What grade would you give the Gophers Fall 2020 recruiting class?

What grade would you give the Gophers Fall 2020 recruiting class?

  • A

    Votes: 40 30.1%

  • B

    Votes: 78 58.6%

  • C

    Votes: 13 9.8%

  • D

    Votes: 2 1.5%

  • F

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    133
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What grade would you give the Gophers Fall 2020 recruiting class?
 

If the title was supposed to be worded like "What grade would you give the Gophers 2020 recruiting class, this season?", that would make sense.

Otherwise, I do not know what a "Fall recruiting class" is.
 


A - they have 5 4-Stars from 247 Sports (4 4-Stars Composite). This is already a solid class even without Dickerson and Schuster.
 

Oh I see .... it's just a weirdly worded - I guess intentionally mis-worded - way of saying the "early signing period for the 2021 class".
 




MplsGopher said:
Oh I see .... it's just a weirdly worded - I guess intentionally mis-worded - way of saying the "early signing period for the 2021 class".
Click to expand...

Correct. The way the class are split signing now is different than in the past. We could have worded it better as well.
 




I went with a C, that would be a B if Dickerson ends up eventually signing. Losing your highest rated recruit right before signing day is a gut punch. The lack of in state success on the recruiting trail was shocking. To make matters worse, 1 went to Iowa and 2 to Wisconsin. Flip the Iowa commit to Minnesota and we have the better class. Flip one of the Wisconsin commits to Minnesota and we really close the gap there. Want to make an excuse about in state recruiting for whatever reason? Fine. How about taking one of the highly rated kids from Iowa or Wisconsin that stayed home as a "trade" for the Minnesota kid they got? That puts us above Iowa and closes the gap on Wisconsin too. It's a losing formula to have those schools come in to Minnesota to take talent and then not return the favor. Something has to change there or the ridiculous losses to them (going to try not to use the rivalry word until we earn that) will continue.

I would have liked more than 2 OL in the class. I am a little baffled by taking 4 wr's considering how run heavy we were again this year and I also am only really excited about 1 of the 4 as a prospect personally.

I do like the quality of the recruits everywhere else and the staff did a great job of getting guys from out of state committed site unseen. If this was year 1,2, or 3 and we weren't coming off the best season of my lifetime this would be a B class even without Dickerson. As it stands, it's a C for me based on rising expectations and disappointing instate results.
 

EG#9 said:
I went with a C, that would be a B if Dickerson ends up eventually signing. Losing your highest rated recruit right before signing day is a gut punch. The lack of in state success on the recruiting trail was shocking. To make matters worse, 1 went to Iowa and 2 to Wisconsin. Flip the Iowa commit to Minnesota and we have the better class. Flip one of the Wisconsin commits to Minnesota and we really close the gap there. Want to make an excuse about in state recruiting for whatever reason? Fine. How about taking one of the highly rated kids from Iowa or Wisconsin that stayed home as a "trade" for the Minnesota kid they got? That puts us above Iowa and closes the gap on Wisconsin too. It's a losing formula to have those schools come in to Minnesota to take talent and then not return the favor. Something has to change there or the ridiculous losses to them (going to try not to use the rivalry word until we earn that) will continue.

I would have liked more than 2 OL in the class. I am a little baffled by taking 4 wr's considering how run heavy we were again this year and I also am only really excited about 1 of the 4 as a prospect personally.

I do like the quality of the recruits everywhere else and the staff did a great job of getting guys from out of state committed site unseen. If this was year 1,2, or 3 and we weren't coming off the best season of my lifetime this would be a B class even without Dickerson. As it stands, it's a C for me based on rising expectations and disappointing instate results.
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The instate recruiting isn't going well for PJ. Facilities are there, etc etc. I thought he would draw a few of the top guys in.
 

They are light on O-Line and haven't wrapped up Dickerson. If they correct that in the regular signing period it will move to an A.
 

In the Covid spirit I saw we do away with grades and say P or NC

I’d give it a P
 




EG#9 said:
I went with a C, that would be a B if Dickerson ends up eventually signing. Losing your highest rated recruit right before signing day is a gut punch. The lack of in state success on the recruiting trail was shocking. To make matters worse, 1 went to Iowa and 2 to Wisconsin. Flip the Iowa commit to Minnesota and we have the better class. Flip one of the Wisconsin commits to Minnesota and we really close the gap there. Want to make an excuse about in state recruiting for whatever reason? Fine. How about taking one of the highly rated kids from Iowa or Wisconsin that stayed home as a "trade" for the Minnesota kid they got? That puts us above Iowa and closes the gap on Wisconsin too. It's a losing formula to have those schools come in to Minnesota to take talent and then not return the favor. Something has to change there or the ridiculous losses to them (going to try not to use the rivalry word until we earn that) will continue.

I would have liked more than 2 OL in the class. I am a little baffled by taking 4 wr's considering how run heavy we were again this year and I also am only really excited about 1 of the 4 as a prospect personally.

I do like the quality of the recruits everywhere else and the staff did a great job of getting guys from out of state committed site unseen. If this was year 1,2, or 3 and we weren't coming off the best season of my lifetime this would be a B class even without Dickerson. As it stands, it's a C for me based on rising expectations and disappointing instate results.
Click to expand...
You’re assuming Iowa and Wisconsin wouldn’t get guys from somewhere else if they didn’t get the MN guys.
 


Add Dickerson and it's damn near an A. Add Dickerson and Townley, knock out.
 

B. It's the best in a while but still slightly below average in the conference. I think an A would be for roughly top 3 in the conference and top 10 in the country.
 

B plus, which goes to an A minus if Dickerson signs. I can't be dissatisfied with a top-30 class, especially with the buzz kill of a setback season that could potentially have cost us even more commits that it did. Plenty to build on here.
 

EG#9 said:
I went with a C, that would be a B if Dickerson ends up eventually signing. Losing your highest rated recruit right before signing day is a gut punch. The lack of in state success on the recruiting trail was shocking. To make matters worse, 1 went to Iowa and 2 to Wisconsin. Flip the Iowa commit to Minnesota and we have the better class. Flip one of the Wisconsin commits to Minnesota and we really close the gap there. Want to make an excuse about in state recruiting for whatever reason? Fine. How about taking one of the highly rated kids from Iowa or Wisconsin that stayed home as a "trade" for the Minnesota kid they got? That puts us above Iowa and closes the gap on Wisconsin too. It's a losing formula to have those schools come in to Minnesota to take talent and then not return the favor. Something has to change there or the ridiculous losses to them (going to try not to use the rivalry word until we earn that) will continue.

I would have liked more than 2 OL in the class. I am a little baffled by taking 4 wr's considering how run heavy we were again this year and I also am only really excited about 1 of the 4 as a prospect personally.

I do like the quality of the recruits everywhere else and the staff did a great job of getting guys from out of state committed site unseen. If this was year 1,2, or 3 and we weren't coming off the best season of my lifetime this would be a B class even without Dickerson. As it stands, it's a C for me based on rising expectations and disappointing instate results.
Click to expand...
You make some really good points. We had the best class in the B1G in the state of Illinois 2 of their top 4 and 3 of top 13. That is where Fleck has the most comfort. Also got a top 10 out of 4 states. Dickerson would be the big get.
 

GoGophersUMN said:
B. It's the best in a while but still slightly below average in the conference. I think an A would be for roughly top 3 in the conference and top 10 in the country.
Click to expand...

In what way is this class slightly below average in the Big Ten? It isn't at the level of Ohio State and Michigan but we are never going to be able to out recruit those guys on paper. But as far as the rest of the conference is concerned this class is right in line with the best in the West division.

By Minnesota standards this class is an A. If Dickerson signs it is an A by any standard, if he doesn't it maybe goes to a high B. This is the kind of class we need to be able to compete in the Big Ten West on a yearly basis.
 

Considering everything they had to deal with during COVID and recruiting and comparing to previous coaches recruiting classes, I would give it an A. I cant imagine how difficult it would be to recruit when many of the players who did come were given a very stunted official visit compared to years past.
 

I went with a C. We finished 8th in the B1G and 4th in the west behind Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. We lost momentum down the stretch, and the last week was nothing short of a disaster with Dickerson not signing and losing out on Townley, Hood and the 5 offensive linemen we were after. 2 offensive linemen isn’t nearly enough in a class, and 1 out of the top 8 Minnesota recruits is embarrassing. We had a great start in the spring but limped into the finish line.
 

And we were 11 and 2 last year. We have 4 guys rated 300 to 400...the rest are lower.
But, we are rated 27th in the country, so that is really good for us.
It would be easier to be excited if we had a freshman or even any redshirt freshmen or sophomores that were a WOW! But since Bateman, not sure we have had an impact recruit?
Tough to know what we got here until next season gets underway.
 

John Galt said:
I went with a C. We finished 8th in the B1G and 4th in the west behind Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. We lost momentum down the stretch, and the last week was nothing short of a disaster with Dickerson not signing and losing out on Townley, Hood and the 5 offensive linemen we were after. 2 offensive linemen isn’t nearly enough in a class, and 1 out of the top 8 Minnesota recruits is embarrassing. We had a great start in the spring but limped into the finish line.
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I don’t care what the rankings say, I don’t see how Nebraska has a better class than. It’s simply ranked higher because they signed more guys. Also two of their top five guys are tight ends. Why is everyone worried about the number of oline recruits, if the staff is as worried they will add someone by February. Is the book completely closed on Townley? I still think we are the team to beat for Dickerson for some reason.
 

The 2nd lowest graded recruit in our class had offers from Penn State, Baylor, and the SEC... how that is anything besides an A is beyond my comprehension!
 

A grade. Perhaps the most athletic class I've seen come to Minnesota. Yahoo has some analysis on what could happen to players electing to go into the portal. Good read if you have time. Anyway, upwards of 1,000 players may be without a school to go to.
 

John Galt said:
I went with a C. We finished 8th in the B1G and 4th in the west behind Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. We lost momentum down the stretch, and the last week was nothing short of a disaster with Dickerson not signing and losing out on Townley, Hood and the 5 offensive linemen we were after. 2 offensive linemen isn’t nearly enough in a class, and 1 out of the top 8 Minnesota recruits is embarrassing. We had a great start in the spring but limped into the finish line.
Click to expand...

Wow....if this class is a C in your mind I don't honestly know what any coach at Minnesota could do to get an A.

Dickerson and Townley didn't sign anywhere else so both could still end up at Minnesota. And the team rankings are not nearly as bad as they look as this class is extremely competitive with the rest of the West and really only trails Ohio State and Michigan by any significant margin. The classes ranked 3-8 in the conference are not separated by much at all.

This was easily one of the most talented classes on paper that the University of Minnesota has signed in the past 20 years. We can all hope for more and honestly I think Fleck will find a way to keep improving on the recruiting front but this was a really strong class top to bottom.

And who knows, we could easily add some more talented players to this mix between now and the late signing day in a few months.
 

BarnBurner said:
The instate recruiting isn't going well for PJ. Facilities are there, etc etc. I thought he would draw a few of the top guys in.
Click to expand...
Takes time as many have said in previous threads.
 

MNVCGUY said:
In what way is this class slightly below average in the Big Ten? It isn't at the level of Ohio State and Michigan but we are never going to be able to out recruit those guys on paper. But as far as the rest of the conference is concerned this class is right in line with the best in the West division.

By Minnesota standards this class is an A. If Dickerson signs it is an A by any standard, if he doesn't it maybe goes to a high B. This is the kind of class we need to be able to compete in the Big Ten West on a yearly basis.
Click to expand...
247sports.com

2021 Recruit Big-Ten Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.
247sports.com 247sports.com

We're well behind Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin. 4-9 are tight and we're not all that far from 4th or 5th but even if we were 4th, I would consider that a B.

They'll be playing other Big Ten teams, not old Minnesota teams, so I think it makes the most sense to compare to other Big Ten teams. To be an A they'd have to at least be in the conversation of the best in the conference.

I wouldn't say never either. We're not close to it but if they can get to the point where they always have a decent shot at winning the West, sometimes have a shot at the CFP, and get at least a couple Rose Bowl appearances or better, the recruiting will come along. We're in one of the best conferences in the country and have the long-term history so I don't think there's a cap to where recruiting could get.

This was progress and I'd be happy with a similar class next year but there's still a lot of room to improve.
 

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