PWO Commits This year 2014 and 2013 - Which Group is Better?

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60's Guy

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2013
1 Chad Fahning OL De La Salle 6-7 275
2 Jeff Borchardt WR Wayzata 6-1 190
3 Brian Smith Jr WR Brookfield,WI 6-4 210
4 Michael Conway QB LaCrosse Aquinas 6-5 205
5 Conor Rhoda QB Cretin 6-3 190
6 Nick Hart TE Prior Lake 6-5 220
7 Chandler Wright OG Wayzata 6-3 270..is he here?
8 Aaron Roundtree DB Eagan
9 Andrew Harte K Downers Grove, IL
10 Matt Leidner C Lakeville So 6-1 270
11 Justin Juenemann K Phillipsburg, KS
12 Alexander Starks DB Plainfield, IL
and I'm probably missing some guys?

2014
1 Jacques Perra QB Roseville 6-3 210
2 Davis Anderson DB Apple Valley 6-2 190
3 Miles Thomas FB Butler County (Kan.) Community College
4 Riley Ohafah FB Butler County (Kan) Community College
5 Payton Jordahl LS Perham High School
6 Emmit Carpenter K Ashwaubenon (Wis.)
7 Logan McElfresh P Brainerd HS
8 Josh Parks RB Chisago Lakes, MN 5-10 195
9 Blake Weber LB/RB Prior Lake HS 6-1 215
10 Nick Leach RB Eastview 6-1 195
and I mighta missed somebody?

Two pretty outstanding classes of preferred walk-ons.
 

Wow, we are stocking up with quality PWOs. The Gophers' larder is going to be almost fully replenished this recruiting year. Watch out B1G
 

60's Guy said:
2013
1 Chad Fahning OL De La Salle 6-7 275
2 Jeff Borchardt WR Wayzata 6-1 190
3 Brian Smith Jr WR Brookfield,WI 6-4 210
4 Michael Conway QB LaCrosse Aquinas 6-5 205
5 Conor Rhoda QB Cretin 6-3 190
6 Nick Hart TE Prior Lake 6-5 220
7 Chandler Wright OG Wayzata 6-3 270..is he here?
8 Aaron Roundtree DB Eagan
9 Andrew Harte K Downers Grove, IL
10 Matt Leidner C Lakeville So 6-1 270
11 Justin Juenemann K Phillipsburg, KS
12 Alexander Starks DB Plainfield, IL
and I'm probably missing some guys?

2014
1 Jacques Perra QB Roseville 6-3 210
2 Davis Anderson DB Apple Valley 6-2 190
3 Miles Thomas FB Butler County (Kan.) Community College
4 Riley Ohafah FB Butler County (Kan) Community College
5 Payton Jordahl LS Perham High School
6 Emmit Carpenter K Ashwaubenon (Wis.)
7 Logan McElfresh P Brainerd HS
8 Josh Parks RB Chisago Lakes, MN 5-10 195
9 Blake Weber LB/RB Prior Lake HS 6-1 215
and I mighta missed somebody?

Two pretty outstanding classes of preferred walk-ons.
Click to expand...

2013. Whenever you can land a kid who graduated from the same high school as Randy "Macho Man" Savage, you clearly have something going.

Seriously, I think both classes will net some significant contributors. I really love that Kill and company bring in a ton of kickers and punters. I can remember when Mason was forced to put an ad in the Daily announcing an open try-out for the kicking position.
 

It's kind of a cop out, but we will have to wait a few years to know the answer. Even if we only hit on a handful of these guys and they become special teams contributors that is big for this program. If anything, I hope all these PWOs come in with chips on their shoulders and work hard and compete with the scholarship guys. Competition is never a bad thing.
 

Roundtree's not really a PWO, because he's a JuCo transfer.

Good catch on Chandler Wright. I'm guessing he was an academic casualty, as he played for RCTC this last season.
 


Looks like Nick Leach from Eastview will be a PWO.

From the Pioneer Press:

Behr, a tight end, will sign
with Rutgers, and Nick Leach, a running back, will sign as a preferred
walk-on with Minnesota. Offensive lineman JC Hassenauer, the top-ranked
center in the country, gave an oral commitment to Alabama last summer
and will make it official with his signature.
The Raptors looked unbeatable
the first month of the season, until Leach tore the anterior cruciate
ligament in his left knee on the first play against district rival Park
in Week 4. To that point, Leach had been nearly unstoppable with 667
rushing yards, a 10.8-yard average and 11 touchdowns as the Raptors
outscored their first three opponents 139-46.
 

This year is better,
It's conceivable that we could see multiple starters from this group.
All the specialists have a shot, one of the FB duo likely will be day 1 starters, Perra is just as talented as Leidner was coming out of HS IMO, WO defensive players always have a chance to play if they can pick up the scheme and prove themselves on special teams ala Hill.

I always like to see a few TE walk ons, MN produces plenty of tall and big bodied players that maybe won't be the next Maxx Williams but can fill a role as a blocking TE or grow into OL and contribute on special teams.

In the end it's just nice to see kids who maybe aren't super hyped or recruited get an opportunity to play at the highest level and work themselves into a scholarship.
 


The big thing about walk on depth is it allows us to red shirt more FR since we wont need them on special teams and to fill in for injuries. This is huge long term. Plus some late bloomers find a niche and make contributions in rotation and as starters and earn scholarships.

10 years ago, these PWOs were the last 5-8 scholarships handed out by Mason, now these kids pay their own freight to be part of our team and we use those scholarships to bring in kids from outside the midwest. Brick by brick baby~!
 



:clap:
GopherinPhilly said:
The big thing about walk on depth is it allows us to red shirt more FR since we wont need them on special teams and to fill in for injuries. This is huge long term. Plus some late bloomers find a niche and make contributions in rotation and as starters and earn scholarships.

10 years ago, these PWOs were the last 5-8 scholarships handed out by Mason, now these kids pay their own freight to be part of our team and we use those scholarships to bring in kids from outside the midwest. Brick by brick baby~!
Click to expand...
 

There will likely be a handful or more of scholarship kids who are not in the two or three deeps who don't get invited to the beginning of fall camp with this many PWO kids coming on board.
 

Lauer was a walk on in 2013 and since he played I have to give the nod to 2013 as the best but I like the prospects of both classes.
 

Indi1006 said:
There will likely be a handful or more of scholarship kids who are not in the two or three deeps who don't get invited to the beginning of fall camp with this many PWO kids coming on board.
Click to expand...

I might be crazy but pretty sure every kid on scholarship is automatically included in fall camp. Having a strong walk on program is awesome and vital to the long term success of the program but let's not go crazy touting the strength of these guys who for the most part will never see the field or if they do it will be in a special teams role. I am sure some of them will turn out to be starters at some point in their career but the vast majority of them are going to be scout team guys (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that).
 



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Per <a href="https://twitter.com/Preps_Now">@Preps_Now</a>, East Ridge (MN) RB Nick Leach (<a href="https://twitter.com/Nickleach22">@Nickleach22</a>) will sign with <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> as a PWO tomorrow. <a href="http://t.co/vaRq7I05b2">http://t.co/vaRq7I05b2</a></p>— Kyle Goblirsch (@Gobie247) <a href="https://twitter.com/Gobie247/statuses/430757589781991424">February 4, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

Ragnor said:
Lauer was a walk on in 2013 and since he played I have to give the nod to 2013 as the best but I like the prospects of both classes.
Click to expand...

He was a member of the 2012 class and on scholarship.
 


I'm not sure which class is better. You almost always have to wait a long time to see what you got from your PWOs.

I'll go with the 2013 class.
Chad Fahning is a great get. He had a MAC offers. We rarely get an OL to walk-on here with MAC offers. We often sign OL with only other MAC offers (I'm not ripping on it, I trust the staff). He is a really good lineman and I've said it before with him, I'd be pretty surprised if he isn't a key contributor as an upperclassmen.
I really like Perra and I think he has a good chance to start here but he probably was about as recruited as Michael Conway from 2013. Conway chose the U over an offer from NDSU.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I might be crazy but pretty sure every kid on scholarship is automatically included in fall camp.
Click to expand...

You can only have 105 players in camp before school starts. Many scholarship players have been left off in the past in favor of walk-ons - I'm not going to go back and find the info from last year, but I know Foreman wasn't on the fall camp roster, and I'm almost positive he wasn't the only scholarship player left off. They can all come back and practice once school starts and roster limits are lifted.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I might be crazy but pretty sure every kid on scholarship is automatically included in fall camp. Having a strong walk on program is awesome and vital to the long term success of the program but let's not go crazy touting the strength of these guys who for the most part will never see the field or if they do it will be in a special teams role. I am sure some of them will turn out to be starters at some point in their career but the vast majority of them are going to be scout team guys (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that).
Click to expand...

Nope, they're not. There were several scholarship players who didn't get invited to join the fray until school started last year (Alipate and Foreman being two, I believe) and I believe that a condition of the PWO program is that for your freshman year you get to come to the full fall camp that starts in early August. Some of the PWOs from past year's who aren't on scholarship are likely to not get invited to camp, but I can pick out five or six scholarship players who, if they don't get Alabama'd before that, could miss out on an invite to the start of fall camp.
 

I like Perra a lot but I'm not sure how he fits into our system. He can really throw the ball, has a quick release, and pretty solid footwork. He's not a phenomenal athlete though, I'd say he's sneaky fast and he reads his blocks well but he's at his best running the ball when there's an element of surprise.
 

Indi1006 said:
Nope, they're not. There were several scholarship players who didn't get invited to join the fray until school started last year (Alipate and Foreman being two, I believe) and I believe that a condition of the PWO program is that for your freshman year you get to come to the full fall camp that starts in early August. Some of the PWOs from past year's who aren't on scholarship are likely to not get invited to camp, but I can pick out five or six scholarship players who, if they don't get Alabama'd before that, could miss out on an invite to the start of fall camp.
Click to expand...

One key to scholarship kids not getting on the camp roster is injuries...if they aren't going to participate or get hurt during camp, they are typically not on the roster. Also FR who are for sure going to redshirt often get left off...last year a couple of linemen were in that boat for part of camp until a couple injuries opened up slots.
 

50PoundHead said:
2013. Whenever you can land a kid who graduated from the same high school as Randy "Macho Man" Savage, you clearly have something going.

Seriously, I think both classes will net some significant contributors. I really love that Kill and company bring in a ton of kickers and punters. I can remember when Mason was forced to put an ad in the Daily announcing an open try-out for the kicking position.
Click to expand...

Didn't they get a long snapper that way too?
 

Ragnor said:
Lauer was a walk on in 2013 and since he played I have to give the nod to 2013 as the best but I like the prospects of both classes.
Click to expand...

Sorry but you're wrong on both counts. He was a scholarship player in 2012 and was redshirted. I went to a lot of Gopher spring practice his senior year in high school he was often there. You could tell that he really wanted to be a Gopher. He was scheduled to be grey-shirted originally but a slot opened up and was able start that fall.
 

For perspective courtesy of dpo, Brewster also had a strong walk-on program. They included:
Hill
Botticelli
Mottla
Bak
Barker
Hoese
Mike Rallis
Henry

Kill and Brewster kinda shared Derrick Engel and Isaac Fruechte both of whom were recruited as PWO's by Brewster but got here under Kill.
Fruechte with a scholarship offer and Engel earning one as a walk-on.

Jon Christenson, Peter Mortell, Derrick Engel came as walk-ons for coach Kill and earned scholarships. Who are the others who did this under Kill?
 

I exchanged messages with Nick Leach of East ridge. He told me "I am not signing tomorrow though because of application problem unfortunately, but I will be signing sometime."
 

Chris Monter said:
I exchanged messages with Nick Leach of East ridge. He told me "I am not signing tomorrow though because of application problem unfortunately, but I will be signing sometime."
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris!

I hope the application problem gets sorted out and Nick Leach starts his career at the U ASAP. He was super productive and tough as nails in HS. I have no idea what position he ends up playing in HS, he could be anywhere from LB, S, RB or H-Back. Great to have him in the fold.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I might be crazy but pretty sure every kid on scholarship is automatically included in fall camp. Having a strong walk on program is awesome and vital to the long term success of the program but let's not go crazy touting the strength of these guys who for the most part will never see the field or if they do it will be in a special teams role. I am sure some of them will turn out to be starters at some point in their career but the vast majority of them are going to be scout team guys (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that).
Click to expand...

Scholarship players are not automatically put on the 120 roster
 

i asked this on another thread but does anybody know the deal on Alex Egurbride, the WR from Cali who would be a walk-on. He would be our most high profile walk-on if we got him and would be a good consolation prize for Bradyen Lenius who are both 6-6.
 

play hard said:
Scholarship players are not automatically put on the 120 roster
Click to expand...

But I do believe PWOs for the new class are all put on the fall camp roster if they are healthy. That is one of the big advantages of being a PWO. It guarantees you a spot for the fall camp.

But being a scholarship player doesn't guarantee you a fall camp roster spot. For example, Alipate and Foreman were not invited to fall camp.
 

Jaykay said:
I like Perra a lot but I'm not sure how he fits into our system. He can really throw the ball, has a quick release, and pretty solid footwork. He's not a phenomenal athlete though, I'd say he's sneaky fast and he reads his blocks well but he's at his best running the ball when there's an element of surprise.
Click to expand...
I am not sure a lot of people agree with you that Perra is not a good athlete. Leidner did not have as good a rep as Perra doe for running and he has been very good. Perra is a good athlete, he is smart, and he is tough that works in this system.
 

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