2008 Gophers Review

Since we are less than a week away from signing day 2009 and the official start of the 2009 "season", I figured I would throw out a Gopher review from the 2008 campaign. I'll run through last year's recruits, what we saw and what we didn't. As well as some telling stats and the ever important gambling trends for our beloved Rodents.

First, let's go back to FEB 2008 and the first full class for Timmy B. I'm going player by player, so buckle up:

(Based on Rivals Rankings our best to worst)

QB MarQuies Gray
He's in school and will practice this Spring. Regardless of what our future offense looks like, I have to believe this is our guy. I bet he'll see time this year on occasion, and he'll be even more integrated for next year...if not starting.

DB/LB Keanon Cooper
Redshirted last year - will likely play a lot this year and step in for Lawrence in that spot in 2010. Should be a big-timer for us.

WR Brandon Green
Finally got some time later in the year and showed some brilliance. This guy will be a mainstay in the lineup for the next 3 years.

WR Vincent Hill
Didn't qualify - tard - went to Temple I think.

LB Sam Maresh
Medical reshirt. Will play this Spring and start at MLB for the next 4 years. I'm shopping for my #17 jersey already, this guy could be a ton of fun to watch.

WR David Pittman
Converted to WR from QB at JUCO...finally got healthy toward end of season. Only thing I remeber about him is play#1 from the bowl game when he threw it to Decker. I gotta believe this guy will see a lot of time this year at the WR spot and have much more of the offense designed for him like in the Bowl Game.

CB Traye Simmons
Nice year. I think he lived up to the hype. He played really well throughout most of the year and recieved some post-season recognition. Should step it up even more this year and become a potential draft pick.

DT Jewhan Edwards
Played quite a bit in his 1st year - we have 4 other soon to be Seniors at this spot, so playing time and epxerience will be criritcal for him in 2010, when he and Kirksey will likely be the guys. 8 tackles and a sack, not bad for a Fr.

LB Spencer Reeves
The 3rd and final member of the class that didn't play last year but is in school for Spring. He is supposed to be a legit LB with 4.5 speed and decent size. Could get a chance to start immediately if he performs well this Spring.

WR Broderick Smith
Caught the TD vs. Becky, only ended up with 50 yards all year. Not the fastest guy, but at 6'3" he definitely has some potential for this year and beyond.

RB Kevin Whaley
He was the most highly touted RB of the class, but suffered a gunshot wound in WV before school started so he redshirted. I think he'll get a serious look this year in Spring and might be #1 or #2 on the depth chart come fall. I think he offers more than Salamon and Eskridge.

S Tramaine Brock
Started every game - looked pretty solid as a S. He has left school, although it sounds like he may be coming back? Lots of questions around this dude right now, so I don't think he can be counted on for 2009.

TE Eric Lair
Played exclusively on SpT, needs to add some stength to be a legit TE, but will get a look there this year with Simmons leaving and the only other depth coming from the new freshmen.

LB Simoni Lawrence
love this guy. Lots of huge hits and big plays out of Lawrence last year - he'll be our only returning starter at LB this year, and should be a monster.

LB Rex Sharpe
Not sure what happened to this guy. In Spring and early Fall he was projected as an impact player and starter at LB, he played in 11 games and had 3 tackles - but was almost exclusively on SpT. Maybe he'll get another shot this year, but it's tough to believe a JUCO will do nothing in year one and then all of a sudden become a player in year 2.

DE Terrell Combs
Thought he redshirted, but he's listed as a sophomore. Whatever. He appears to be a great athlete and hopefully he's put on a little size and can compete for a DE spot this season. We'll need someone to replace Willie.

DB Tim Dandrige
Played on SpT this year, but might get a look at CB or S this season. at 6-1 175 he might be a nice fit at S...we'll see. Appears to have all the tools to contribute, and with our lack of secondary depth, he should get a look.

RB Deleon Eskridge
Played alot more than epxected last year. I don't care for him, his running style is kind of pansy-like. Goes down too easily. That could change with a semester and summer in the weight room, so i won't write him off just yet. But with the added depth at RB with Bennett, Whaley, and possibly 2 good Freshmen coming in - he'll be fighting for PT.

DT Brandon Kirksey
8 tackles and 2 sacks in his first year. Looks to be a real-deal player who showed some flashes in year 1. He and Edwards need to get experience and get stronger so they're ready to go in 2010.

DE Cedric McKinley
played great in the bowl game, but I can't remeber noticing him throughout the regular season. He will surely get a shot at becoming the new Willie this year.

RB Shady Salamon
I liked him when he played - but I doubt he'll be much more than a backup on this team in the coming years.

DB Troy Stoudermire
Did a nice job for the most part on KR, but didn't see a lot of time in the secondary. Moved to WR for a while, not sure if that will be permanent. You have to love the speed and elusiveness, but not sure where he'll play. Bold prediction #1 - he will house a kick-off this year.

LB Gary Tinsley
redshirt - didn't play. looks like a SPT and career backup at this point, but you never know...only a RFR.

DE D.L. Wilhite
Another guy looking to learn the DE spot - great athlete who needed to get bigger and stronger. should be in the mix at the open DE spots on this club.

WR Xzavian Brandon
I think he redshirted - career backup is the likely path for this fella.

LB Ryan Grant
Bud's grandson - reshirted - can't see him being a significant player, but he's got a nice legacy and might get a chance.

QB John Nance
Reshirted - might need 4 more redshirt years before he'll have a shot at seeing the field as a QB.

WR Dajon McKnight
Caught a TD vs. the Buckeyes for the late cover, but didn't do much else. Will provide some depth at WR.

DB Johnny Johnson
Tiny dude - didn't play much, but with our lack of secondary depth he might get a look.

There you go. By my count 9 of these guys contributed a lot last season, and another handful played roles on SPT. Plus we were missing arguably our 2 biggest recruits from the entire class with Maresh and Gray...so better things are yet to come.

STATS
So we only scored 23.2 ppg. not enough to be a great team. We only gave up 24.8, which is a giant improvement, but could still be better.

We were outrushed 103-143 on average per game...this won't happen again this year. Our running game will return to prominance.

Still allowed 240 ypg through the air while only throwing for 219.

4.9 ypp while giving up 5.7 ypp - this defintely needs to be under 5 to be even considered as a solid defense.

24 yards per KR - Stourdermire could be in for some big things if he continues to progress at this. We need to find a good 2nd guy though since Jay Thomas can't run anymore.

PENALTIES! we committed 83 for 695 yards while opponents only had 55 for 435 yards. Ridiculous. So many stupid personal fouls, illegal formations, false starts. This is one thing that MUST improve if we expect to go anywhere next January. You can't give up an extra 20 yards per game in penalties vs. your opponents.

Weird stat - we averaged 30 min per game in time of possession - we had it exactly 1/2 the game. weird, huh?

Sacks - we got to them 34 times, but they got us 30 times. Much better than 2007, but a huge decrease for our o-Line. That needs to get better.

FG - 12/16, XP 34-36 - not bad for Monroe. Do you ever think we'll have a year without missing multiple XP's?! or god forbid making all of them?!

We gave up 108 points in Q2 - by far our worst. We were outscored in every quarter this year except for the 4th, where we were +10.

GAMBLING NOTES
We went 7-5, and we went 7-5 ATS...we started 6-1 in both respects. The end of the season was obviously a huge disappointment, but look at what we did accomplish. At the beginning of the year we all thought 6 wins would be a ceiling for our club...well, we got 7. We got to a bowl game, and we kissed the dome goodbye in style with a 0-55 laugher in the wrong direction. It was a fitting way to end the dome madness. I really feel like it's a brand new team with a clean slate this season and beyond. We've recruited well again (giant recap on that coming next week), and we've got a lot of experience returning. We were playing a ton of FR and SO last season, so that can only help us for the next 2 years.

OFFENSE
We avg. 17 ppg in B10 play last year...defintiely not enough to get it done. We couldn't run it, and our passing game had gone stale. What do we do - bring in a big time OL coach/run game coordinator to fix that side, and fire Dunbar and replace him with a young energetic Jedd Fisch, who seems to be one of those wunderkind never-heard-of-ya kind of hires that might do some great things for this team. Weber is back, and we have Gray and Alipate there right behind him - loaded at QB. I still think Weber is the guy, but Gray will see time this year and might have a shot at being the guy next season. RB should be drastically improved with Bennett coming back healthy and Whaley as well as having Eskridge and Salamon for depth. Not to mention the stud freshman coming in named Hasaan Lipscomb who might push Bennett for time. The WR's are also loaded. We have Decker back again and Green as our 2 main weapons. Then add in McKnight, Kuznia, Pittman, Smith, and a couple of new guys who I'm VERY excited about and this might be the deepest position on our team outside of QB. Hayo Carpenter, a JUCO, is a legit 4star or maybe 5star prospect who will get a lot of time from day one. Also Bryant Allen is one of those guys in the Macklin/Harvin mold that will likely see lots of action next year - I think he'll be what they tried to make Stoudermire into last year. At TE, we lose Simmmons but return everyone else. Plus we have 2 big-time TE recruits coming in to compete as well. OL will be a mystery until we see them play, but it has to be better. New, better coach. New, better scheme. New, better talent and some experience from last year for the returners. Matt Carufel will start - the ND transfer is our best OLman. It sounds as if early signee Jeff Wills at 6'7" 350 lbs will also start at OT. lots of guys to choose from - let hope we find something that works early on and are able to stick with it.

DEFENSE
The DL has some questions. Willie is gone. But McKinley appears to be a legit threat to start. Anthony Jacobs is the penciled in starter on the other end right now - he was a 4 star recruit a couple of years back and is only a SOPH for 2009. Combs, Wilhite, Henderson, Onwuachi all have a chance to make it as well. Garin will likely red-shirt, but you never know. LB should be strong, possibly even better than before despite losing 2 of 3 starters. Cooper, Lawrence, Maresh sound lethal to me. Campbell will still play plenty in the middle, Sharpe might re-appear, Triplett sucks. Our DB might be the biggest question. BPT will be at one corner and Sherals should be back at the other spot. But it's a mystery as to what's behind them. Collado, Dandrige, Stoudermire? Yikes. At safety, I think Royston will step in for Brock, and sadly Theret will probably take the other spot. A couple of true freshman are coming in with some clout, but hard to say they'll be ready to go from day 1. No depth here either besides freshman.

K/P
Ellestad might finally get the K job - we recruited Orseske for this upcoming class, but he sounds like more of a P. Not many other options here.

Overall - 2009 is going to be the most fun season of Gopher Football to date...even if we're 0-12.

My NCAA FOOTBALL BETTING BOOK is starting to take shape. I've come up with some pretty solid ideas and am still working out some of the kinks. It will be a work in process until i share it on here probably this summer. I think that's all I got - watching a little WOOFIES-PISTONS tonight in a pick'em...wow, MN-DET is a pick'em.

Hope everything is good with everyone - later.