I had the opportunity to watch Gopher football practice on Tuesday, thanks to the invitation of a very nice gentleman, Kevin Cosgrove. I do not profess to be any kind of football expert, or talent scout, but I did observe several things, and many players, that made me anxious for the football season to start soon. Practice lasted a little over two hours, and the players seemed to be uniformly enthusiastic and hustled from one ten minute drill to the next, culminated with a live scrimmage at the end of practice. There was very little wasted time as the assistant coaches put them through several fast-paced drills, one after the other, with very little rest in between. I was struck by the overall improvement in team speed on both offense and defense.
Several of the younger players stood out on offense and defense. Bryant Allen is going to have a breakout season, IMHO, as a wide receiver and spot running back. He is probably the fastest player on the team, and the most athletic, plus he can hit the three whenever the football team might need one. Da'Jon McKnight caught everything thrown anywhere near him, including two balls at one time during a drill when all of the quarterbacks were throwing to receivers at the same time. Although he will not need this particular skill during the Big 10 season, he is a tall, physical receiver, who seems to have improved greatly from last fall, and he looks bigger than his listed 200 pounds. Also look for # 86,Tiree Eure, a huge 6-7 TE from the Gophers new pipeline, Lackawanna JC. He will catch a lot of balls next season. Don't forget Brandon Green, an excellent possession receiver, or Troy Stoudermire, who looks much improved catching the ball, and, I predict, will return two or three kickoffs back for touchdowns this year. During the brief scrimmage, the offensive line was opening some nice holes for Eskridge, and blocking well on sweeps against the first team D. Duane Bennett was sidelined by slight injury, and DNP in the scrimmage.
Speaking of the defense, they look bigger, faster and more athletic upfront with Jewhan Edwards about to become a big star on defense, along with his partner at off tackle, Brandon Kirksey. Edwards is immense, and is going to hurt some poor offensive lineman and running backs. Big Jewh is a "force of nature" to be reckoned with. Kirksey looks much bigger than his listed weight of 295 and still fast. There is stiff competition at the linebacker position, with much better speed and athletic ability. Keanon Cooper and Gary Tinsley look to be the best with Tinsley adding 10-15 pounds of solid muscle. He could be the real beast of the linebacking crew with Sam Maresh also an applicant for the "beast" position. It was difficult to tell much of anything about the secondary because Theret is MIA, and Michael Carter appeared to be a little dinged up, but the speed and size looks much improved. At DE, Hageman is huge, fast, a real specimen who could play both ways, with Wilhite, Jacobs, and Garin in the mix on the other side. Look for a lot more sacks this fall.
I have saved the quarterback position for last, just to annoy all of the Adam Weber haters out there. I am pleased to report that Jeff Horton, the new OC, and Adam Weber himself, seemed to have gotten young Adam back on track. I predict that he is going to have a big season with improved accuracy, better protection from his offensive line, vastly improved receivers, who now know how to run their routes, and his confidence restored by the arrival of Horton, and the departure of one who shall remain nameless. He was very accurate passing during the scrimmage. Marquis Gray also looked very good, but he is not at the same level yet as AW.
The Gophers will be the surprise of the Big 10, with great improvement on both sides of the ball. I know, bold predictions from one who professes to know very little, but I was fortunate to be a student at the U in 1967 when the Gophers last tied for the Big 10 title. I know that I am an eternal optimist when it comes to Gopher football, but I see many similarities between this team and the '67 Gophers. I would love to hear what other people think about this year's Gopher prospects.
GO GOPHERS!
Several of the younger players stood out on offense and defense. Bryant Allen is going to have a breakout season, IMHO, as a wide receiver and spot running back. He is probably the fastest player on the team, and the most athletic, plus he can hit the three whenever the football team might need one. Da'Jon McKnight caught everything thrown anywhere near him, including two balls at one time during a drill when all of the quarterbacks were throwing to receivers at the same time. Although he will not need this particular skill during the Big 10 season, he is a tall, physical receiver, who seems to have improved greatly from last fall, and he looks bigger than his listed 200 pounds. Also look for # 86,Tiree Eure, a huge 6-7 TE from the Gophers new pipeline, Lackawanna JC. He will catch a lot of balls next season. Don't forget Brandon Green, an excellent possession receiver, or Troy Stoudermire, who looks much improved catching the ball, and, I predict, will return two or three kickoffs back for touchdowns this year. During the brief scrimmage, the offensive line was opening some nice holes for Eskridge, and blocking well on sweeps against the first team D. Duane Bennett was sidelined by slight injury, and DNP in the scrimmage.
Speaking of the defense, they look bigger, faster and more athletic upfront with Jewhan Edwards about to become a big star on defense, along with his partner at off tackle, Brandon Kirksey. Edwards is immense, and is going to hurt some poor offensive lineman and running backs. Big Jewh is a "force of nature" to be reckoned with. Kirksey looks much bigger than his listed weight of 295 and still fast. There is stiff competition at the linebacker position, with much better speed and athletic ability. Keanon Cooper and Gary Tinsley look to be the best with Tinsley adding 10-15 pounds of solid muscle. He could be the real beast of the linebacking crew with Sam Maresh also an applicant for the "beast" position. It was difficult to tell much of anything about the secondary because Theret is MIA, and Michael Carter appeared to be a little dinged up, but the speed and size looks much improved. At DE, Hageman is huge, fast, a real specimen who could play both ways, with Wilhite, Jacobs, and Garin in the mix on the other side. Look for a lot more sacks this fall.
I have saved the quarterback position for last, just to annoy all of the Adam Weber haters out there. I am pleased to report that Jeff Horton, the new OC, and Adam Weber himself, seemed to have gotten young Adam back on track. I predict that he is going to have a big season with improved accuracy, better protection from his offensive line, vastly improved receivers, who now know how to run their routes, and his confidence restored by the arrival of Horton, and the departure of one who shall remain nameless. He was very accurate passing during the scrimmage. Marquis Gray also looked very good, but he is not at the same level yet as AW.
The Gophers will be the surprise of the Big 10, with great improvement on both sides of the ball. I know, bold predictions from one who professes to know very little, but I was fortunate to be a student at the U in 1967 when the Gophers last tied for the Big 10 title. I know that I am an eternal optimist when it comes to Gopher football, but I see many similarities between this team and the '67 Gophers. I would love to hear what other people think about this year's Gopher prospects.
GO GOPHERS!
