Shall my hopes remain high for Andre McDonald?

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CWCWCW

CWCWCW

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For me, this kid is an enigma. He seemed to have a soap opera when he was being recruited out of Hopkins. Ultimately, he ended up at Minnesota. It seemed Kill didn't sing a lot of praise at the beginning of the season. McDonald saw limited action. Then, he was off limits for a while with a medical condition.
Later in the year, McDonald showed glimpses of why I was excited when I saw him play at Hopkins. He's a physical receiver with great athleticism. I have no idea about his route running or top end speed, but he reminds me of Ron Johnson, one of my favorite Gopher receivers.
Finally, McDonald was suspended for the bowl game. There was speculation about his grades, but that was never confirmed.
Can we count on McDonald for next year? He has the potential to be a huge surprise for our Gophers in a position where we definitely need help.
 

CWCWCW said:
For me, this kid is an enigma. He seemed to have a soap opera when he was being recruited out of Hopkins. Ultimately, he ended up at Minnesota. It seemed Kill didn't sing a lot of praise at the beginning of the season. McDonald saw limited action. Then, he was off limits for a while with a medical condition.
Later in the year, McDonald showed glimpses of why I was excited when I saw him play at Hopkins. He's a physical receiver with great athleticism. I have no idea about his route running or top end speed, but he reminds me of Ron Johnson, one of my favorite Gopher receivers.
Finally, McDonald was suspended for the bowl game. There was speculation about his grades, but that was never confirmed.
Can we count on McDonald for next year? He has the potential to be a huge surprise for our Gophers in a position where we definitely need help.
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Don't know him personally but his history might say "enigma". Will he succeed? Nobody really knows do they? He could end-up like Michael Carter or Hageman? Guys that turned it around after phlegmatic starts. Or he could go the route of Sam Maresh. Overcoming physical problems but couldn't overcome his personal problems.
 

Keep thoughts coming, GopherHolers. I love gossip.
 

I seriously hope that he gets his life on and off the field straightened out. He is obviously very talented, but that will only take you so far in life. I think this kid could play in the NFL someday, IF he works hard in the classroom and on the field.
 



Andre is an example of why it's so hard for any program to really rely too much on underclassmen. You never really know what you're going to get with a recruit and sometimes it just takes them a little longer to figure it out. If anyone is guessing if he'll figure it out or not, they're purely speculating. McDonald has all the talent in the world, I hope he figures it out for himself and the Gophers.
 

The thing Andre and the Gophers have going for them is that he is young. Like Carter there is time for him to get his act together and not squander his opportunity. That being said we don't realy know the extent of what is going on with him off the field or how difficult it will be for him to get back on the playing field. Kid has some talent and we are razor thin at the position so hopefully he gets it figured out.
 

MNVCGUY said:
The thing Andre and the Gophers have going for them is that he is young. Like Carter there is time for him to get his act together and not squander his opportunity. That being said we don't realy know the extent of what is going on with him off the field or how difficult it will be for him to get back on the playing field. Kid has some talent and we are razor thin at the position so hopefully he gets it figured out.
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I don't think "thin" is the right word. We've got plenty of guys, we're just not sure if any of them are good.
 

Gopherprof said:
I don't think "thin" is the right word. We've got plenty of guys, we're just not sure if any of them are good.
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It's all just semantics, but if you don't calculate ability into your definition of depth, it's nearly impossible to be "thin" at any position in college football.
 



To answer the thread, I'd say hopes can remain high. The kid obviously has a ton of talent as a wr. he's a freshman. there's a ton behind the scenes that we don't know about and who knows what the exact reason was that he was suspended from the bowl game. for right now, let's just write it off to adjusting to college life. he's got a full offseason to figure it all out. if we're still having this discussion come fall practice then it might be time to worry a little more.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
It's all just semantics, but if you don't calculate ability into your definition of depth, it's nearly impossible to be "thin" at any position in college football.
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Exactly. Numbers are not an issue at pretty much any position but just having numbers doesn't mean you have depth. If you have a player you can't rely on to preform if called on then he is not providing depth at the position. According to Gophersports.com we have 12 WR coming back next season.

Cesario - non factor
Cosgrove - We all know his story
Crawford-Tufts - Was pretty much invisible this season
Engel - Ok if not your main option
Fruechte - Ok if not your main option
Harbison - Unknown how he will come back from injury
Huton - non factor
Jones - Has not looked the same since he got hurt in freshman year. Unknown
Keise - non factor
McDonald - Major ? has talent if gets his act together
Sardinha - Who?
Wilson - non factor

So of 12 returning players
DCT, Engel and Fruechte - have all played and looked Ok but none have looked great
Harbison, Jones - Seem to have potential but injury concerns as well
McDonald - Major question mark at the moment as to what his future holds - has upside assuming he plays
Cesario, Cosgrove, Huton, Keise, Sardinha, Wilson are all just bodies on the roster

To me that qualifies as being very thin at the position with a lot of question marks.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
It's all just semantics, but if you don't calculate ability into your definition of depth, it's nearly impossible to be "thin" at any position in college football.
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But thin implies that we have good starters and no depth. I'd say we're worse than thin, we're just bad/unproven.
 

Sardinha - Who? Walk on who redshirted, he comes out of a good Florida HS program, so I would say he is an unknown quantity at this time.
 



I really hope he succeeds here, but if he fails he can always transfer to Houston.
 

Kill likes to remind us every year...he prefers to redshirt FR not just for the physical...but for the mental. You just don't know how kids are going to react to being away from home for the first time. Some go crazy...some adjust over time, and some are fine from day 1.
 

Isn't Malcolm Moulton still on the team too? He did nothing this past year, but contributed 2 years ago. Marcus Jones and KJ Maye will line up as wrs too and will need to contribute. Hopefully one or two of those unknowns will step up like Barker and Engel did this year. Throw in Carter and maybe another frosh if we sign one and we might have a decent, but still thin group. If we avoid too many injuries though I think it will be a competent group. If Nelson gets better the wrs will look a lot better. People really seem to blame the wrs, but I think QB play was the real issue.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Andre is an example of why it's so hard for any program to really rely too much on underclassmen. You never really know what you're going to get with a recruit and sometimes it just takes them a little longer to figure it out. If anyone is guessing if he'll figure it out or not, they're purely speculating. McDonald has all the talent in the world, I hope he figures it out for himself and the Gophers.
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Well put. We were all excited, but let down. Hope he pulls it all together - he has the talent to be a good one.
 

At my age, I have witnessed good surprises, extreme disappointments, and everything in between. So I do not get too high or low on any Gopher athlete, I let them tell me what I should experience by their performance on and off the field. Therefore, I hope Andre surprises me, but I will reserve any judgement until he proves himself, one way or another.
 

Dr.Don said:
At my age, I have witnessed good surprises, extreme disappointments, and everything in between. So I do not get too high or low on any Gopher athlete, I let them tell me what I should experience by their performance on and off the field. Therefore, I hope Andre surprises me, but I will reserve any judgement until he proves himself, one way or another.
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I'm in the same boat. However, every year we end up with a kid that rises to the top to the chart at WR, and a lot of times it's someone unexpected. Unfortunately, 2012's guy was nuts.
 

Here is another reason why somebody needs to start a major junior football league.
 

btowngopher said:
Isn't Malcolm Moulton still on the team too? He did nothing this past year, but contributed 2 years ago. Marcus Jones and KJ Maye will line up as wrs too and will need to contribute. Hopefully one or two of those unknowns will step up like Barker and Engel did this year. Throw in Carter and maybe another frosh if we sign one and we might have a decent, but still thin group. If we avoid too many injuries though I think it will be a competent group. If Nelson gets better the wrs will look a lot better. People really seem to blame the wrs, but I think QB play was the real issue.
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Moulton didn't show up on the roster so not sure if he is still around. Not sure it matters though as he was a non-factor this year. In terms of performance it certainly is a combination of the QB and WR that let to our futility in the passing game this year.

The concern I have is much like last year we don't have that clear go to guy that you can count on when the chips are down will go out and make a play. Barker became that by default but even he really didn't fit that role. I kind of compare our WR core to the Twins starting rotation. You have guys that can play and occasionally even look good but you don't have anyone you can turn to and believe in. When I look at our receivers I see a bunch of ordinary guys with limited upside for the most part.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Moulton didn't show up on the roster so not sure if he is still around. Not sure it matters though as he was a non-factor this year. In terms of performance it certainly is a combination of the QB and WR that let to our futility in the passing game this year.
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You are right that he is no longer on the roster but you are wrong that it doesn't matter. Another available scholarship always matters.:D

If he is not on the roster it is pretty safe to say that he is gone. I certainly wish him well and success in the future.
 

btowngopher said:
Isn't Malcolm Moulton still on the team too? He did nothing this past year, but contributed 2 years ago. Marcus Jones and KJ Maye will line up as wrs too and will need to contribute. Hopefully one or two of those unknowns will step up like Barker and Engel did this year. Throw in Carter and maybe another frosh if we sign one and we might have a decent, but still thin group. If we avoid too many injuries though I think it will be a competent group. If Nelson gets better the wrs will look a lot better. People really seem to blame the wrs, but I think QB play was the real issue.
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If you think our lack of passing is the result of QB play, you must not have watched any games this year. Nelson got to play with Barker three quarters and threw 3 TD's to him. We need big time help at WR, Kill knows it and will get it taken care of. With good WR play next year, the Gopher offense will surprise everyone.
 

Gophersports is usually spot on, so I imagine that Malcolm Moulton is no longer with the program. He didn't dress or travel for the first couple games and when he returned, he seemed to be only a special teams player.

Good luck to him!
 

MNGopher3409 said:
If you think our lack of passing is the result of QB play, you must not have watched any games this year. Nelson got to play with Barker three quarters and threw 3 TD's to him. We need big time help at WR, Kill knows it and will get it taken care of. With good WR play next year, the Gopher offense will surprise everyone.
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Yeah, I tend to agree that it was largely on our WRs. We lost a lot of guys as the season went on and Jones didn't seem to be able to return to his original form (it'll be nice having him closer to 100% next season). Fully healthy and having everyone back, I don't mind that corp, but it can get pretty thin (in players and talent) in a hurray.
 

MNGopher3409 said:
If you think our lack of passing is the result of QB play, you must not have watched any games this year. Nelson got to play with Barker three quarters and threw 3 TD's to him. We need big time help at WR, Kill knows it and will get it taken care of. With good WR play next year, the Gopher offense will surprise everyone.
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Really? My take is so ridiculous that I must not have seen any games? We all know Gray and Shortell have streaky accuracy. And Nelson's completion % was under 50 right. Barker would've helped Nelson's stats, but losing one solid but not dominant wr shouldn't make your QB tank like Nelson did in the last 4 games before the bowl. Or maybe the Nelson Barker dynamic duo would've kept up that TD per quarter pace.
 

btowngopher said:
Really? My take is so ridiculous that I must not have seen any games? We all know Gray and Shortell have streaky accuracy. And Nelson's completion % was under 50 right. Barker would've helped Nelson's stats, but losing one solid but not dominant wr shouldn't make your QB tank like Nelson did in the last 4 games before the bowl. Or maybe the Nelson Barker dynamic duo would've kept up that TD per quarter pace.
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Yes your take is ridiculous and I still don't think you watched a game, maybe you just don't understand football. Did you happen to notice that the majority of the offensive line didn't play after the Purdue game until the bowl game? Did you notice how often our WR's gained separation? How often Nelson threw catchable balls that were dropped? Obvious bad route by receivers? And now the big question, did it surprise you on how well the offense did against Texas Tech? There was a reason for that! When you make a post, please give it some thought.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Moulton didn't show up on the roster so not sure if he is still around.
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Good eye. I periodically check the roster on Gophersports to see if there are any changes, because they usually are the first to make the changes before any announcement is made. Not to sound too callous, but this probably helps the program in the long run.
 

MNGopher3409 said:
Yes your take is ridiculous and I still don't think you watched a game, maybe you just don't understand football. Did you happen to notice that the majority of the offensive line didn't play after the Purdue game until the bowl game? Did you notice how often our WR's gained separation? How often Nelson threw catchable balls that were dropped? Obvious bad route by receivers? And now the big question, did it surprise you on how well the offense did against Texas Tech? There was a reason for that! When you make a post, please give it some thought.
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Wow, chill out brah, you're way out of line. P.S. Nelson wasn't good in that TT game.
 


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