Which player is the key to our season being successful? Both offensive and defensive

[upnorthkid]

Yes I know this is a team game, but many times if one player has an impact season, the team can break through. Any thoughts on who that could/hopefully will be? For me I'd say it has to be Gray. He's shown in the past that he can lead us in big games and in clutch moments. If he can harness his stretch run and turn it into a consistent thing this year, we could become a really tough team to beat. It gets a little tougher on the defensive side of the ball. On defense, I'm going to give the nod to Troy Stoudermire. Out secondary has been pitful for as long as I can remember and if he could put it together and be a shutdown type of guy that he has the athleticism to do, he could make a huge impact for this team. Plus he's always been a solid contributor on ST. Just my two cents waiting patiently for fall. Any thoughts?

 

[gopherinpain]

Gray and Troy are going to be the O and D captains for sure and are no brainers. The two guys that come to mind for me are Shede Hageman and Devin Crawford-Tufts. Shede can be a man among boys when he wants to be. He can plug up the middle against the run and has the strength and agility to rush the passer. They need his leadership on a young but talented DL. D C-T has the speed and talent to be a game changer down the field. If he can stretch the field that opens up the shorter patterns for possession guys like Green and potentially Fruechte and McDonald.

 

[60's Guy]

Yup

Gray and Troy are going to be the O and D captains for sure and are no brainers. The two guys that come to mind for me are Shede Hageman and Devin Crawford-Tufts. Shede can be a man among boys when he wants to be. He can plug up the middle against the run and has the strength and agility to rush the passer. They need his leadership on a young but talented DL. D C-T has the speed and talent to be a game changer down the field. If he can stretch the field that opens up the shorter patterns for possession guys like Green and potentially Fruechte and McDonald.

I agree with both of you on the four guys. Gray is very obvious, but I'm not sure to the degree his impact could be felt. Could Gray make us Auburn or Baylor? I think it is possible. No idea the percentages but possible he alone could do that. Nobody else on the roster has that potential.

I would add Rallis defensively. If he was a stud middle linebacker, our whole defensive personality changes. Can he do that? I think so. Will he? Again it is possible but less likely than Gray capturing everybody's attention with his play.

Could be a fun season.

 

[highwayman]

Gray and Gillum, Hageman and Rallis.

 

[Parski1]

Gray and Gillum, Hageman and Rallis.

Gray....need to move the offense.

 

[Die Hard GGF]

Gray is the obvious one on offense with my second choice being our main running back either Cobb or Gillum. On defense I'd take whoever ends up at middle linebacker, Rallis or Reeves. As a unit I believe we succeed with improvement from th O line and being able to fill in the holes on our D line.

 

[nsmike]

Troy Stodemire is a known quantity. It's whoever wins the other corner position that will make the biggest impact on the defense. We have the potential to be a very good defense if we can take away the Quarterbacks first read. Last year we played soft because the corners didn't have enough speed. This year we should be able to play a lot of press coverage and that will make all the difference in the world. On offense it will be either Gillum or Cobb whichever one emerges as the number one back. Gray will be much more dangerous if the defense has to worry about the running back first.

 

[corcoran1]

Wtih new starters at DT, MLB and both Safetys, I don't think one person can be key unless it is Coach Sawvel, or Coach Phelps.

 

[John Galt]

Offense: Gray and Gillum; if Gray can complete 60% of his passes and be accurate on 3rd down, and Gillum is as good as the staff is saying, it could be the best offense we've had in years.

Defense: I'll go with the DEs, Amaefula, Cockran, Perry, Wilhite. Amaefula looked pretty good at times as a true freshman, and the staff has also said some really good things about TC. If the DEs can get a consistent pass rush and contain the edge, the defense should be fine even with the turnover up the middle.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Based upon the past performances, I really can't think of any one position where we would be on the equal of an OSU, Florida, Alabama, Florida, etc. Lets hope that will come.

IMO, we have a ways to go before we can match what teams like Michigan and Wisconsin put on the field. Who would start for those teams? Stoudamire? Rallis? We need to do a better job at all positions and hope that a couple of guys on both sides of the ball and special teams explode this Fall.

 

[Clark W. Griswold]

I think the O-line and the DEs will affect the success next year more than anything. Improved blocking will improve Gray and the RB position. Improved pressure from the DEs will help every other position on D.

I know the question asked for individual players, but hard to single one out on the O-line and don't know who the starting DEs will be.

 

[John Galt]

We need to do a better job at all positions and hope that a couple of guys on both sides of the ball and special teams explode this Fall.

Agreed. It sounds like we're making progress, but it's still troubling to me when I see pictures of the team. We don't pass the eye test compared to a lot of good D-1 team IMO, we look a lot smaller. Hopefully this will begin to change with the new players this staff is bringing in.

 

[Saluki07]

Back to the Future

I spent quite a bit of time around the program at SIU. Jerry Kill's best teams feature a strong running game, a QB who is an efficient passer/game manager, and a defense that can make the key stops. The strong running game is key. They need a RB to emerge and the rest will take care of itself. Book it.

 

[Sportsfan24]

Troy Stodemire is a known quantity. It's whoever wins the other corner position that will make the biggest impact on the defense. We have the potential to be a very good defense if we can take away the Quarterbacks first read. Last year we played soft because the corners didn't have enough speed. This year we should be able to play a lot of press coverage and that will make all the difference in the world. On offense it will be either Gillum or Cobb whichever one emerges as the number one back. Gray will be much more dangerous if the defense has to worry about the running back first.

I disgree with Troy having a huge impact. Last season Kim had all-american type numbers and the gopher pass and run defense was one of the worse in all of college football. Players in the secondary can not have a huge impact on a the season....game maybe...season? nope. While in each of the gopher victories Kim made huge plays and posted huge numbers it was the performance of players at more impactful positions that facilitated the wins (Kim has great performances in other games the gophers lost). Excellant d-line play will have far more impact than secondary play. The same can be said for QB play and RB play (both are predicated on excellant o-line and wr play). IE if the QB wr, or RB are putting up great numbers then you are getting great play from other positions. The same can not always be said for great "individual" secondary play (Kim or Troy).

Also; folks there is no huge speed improvement this year in the secondary. Troy is not faster than Kyle (4'6ish), Who ever replaces Brock will not be substantually faster (4'5), There is no big difference in speed between Brock and Kim (4'5) and whoever replaces Christian will be slower. (4'4). What we hope is they will be better as a group (very good chance, assuming better dl/lb play and improved offense).

 

[TCF=UnitedWeStand]

Gray, DL, Punter, Kicker

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

I think the O-line and the DEs will affect the success next year more than anything. Improved blocking will improve Gray and the RB position. Improved pressure from the DEs will help every other position on D.

I know the question asked for individual players, but hard to single one out on the O-line and don't know who the starting DEs will be.

Agree completely.

 

[tpbeight]

If the DT's don't do their jobs it won't be possible for Rallis to have a great year. I think it starts up the middle on D with our DT's. Can they get a push and create a little havoc from time to time? That's the key on D.

On O it is Gray. He is the one guy we can not be really good without. We can be OK with Shortell, but he does not bring the potential that Gray does. Cobb & Gillum are 1 & 1a. If one doesn't pan out there is always the other. There is nobody ready behind Gray that brings what he might possibly bring next fall.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Offense:
Obviously Gray. Most of our offense will be run through him and he has all the talent in the world.

Green - We need to have reliable WR play and Green is a veteran. He looked good at the end of the season last year and he will need to have a consistant season.

Defense:
Vereen/Wells - Hageman/Rallis/Stoud are all good but they are known qualities. The ability of Vereen and Wells to cover as safety help is vital. However, possibly more important is their ability to cover TE / WR 1-on-1 when we blitz. If those guys are effective in coverage, we can bring a lot of heat. If they aren't, we might be in trouble.

 

[nsmike]

I disgree with Troy having a huge impact. Last season Kim had all-american type numbers and the gopher pass and run defense was one of the worse in all of college football. Players in the secondary can not have a huge impact on a the season....game maybe...season? nope. While in each of the gopher victories Kim made huge plays and posted huge numbers it was the performance of players at more impactful positions that facilitated the wins (Kim has great performances in other games the gophers lost). Excellant d-line play will have far more impact than secondary play. The same can be said for QB play and RB play (both are predicated on excellant o-line and wr play). IE if the QB wr, or RB are putting up great numbers then you are getting great play from other positions. The same can not always be said for great "individual" secondary play (Kim or Troy).

Also; folks there is no huge speed improvement this year in the secondary. Troy is not faster than Kyle (4'6ish), Who ever replaces Brock will not be substantually faster (4'5), There is no big difference in speed between Brock and Kim (4'5) and whoever replaces Christian will be slower. (4'4). What we hope is they will be better as a group (very good chance, assuming better dl/lb play and improved offense).

Please reference DL65's recap of Sports Huddle today Coach Kill said "it all starts at the Corners". Stoudemire had 2 of the 4 team interception even though he only played 3 games. Feel free to disagree, I'm sticking to my position, that the most important defensive player will be who ever plays opposite Stoudemire.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Run the Ball - Stop the Run. If you do that, stats bear out that you will be successful.

So, my "Key players" are: on Offense - the Running backs (as a collective unit.) Other teams are going to be 'spying' on Gray and trying to limit his rushing yardage. The RB's have to provide some balance in the offense, to take the load off Gray. I would love to see one back emerge as the clear leader - but if it has to be RB by committee, then the committee has to account for over 1,000 yards minimum this year for the Gophs to be effective on offense. AT the end of the season, if Gray is the team's leading rusher again, I don't think that's necessarily a plus for the offense.

On defense - the DT position. If the DT's can limit the up-the middle rushing yardage, and help with some push on the pass rush, the Gopher D will be much improved this year. If Hageman emerges as an all-B1G caliber DT, I honestly think there will be a domino effect for the rest of the Defense.

 

[Halsey Hall]

Obviously Gray could be huge. Seeing Mason at the practice Thurs. I wanted to ask him how Gray would have been when he had Maroney and Barber together. Anyway, I would say on defense Hageman came to mind at first. But I also have two sleepers in mind, guys who have really stood out to me this spring: Cochran and Matilus. Add in Edwards, Carter and Wells and it seems our defense is going to outshine our offense. (Just watched the No. Ill vs Brewster game on YouTube again last night. What a treat to see Chad Spann run all over Brew's crew and imagine Mr. Cobb doing the same.