Toughest Shoes to Fill

Who's shoes will be toghest to fill

  • Maxx Williams

    Votes: 42 37.8%

  • David Cobb

    Votes: 21 18.9%

  • Damien Wilson

    Votes: 39 35.1%

  • Other

    Votes: 9 8.1%
  • Total voters
    111
Donate To GopherHole
Ski U Mah Gopher

Ski U Mah Gopher

Member of the Tribe
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
7,804
Reaction score
1,129
Points
113
Whose shoes will be toughest to fill?

Of course, I didn't proofread my poll.

Mea Culpa!!!!
 

Tommy Olson. Need the OL to take a step forward next year
 

Maxx Williams leaving would seem to be the biggest drop off in talent. While we still have Plsek, Duke, Wozniak and Scarver, none of them have the "it" factor that Maxx has. Fingers crossed that Duke's knees are good enough to be our pass catching TE.

Zac Epping and Tommy Olson will both be missed. We have quality guys to plug in at Center, but Tommy played really, really well. We WILL have a drop off at LG because Zac Epping is a beast.

David Cobb and Damien Wilson are both great players, but we have quality depth waiting in the wings.
 

I'll say losing two starters on the OL. That could be tough to overcome.
 

afurry91 said:
I'll say losing two starters on the OL. That could be tough to overcome.
Click to expand...

Don't know if I'd say its something to 'overcome', more so that we need to do more than hold serve at OL. We need to take a step forward there as the line struggled to open holes up for backs other than Cobb and wasn't great in pass pro.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
Maxx Williams leaving would seem to be the biggest drop off in talent. While we still have Plsek, Duke, Wozniak and Scarver, none of them have the "it" factor that Maxx has. Fingers crossed that Duke's knees are good enough to be our pass catching TE.

Zac Epping and Tommy Olson will both be missed. We have quality guys to plug in at Center, but Tommy played really, really well. We WILL have a drop off at LG because Zac Epping is a beast.

David Cobb and Damien Wilson are both great players, but we have quality depth waiting in the wings.
Click to expand...

If Lauer is healthy then he and Pirsig can play both tackles and can slide Campion into guard. Bjorklund will be back and Christensen started over Tommy O last year before the injury plus you have to figure Connor Mayes won't be a true freshman anymore and we have Bush and Hayes as well on the inside. I think the O-line will be no better, no worse than last year.

Just added it up and the O-line returns 84 career starts between 6 guys.
 

die hard gopher said:
If Lauer is healthy then he and Pirsig can play both tackles and can slide Campion into guard. Christensen started over Tommy O last year before the injury plus you have to figure Connor Mayes won't be a true freshman anymore and have Bush and Hayes as well on the inside. I think the O-line will be no better, no worse than last year.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but as OleBoy points out, we need to get better, not just hold serve. Also, my guess is that Bjorklund will be the starter at LG next year. Campion may well move to RG, but I'm not sold on Jonah Prisig just yet. He had a sub par season (although he played through injuries) and a sub par bowl game.
 

die hard gopher said:
If Lauer is healthy then he and Pirsig can play both tackles and can slide Campion into guard. Christensen started over Tommy O last year before the injury plus you have to figure Connor Mayes won't be a true freshman anymore and we have Bush and Hayes as well on the inside. I think the O-line will be no better, no worse than last year.
Click to expand...

Maybe but everyone thought that would happen this year and it didn't.
 

Cobb was pure beast mode for much of the year. He's my vote.
 



I say Maxx will be the toughest to replace. I think Lingen and Duke can step in and be solid pass catching TEs but it will be tough to replace some of the dynamic plays Maxx was able to make.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
I say Maxx will be the toughest to replace. I think Lingen and Duke can step in and be solid pass catching TEs but it will be tough to replace some of the dynamic plays Maxx was able to make.
Click to expand...

Duke and Gibson will be the pass catchers, Lingen never has been and probably never will be a pass catcher, at least nothing more than Goodger and Plesk. He only caught 19 passes in his HS career. Very physical and strong blocker obviously. Scarver is probably a better receiving threat as well.
 

For me the funner question is: how long has it been since we've had multiple players from multiple positions be considered difficult to replace? not to mention possibly/likely headed to the NFL? I think this staff has proven they are more than capable of finding guys with ability. I have to no doubt that guys at each position will step up, just like Maxx, Cobb, Tommy, Wilson, and the others did when called upon.
 

Cobb had arguably the best season by a RB in Gopher Football history. My vote is on him. Surprised more people don't think the same.
 




I voted Damien Wilson - thought (late hit aside) he was great for 50 minutes yesterday and has been consistently good all season.

Depth at Linebacker is my biggest question this offseason - hoping either of the newly created scholarships can be used to pick up another JC guy, in the mould of DW5, who can contribute from day 1.
 

Cobb is my vote. Less because of talent, more because of GREAT ball security. It was very sad that he fumbled the last possesion of the ILL game but that is the only turnover I can think of when thinking of Cobb this season. We have talent to be fine at the RB position but I hope the ball security does not become an issue.
 

Wilson by far the hardest to replace. although the position should be easy as defense is usually driven by heart.

Maxx will hurt with his departure but with Mitch getting better it will be fun to see who does pick it up. Drew? Gibson or Duke? Mayes? any of the RS'ed WR's this season?
 

David Cobb. Too much unknown at RB. Yes we have Nugget & JJ, but can either be every down backs next year? Hopefully, someone there can step up.
 

DoubleB said:
Wilson by far the hardest to replace. although the position should be easy as defense is usually driven by heart.

Maxx will hurt with his departure but with Mitch getting better it will be fun to see who does pick it up. Drew? Gibson or Duke? Mayes? any of the RS'ed WR's this season?
Click to expand...

Exactly. A no-brainer. You win with a solid D in the BIG and tough against the run. I see no one on the roster with his skills and able to come close to what he did on the field.
 


I voted for Maxx but thinking about it I think I would probably switch to Wilson only because there is not an obvious replacement waiting in the wings to take over at MLB next year. We have options at RB and TE who granted are more then likely going to be a step down from Maxx and Cobb but who should still be capable.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
Exactly. A no-brainer. You win with a solid D in the BIG and tough against the run. I see no one on the roster with his skills and able to come close to what he did on the field.
Click to expand...

Lynn will replace Wilson at mike and Poock, who beat out Lynn before the ACL tear, will the the third LB. Not really worried about that. Like is said for the O-line, the LB corps will be no better, no worse than last year. Then again, I didn't feel good about losing Rallis and Cooper two years ago and I didn't feel good about replacing Hill and Manuel last year but the LB corps has still improved every single year.
 

Shielder said:
I agree, seems like there may be a lack of depth at DT
Click to expand...

How so? Scott Ekpe, who was a starter before the injury, will be back, as will the other starter, Richardson plus both backups, Stelter and Ndondo Lay. Have to figure Gary Moore will be improved by leaps and bounds by next year too.
 

Offensive production can (theoretically) be spread out. The Gophs may not have 1 receiver who did what Maxx did, but they can spread completions over several receivers - providing the young WR's and TE's are good enough to contribute. Same thing with the RB's - I don't expect any one RB to do what Cobb did, but if they can get production from 2 or 3 RB's, they should be able to collectively replace Cobb's yardage.

I think I also have to go with Wilson as the hardest to replace up front. A lot depends on Poock. if he's healthy, and is as good as they were talking about before the injury, the starting LB's should be OK. Depth may be an issue.

BUT - if the Gophs want to be the type of program that can be a consistent contender, then they need to develop the depth to a point where we're not wringing our hands every year, going "Oh, no - how will we ever replace the seniors?" Good programs have talent waiting in the wings to replace the seniors - or they bring in fresh talent from the HS and JUCO ranks.
 

Has to be Max's although with who we have I don't see us having a big problem replacing him or Cobb. We have several others in both spots that can step up. Next man up just like any other day just probably won't have as much of a game changer as Max in that position.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Offensive production can (theoretically) be spread out. The Gophs may not have 1 receiver who did what Maxx did, but they can spread completions over several receivers - providing the young WR's and TE's are good enough to contribute. Same thing with the RB's - I don't expect any one RB to do what Cobb did, but if they can get production from 2 or 3 RB's, they should be able to collectively replace Cobb's yardage.

I think I also have to go with Wilson as the hardest to replace up front. A lot depends on Poock. if he's healthy, and is as good as they were talking about before the injury, the starting LB's should be OK. Depth may be an issue.

BUT - if the Gophs want to be the type of program that can be a consistent contender, then they need to develop the depth to a point where we're not wringing our hands every year, going "Oh, no - how will we ever replace the seniors?" Good programs have talent waiting in the wings to replace the seniors - or they bring in fresh talent from the HS and JUCO ranks.
Click to expand...

I agree with most of this. I would say Wilson, easily. He was just plain everywhere, all year, for the last two years. Yes, a lot depends on Poock. If one of the younger guys steps up like Lynn did this year, I'll feel pretty good. I know one thing, Campbell HAS to play better. For the most part, he hasn't impressed me over the last 2 years. At this point, I don't know if he will get that much better.

Botticelli is a good call, but getting Ekpe back will almost cancel that out.

All that being said, landing even just ONE major JUCO impact player on defense between now and early February would be absolutely huge. I don't follow our recruiting enough to know who they are even chasing in the JUCO ranks but a JUCO DL or LB would really, REALLY make me feel better going into next year.
 

I forgot about Wilson. He will be tough to replace but the play of the d-line should make up for his play making abilities.
 

Maxx is an easy choice for me. We have no other proven player who can make our QB look good. His ability to catch the ball was special. He was solid in the run game as a blocker as well. Cobb was a beast but I'm content with his replacements. Wilson will be tough to replace but our LB corps might actually be better as a whole next season. Poock was quickly named a starter in the spring and was the scout team defensive player of the year during the season.
 

I voted other (Epping). He played hurt, something few if any others did (except for Mitch maybe). He was solid, consistent, mean, tough and a joy to watch. He was the heart of the O line. If Mitch keeps improving his accuracy, we won't need Maxx top make circus catches.
 

Wilson and it's not close. The dude has a nose for the ball and can go sideline to sideline and managed to play every down this year. Even if his replacement has the same athletic ability, he had a knack for getting to the ball and reading plays better than anyone I can see next year. The dude for sure played himself into an NFL job next year.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom