STrib: Is Gophers DE Gaelin Elmore poised for a breakout season?

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Joe:

Which Gophers football player is poised for a breakout season? A group of us, who cover the team, were asked that question in late-January at a Goal Line Club event. I said Gaelin Elmore.

The junior defensive end from Somerset, Wis., has emerged as one of the defensive line leaders. With Theiren Cockran out of eligibility, Elmore likely will start at DE, opposite Hank Ekpe. And the 6-6, 270-pound Elmore has shown an ability to get to the quarterback, as the team prepares for Saturday’s spring game.

“He’s done well,” coach Tracy Claeys said. “I worry more, and we work on more the running game with him. He knows it’s pretty easy for defensive ends; if you want to play on longer yardage downs, then get to the quarterback. It will make us a lot better if we can get production out of the defensive ends. It’s a good combination between that and mixing up the different stuff what we’re doing.”

http://www.startribune.com/is-gophers-de-gaelin-elmore-poised-for-a-breakout-season/374910841/

Go Gophers!!
 


Both Elmore and Ekpe looked good at the practice I went to and consistently got pressure on the QB. Hopefully that's due to their improvement and not further issues at OT.
 

Our ends have underwhelmed for awhile . A half a dozen sacks for the position doesn't cut it if you want a very good defense.
 

Blackhammer said:
Our ends have underwhelmed for awhile . A half a dozen sacks for the position doesn't cut it if you want a very good defense.
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Yep. Just hurrying the QB alone isn't enough. More, sustained QB pressure rushes will help, as long as we don't let draw plays beat us instead.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 


Blackhammer said:
Our ends have underwhelmed for awhile . A half a dozen sacks for the position doesn't cut it if you want a very good defense.
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Half dozen....that's crazy talk....nobody has topped 4 the past 2 seasons. You have to go back to 2013 when Cockran had 7.5 to find someone averaging at least 1 sack every other game. And that season he was the only guy that got any sacks as nobody else got over 2 that year. 2012 was the last time we had 2 guys with at least 6 sacks.

The lack of pressure up front is what makes the play of our secondary the last few years even more amazing. I really hope Elmore or Ekpe or someone steps up big this year because the new faces in the secondary may need a little more help from the front then guys like Murray and BBC did. Cockran isn't leaving behind big shoes to fill at the DE position but he was the best of a very mediocre bunch.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Half dozen....that's crazy talk....nobody has topped 4 the past 2 seasons. You have to go back to 2013 when Cockran had 7.5 to find someone averaging at least 1 sack every other game. And that season he was the only guy that got any sacks as nobody else got over 2 that year. 2012 was the last time we had 2 guys with at least 6 sacks.

The lack of pressure up front is what makes the play of our secondary the last few years even more amazing. I really hope Elmore or Ekpe or someone steps up big this year because the new faces in the secondary may need a little more help from the front then guys like Murray and BBC did. Cockran isn't leaving behind big shoes to fill at the DE position but he was the best of a very mediocre bunch.
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I mean total for all ends.
 

I'm hoping both Elmore and Epke can be effective against the running game.

BleedGopher said:
per Joe:

Which Gophers football player is poised for a breakout season? A group of us, who cover the team, were asked that question in late-January at a Goal Line Club event. I said Gaelin Elmore.

I like them both, Elmore and Epke, they both have long arms to play with leverage, and strength with good quickness.
Both of our ends are taller guys so the offensive line seem to be able to get under there pads and push them off balance when they are rushing wide. If they can slip those blocks find a way to spin or fight off them and still maintain their lane I could see quite a few TFL's in both Epke and Elmore's future. What coach Claey's is saying is the key in Bleed's article, can both of the starting defensive ends recognize what the lineman is doing to them, baiting them wide or releasing in, cut off their pass rush lane and stuff the play.
This is where experience and film study may help them, as they have both started to see a lot of football.
I could see both being playmakers, even causing turnovers, if they can really start stopping the run at the line of scrimmage then the Gopher defense is really in business because all of the other stuff QB pressure starts to take care of itself. This is the year we should start to see some better play up front from the defensive ends. The more disruptive in the running game they the Gophers ends are, the more clean shots the linebackers will have at finishing these plays, creating longer down and distance situations for the opponent.
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Keep in mind that Elmore never played DE before arriving on campus. He was a TE and a LB in high school. He's also put on a large amount of weight (muscle) since that time and he appears to have finally grown into his body. I'm optimistic he's going to have a very good year. He's an incredible athlete for someone his size....he's just got to learn the nuances of the position.
 



cheeseheadgophfan said:
Keep in mind that Elmore never played DE before arriving on campus. He was a TE and a LB in high school. He's also put on a large amount of weight (muscle) since that time and he appears to have finally grown into his body. I'm optimistic he's going to have a very good year. He's an incredible athlete for someone his size....he's just got to learn the nuances of the position.
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Good points. Not to mention that he spent part of last year at DT due to injuries there.
 


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