What’s needed make a step up?

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50PoundHead said:
Just looked it up. We won every game (4) when Taylor went over 100. Lost 3 of 4 when he was held below 50. 2-1 when he went between 50 and 100. Didn't play against North Carolina. We passed much better this year, but when we didn't run well, we didn't win. That's why I was a bit disappointed in the O-line. Need more consistency there.

The athleticism continues to rise, but it would be nice to have a bit more speed in the LB corps and on the outside on offense. Maybe the new WRs bring some of that.
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This. Need better OL play to bring the zone running game up to where it was in previous seasons.
 


In order to take a step up we need more NIL and we need more money in the assistant coach salary pool. Currently last in the league in that regard, gotta be able to keep coaches from making lateral moves if we want them.
 


Honestly, A little bit of dumb luck with players...

It's an unfair game, there's no magic that makes the thing fair / gives us the advantage.
 


I feel like the issue is we don't have big play makers on offense. We good players like Darius Taylor and Jackson at WR but losing Jackson. Brockington looks like he could maybe be good in a larger role next year but outside of him they're pretty thin at WR unless someone steps up or they have someone in the portal. And even with Jackson and Spencer, they're not blowing the doors off people out there for big plays. Jackson is going to be making a living in the NFL, I think, but it's more about route running, hands, contested catches...ect with him than being a big play player.

Darius Taylor is good and only sophomore so maybe he becomes an absolute beast at some point ripping off big runs but right now more of a grind it out in 5 yard chunks kind of guy. Which is good, don't get me wrong. He does that he will play in the NFL too.

So I'm not sure how much of it is the type of players we have and how much is the coaching/scheme. Probably a little of both. Maybe they need to be more aggressive and these players can make more plays? Not real sure how much to assign to each.
 

Let's say that Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon were the best three teams in the B1G.

how many members of the 2024 Gopher team would start for one of those three teams?

Ersery for sure. after that....
I think Daniel Jackson would start for PSU at least.
and Darius Taylor would start (I think) at Oregon, maybe PSU.

on defense - Walley, Joyner, Lindenberg and Perich have the best odds of starting at one of the Big 3.

but that leaves 8 starters on offense and 7 on defense who would not start at any of the Big 3.

that's the real talent gap. the Gophers have good starters at several positions. the top teams in the conference have good starters or at least capable starters at every position.

the Gophers need to raise the "talent floor."
 

btowngopher said:
I think we have the defense needed to win more games and get to the double digit kind of level. What I don’t think we have yet is the offense. I know we love to blame the OC, but I think Harbaugh is actually sufficient. I think what we need is a couple more star players. We need a few options like we had in 2019. Another option I see is if we can have special teams become elite, we’d basically have the Iowa model.
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I think 9-3 was very doable this year...and the potential for 10-2 was in the offing with the PSU game. Fleck and Co have to consistently win games like Rutgers and UNC this year. It's a play or two on defense or offense that swing those three loses into potential wins.

9-3 is absolutely doable in 2025 with loses to OSU, Oregon, Iowa. Every other match up Gophs should be favored or at least be a toss up game. An Iowa win makes it 10-2.
 

Tons and Tons of NIL money. We need Denny Sanford to open his wallet.

Nothing anyone can do. Just enjoy the ride. What happens happens.
 




Not surprising but I think it comes down to getting those gem skill position players. For most seasons, the defense has been able to keep things in control, we've been alright with special teams and usually the offensive line has some solid players.

The difference makers are the guys that can make the big plays. 2019 had Rodney Smith, Shannon Brooks and Mohamed Ibrahim in the backfield, as well as Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman and a healthy CrAB to throw to. That's a lot of weapons for an offense.

Same with 2003, a backfield with three NFL guys, Barber, Maroney and Tapeh. I guess it just comes down to leveraging the portal and NIL as much as possible.

If Fleck can find more guys like Taylor and Jackson to complement the offense, and the defense plays like it has in years past, a season with 10 or more wins I think is possible. Definitely need some luck, too.
 

We're close. Obviously it would be great to land a couple more of those 4 star players, but I'm of the belief that with a program like MN, it's essentially being close consistently and then have a few massive recruits develop.

For example, Hoskins and Decker were similarly recruited level of players, imagine our team if Hoskins had a career like Decker. Imagine if Ryan Selig was more like Jack Gibbins. If that sort of thing happens with 2-3 more players on last year's team, it would have been really special.
 




1.) QB ply that is at least on par with 2024
2.) OL play that is at a minimum as good as 2023
3.) WR play that is like 2019 - at least close - getting open and making plays.
4.) Defense that is like it has been for the last 3-4 years, with someone rising up as a "Big moment" sack guy.
 

The next step is on offense. In looking at the last five full seasons, we have one elite offense, one poor offense, and three mediocre offenses (including this year). It is encouraging that we were mediocre this year without the usual run game. If the coaching staff can get the line back to supporting a productive run game, the offense should have an average floor with the possibility the QB raises it. Stats from sharpcollegefootball.com

Screenshot 2025-01-08 at 10.20.22 AM.png
 


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