Link: Basketball Scholarship Grid
Link: Football Scholarship Grid
Please let me know if you see any errors.
In the scholarship grid pages are also my projected starters. For basketball, that's relatively straight forward: Washington, McBrayer, Coffey, Murphy, and Curry. I think Stockman may have to play center to match up against some teams.
For football, my projected starters were:
Link: Football Scholarship Grid
Please let me know if you see any errors.
In the scholarship grid pages are also my projected starters. For basketball, that's relatively straight forward: Washington, McBrayer, Coffey, Murphy, and Curry. I think Stockman may have to play center to match up against some teams.
For football, my projected starters were:
- QB: Vic Viramontes... He's looked like the third-best in the spring but my money would still be on him, barely, to win the job in the fall. I just think there may be talent that will surface once he's comfortable that we haven't seen yet.
- RB: Rodney Smith... Mo Ibrahim is the current No. 2 and I think both Edmonds and Williams will contend for the No. 2 spot. I like both Edmonds and Williams and don't necessarily think one has the edge over the other.
- WR: Tyler Johnson, Chris Autman-Bell, Demetrius Douglas... I would have Bateman at No. 4 and Howard at 5 right now. Van Dyne, Gibson, and Mann will also compete for playing time.
- TE: Jake Paulson... Tight end I'm really not sure about and will check on this. From my observations, Paulson is most likely to start with Kieft as a close second and Beebe and Witham also as contenders. I could be off. I think there's a real chance Brevyn Spann-Ford gets significant playing time this year too.
- LT: Donnell Greene... Kyle Sassack is my pick for No. 2 right now without having seen much of Ben Davis. I believe Fleck recently said that he'd like to redshirt the freshman.
- LG: Conner Olson... Dunlap or Dovich are second team.
- C: Jared Weyler... John Michael Schimtz and Bronson Dovich are most likely. Alex and I liked Nathan Boe a lot too but I think he'll redshirt.
- RG: Blaise Andries... Oseland, Dovich, and Dunlap competing for second string.
- RT: Jason Dickson... Schlueter, respectfully, looked like a freshman last year and he was getting consistently beat at the spring game, so I tihnk Dickson wins the job.
- DE/R: Esezi Otomewo and Boye Mafe... Those were the two I bolded because I think they're the two most likely defensive end starters, but I'm not sure they're the most likely pair. Mafe could play the R but long-term I see him as more of a hand-down 5-tech, and Otomewo is definitely not an R. Devers with a big fall could compete for the starting R job. I wouldn't be surprised if Coughlin or Martin play some R. Renner and DeLattiboudere will compete with Otomewo for the down DE.
- DT: Gary Moore and Royal Silver... OJ Smith and Nate Umlor will rotate in. Hickcox and Robinson will contend for playing time, too. Elijah Teague is good enough to play if he doesn't redshirt. With Umlor moving to DT, I think there's enough depth to redshirt Teague barring lots of injuries, if Fleck would like. Renner can also slide to the 3-tech.
- LB: Thomas Barber, Carter Coughlin, Kamal Martin... I think it's likely we see a lot of two linebacker sets again this year with a nickel on the field. Last year, Kamal Martin was kind of a big spacebacker opposite of Jon Celestin. I think Martin's role is likely to stay the same, with Coughlin taking Celestin's spot because Kamal is better in coverage. But I could also see Kamal in Celestin's spot because I think he's better at taking on blocks than Coughlin. I'm curious to hear opinions from others because many of you are much better football minds than me. Blake Cashman, Julian Huff, Braelen Oliver, and Thomas Rush will all compete for second string reps.
- CB: Antonio Shenault and Kiondre Thomas... I thought Shenault and Thomas were the best two corners in the spring. I'm looking forward to seeing what a healthy Chris Williamson can do this fall because I'm guessing he'll need to play a lot of snaps. Coney Durr hasn't looked healthy and has struggled as a result. If he doesn't get healthy/improve, I think he will be passed up by Justus Harris, Rey Estes, and maybe a couple of the true freshman. Ideally, all three of the true freshman will redshirt: Benny for health's sake, Terell to add weight, and CJ to get more comfortable playing man coverage because of how much zone he played in high school.
- S: Jacob Huff and Antoine Winfield... Last year, Jacob Huff played as more of the free safety with McGhee closer to the box. Even though Huff has good ball skills, his coverage and deep zone skills got the Gophers in trouble sometimes last year. He's tough and has a nose for the ball so I'd like to see him closer to the box. Winfield is Mr. Versatility and could be the best corner, nickel, box or deep safety on the team. I think he's probably at his best near the box but that may be where he's needed least -- regardless, fans shouldn't be worried about Winfield. Fleck has said he's open to trying Shenault out at both nickel and safety as well. I think he'd do well as a nickel or strong cover safety. Calvin Swenson and Adam Beck will contend for playing time. I think Beck is better in coverage. With such little depth, Aune could play right away despite being relatively new to the position, or CJ Smith could slide up from corner. Remember, Grayson Levine really liked Smith as a safety.
