Spring Practice Observations

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per Joe:

Defense experiments

The Gophers feel good about their linebacker corps and know they need to improve at defensive end, especially with the pass rush.

Last year, they used linebacker Julian Huff as a pass-rushing end, and they continue to experiment this spring.

“You’ve got to look at it based on the players you have, and the players you maybe have coming in,” defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel said, referring to incoming linebacker recruits Carter Coughlin and Kamal Martin. “What are our strengths, and what could be our strengths? What were our weaknesses?

“So there’s going to be some tweaks, some things that maybe are a bit different than we’ve done before.”

Etc.

• Safeties Ace Rogers, Duke McGhee and Alonzo Craighton and defensive tackle Steven Richardson have been out or limited by injuries this spring. Rogers is recovering from surgery to repair a torn knee ligament but is expected to be full strength by Aug. 1.

• Leidner (foot surgery) has progressed to the point where he’s doing 7-on-7 passing drills, but that will be the extent of what he does this spring, Johnson said.

• Croft is listed at 6-5 and 200 pounds. “I want him to be a little bit more [heavy] for durability sake, but I also want him to be able to run,” Johnson said. “So I think if we can legitimately get up to 210-215 and his movement skills aren’t hindered, that’s what we’ll try to get to.”

http://www.startribune.com/freshman-qb-green-shows-gophers-he-s-a-quick-learner/373516351/

Go Gophers!!
 

Hopefully Connor Mayes has improved from last year. I believe he lost his starting job last year and I don't think it was because of an injury.

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Stuff said:
Hopefully Connor Mayes has improved from last year. I believe he lost his starting job last year and I don't think it was because of an injury.

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Wish we could get more OL red-shirted. He's already a JR.
 

QB looks to be set for the year and hopefully people accept it and enjoy the season.

1. Sr. Leidner- down 15 lbs. and entering 4th year as starter.
2. So. Croft- 200 lbs. and needs to put on a few lbs.
3. Jr. Rhoda- Johnson and Claeys really seem to like him.
4. FR. Green- Red-Shirt please.
5. FR. Williams- Red-Shirt please.
 



MaxyJR1 said:
QB looks to be set for the year and hopefully people accept it and enjoy the season.

1. Sr. Leidner- down 15 lbs. and entering 4th year as starter.
2. So. Croft- 200 lbs. and needs to put on a few lbs.
3. Jr. Rhoda- Johnson and Claeys really seem to like him.
4. FR. Green- Red-Shirt please.
5. FR. Williams- Red-Shirt please.
Click to expand...


I think Green will be #3, but I agree they want to and should redshirt him. However, if 1/2 get hurt I don't see them playing Rhoda - unless it is for very limited action.
 


Stuff said:
Hopefully Connor Mayes has improved from last year. I believe he lost his starting job last year and I don't think it was because of an injury.
Click to expand...
I remember watching him last year, it seems like he rarely got beat by his guy, but he also didn't seem to open a lot of holes or get much push in the run game. Hopefully, a full time OL coach can help him out because he's got the talent.
 

mkAz said:
I remember watching him last year, it seems like he rarely got beat by his guy, but he also didn't seem to open a lot of holes or get much push in the run game. Hopefully, a full time OL coach can help him out because he's got the talent.
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Looks very stiff to me and a little deer in headlights on who to block. Actually, that describes most of our OL. I'm hoping a lot of the latter was Limey. You never notice a Wisc OL without someone to block and a DL running free. We had that happen a lot the past 5 years.
 



In a perfect world, I agree that Green should be red-shirted. But, just for a what if - what if Leidner and Croft would somehow both get hurt. Do the Gophers pull Green's redshirt, or run Rhoda out there in a Tony Mortensen-like situation?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
In a perfect world, I agree that Green should be red-shirted. But, just for a what if - what if Leidner and Croft would somehow both get hurt. Do the Gophers pull Green's redshirt, or run Rhoda out there in a Tony Mortensen-like situation?
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the situation. Are we talking end of the season with a chance to win the west, go to the B1G championship game and the coaches think Green gives us the absolute best shot at winning that game? If that's the case then they should pull his redshirt. If we are talking middle of the West season again and Green may or may not improve our chances of winning games, then keep his eligibility. I'm really hoping he can sit this year, work on his skills, learn the offense and we can have a true QB competition next spring.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
In a perfect world, I agree that Green should be red-shirted. But, just for a what if - what if Leidner and Croft would somehow both get hurt. Do the Gophers pull Green's redshirt, or run Rhoda out there in a Tony Mortensen-like situation?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure they would need to do both in your "what if"...
 

short ornery norwegian said:
In a perfect world, I agree that Green should be red-shirted. But, just for a what if - what if Leidner and Croft would somehow both get hurt. Do the Gophers pull Green's redshirt, or run Rhoda out there in a Tony Mortensen-like situation?
Click to expand...

None of us in the peanut gallery have seen Rhoda play meaningful minutes so only the coaches know who they like.

I would think Rhoda would get every chance in that situation and Green or Williams as his backup. I haven't seen anything out of Green to make me think he has what it takes to play next season. He would probably be a very good h-back.

Lets hope Leidner stays upright as he is our best hope of a 10 win-type season.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
In a perfect world, I agree that Green should be red-shirted. But, just for a what if - what if Leidner and Croft would somehow both get hurt. Do the Gophers pull Green's redshirt, or run Rhoda out there in a Tony Mortensen-like situation?
Click to expand...

It is very very very likely that Rhoda gives us a better chance to win this year than Green. It's a very complex position that takes a long time to learn. Rhoda has a huge head start on that aspect of the position. He's not the future of course. But in a pinch, and if Mitch and Demry go down, you want a game manager who's not going to kill you like a true frosh probably will.
 


Looks like Mose Hall is moving back to DT. Good call IMO. We need more depth on the d-line.

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That's good news about Mose Hall.

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I'm not sure words can describe how much I like the idea of SB27 and RS24 in the backfield on the same play. Misdirection, counters, sweeps, screens - either direction. Absolutely love it.
 

Spoofin said:
I'm not sure words can describe how much I like the idea of SB27 and RS24 in the backfield on the same play. Misdirection, counters, sweeps, screens - either direction. Absolutely love it.
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SB8
 




Made it to practice finally on Saturday. Are the rules that we can't post anything specific on the internet the reason there is practically zero info in this thread besides what the media says?

It was a great practice. Both the offense and the defense had highlights. Liked thew new offensive line coach. Offense seemed to be struggling with the new offense a little, the TEs and WRs seemed to struggle with getting lined up.

Only specifics about players I'll say have already been posted by the media:
Leidner honestly looks like he has lost 20 lbs to me, he looks fit and was moving just fine but didn't participate past 7 on 7 drills
Demry croft definitely put on weight/muscle
Seth Green has a weird throwing motion. Hard to describe but it almost looks like a side are frisbee flick. Very slow on the back swing and takes a long time to get the ball out. Other than that, he looked the part.
OL looked to be what is posted earlier, new guys looked great.

Got me excited for the season! If any of you haven't been to an open practice and are able to make one I highly recommend it.
 

bottlebass said:
yeah, if you are going to do your stupid number thing at least get the numbers right.
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He wore 27 last time I saw him and has 27 listed as his number on the GopherSports.com roster. I'm OK with my mistake here. No reason to rethink my life yet. Now if I got worked up over how someone on a message board referred to players then I may have to rethink that.
 

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