Recruits at practice today were Gopher commit Carter Coughlin (who told me today that he'll be at most spring practices if not all for the rest of the spring), 2015 OL signees Bronson Dovich and PWO Noah Kuehn, former Gopher Rashede Hageman and top 2015 targets Matt Kegel and Tyler Johnson. Kegel will be going to Iowa State this weekend, back to Minnesota for the Spring game and to Oklahoma State on the 18th of April.
Kegel and Johnson both told GI they enjoyed their visits and will be back soon. FWIW, I see both having Minnesota leaders at this time
I'll also note that I've changed the practice questions to an actual thread where if anyone has things they want me to look for at practice each day, put them in there and I'm going to try and answer between 5-7 each report from here on out to keep things fresh.
Now to the actual report.
Notes:
I'll start by the headlining news of the day as Jeff Jones worked out with the wide receivers today. What I mean by that is he worked with them in individual drills and did a lot of work on the field in the slow when they went team. Jeff also did get a few carries at running back today, so the staff is working on ways to back sure they get him the ball. Jones looked actually pretty fluid for his first day of work there this spring, so it'll be interesting to see where he lines up in the offense going forward.
Also should note that walk-on Josh Parks for the second straight day is working with the defensive backs instead of running backs. I thought it may be a one day thing, but from the people I've talked to, it does sound like a permanent thing as the staff met over spring break and believe his best days are ahead of him there.
I'm officially starting the Steven Richardson hype train for the 2015 season. Today was the first day for 1 on 1's that I've seen and Richardson was unblockable. He's Minnesota's version of Aaron Donald and I think he's going to have a huge sophomore season. He's got an array of moves, uses his short stature very well in terms of leverage, disengages with his hands well and have a very explosive first step.
I also feel good about DE's Hank Ekpe and Theiren Cockran. Both got to the quarterback off the edge multiple times today with both a speed rush and spin move. Hoping this continues to the season for both.
Guy on defensive who had a great day was Jack Lynn as he returned two interceptions for touchdowns (both off Leidner). Both were athletic plays. So much depth at linebacker as I believe Lynn is the only locked starter back there. Definitely a competition going between DeVondre Campbell and Jonathan Celestin, plus Everett Williams and Cody Poock. Very excited to see how that ends up.
There have been some issues between the centers and quarterbacks so far this spring and Coach Kill is now taking things into his own hands. After another rough day, Kill got the two groups together after practice and gave them some very loud encouragement on how to improve. Very clear that both Limegrover and Kill were not happy with the snaps today.
I'll end the report with the daily Mitch Leidner report. Here's my take so far through what I've seen so far this spring. If he has to hit a timing route where he knows the guy is going to be in a specific spot at a specific time, the ball is there, on time and accurate. If he gets flustered and has to make the best of a broken play on the run, that's where he gets in trouble and makes mistakes more often than not. A HUGE key to the Gophers success in 2015 relies on this offensive line to keep Leidner clean and give him time to read the defense. If they can, I think Minnesota can improve on their win total from last year and seriously compete as this Gopher defense is going to be extremely good. If Leidner is constantly dealing with pressure, things will be dicey.
Now to some questions.
After Maye and Woli, I'd say Gentry and Holland along with Carter are there pushing for time. Gentry and Holland show flashes every practice that get you excited about the future, they just have to keep being consistent on each rep and that'll happen as they gain more experience.
Should also mention that Drew Wolitarsky has been very good at getting open this spring. He's been getting a lot of reps against Eric Murray in 1 on 1's and he's been getting good separation where other receivers can't.
Not sure I can say much about the looks or motions as I don't believe that's allowed per the SID and Gopher staff, but a lot of the same for the most part.
McGhee is working in with the 2's and he'll definitely be in the conversation for playing time. Not sure about regular packages as Minnesota has three good safeties in Damarius Travis, Antonio Johnson and Ace Rogers, but that being said the Gophers did play Nickel more than any other package last year. McGhee will be huge on special teams again this fall, not so sure about PT on D this year, but very much so next year.
Also touched on this earlier, but I'd say both. Depends on the situation. He's better at timing routes where he knows the receivers going to be and he'll throw that early. If he has to look past his second read and the checkdown isn't in the play set, things get flustered as he has to think on the run.
Lauer - Bjorklunk - Bobek (has had a very good spring) - Campion - Pirsig
Fahning - Hayes - C. Mayes - Moore - Bush
I've talked about Rodney and Jeff before in terms of their abilities, but Rodney is better at pass block than Jeff right now.
Any questions, comments or if you attended practice yourself, please leave that below.
Kegel and Johnson both told GI they enjoyed their visits and will be back soon. FWIW, I see both having Minnesota leaders at this time
I'll also note that I've changed the practice questions to an actual thread where if anyone has things they want me to look for at practice each day, put them in there and I'm going to try and answer between 5-7 each report from here on out to keep things fresh.
Now to the actual report.
Notes:
I'll start by the headlining news of the day as Jeff Jones worked out with the wide receivers today. What I mean by that is he worked with them in individual drills and did a lot of work on the field in the slow when they went team. Jeff also did get a few carries at running back today, so the staff is working on ways to back sure they get him the ball. Jones looked actually pretty fluid for his first day of work there this spring, so it'll be interesting to see where he lines up in the offense going forward.
Also should note that walk-on Josh Parks for the second straight day is working with the defensive backs instead of running backs. I thought it may be a one day thing, but from the people I've talked to, it does sound like a permanent thing as the staff met over spring break and believe his best days are ahead of him there.
I'm officially starting the Steven Richardson hype train for the 2015 season. Today was the first day for 1 on 1's that I've seen and Richardson was unblockable. He's Minnesota's version of Aaron Donald and I think he's going to have a huge sophomore season. He's got an array of moves, uses his short stature very well in terms of leverage, disengages with his hands well and have a very explosive first step.
I also feel good about DE's Hank Ekpe and Theiren Cockran. Both got to the quarterback off the edge multiple times today with both a speed rush and spin move. Hoping this continues to the season for both.
Guy on defensive who had a great day was Jack Lynn as he returned two interceptions for touchdowns (both off Leidner). Both were athletic plays. So much depth at linebacker as I believe Lynn is the only locked starter back there. Definitely a competition going between DeVondre Campbell and Jonathan Celestin, plus Everett Williams and Cody Poock. Very excited to see how that ends up.
There have been some issues between the centers and quarterbacks so far this spring and Coach Kill is now taking things into his own hands. After another rough day, Kill got the two groups together after practice and gave them some very loud encouragement on how to improve. Very clear that both Limegrover and Kill were not happy with the snaps today.
I'll end the report with the daily Mitch Leidner report. Here's my take so far through what I've seen so far this spring. If he has to hit a timing route where he knows the guy is going to be in a specific spot at a specific time, the ball is there, on time and accurate. If he gets flustered and has to make the best of a broken play on the run, that's where he gets in trouble and makes mistakes more often than not. A HUGE key to the Gophers success in 2015 relies on this offensive line to keep Leidner clean and give him time to read the defense. If they can, I think Minnesota can improve on their win total from last year and seriously compete as this Gopher defense is going to be extremely good. If Leidner is constantly dealing with pressure, things will be dicey.
Now to some questions.
You'll be seeing a lot of Drew Wolitarsky and KJ Maye this fall, that I know if this spring is any indication. They've been working with the starters every practice. There actually haven't been a ton of 3 WR sets this fall and if they have been, Duke or Jerry or whatever TE/H-back is out there have been there.
After Maye and Woli, I'd say Gentry and Holland along with Carter are there pushing for time. Gentry and Holland show flashes every practice that get you excited about the future, they just have to keep being consistent on each rep and that'll happen as they gain more experience.
Should also mention that Drew Wolitarsky has been very good at getting open this spring. He's been getting a lot of reps against Eric Murray in 1 on 1's and he's been getting good separation where other receivers can't.
Definitely a large part of practice still. They have it going through the "install" phase right now and it looks a lot crisper with play calls than it did a few weeks ago.
Not sure I can say much about the looks or motions as I don't believe that's allowed per the SID and Gopher staff, but a lot of the same for the most part.
He's been a hybrid TE/H-back type. He works out with that group in individual and is going to be a mismatch in the passing game. He's still working on the blocking part as he's not the biggest guy in terms of weight and technique, but is a definite mismatch in the passing game again linebackers.
The two starting OT's are Lauer and Pirsig right now and they've been okay. Not bad, not great, but alright. Cockran and Ekpe will get around them on speed rushes from time to time and that's their weakness if I had to say that there's one is the speed rush for them. Fahning and Foster Bush have been back ups and they've been alright as well.
McGhee is working in with the 2's and he'll definitely be in the conversation for playing time. Not sure about regular packages as Minnesota has three good safeties in Damarius Travis, Antonio Johnson and Ace Rogers, but that being said the Gophers did play Nickel more than any other package last year. McGhee will be huge on special teams again this fall, not so sure about PT on D this year, but very much so next year.
Touched on this earlier, but the younger guys look raw in route running, but have a lot of athletic ability. KJ Maye and Wolitarsky have been some tough catches consistently and the double move is in the arsenal for the WR's this spring.
Also touched on this earlier, but I'd say both. Depends on the situation. He's better at timing routes where he knows the receivers going to be and he'll throw that early. If he has to look past his second read and the checkdown isn't in the play set, things get flustered as he has to think on the run.
Lauer - Bjorklunk - Bobek (has had a very good spring) - Campion - Pirsig
Fahning - Hayes - C. Mayes - Moore - Bush
I've talked about Rodney and Jeff before in terms of their abilities, but Rodney is better at pass block than Jeff right now.
If I remember correctly, it's to honor his late father. I don't remember the complete story, but it's to honor him.
Any questions, comments or if you attended practice yourself, please leave that below.
