Ryan Burns had a lot of bad news to share on Gopher Gridiron Radio. First of all, Curtis Dunlap has "work to do" before he gets back on the field. The way Ryan talked about this it sounds like it has to with more than just conditioning. Unfortunately Daniel Faalele also has work to do to play and Ryan said he had a "significant" injury against Wisconsin and though he was back for the Spring had a long way to go to be ready to play ( I don't know how the injury could have been that significant and he was able to practice in the Spring?). Ryan thinks the Oline could be: LT Schlueter, LG Olson, C Schmitz ,RG Ruschmeyer, RT Andries. Ryan actually thinks that line would be good, but worries about the depth at both Tackle (doesn't think Guedet is ready but likes his future) and interior OL where it would be Boe or Beier.
Ryan also dropped a bomb that a "projected Gopher starter" has already opted out. He said he's waiting for the player to announce it, but has heard he's just done with football altogether. I feel like I know who this player is by some things that were said on the podcast, but not sure it is right to speculate if Ryan won't say it himself. Ryan also said that he doesn't expect St-Juste to opt out but could see him doing so because he's already like 23, would perform well at the combine, and has good tape.
All of this lead to Ryan being down on the chances of the Gophers winning the West season.
There was some good news on the recruiting front to end the podcast. Ryan believes/has heard that the Gophers lead for Davon Townley. More interesting there is a major recruit that is supposedly flying to Minnesota (it was either for this weekend or next weekend, I can't remember) that Ryan was pretty excited about. This is a big deal because this has to be done on a recruits own dime right now and they can't even meet with coaches, just walk around campus/facilities by themselves. The Gophers are also still recruiting a number of players committed to other schools right now, but the only names Ryan mentioned were the LB committed to Michigan and a name I had not heard before in Caden Fordham who is committed to NC State.
Ryan also dropped a bomb that a "projected Gopher starter" has already opted out. He said he's waiting for the player to announce it, but has heard he's just done with football altogether. I feel like I know who this player is by some things that were said on the podcast, but not sure it is right to speculate if Ryan won't say it himself. Ryan also said that he doesn't expect St-Juste to opt out but could see him doing so because he's already like 23, would perform well at the combine, and has good tape.
All of this lead to Ryan being down on the chances of the Gophers winning the West season.
There was some good news on the recruiting front to end the podcast. Ryan believes/has heard that the Gophers lead for Davon Townley. More interesting there is a major recruit that is supposedly flying to Minnesota (it was either for this weekend or next weekend, I can't remember) that Ryan was pretty excited about. This is a big deal because this has to be done on a recruits own dime right now and they can't even meet with coaches, just walk around campus/facilities by themselves. The Gophers are also still recruiting a number of players committed to other schools right now, but the only names Ryan mentioned were the LB committed to Michigan and a name I had not heard before in Caden Fordham who is committed to NC State.
