

Edge: Anthony Smith SR
DT: Naquan Crowder JR
DT: Riley Sunram? FR Theorin Randle? SO
Edge: Karter Menz JR
LB: Maverick Baranowski SR
LB: Matt Kingsbury JR
LB: Emanuel Karmo: SO
CB1: John Nestor SR
CB2: Ayden West SO
FS: Parker Knutson JR
SS: Kerry Brown SR

On paper this is one heck of a squad, with a lotttt of seniors on their last year of eligibility, meaning this is a hugeee season ahead for gopher football! Ski u mah!
Click to expand...
Definitely has the look of a really solid group and doesn't even account for some young guys who may develop and work their way into the rotation that we haven't even seen in action yet. Will be interesting to see what they do with remaining roster spots but is exciting that at least on paper there are not a lot of massive holes to fill.
 

If we can get back to even average success running the football, the offense should be much more tolerable and hopefully our ppg will increase by a score or two. Defense largely just needs to get a bit better at getting off the field quickly and stopping the explosive plays. Hopefully a lot of returning production will help both things.
 

If the D2 kid starts over Gousby at safety, I would be surprised. No doubt we have some good depth in the defensive backfield. Regardless, we all know depth is pretty important to make it through a Big 10 schedule.
 

Lifeleadership said:
If the D2 kid starts over Gousby at safety, I would be surprised. No doubt we have some good depth in the defensive backfield. Regardless, we all know depth is pretty important to make it through a Big 10 schedule.
Click to expand...
I’m guessing one of the guys listed as a safety plays the slot. Maybe Gousby given he played some CB this year?
 

GophEnEspaña said:
Defense is hard to predict because of how diverse different down packages are these days. For example on the d-line, I bet we see rush packages with Karmo, Smith, Howard, Menz (goosebumps, that's a nasty lineup)
Click to expand...
Not sure why you keep trying to put Karmo in the defensive line.
 







swelna said:
If we can get back to even average success running the football, the offense should be much more tolerable and hopefully our ppg will increase by a score or two. Defense largely just needs to get a bit better at getting off the field quickly and stopping the explosive plays. Hopefully a lot of returning production will help both things.
Click to expand...
Not getting blown off the ball in the run game would be nice too.
 

Agree that Jalen Smith is WR1 or 2 at worst. Voss will play next year.

The Gophers run a 4-2-5 on D so remove a LB and add a nickel back. Gousby will start at CB or NB.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Agree that Jalen Smith is WR1 or 2 at worst. Voss will play next year.

The Gophers run a 4-2-5 on D so remove a LB and add a nickel back. Gousby will start at CB or NB.
Click to expand...
There’s 13 guys listed on offense too. So the post is some sort of a depth chart/starting lineup hybrid.
 

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