Saturday Depth Chart Developments

[Stan The Caddy]

After watching the game last night, a couple of interesting things stuck out in terms of who played and who did not play.

1. Foreman was in uniform last night, not a surprise at all considering Gray was not. I figured this would be the situation.

2. Jon Christenson was rotating in with Tommy Olson at left guard. There had not been much talk, if at all, on Christenson a RS Frosh from Minnetonka. Chrisetnson was the one who had the holding call on the TD to DCT. It was a legit call and an obvious hold.

3. James Gillum. Nowhere to be found. KJ Maye took all the snaps as the 2nd RB. No Devon Wright either. I hope Gillum is not the next Hayo Carpenter or David Pittman...touted and talked about JUCO who ends up doing nothing. Gillum has not done much to impress at all in the first three games, but I found it interesting that KJ Maye took all the reps last night.

4. James Manuel played well.

5. Beal looked good on the series or two that he played at MLB. I sense that Beal will play a larger role against Iowa this week. Beal is the perfect MLB to take on the physical running that Weisman brings to the table.

Go Gophers! Keep Floyd this week!

 

[Sumtimegophs]

I basically agree with everything you said, but will add this. Christenson going in for Olson at LG was as bewildering as it was confusing. I wonder what his future is given that the holding call was against him. I wonder if Olson had to come out for a few plays?

 

[Flatfoot]

I thought Moulton and Wright made a tackle on a kickoff. Isn't this the first time Moulton suited up?
Was Edwards playing or suited up/playing last night? I was wondering about his recovery and hoping he was O.K.?

 

[EaganGopher]

Sid asked Kill about injuries this morning, and Kill mentioned Olson had to come out of the game after rolling his ankle. No other players suffered injuries from last night's game, though.

 

[MaxyJR1]

KJ Maye was an interesting move to me. My first thought was to get him more comfortable in the offense in case he has to take a snap or two at QB. I think this coaching staff will do everything in its power to keep Nelson off the field. They called few if any designed run/read plays for Shortell. I wonder is the offense they were running last night had anything to do will Gillum not playing. Great to see a coaching staff coach to the players strength.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Wright had a nice play on special teams. Like others have said, Olson is hurt. Not sure how bad it is. Kill sounds like the bye week can't get here soon enough.

 

[mkAz]

Caleb Bak was rotating in there too, I'm not sure who he was rotating in for though (Christenson?).

 

[John Galt]

After watching the game last night, a couple of interesting things stuck out in terms of who played and who did not play.

1. Foreman was in uniform last night, not a surprise at all considering Gray was not. I figured this would be the situation.

2. Jon Christenson was rotating in with Tommy Olson at left guard. There had not been much talk, if at all, on Christenson a RS Frosh from Minnetonka. Chrisetnson was the one who had the holding call on the TD to DCT. It was a legit call and an obvious hold.

3. James Gillum. Nowhere to be found. KJ Maye took all the snaps as the 2nd RB. No Devon Wright either. I hope Gillum is not the next Hayo Carpenter or David Pittman...touted and talked about JUCO who ends up doing nothing. Gillum has not done much to impress at all in the first three games, but I found it interesting that KJ Maye took all the reps last night.

4. James Manuel played well.

5. Beal looked good on the series or two that he played at MLB. I sense that Beal will play a larger role against Iowa this week. Beal is the perfect MLB to take on the physical running that Weisman brings to the table.

Go Gophers! Keep Floyd this week!

Beal will play more in the B1G season. Fact is we've played a lot of teams that pass the ball a lot, which doesn't play to his strength. I wouldn't worry about Gillum, he's not playing because Kirkwood is running so well. His TD in the 2nd half was a thing of beauty, he wasn't going to get stopped.

 

[Gopherprof]

Caleb Bak was rotating in there too, I'm not sure who he was rotating in for though (Christenson?).

Bak started at RG.

 

[Gopherprof]

Beal will play more in the B1G season. Fact is we've played a lot of teams that pass the ball a lot, which doesn't play to his strength. I wouldn't worry about Gillum, he's not playing because Kirkwood is running so well. His TD in the 2nd half was a thing of beauty, he wasn't going to get stopped.

He's not running THAT well. The staff has been consistently clear about their desire to have a 2nd RB and how they haven't found that yet.

 

[Gopherprof]

As for Moulton, yes, that was the first game he has played in. I think it's pretty clear that there was some issue that kept him out of play the first few games, since he didn't even play in the New Hampshire blowout.

 

[mkAz]

Bak started at RG.

Oh, I did not know that. That explains it.

 

[mkAz]

Scott Ekpe looked good in his playing time. Keep bulking him up and he's going to be a nice inside presence.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Shortell came up a little gimpy on a few plays, looked ankle related but clearly there was no way he was coming out of the game. Probably nothing serious but worth monitoring. Like the op I am concerned that Gillum is going to be a bust as well, that being said the way Kirkwood is playing it might not be a major problem as long as DK can avoid the injury bug that has plagued him in he past. Maybe Gillum can go the Arland Bruce route, come in as a RB and turn into a serviceable WR down the line. Clearly too early to give up on him at RB but he has not looked good in the limited action he has seen to date.

Glad fans are not delusional and bitching about the holding call that called back the TD because they don't get much more blatant then that. Hopefully Olson can get healthy and stay in there. Manuel seems to be settling into his new role, kid has all the physical tools to be successful. Didn't really notice Beal but good to see him healthy at least and hopefully will be able to make an impact down the line. LB's have still been a really quiet group as a whole, D-Line and DB's are making all the noise on defense.

 

[John Galt]

He's not running THAT well. The staff has been consistently clear about their desire to have a 2nd RB and how they haven't found that yet.

He's averaging 90 yards/game, which puts him on pace for over 1000 yards for the season. The last time that happened was with Amir Pinnix in 2006, so I'd say he's playing pretty well.

 

[GopherInPittsburgh]

Moulton was playing on special teams.

 

[mplsbadger]

It seemed like Rallis wasn't getting a lot of snaps. Is that because he just hasn't been in on a lot of the nickel packages or is he seeing fewer snaps?

 

[Shielder]

I thought Moulton and Wright made a tackle on a kickoff. Isn't this the first time Moulton suited up?
Was Edwards playing or suited up/playing last night? I was wondering about his recovery and hoping he was O.K.?

Kill said Edwards was out with a concussion, he should be back next week.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

When I said "no Devon Wright" I was speaking of offensive plays. He and Moulton both were very good on Special Teams. Tommy Olson went back into the game after the Christenson hold, but then Christenson was in again later.

 

[husker70]

5. Beal looked good on the series or two that he played at MLB. I sense that Beal will play a larger role against Iowa this week. Beal is the perfect MLB to take on the physical running that Weisman brings to the table.

Go Gophers! Keep Floyd this week!

I absolutely agree!

BEAT IOWA!!! KEEP FLOYD AT HOME!

 

[Gopherprof]

He's averaging 90 yards/game, which puts him on pace for over 1000 yards for the season. The last time that happened was with Amir Pinnix in 2006, so I'd say he's playing pretty well.

He's not playing well enough that we wouldn't be helped by having a 2nd back that could also produce. That is inarguable.

 

[John Galt]

He's not playing well enough that we wouldn't be helped by having a 2nd back that could also produce. That is inarguable.

Yes, but that's also true of Adrian Peterson, Walter Payton, and Jim Brown. Every team would be helped by having a very good 2nd back. I'm not sure if the issue is Gillum or just not finding the right rhythm in the game for him. Even though Maye didn't get many yards yesterday, I liked how they used him as a change of pace back and he brings more speed and quickness than either Kirkwood or Gillum has.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

He's not playing well enough that we wouldn't be helped by having a 2nd back that could also produce. That is inarguable.

Who are you? Dpo?

 

[josh087]

He's averaging 90 yards/game, which puts him on pace for over 1000 yards for the season. The last time that happened was with Amir Pinnix in 2006, so I'd say he's playing pretty well.

Great! So as long as the level of competition we're playing doesn't improve the rest of the way we should be set then!

 

[John Galt]

Great! So as long as the level of competition we're playing doesn't improve the rest of the way we should be set then!

Who said the competition won't improve? I was just putting into perspective what's he's done through the first 4 games. I would say that being on pace to have the most rushing yards of any back in the last 6 season is pretty good, wouldn't you? Or do you miss Kevin Whaley and the rushing attack of 2009?

 

[Gopherprof]

Yes, but that's also true of Adrian Peterson, Walter Payton, and Jim Brown. Every team would be helped by having a very good 2nd back.

Exactly. That's why your original statement was wrong. You said that Gillum wasn't playing because Kirkwood was doing so well. The truth is that if Gillum was also playing well, we would be taking advantage of two runningbacks playing well, as is the stated preference of not only Kill, but almost every coach in football. The days of preferring that one runningback handle everything are long gone.

You created a strawman by talking about how well Kirkwood is doing. Nobody is arguing that.

 

[GopherGack]

Yes, but that's also true of Adrian Peterson, Walter Payton, and Jim Brown. Every team would be helped by having a very good 2nd back. I'm not sure if the issue is Gillum or just not finding the right rhythm in the game for him. Even though Maye didn't get many yards yesterday, I liked how they used him as a change of pace back and he brings more speed and quickness than either Kirkwood or Gillum has.

Maye's strength is his elusiveness and speed. We need to get him touches in space where he can take advantage of his best attributes. I don't think he was used particularly well this week. That's not to say this is a critic on the coaching staffs decisions as there could very well be mitigating factors but I would certainly like to see in the future either better creases and holes from our OLine or more Maye to the outside where he can use his talents better.

 

[MrGopher]

LB's have still been a really quiet group as a whole, D-Line and DB's are making all the noise on defense.

That is mostly a product of the offensive styles we have faced. As someone mentioned before, once we start playing teams that like to run the ball, you will start hearing names of LB's quite a bit more. The play of the LB's will determine our fate on that side of the ball throughout Big Ten play, IMO.

 

[John Galt]

Exactly. That's why your original statement was wrong. You said that Gillum wasn't playing because Kirkwood was doing so well. The truth is that if Gillum was also playing well, we would be taking advantage of two runningbacks playing well, as is the stated preference of not only Kill, but almost every coach in football. The days of preferring that one runningback handle everything are long gone.

You created a strawman by talking about how well Kirkwood is doing. Nobody is arguing that.

You are. You said he's "not playing THAT well." Kirkwood is obviously playing well enough that the staff feels giving carries to Gillum would be a big drop-off at this point. We could argue forever if he's not getting carries because Kirkwood is playing so well or because Gillum is not playing good enough, but it's a circular argument. Bottom line, right now we appear to have the best rushing attack since 2006, which is a good thing and a big reason we're 4-0.

 

[Terminator]

Beal didn't play much. I saw him blow up #77 330 lb pulling guard literally pancaking him on a toss sweep into the RB at the LOS. That is exactly what we need from our MLB...a bad MoFo. Love to see him get most of the reps at MLB and see if he is that physical the whole game...he looks like a friggin beast out there. LB play has been really poor so far. DL has covered up bad LB play. Is Coach Miller a good coach?