Guys who didn't see any action today were WR Jamel Harbison, WR Devon Wright, OL Jonah Pirsig, LB De'Niro Laster, CB Derrick Wells and Safety Brock Vereen. Harbison, Wright and Laster all had orange injured jerseys on while Wells, Pirsig and Vereen dressed but did not play.
Projected 1st team depth chart:
QB: Philip Nelson
RB: Donnell Kirkwood and Rodrick Williams
FB/H-back: Mike Henry
WR: Fruechte, Engel, KJ Maye, Harbison
LT: Ed Olson (not by much over Lenky)
LG: Epping
C: Christenson
RG: Bak
RT: Campion
TE: Goodger, Plsek and Maxx Williams
DE: Cockran
DT: Hagemen
DT: Botticelli
DE: Amaefula
OLB: Aaron Hill
MLB: Damien Wilson
OLB: De'Vondre Campbell
CB: Wells
CB: Murray
S: Vereen
S: Thompson
Projected 2nd team:
QB: Mitch Leidner
RB: David Cobb and Berkley Edwards
TE: Ngekia, Bisch and Anyanwu
WR: Andre McDonald, Eric Carter and Drew Wolitarsky
LT: Marek Lenkiewicz
LG: Joe Bjorklund
C: Tommy Olson
RG: Issac Hayes
LT: Foster Bush
DE: Keith
DT: Scott Ekpe
DT: Roland Johnson
DE: Hank Ekpe
OLB: Nick Rallis
MLB: Jack Lynn
OLB: James Manuel
CB: Boddy-Calhoun
CB: Shabazz
S: Johnson
S: Travis
From watching all five quarterbacks run the offense today, Philip Nelson definitely won the day over Mitch Leidner handily. To start the scrimmage, Nelson went 6 of 6 for 52 yards and a TD, including 4 of 4 on the opening drive which ended in a converted 4th down in the red zone to KJ Maye who was motioned across into the flats where Nelson hit him beautifully. I'm not sure what Nelson's were as I lost track in the end, but he converted most of his throws today right in stride. I feel much more comfortable about Nelson as the starter than I did at this time last week. He showed agility to move around in the pocket and still have his head down field, including hitting Fruechte across middle for 17 yards. I'd be very surprised if Nelson is not your starter against UNLV.
Leidner on the other hand struggled a bit with the offense, his 2nd team didn't move the ball as effectively at the first team did. He wasn't as crisp and on target on his throws as Nelson was and it showed. Even though I've seen him live many times now, each time I'm surprised with how fast and athletic Leidner is on the run. I'm very confident in him as the back-up. He threw a great deep ball to Andre McDonald who had trouble high pointing the ball today as he seemed to be a step early and Marcus Jones was able to swat it away.
Streveler is clearly to me the third quarterback and that controversy is now over. He looked good throwing the ball with some good velocity on his throws. His highlight came when he came around the right edge scrambling and displayed his legit 4.5 speed and should have taken it 60 yards to the house if he hadn't have stepped out of bounds. He's one of the best athletes on the team and between he and Jones, he'll be the future behind Nelson and Leidner.
Jones struggled today at the quarterback spot. He threw a bad interception behind his receiver that was easily picked. What I'm noticing that's different between Jones and the rest of the quarterbacks is his motions are just slower. What I mean is on the read option, Nelson will crisply and deliberately put the ball in the RB's bread basket then make a decision. Jones is just slower and not as vicious in that as he should be. He's absolutely one of the best athlete's on the roster as had a couple of runs up the middle where he made guys miss easily. Jones was also the only one between he and Streveler who received reps at WR today. Streveler connected with Jones for a spectacular catch on a fade along the sidelines. His athletic ability may be able to help the Gophers right away somewhere on the field. I think Jones moves permanently to wide receiver next week.
As far as the running backs, two guys who had days to remember for different reasons were David Cobb and Berkley Edwards. I'll touch on Kirkwood and Williams briefly before I stark. Kirkwood converted two third down conversions for tough yards and Williams ran hard as well. It is interesting to note that Cobb was the first running back in after Kirkwood. Cobb to me, just didn't have it today. I was expecting him to hit holes hard with some authority, but all day long, he was hesitant in the backfield and went way too much East and West and not enough North and South. There wasn't a pop when he went and I'm not sure he had a run over 5 yards even though he had probably 8-10 carries. Berkley Edwards on the other hand, on his first carry as Gopher, took it 70 yards to the house. Made one cut up the middle and put on the after burners, Steven Montgomery tried to catch him but it wasn't even close. Edwards also had a run where his lateral ability made a few guys miss and the kid runs tough, not going down at the first hit. Take all this with a grain of salt as Cobb went against the first team and Edwards against the 3rd team as well. I'd expect Edwards to see somewhere between 5-10 snaps a game, he's too much of a playmaker to not have him on the field.
The receivers didn't see too much action today as it was probably 70/30 run pass, but I didn't see many drop balls at all. Fruechte and Engel got open and made the post of their opportunities. KJ Maye and eventually Jamel Harbison are going to have big roles in this offense as Nelson targeted Maye the most today. They'll need both Jamel and KJ as they're going to take a beating in the flats this year. Carter and Wolitarsky didn't get any targets today, but expect one of them to play this year. I only think one of them needs to play as they'll be the fifth receiver and there's no need to burn a RS for a 6th receiver.
Offensive line wise, I think the fellas up front did a good job of opening holes for the running backs. Again, the first team offensive went 10-12 plays on their first drive eventually ending in a touchdown, so it was the ground and pound football that Minnesota fans should get used to this year.
On the defensive line, I was very impressed with Theiren Cockran and Hank Ekpe. Cockran had two sacks today and his speed that the staff has been raving about was on display today. He burned Campion around the edge for a sack and then got up field to quarterback depth and the spun back into Nelson who would have been eaten alive. I'm convinced that there is no way Hank Ekpe red-shirts after today. He was the 2nd team DE all day, replacing Ben Perry, and I'm going to give credit when credits due, I didn't not think after this spring he'd be where he is on the depth chart. He's put on 30 pounds and increased his speed and agility. He batted Leidner's first throw up there in air and was able to get a sack, burning Lauer around the edge. I'm excited to see what he can do two-three years down the road, but he'll definitely play. Also expect Yoshoub Timms to play DT in 3rd down situations as he's the teams best inside pass rusher.
For linebackers today, I'm seriously convinced that there is no way Damien Wilson is not starter at MLB come UNLV. He was absolutely flying around the field today displaying some closing speed I haven't seen out of any of the linebackers this year. He had a few TFL and hit the holes HARD. I'm finally excited about a Gopher linebacker and he's the one. I also think that James Manuel will be the starter, but expect he and De'Vondre Campbell to share a lot of snaps as Campbell is too great of an athlete to not see the field as well. Chris Wipson looked good on the third team LB's intercepting a ball and coming up big for some tackles. The Gophers freshman linebackers are full of so much potential and promise that I'm trying to tame myself here. Laster, Dixon and Wipson could be special in two years folks.
In the secondary, expect Briean Boddy-Calhoun to be on the field a lot this year. He started in place of Wells today and looked very good. When the team goes nickel, expect Wells to be the inside (nickel) corner and Boddy and Murray on the outside. Damarius Travis also got the start in place of Vereen and definitely wasn't afraid to lay the wood inside the box, his length and athleticism are going to fun to watch develop over the next few years. Expect a lot of rotation in the secondary like last year to keep guys fresh.
There was a special teams scrimmage this morning and from what I'm hearing out of that, expect Hawthrone to be the starting kicker come UNLV. Some were expecting him to throw in the towel, but he put in work this off-season and apparently it's showing in his results between the goals. I expect Santoso to be the kickoff guy and it's Hawthrone job to lose with field goals. I've also heard that Orseske is back competing for the starting punter job with Eldred.
Feel free to post below if you attended and as always, any questions, please post and I'll get to each one.
Projected 1st team depth chart:
QB: Philip Nelson
RB: Donnell Kirkwood and Rodrick Williams
FB/H-back: Mike Henry
WR: Fruechte, Engel, KJ Maye, Harbison
LT: Ed Olson (not by much over Lenky)
LG: Epping
C: Christenson
RG: Bak
RT: Campion
TE: Goodger, Plsek and Maxx Williams
DE: Cockran
DT: Hagemen
DT: Botticelli
DE: Amaefula
OLB: Aaron Hill
MLB: Damien Wilson
OLB: De'Vondre Campbell
CB: Wells
CB: Murray
S: Vereen
S: Thompson
Projected 2nd team:
QB: Mitch Leidner
RB: David Cobb and Berkley Edwards
TE: Ngekia, Bisch and Anyanwu
WR: Andre McDonald, Eric Carter and Drew Wolitarsky
LT: Marek Lenkiewicz
LG: Joe Bjorklund
C: Tommy Olson
RG: Issac Hayes
LT: Foster Bush
DE: Keith
DT: Scott Ekpe
DT: Roland Johnson
DE: Hank Ekpe
OLB: Nick Rallis
MLB: Jack Lynn
OLB: James Manuel
CB: Boddy-Calhoun
CB: Shabazz
S: Johnson
S: Travis
From watching all five quarterbacks run the offense today, Philip Nelson definitely won the day over Mitch Leidner handily. To start the scrimmage, Nelson went 6 of 6 for 52 yards and a TD, including 4 of 4 on the opening drive which ended in a converted 4th down in the red zone to KJ Maye who was motioned across into the flats where Nelson hit him beautifully. I'm not sure what Nelson's were as I lost track in the end, but he converted most of his throws today right in stride. I feel much more comfortable about Nelson as the starter than I did at this time last week. He showed agility to move around in the pocket and still have his head down field, including hitting Fruechte across middle for 17 yards. I'd be very surprised if Nelson is not your starter against UNLV.
Leidner on the other hand struggled a bit with the offense, his 2nd team didn't move the ball as effectively at the first team did. He wasn't as crisp and on target on his throws as Nelson was and it showed. Even though I've seen him live many times now, each time I'm surprised with how fast and athletic Leidner is on the run. I'm very confident in him as the back-up. He threw a great deep ball to Andre McDonald who had trouble high pointing the ball today as he seemed to be a step early and Marcus Jones was able to swat it away.
Streveler is clearly to me the third quarterback and that controversy is now over. He looked good throwing the ball with some good velocity on his throws. His highlight came when he came around the right edge scrambling and displayed his legit 4.5 speed and should have taken it 60 yards to the house if he hadn't have stepped out of bounds. He's one of the best athletes on the team and between he and Jones, he'll be the future behind Nelson and Leidner.
Jones struggled today at the quarterback spot. He threw a bad interception behind his receiver that was easily picked. What I'm noticing that's different between Jones and the rest of the quarterbacks is his motions are just slower. What I mean is on the read option, Nelson will crisply and deliberately put the ball in the RB's bread basket then make a decision. Jones is just slower and not as vicious in that as he should be. He's absolutely one of the best athlete's on the roster as had a couple of runs up the middle where he made guys miss easily. Jones was also the only one between he and Streveler who received reps at WR today. Streveler connected with Jones for a spectacular catch on a fade along the sidelines. His athletic ability may be able to help the Gophers right away somewhere on the field. I think Jones moves permanently to wide receiver next week.
As far as the running backs, two guys who had days to remember for different reasons were David Cobb and Berkley Edwards. I'll touch on Kirkwood and Williams briefly before I stark. Kirkwood converted two third down conversions for tough yards and Williams ran hard as well. It is interesting to note that Cobb was the first running back in after Kirkwood. Cobb to me, just didn't have it today. I was expecting him to hit holes hard with some authority, but all day long, he was hesitant in the backfield and went way too much East and West and not enough North and South. There wasn't a pop when he went and I'm not sure he had a run over 5 yards even though he had probably 8-10 carries. Berkley Edwards on the other hand, on his first carry as Gopher, took it 70 yards to the house. Made one cut up the middle and put on the after burners, Steven Montgomery tried to catch him but it wasn't even close. Edwards also had a run where his lateral ability made a few guys miss and the kid runs tough, not going down at the first hit. Take all this with a grain of salt as Cobb went against the first team and Edwards against the 3rd team as well. I'd expect Edwards to see somewhere between 5-10 snaps a game, he's too much of a playmaker to not have him on the field.
The receivers didn't see too much action today as it was probably 70/30 run pass, but I didn't see many drop balls at all. Fruechte and Engel got open and made the post of their opportunities. KJ Maye and eventually Jamel Harbison are going to have big roles in this offense as Nelson targeted Maye the most today. They'll need both Jamel and KJ as they're going to take a beating in the flats this year. Carter and Wolitarsky didn't get any targets today, but expect one of them to play this year. I only think one of them needs to play as they'll be the fifth receiver and there's no need to burn a RS for a 6th receiver.
Offensive line wise, I think the fellas up front did a good job of opening holes for the running backs. Again, the first team offensive went 10-12 plays on their first drive eventually ending in a touchdown, so it was the ground and pound football that Minnesota fans should get used to this year.
On the defensive line, I was very impressed with Theiren Cockran and Hank Ekpe. Cockran had two sacks today and his speed that the staff has been raving about was on display today. He burned Campion around the edge for a sack and then got up field to quarterback depth and the spun back into Nelson who would have been eaten alive. I'm convinced that there is no way Hank Ekpe red-shirts after today. He was the 2nd team DE all day, replacing Ben Perry, and I'm going to give credit when credits due, I didn't not think after this spring he'd be where he is on the depth chart. He's put on 30 pounds and increased his speed and agility. He batted Leidner's first throw up there in air and was able to get a sack, burning Lauer around the edge. I'm excited to see what he can do two-three years down the road, but he'll definitely play. Also expect Yoshoub Timms to play DT in 3rd down situations as he's the teams best inside pass rusher.
For linebackers today, I'm seriously convinced that there is no way Damien Wilson is not starter at MLB come UNLV. He was absolutely flying around the field today displaying some closing speed I haven't seen out of any of the linebackers this year. He had a few TFL and hit the holes HARD. I'm finally excited about a Gopher linebacker and he's the one. I also think that James Manuel will be the starter, but expect he and De'Vondre Campbell to share a lot of snaps as Campbell is too great of an athlete to not see the field as well. Chris Wipson looked good on the third team LB's intercepting a ball and coming up big for some tackles. The Gophers freshman linebackers are full of so much potential and promise that I'm trying to tame myself here. Laster, Dixon and Wipson could be special in two years folks.
In the secondary, expect Briean Boddy-Calhoun to be on the field a lot this year. He started in place of Wells today and looked very good. When the team goes nickel, expect Wells to be the inside (nickel) corner and Boddy and Murray on the outside. Damarius Travis also got the start in place of Vereen and definitely wasn't afraid to lay the wood inside the box, his length and athleticism are going to fun to watch develop over the next few years. Expect a lot of rotation in the secondary like last year to keep guys fresh.
There was a special teams scrimmage this morning and from what I'm hearing out of that, expect Hawthrone to be the starting kicker come UNLV. Some were expecting him to throw in the towel, but he put in work this off-season and apparently it's showing in his results between the goals. I expect Santoso to be the kickoff guy and it's Hawthrone job to lose with field goals. I've also heard that Orseske is back competing for the starting punter job with Eldred.
Feel free to post below if you attended and as always, any questions, please post and I'll get to each one.
