First, Mike Sherels was at practice! I imagine that he's been in touch with a lot of players and the retained staff, but I'm told this was the first time some had seen him at the football facility in months. It's good to see him back.
Rhoda got most of the first team snaps and led drills. He and Croft again were clearly the two best on just about every type of throw. In 11v11, Rhoda had an 17-yard touchdown run but also through a pick inside his own 10. The QB battle will no doubt go through the fall. I hear that Croft has not put it all together mentally and in the classroom. That's of course not a knock on his character and not unusual for underclassman. His physical tools are far superior though and I think he's throwing the ball a tad better too, which is up for debate. Rhoda meanwhile has more experience in the off-field and leadership components and has been pretty good throwing the ball this spring. Green had some nice throws over the middle during the scrimmage. Today might have been his best practice. Morgan also threw the ball away, but like I've said before, neither Morgan or Green (or McLaurin) will be competitive for the starting spot. McLaurin was back at practice after missing Tuesday's practice. The walk-on freshman Samuel Pickering rarely get reps. He's on the sideline delivering signals sometimes even in drills.
At one point, Fleck was delivering snaps when the offensive line was doing their own drills:
Shannon Brooks had a touchdown in 11v11. Kobe McCrary has been getting some reps with the first team and looks good. Rodney Smith didn't get a ton of carries in 11v11 as I think the staff knows what he can do.
I thought Melvin Holland had a good practice. Rashad Still had a couple drops in drills and doesn't seem to attack the ball well as you'd like given his size, but he ended practice well and had a nice grab over the middle. Tyler Johnson and Eric Carter both dropped passes they should have caught. Hunter Register is back to receiver after a stint at safety. I'm told he just lack defensive instincts to play on that side of the ball. Morse, Hmielewski, and Holland were actually the first team receivers for the second portion of 11v11, but right now Still, Johnson, and Holland are probably getting the most first team reps.
I really Ko Kieft. He's physical and plays through whistle. Laterally he's not great, but he moves alright in a straight-line sense and has a lot of power to him. Tight end is really thin right now, so it has to be helpful for him to get a lot of reps.
The Gophers are back to having only five healthy lineman, and the lineup is Greene/Dovich/Olson/Schlueter/Connelly. I thought Greene was excellent in pass protection. He was one of the highlights of the day for me, and if he's consistent that would be a great development because at times I thought he struggled last year pass blocking. Conner Olson had three bad snaps.
The first team defensive line was DeLattiboudere/Richardson/Stelter and Coughlin as a rush end. The second team line is Gibson/Moore/Renner with Devers as a rush end, although Devers will sometimes play with the first team too. Trenton Guthrie is used as a stand-up rush end, too. At times, the rush ends break off from the rest of the defensive line and do their own drills. To me, Jerry Gibson is the Gopher who's body has improved the most recently. In my spring practice reports last year, I said that he had added some weight but still had a very long ways to go. Now, he truly looks like a Big Ten defensive end. This was the best practice I saw from Gary Moore. I think he'll have an impact this year.
Back to return punts were Rodney Smith, Tyler Johnson, Shannon Brooks, Melvin Holland, Drew Hmielewski, Antonio Shenault, and Clay Geary. Emmit Carpenter hit his 30s and 40s field goals but was far short on a 52-yard attempt. Jacob Herbers had another great day punting the ball.
Kamal Martin, Thomas Barber, and Jon Celestin are the first team linebackers. Martin has continued to add weight and he's now the most physically impressive linebacker on the team. He'll actually sometimes break out wide into a psedo nickel type of role. Cody Poock still isn't hitting, but today he was participating in some drills for the first time in spring ball.
Jacob Huff had a great practice and had several nice pass breakups. It's hard to keep track of everyone on every rep, but I think Ayinde played exclusively at corner in the nickel today and had no reps as a traditional safety, which I think would be a first. Winfield also played both nickel and safety. At corner, from the reps I saw, Shenault had a better practice today than Kiondre Thomas.
There might have been a little emphasis on conditioning in practice. About halfway through practice, there was a session where position groups would finish a rep with sprinting for the sake of sprinting.
From the recruits at practice thread...
Rhoda got most of the first team snaps and led drills. He and Croft again were clearly the two best on just about every type of throw. In 11v11, Rhoda had an 17-yard touchdown run but also through a pick inside his own 10. The QB battle will no doubt go through the fall. I hear that Croft has not put it all together mentally and in the classroom. That's of course not a knock on his character and not unusual for underclassman. His physical tools are far superior though and I think he's throwing the ball a tad better too, which is up for debate. Rhoda meanwhile has more experience in the off-field and leadership components and has been pretty good throwing the ball this spring. Green had some nice throws over the middle during the scrimmage. Today might have been his best practice. Morgan also threw the ball away, but like I've said before, neither Morgan or Green (or McLaurin) will be competitive for the starting spot. McLaurin was back at practice after missing Tuesday's practice. The walk-on freshman Samuel Pickering rarely get reps. He's on the sideline delivering signals sometimes even in drills.
At one point, Fleck was delivering snaps when the offensive line was doing their own drills:
Shannon Brooks had a touchdown in 11v11. Kobe McCrary has been getting some reps with the first team and looks good. Rodney Smith didn't get a ton of carries in 11v11 as I think the staff knows what he can do.
I thought Melvin Holland had a good practice. Rashad Still had a couple drops in drills and doesn't seem to attack the ball well as you'd like given his size, but he ended practice well and had a nice grab over the middle. Tyler Johnson and Eric Carter both dropped passes they should have caught. Hunter Register is back to receiver after a stint at safety. I'm told he just lack defensive instincts to play on that side of the ball. Morse, Hmielewski, and Holland were actually the first team receivers for the second portion of 11v11, but right now Still, Johnson, and Holland are probably getting the most first team reps.
I really Ko Kieft. He's physical and plays through whistle. Laterally he's not great, but he moves alright in a straight-line sense and has a lot of power to him. Tight end is really thin right now, so it has to be helpful for him to get a lot of reps.
The Gophers are back to having only five healthy lineman, and the lineup is Greene/Dovich/Olson/Schlueter/Connelly. I thought Greene was excellent in pass protection. He was one of the highlights of the day for me, and if he's consistent that would be a great development because at times I thought he struggled last year pass blocking. Conner Olson had three bad snaps.
The first team defensive line was DeLattiboudere/Richardson/Stelter and Coughlin as a rush end. The second team line is Gibson/Moore/Renner with Devers as a rush end, although Devers will sometimes play with the first team too. Trenton Guthrie is used as a stand-up rush end, too. At times, the rush ends break off from the rest of the defensive line and do their own drills. To me, Jerry Gibson is the Gopher who's body has improved the most recently. In my spring practice reports last year, I said that he had added some weight but still had a very long ways to go. Now, he truly looks like a Big Ten defensive end. This was the best practice I saw from Gary Moore. I think he'll have an impact this year.
Back to return punts were Rodney Smith, Tyler Johnson, Shannon Brooks, Melvin Holland, Drew Hmielewski, Antonio Shenault, and Clay Geary. Emmit Carpenter hit his 30s and 40s field goals but was far short on a 52-yard attempt. Jacob Herbers had another great day punting the ball.
Kamal Martin, Thomas Barber, and Jon Celestin are the first team linebackers. Martin has continued to add weight and he's now the most physically impressive linebacker on the team. He'll actually sometimes break out wide into a psedo nickel type of role. Cody Poock still isn't hitting, but today he was participating in some drills for the first time in spring ball.
Jacob Huff had a great practice and had several nice pass breakups. It's hard to keep track of everyone on every rep, but I think Ayinde played exclusively at corner in the nickel today and had no reps as a traditional safety, which I think would be a first. Winfield also played both nickel and safety. At corner, from the reps I saw, Shenault had a better practice today than Kiondre Thomas.
There might have been a little emphasis on conditioning in practice. About halfway through practice, there was a session where position groups would finish a rep with sprinting for the sake of sprinting.
From the recruits at practice thread...
- 6'9", 390 pound tackle Daniel Faalele from IMG Academy was at practice today with Powers Warren, a Minnetonka tight end that's transferred to IMG. Faalele is massive. He didn't see the field much last year for IMG because he hadn't played football before, but is still a 5.7 three-star with seven Power 5 offers (including Georgia, LSU, and Michigan) because of his size and athleticism.
- Austin Beier was of course also on campus and it would be kind of surprising if he doesn't leave campus a Gopher, given that he's been talking up the Gophers and has visited twice, and says he wants to make a decision soon.
- Some of Logan Richter's family was also at practice, but Logan was not there.
