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Use off-code everything for 10% off your website or domain. So another episode of Gopher GridironRadio. In the new era that is the gophergazette.com. We are on launch day here July 1st.
And it's been a lot going on over on Minnesota 247. So we have now switched officially from Gopher Illustrated to Gopher Gazette. I've written a lot about it. You should head on over there to see what the changes are.
But for those of you who want the too long, didn't read or in this case didn't listen. In an era of, I would say, gophers coverage, especially here locally that appears to be shrinking, I'm now taking over and I'm putting my money where my mouth isn't worth expanding. So that's where we have added some help to the basketball side of things to boost up our basketball coverage and hiring Dan Owen as a new paid staff writer. And I know that he is a very good friend of our guest on the podcast today.
But before we get into that, Dan is going to be helping on the Nico Medved Men's basketball side of things. But also, I think it's about time that we get some consistent women's basketball coverage as well. And that's where Dan was able to earn some time with everyone's favorite sweet 16 coach Don Plitzawight. And those two went in-depth on a part one that is again, live on Gopher Gazette.
And for those of you listening to this, thank you yourself. Well, boy, that sounds like a good time to join. Do you got a deal going on? So I can justify this to my significant other in a time where everybody's budget is a little tighter.
I do. It is 75% off a new annual VIP subscription over there to join our outstanding elite message port community. You get to read everything across the 247 sports network. You get to communicate with myself, Ryan James, Dan, Owen and a daily basis there.
So that's $35 for the entire year. So we can show you that this consistent gophers coverage is going to be something that you want to invest in. Now, now that I got my shameless plug out of the way, that's where we get into the nitty gritty. That is summer splash recruiting.
And there is no one I can think of better in my life that I would want to talk about than the deer magnate himself who lives in Northwest Wisconsin. And that is gopherguru.com. Daniel House has a lovely, lovely subscriber myself. I have been reading all about this Gopher 2027 recruiting class from you.
You and I know the name is better than anyone else. But how is life for you in Wisconsin as we approach the Fourth of July, Mr. House? 21st off congrats.
Excited about the changes coming to 24 seven. You know, people need to know the work that's put in our market for content. It's remarkable. Everyone's hustling and birdies putting in the work.
The one you can support local content. I mean, if you want to read about the teams you love and get next gen type of coverage, or the work, support our people and do it locally because it's important. I think I just want to get that message out there. Well, I love that for you.
Before I give you an opportunity to plug gopherguru.com, the last thing I want to do is also say, if you're listening to us and you've always thought to yourself, I wonder what Ryan Burns and Daniel House actually look like consistently. Well, unfortunately for you, you're going to hear the same joke because outside of my wife, there's no one in my life that thinks that I don't have a face for radio. And guess what? You can watch us now on YouTube.
It's every episode will be posted to the gophergizzet YouTube page. So if you're someone who prefers to consume your content video-wise, because here's what I've learned through marriage house is my wife is and look, I love her dearly. We have now been married. I don't know how long.
I think three, four years, but we've been together now over a decade is she will only consume podcasts on YouTube, which is so ironic because she doesn't watch it. Now, I don't quite understand how it all works in her brain, but it makes sense for her. So I knew that we were lacking in the video game. People also want to be able to see us.
So unfortunately for you, House, or fortunately, look, I think you're a handsome lad. So everybody gets to do your mug, but we're now on the YouTube game, baby. We're on the YouTube game. It's where the content's going.
So I'm excited about it. It's going to be great. All right. So what we're here to do today is look, we could be here for two hours.
And I think some of you would enjoy that if we got into the nitty gritty of all 29. Yes, you heard that correctly. All 29 go for football commits in this 2027 recruiting class. I will tell you with the utmost peace and love.
I would probably not enjoy getting into the minutia of every single high schooler, but what we are here to do today is try and give you the most comprehensive overview of what happened here over the last six weeks, because this class has really expanded, I would say since probably for being honest, House, early April to where we are today, where they started hot. And I think they're at least Minnesota, I think at least was sitting with one of the biggest volume classes in the high school ranks, at least again, 29 commits in the transfer portal era is an incredible number. But before I give my thoughts and feelings on that, what are your overall view or what is your overall view here of the 2027 class here so far? Yeah, I feel like they've really prioritized traits and specific positions, you know, length being one on the offensive line, especially our link long developmental profiles with that position.
Safety, I'd say a lot of different skill sets guys that can do different things playing in the D-path, being able to play single high, work over the slide. Well, safety has some different skill set profiles tight end, you know, with Baco and Mickelson, more flex tight ends in high school that'll develop more versatility in the passing game when they're able to gain additional strength. And I'd say the big one burnsy is a receiver, you know, it's more that basketball team mindset where you kind of got a power forward center point guard, the combo guard, different types of length and size skill set profile for the wide receivers, something that clearly Isaac Fricki has prioritized early on in his tenure here as wide receivers coach. Yeah, there's a lot to get into with all those statements here and I'm excited to do so.
And I also think it's important to start with saying there's a lot of college football coaches in this in 2026 here that say a lot of words that actually back up their actions. And I know that PJ Fleck gets that stereotype, especially if you haven't been in this market with him for 10 years. But one of the things that he has stressed to us here in the local media, especially in recent years house, is that he wants to build this team from the high school ranks. And that's where you look at their last class.
I mean, they had 25 plus guys that they signed in the then you look at this current recruiting class that almost has 30 guys in it. It's one of those where my father taught me as I was growing up that I hear what you say. And I trust what you do. I've set it on this podcast for Lord knows how many years and I'm sure many of you are tired of me saying it.
But I also just if you're gonna say something, do it. And that's what Fleck has done is that he's backing up his actions that and I agree with him and why it's important house and I want you to see I want to get your thoughts on this statement I want to put to you is for a school like the University of Minnesota that makes the decision to not spend a lot of money in high school recruiting relative to other big 10 teams where I know that our 24 seven sports folks were out at the opening for those of you who don't know what the opening is it's this big hoopla event out in Oregon all the top players in the country end up going out there especially quarterback wise. And they did an anonymous recruit survey of all these high profile recruits and to see some of the numbers that some of these guys have agreed to already where look, I'm not here to shame them but if they're their school's house that we're offering millions of dollars per year on three-year deals to 16 17 year olds, I cannot fathom for the life of me doing such but if you have the money to do it, I suppose do it but for a class here's again I know I'm getting very tangent here but my statement to you is for the way that they want to build this thing high school ranks where the ceiling swings are and I think if this would bear out as you go back through PJ Fleck NFL Draftics a lot of them come from the high school ranks and I think that's what Fleck has figured out is portal for what Minnesota's budget is, portal guys you fix holes, high school guys we're swinging for home runs here. Do you agree or disagree?
Yeah I think now you know you look at the high school landscape with five for five coming into play here that changes a little bit of the calculus in terms of like your risk tolerance on certain players you take knowing that hey you got to start to get an impact from this player maybe faster you know into that second year you got to start seeing something from the player so I do think it's going to impact us your building strategy in terms of developmental players how risky do you want to be and then your evaluation has to be very good now I mean especially if you're going to do a lot in the high school recruiting ranks of course you're not going to be perfect but I mean if you want to really build a dynamic team that's got depth you're going to have to nail some guys that are maybe slipping under through the cracks or under identified players that and come in and make an impact and then you kind of got to balance it out in terms of which positions translate the fastest in high school recruiting you know is it skill guys where do you find that balance of like trench players which ones can translate faster and what type of physical profiles do they have so now I think the strategy component of how you build your team and the way you evaluate becomes pretty important especially for schools like Minnesota that are more high school recruiting heavy yeah yeah it's it's a fascinating mix and it's one that I wish we could get into with someone like Garrett Chernoff who is the general manager or maybe more specifically with the director of player personnel here Marcus Henderson and maybe that'll one day be an episode that you and I can get into the nitty gritty and the weeds with those guys of how do you go about building it when you don't have the budget that Nebraska has that you don't have the budget that apparently UCLA now has because that was one of the schools that one of the questions that was posed to these high profile recruits out at the opening was who offered you the most money and UCLA was mentioned by multiple players which they didn't have that money under the previous regime now I would ask you how do they still have money considering the athletic department but that's for a completely different podcast so as we get into the start of this 27 recruiting class I know everybody wants us to start at one position and that would be quarterback and that's where it is a I think fascinating mix for Greg Harbo because you have the unknown that is Firian Infraera who is a California quarterback and why he is the unknown is the young man just hasn't played football and what do I mean by that well he his recruiting story is an interesting one where he picks up all these offers house prior to him really having any game tape he commits to Boston College last summer or I think the spring of 2025 the gophers get him on campus last summer they're able to see him and they get him committed he's supposed to be competing for the starting quarterback position with Ryan Hopkins out at modern day he ends up tearing his knee in September I think he has attempted at the high school ranks at a varsity level less than 50 passes now you and I have been able to see Firian in for our live as he attended gopher camp here just in the last few weeks so with Firian specifically what stands out to you yeah I mean being able to push the ball downfield and you know rip it at all three level I think that was kind of the apparent takeaway I think like you say it looks like a guy that maybe hasn't played as much that like the fundamental piece like Greg's gonna need to get his hands on him and like coach up all that reliability but you see like the flat is of throw here throw there where it's like he's able to kind of you know make all the necessary throws in the system but I do think it's like but work you know varying the pace of throw understanding the type of throw you need for the specific route type like those things will come with more playing times I feel like Minnesota's betting on the fact that they see flashes and they see the ability now it's all about you know maybe this guy was a little bit under recruited because of the lower sample size other teams were looking for guys with you know more production but then you know he's coming off the injury as well too so that's he's still kind of working his way back from that but I think this is like an upside bet being a moderate-die being in a program that is you know high profile has a very you know diverse offensive system that allowed him to you know even though he didn't have the reps he's working in practice and office system that can help him translate to the college level so I think they're going to kind of lean on you know the development piece with him and hope that maybe he's a little bit underrated in a sense and that's where Thor his senior year he is transferred now to Mission Hills High School if you want to search him on the X machine you're able to see some of the seven on seven stuff like I think throwing on air that's about as good physically as you can look from what I've seen from the clips I've seen he's six two and a half plus I think he's pretty athletic it's just for him and he is the lowest rated guy according to 24 seven sports in this class I don't disagree with that necessarily right now because he just hasn't played now if we get into October and we got six games worth of tape and it looks like if the tape matches the physical skill set I mean he's going to rise very very quickly in my mind but the skill set is certainly there for Minnesota have an impact quarterback down the line here now the other guy in the class is a local kid from more head one of the more head kids here again go more head spuds if you're a gopher fan you're going to be tuning in to every single more head spuds game a pun sure WDA Y or whatever it's going to be at this point this fall but Jet Feeney is the other quarterback in this class who has been one of the most prolific pastors over the last couple of years when he was healthy more head was a completely different team last fall that's why they ended up in the state title game but Jet Feeney now because I think of Jet Feeney back when he was a sophomore I think again to me that's when he got in my radar Jet Feeney's over six foot two now and I was on Instagram yesterday and he posted a clip I mean he's two hand dunking behind his head I think he's bigger and more athletic than what people give him credit for but when you watch Jet Feeney and from what you've seen what stands out yeah I think that you kind of went right where I was thinking to go in here like the play extension skills on the move are kind of a one of the traits that stand out I mean he's capable of scrambling picking up yards as needed you know I think the quick and intermediate game you know having that quick release to get the ball out with anticipation working you know the middle of the field back in line Red Zone throws and the system that they run is very passing centric you know built around RPO and play action moving the pocket but you know I think he's got some upside he's a tough player too he stands in there he'll take some hits and get rid of the ball but I think that you know Minnesota here is looking at in-state guy who like you say is you know getting getting bigger getting more and showing some athleticism so I think that you know you look at Jet Feeney and kind of see where he's out with his tape this year I think that tape of the last year high school ball is so talented because I think guys can make it hugely between the junior and senior yeah I mean I think senior year is the most important data point in this whole thing and I've talked to coaches at the big 10 level at the Mountain West level and the Missouri Valley level at the Mayak level whatever it may be that the senior while recruiting continues to accelerate earlier and earlier and earlier yeah it's still the most important data point is how do you actually look when the pads are on for your senior year because house and I'll tell you I call them the underwear Olympics which are camps or different things where you're just moving around out there you're doing 40 short shuttle I mean that is that is still a data point you still have to be big enough long enough fast enough but your tape is ultimate your tape and that's what's going to be playing on Saturday so it's still one of most fascinating data points there now when he gets a running back again we start up in more head you have Tay Rich and then you go down to Mississippi to get not Greg Harbo but Greg Hargo now one of the things I would tell you that I think they've certainly targeted here with Mo and his first year as the running back coach is they want passcatchers at tailback because that is something that Hargo and that rich display on their tape but when you watch both of them what stands out to you yeah I think the receiving ability is one of them you know swing passes wheel and arrow routes you know getting them flexed out just getting the ball in space when I watched a lot of the tape on Hargo I thought you know he had a real slippery runner I'm in the return game you know making that sharp jump cut and then kind of accelerating downhill he's a little smaller sudden type of back on the perimeter I think he gives that a little bit of a different type of skill set and then I thought with right he did a really good job like pressing block and then kind of letting stuff set up finding the cutback he's got a very patient running style I'd say the versatility is definitely a component that Mo's looking for and you watch Greg's offense you know they really want to be able to you know get the running back involved in the passing game where it's through checkdowns go in empty and having the back out wide have the back out wide you know motion back in you know trying to get other information and create match up so I think that's something clearly that Minnesota's value with the running back super yeah that's where Rich is probably the most intriguing of the four to me of more head commits and why I say that is I think his workout stuff outside of his game tape shows me that there's more upside there what do I mean by that I mean he's a part of Midwest team USA for baseball I know he's a great baseball player I've talked to coaches outside of the gopher staff who have watched him work out up there and would tell you he might be the best athlete of the four of them and that considers Zack Walker who will get to a little bit later is one of the best track athletes in the state so the question I have for Tay this fall is does that athleticism that is seen in workouts begin to translate more and more to the football field now I'm not saying that the tape isn't good there's a reason why he's committed to a big 10 institution right now but that is one of the things that I'm going to be keeping an eye on in September while watching these more head-spud games is when Jetvini actually does hand the ball off because that offense is going to be insanely gaudy how does Tay look in terms of making men miss how does he look in terms of again turning a 10 yard run into a 70 yard touchdown it's different things of that nature now when we get to Isaac Frick these receiver room here they're loading up baby they took four high school receivers in the shortest guy house is six foot flat so I'll give you the names here and I'll let you go from there you've got another more head spud and who was the most productive receiver in the state of Minnesota last year in David Mack you've got Jaden Thomas from Las Vegas Centennial you've got Kevin Fairey good from Seifaric high school down in Cypress Texas and then Carlos Ferguson from Maryland a six foot four receiver so what stands out to you about what Isaac Frick do you want to do in his first shot to kind of turn over his receiver room it's pretty clear Minnesota wants to have more versatility in the passing game having different skill sets that they can move around to create good matchups and so like you said having bigger body types is one of the ways to do that you know kind of meshes in with the tight end position too that they want to have guys that they can move into different formations to make it tougher for the defense to you know make decisions keep the defense constantly guessing with more personnel grouping variety you know Ferguson's a bigger target like he said at six four one of those bigger X type of guys but also could maybe be a power slot type of player I thought Fairey good was really good in the yak component being able to stay on his feet make plays after the catch working in the middle of the field. Thomas from Las Vegas I think he's more of a gat-a-guy in space getting the ball let him make plays but David Mack you know saw him live I thought he was someone that you know within the initial aspect of the release able to run a lot of different routes and create natural separation I think there's some intriguing elements in his game just how he moves and he's got pretty good hands so I'm curious to see you know what the step next step looks like for him once he kind of gets in the program develops physically and gets more technical refinement it's clear that they wanted to add more variety to the receiver room from a skill set standard. Yeah you look at what they've done even in the last let's include the 26 recruiting class where you think about a guy like Braden Stevens okay Brad Stevens why do you take Braden Stevens from Kansas City when he's five foot eight because he's got 10 three speed because you want to target the trait of speed you look at what they've done here in the 27 class what is an area that at least on this podcast that you and I have talked about endlessly over the last 24 months is how Gopher receivers had 50-50 balls become at points last year 35-65 balls now you need the adequate size which they do have now in Carlos Ferguson and Kevin very good again you're targeting guys that can go up and win at the back pylon or if it's second and eight and you want the quarterback to throw a fade well he's got to go be able to grab it off the noggin of a corner you've got the adequate size and length there you look at a guy like Jane Thomas he's got the speed and acceleration he watches Tate you watch the way he's able to run away from guys right there and then David Mac to me he's a guy that if it hits is going to be someone like Daniel Jackson to me where he's not the biggest guy house he's not the fastest guy he's not the most explosive guy necessarily but you know what he does an outstanding job of running routes and getting the F open which I think there's so obviously so much value to that because at the end of the day what is the receiver's job to win his route you can do it in a lot of different ways you can be really long really tall really fast whatever it may be but if you just know how to get open like David Mac does and then catch the football I mean there is so much value in that so I think it's very intriguing that Isaac clearly has a plan because he's now worked with what Minnesota has on roster for six months so he knows what he this room needs and it's clear to me house that what he thought was we need to get bigger and we need to have guys that have specific traits of if they hit how do they win well this is how they win yeah I totally agree I think that they're looking for more schematic possibility to from Greg's standpoint of being able to create different looks and packages and you know week to week you might see a team that struggles with that type of link they're smaller defensive back rooms you're able to get match ups for your bigger targets I just think that Minnesota now is kind of trying to figure out how to adjust to their personnel to maybe match up with the type of scheme that they're playing because you know they work out of that RPL based team now they've gotten into that more pro style offense so now your person now you need different types of players you look at Shanahan's offense for example think about all the different body types Jwan Jennings is the perfect example of a bigger guy it's not with the Vikings but he's that skill set that they you know constantly we're moving around to create matches for so Minnesota wants that type of diversity in the room now when we transition to the college tight ends here Eric Taylor had himself a class where if you look at the two highest rated guys they both are tight ends and so we are soon to be a 14 personnel offense with Roman Voss you're also going to be adding into the mix a four star from South Dakota by the name of Drake Mickelson from Lennox and then you've also got from everyone's favorite North Dakota high school if you're a gopher fan Kindred North Dakota in Brooks Paco now you and I were able to see Drake Mickelson in Brooks Paco live last summer 12 months ago and Kaylor got them down to some gopher camps now I know I've got some strong thoughts and feelings but when you look at the future of this gopher tight end Roman you can include Roman Voss Gabe Weaver guys like that too what gets you excited I'm saying just the idea of versatility you know being able to play guys from different alignments some of those players have different strengths from various spots you know you're constantly making the defense have to adjust to you know the grouping that's your deploying so I mean you can go to tight end you could play you know one of these guys in the slot is more like a power slot you look at like studying Michigan heading in the season they had a JJB Cannon who kind of came in as a tight end but then they changed his designation to receiver and he's more of that like tight end receiver hybrid type of guy the Naryon Bonner guy in Nebraska similar type of skill set though you look at kind of what teams are doing in roster building they want to have different received different types of tight ends that they can use not just the blocking component yeah it's always going to be important but guys who can create mismatches in the passing game so you look at these two and baco and Mickelson you know right now they're flex tight ends so they're going to have to get a little bit stronger while maintaining the movement skills and the body control that I think are two you know exemplary traits within the game you know moving like receivers but having that tight end frame now you're going to have to get the weight added on and Kaylor's going to have to unlock those traits fundamentally but you know this is clearly trying to invest in a tight end room and then we didn't even talk about like the matchup thing for the defense you know when you got two tight ends on the field you know does the team have a six three you know snickle corner that's big enough to be able to fit the run so you can stay in nickel or do you have you know a linebacker on the field so I think grouping wise it helps you in that respect too I mean that is the most important thing that I think people if you really want to get into the weeds 201 level stuff which is what house is essentially alluding to is you want to target tight ends that are like say brevin spanford and that's what Brooks Paco, Drake, Mickelson, and Roman Vassar where they can kill you as a receiver but they also can get you as a run blocker which can put your defense in personnel packages where it's a house's point if you're in two tight ends you're probably going to have in the big ten a third linebacker on the field well can that six foot two six foot four sam linebacker at 240 pounds can he cover this guy in space compared to if you're just in one tight end then you can have a safety or somebody else who's maybe more agile do so you want to create as many mismatches as possible which the only question I have for a house because I know that I've seen the discourse online here and I think our listeners would be intrigued to hear your thoughts on this as I've seen a lot of the NFL guys some of the smartest minds that I believe in the NFL have talked a lot about how tight end usage is increasing in the NFL now I'm sure you've seen the discourse but if you had to get it down to that one-on-one level for the listeners here why is it that the NFL is leaning so much more into the tight ends which in turn is going to influence the highest levels of college football which your golden gophers are at in the big ten oh you look at the crazy NFL there for a while was you know the passing game and you know vertical passing so defenses counterplay more too high shell type of defenses so you know you have opportunities to run into later boxes and you know teams are going okay they're taking away the big play now you're going to pivot and run the football a little bit more get back to the run game you know heavier groupings two tight ends multiple tight ends you look at what Seattle did and they're run to the Super Bowl you know they play a lot of diverse personnel groupings multi tight ends their passing efficiency jumped up significantly when they were in those types of packages so I think it's more of an adjustment like you go through these ebbs and flows and you watch football every level like defenses will do something offenses will adjust offenses will do something defenses will adjust and you know maybe it's two to three year periods where there's waves but I think that's kind of a response to defenses getting smaller some package heavy they're like okay now you're going to have to be able to have guys on the field that can play the run and then also be able to match up against tight ends I think that is something that is definitely changed the way teams are building the rosters in NFL look at how many tight ends are drafted record number of tight ends so how does that apply now to the college football game you know I think that there's some opportunities there for teams that are building rosters to do some do some cool stuff and really make it hard on teams but this is my lovey house is the way that you're able to convey it is for simple football minded folks like myself a lot easier to digest and at my old age that's one of the most important things you'll learn that as you get older but to kind of get back to these two tight ends and to me Brooks Paco I'm going to say this with the utmost peace and love to the pride of Jackson County Central who I think is going to be a very good player in Roman boss I like Brooks Paco slightly more now again that's not meant as a slight to Roman boss but Brooks Paco to me just checks every possible box that you could think of for how the tight end has evolved in the college ranks he is legitimately six foot five he is an outstanding 50-50 ball winner he is the literal reigning Gatorade player of the year if you've ever watched him play basketball my man could have definitely gone and played probably mid-major division one basketball if you would have wanted the athleticism is effortless and I remember watching him at that go for camp catch passes it's not like some tight ends you've watched over the year where you know they are like crossing their eyes because they're concentrating so hard to catch the football it comes very effortlessly for Brooks now for Brooks it's going to be how do you get from 210 pounds to 240 pounds while maintaining that athleticism maintaining that speed and mismatchability and then again I'm not trying to slight Mickelson at all who is one of the best 400 meter runners also in South Dakota the athleticism is very evident with the both of them and it's clear that that's what Eric Kaler was trying to get was with the college game and the NFL game so intertwined now everyone wants to get more athletic and then they have I think they've done a very good job of that here in the last couple of classes but to me Paco I don't know and again for tight ends it's so difficult to play early on because you need to be able to help in the run game and that's where you just need to be stronger and again that's going to be up on Paco here over the next 12-13 months before he joins but the easy athleticism for me with Brooks Paco to go with a legitimate six foot five frame I mean I think he has a ceiling just like Roman Vos does to be that Brevin's man forward slash Max Williams type of pass catching tight end that so many people have been yearning for house well yeah and then you'll kind of look at positional value burns they don't think people talk about that enough in the sense that like you know receivers are going to be more expensive to lean more into the tight ends with the idea that you know maybe you can get a little bit of a discount from a positional value standpoint you know it's all about development though you know it's more it's not like the NFL where you can fire up the tape and you're like okay we've got you know four or five years of college you know filmed to look at to know whether the guy's going to translate your evaluation like we talked about earlier has to be strong in the sense that like this player fits our scheme here's our vision for him from a strength conditioning standpoint here's the type of role that we see for him but I would say that with Paco man I think you know the frame definitely pop you know the athletic profile the ability to movement skills and all that like you say it's about how it all comes together you know maintaining those movement skills and that body control those traits that are are call marks of this game while in the way that I think that'll be the storyline to watch all right now let's shift to the minnesota moving company up front and that is going to be another big o-line class which I am always going to be among the mindset for at school like minnesota because you get your ceiling swings in on especially at a spot like the offensive line like you need to take a lot of guys in high school ranks now you don't want to take a guy to take a guy and that's where I think brian kallahan has done a good job of mixing where you look at this five-man offensive line class you've got dylan mota from st patrick high school in chicago will closs in from cedar rapids prairie and iwa joseph hamer from lakeville south uh drake buth from glennwood and then jamaile or excuse me jamaile suel from wisconsin lutheran mowakki the shortest guy that is verified height from what i've been told behind the scenes is over six foot five among all five of these guys so the days of taking six foot two guys now again i'm not here to to talk down about somebody like say john michael schmitz who's on the shorter side because lord knows this program misses him at center and they have now for three consecutive years but when you look at this overall five-man recruiting class what are the things that you think kallahan greg harbo and this offensive staff said you know what we really need to target these areas with the guys we're going to take well they want guys with long arms and wingspan that's definitely to take away big frames let me stop you right there is one of the things that i would tell you among these guys especially with guys like suel and hamer more than anything is they have 34 plus inch arms now i'm not asking you to be mel kyper but i am asking you why does it matter why does length in wingspan and why is that something that you and i talk about constantly which in turn college offensive line coaches and nfl offensive line coaches why does length in wingspan matter so much on the offensive line well when you're able to fire your hands and get positioned able to create extension you know recovery as a pass protector to when you get in your pass protection sets you know you got to have a counter to all the freaky explosive athletic defensive ends that you're playing against on a weekly basis so having the length gives you more you know range of motion you know surface area ability to like just create extension and you know get drive guys off the balls i think that's like the the core trait that teams are looking for because they know it gives it's a little bit of an advantage when their technique is tight all right so i again there's so many guys in this class and i know that i love a nice tangent so of these five guys i want you to pick one and say this guy for these reasons is why i'm intrigued that in three years if it hits everybody's going to be excited because my hill that i will also die on for a program like the university of minnesota house is because you're not going to be able to afford the high level high school prospects more or less on the offensive line who just come in and are ready to play a day every offensive and defensive lineman should be given 24 months to get adequately strong enough and have the foot speed to me so when you look at this five-man recruiting class who is your guy amongst the five i like hammer from lakeville self i think he's got good physicality and pad level already in the run game you know being able to burst and fire off the ball get underneath guys i just think that like the frame jumps out like just how how he looks on film to me i feel like he's someone that has a ton of upside just because of it from a trait standpoint it's all there of course like as protection he's going to be a little less experienced in that area because of the type of offense he played in in high school so that's going to be a work in progress but when you're looking purely at traits and physical ability like you have standpoint gamer to me has got got some stuff just just based on the football side purely i don't disagree with that i mean he's been such an interesting recruiting story because he was listed at 345 pounds in last fall and i remember he showed up to a game and danao and now paid staff writer of gopher consent dot com to cofoto of him and i remember he showed me in the press box and i looked at him i said there ain't no f and way that guy's 345 pounds because he i mean he came in on his summer splash official visit sub 300 like i that's where i think the discussion i mean why i bring it up is because minnesota i don't think is done a good job of developing the 340 plus guy that they bring in and the only one that i can think of that was really developed there is dana filele and he is the exception to every rule which is why he's still playing in the nfl now you could argue kurtis dunlap who started a lot of games from multiple big ten schools but i want to get on the guys who are leaner longer more athletic because they need to continue to develop that tackle position no no kenada is up too nil that is the most dangerous lead in soccer relax mike see that dan my left eye switching that's my warning i it'll be too too by stopish time it's never wrong with early pay out from bet 365 i got paid the second thing when i'm two goals so to me it's now the safest lead early pay out from betdry 65 huh now my right eye is switching dan bet 365 must be 19 or older ontario only please play responsible if you or someone you know has concerns about gambling because it connects ontario dot cia t's and c supply now as we switch to the defensive side of the ball house we talk about a defensive line class that is again five strong as you go here locally from moizetta and eli deani and you've also got gauge gayer the defense attackle from edina you go to the state of california with your guy lemani fahoko from june pocera which is san matae o california camryn saunters a five technique from valley christian out in san hose and then a rush and pass rusher and roy price from new work oh high up so when you think about what did danny colins and now new defensive line code cj robins try to do to address what they believe is an ever evolving position here in the big ten it's not like you know being able toggle guys you know whether that's you know be able to play at the rush and spot i go back off ball you know roy price is the type of guy that they can move around to a lot of different alignments they definitely value versatility in that sense like cam saunters is a guy that can play you know the five-tech defensive end and maybe slide inside on passing downs they're looking for guys so they can play multiple defensively because you see flashes of that with what danny kind of implemented defensively is they want guys that can do a lot of different things keep it simple for them but you know make it complex for the defense to be able to process play to play like what's going on so i think that has morphed into the front more that they want that you know type of skill set as they target players but that kind of was the core big picture takeaway that i have from the group was just you know versatility yeah i don't know that i necessarily disagree i think this is such an interesting mix especially with someone like elite deioni because he like we talked about earlier with fiering and for era i think it's a similar story where he just hasn't played a lot of football now the traits are there where elie is six foot four plus he's now 275 pounds to me that says he's probably destined for the interior but he's coming off back surgery as a teenager and that to me is a scary proposition because i think about a defensive tackle that's already on the roster who missed the entire year last year because of a back issue now all indications i've heard from him and from different people i've talked to is that he's going to be ready to go this fall but it's like what does it look like when he just hasn't played a lot of football you got like gauge guy or who he'd done a hockey player which again one of the best programs in the midwest that he plays one again he's got athleticism there i think he is definitely a guy that's got a very high floor but i think probably my favorite guy is Cameron Saunders just because finding five technique bodies is so difficult for minnesota like you can see what they look like when it hits at a 100 percentile outcome like anthony smith because i'll continue to remind folks if anthony smith has 14 tackles for loss and last year i think what did he have how 17 and a half yes and he puts another double digit sack season on the record he's going to become the all-time leader and go for football history in both sacks and tackles for loss again he's one of the most powerful players that you'll ever watch and go for uniform on the defensive line but it's like okay the guys after him aren't necessarily ready yet so you're trying to find the next anthony smith at five technique where it's like well guess what everybody wants a six foot five guy with great length that they can which is why when minnesota made the trade i can they didn't actually make the trade but this is what i joke to go for staffers about behind the scenes is when they made the trade of anthony smith left the state of pennsylvania and was traded to minnesota where penn state then took davon townley from minneapolis northback i think minnesota would take that trade every day of the weekend twice on saturday's the way that that whole thing played out but you're trying to find guys that are big enough to be able to hold the edge like anthony or even someone like asse as he did for so many years under pj you need to find the next guy and that's where i think they have that in cayman's honors you have any other words line before we go to line backer my favorite player is so far in the class in the d-line and lamais fokkop we'll get to that it's the end because i want to save that for the end we'll get into six foot one spark plug defensive tackle but at line backer mariano story marin hit on a lot of i'd believe i like to efficiently call affectionately call if i can talk today plan a guys and you've got two from the state of iowa which one of the if you're here for the t as my wife's trashy videos would tell you on youtube that it's interesting the amount of guys that both minnesota and now illinois have taken from the state of iowa in this class but the hawkeyes didn't move on now it is like a 2016 type of in-state class for iowa where if you don't know what that reference means back in 2016 in the state of minnesota there was just an absurd amount of players like way higher than normal because on a given year the state of minnesota produces probably somewhere between seven and nine i would say power four commits now in the state of iowa this year they're almost like 1820 deep it's just a very strange year and so iowa has not elected to just load up on everybody so you're hoping as a gopher fan that they've screwed this thing up like tracy clays did back in the day when he didn't take guys like kyote oesika from maple grove who ended up in the nfl didn't tommy dole yet yes i mean oil another guy that ended up in the nfl that again it's that's a whole different discussion for a whole different podcast but two guys that minnesota took from the state of i with a linebacker class tatewalas from iowa city and kason clayborn and i want to start with them before we get to why at willber which is an outstanding college football name from mary vultana c what stands out to you about what mariano wanted to target there with tat and case i'm because i think they're very different players yeah their styles are different i mean waltz is more like an attacking downhill real physical type of linebacker but you know he's laterally quick and he can work for ndapas well or kick down to the edge you know he's able to you know kind of lay off the edge and mug around occasionally even putting his hand in the dirt at time so i think there's clearly some versatility there to maybe unlock clayborn i think it's got like the range trait you know being able to work potentially in some package situations just because of his downhill ability you know just really can react and get downhill fast i think you know the versatility again is another thing that i would say stands out you know clayborn is more more like a bursty type of linebacker but i think you know waltz has got more of that physical dimension but i think those two kind of complement each other and provide a little bit different flavor of linebacker tat wallis to me who is a four star for us is such a different type of linebacker take to me and i get why wisconsin targeted him so heavily at the end there i mean wisconsin was on him quite a bit before minnesota beat them out because minnesota had been on him longer i think the wallis family really appreciated the amount of effort that sory marin put into them long before wisconsin really wanted him but to me he's like a three four inside linebacker coming to play in a four threes game which i am fascinated to see how it kind of works out because tat wall like if you want to make somewhat of a comparison what i which is going to be to someone like matt kingsberry but here's the thing tat is taller than matt kingsberry is right now i think he's probably heavier than what he was now he's going to have to trim down some but it's like he's someone like say jack sandborn was for wisconsin like someone that can really dominate you between the tackles which minnesota has had that at times i think coedy lennenberg was someone who could do that but coedy had more side line side line speed you look at someone like jack gibbons again jack gibbons is still popping around in the nfl playing a lot of significant snaps but that's where it's such an interesting mix or it's like an interesting take within a four threes scheme because you're hoping that you don't have to move him down to rush end but if it hits it's like okay well you have like a wisconsin type of back in the mid 2010s where they were just pumping out inside linebackers in the nfl that to me is what the hit scenario looks like for someone like tat wallis yeah it feels like the arc of the jim lendard you know inside backer that's versatile you know back in the day it kind of reminds me of the skill set you know our career arc that he could potentially follow long term yeah why will be the other one in this class here that minnesota found out about i mean this is why satellite camps are always so interesting is they found him at a memphis mega camp so they went to a satellite camp at the university of memphis saw him run and from the un my understanding is then memphis understood that there were big ten schools there so they tried to then pull him out of stuff to like hide him minnesota saw enough of him then they watched work out blips and they watched his tape then they got him on campus found out he's a legitimate six foot four and we're like okay you can really run your six foot four we're going to take you and so that's where to me i think a white willbert type is somewhere if it works again we want to talk about you know ceiling type of scenarios with this guy maybe he's the thomas rush type maybe he's a cody linenberg type but i know he's six foot four and he can run house yeah i feel like he's going to follow the off ball you know i i do see the potential of taking down you know to play the russian spot long term but i think like based on his length and size and like what he can be projecting out i thought he's really physical while just you know deconstructing blocks i thought that was a big takeaway watching play he's a very physical player i think you know they're looking again this is another trace projection in terms of like potential options a couple different paths the player could follow but like the traits and feel like they'll find a home for him you know down the road based on his development and then future depth chart needs so let's finish off with the defensive back position where once again if you're gonna have a 29 person class you're gonna have some big position groups defensive back and i'm not there's a reason i'm calling it defensive back in that corner not nickel not safety is because especially i think what we've learned here over the last 24 36 months from jorasi to cori heatherman to now danny colons is they want to have positional flexibility on the back end so that they can just play the best dvs and so that's where you got in a collective mix of sizes speeds strengths weaknesses and you've got guys such as justin walley's younger brother jordan walley the pride of mississippi is now going to be a golden go for he committed back on may 31st from i'm not gonna attempt that high school i'd rather not try to screw something up just later into the podcast but you've got jordan walley who's five foot nine but he's incredibly fast you've got someone like zach walker from morehead the final morehead kid that is one of the best track athletes in the state from the 100 meter to the 200 meter to long jump the size at legitimate five foot eleven and you look at what he's done on the track with i think how many 10 fives as you have i'm i'm not sure plus i know he was a state qualifier for the long jump too like you've got he's gonna be i think the most raw of the morehead quad because i think he's probably more of a track athlete than he's a football guy at this point but you're betting on traits you've also got a guy like jai german from fort miers florida who was just out at the opening yeah very very fast that's what you're going for and i think there's more physicality to his game than people give him credit for you get into the i would say more safety nickel position as well someone like why it leban trite from omaha nebraskas someone that the huskers did not move on which i think is fascinating there is six foot one safety who's also got a lot of track things going on for him you've got someone like taylor daniels from seaton hall prepped new jersey not the biggest guy in the world at five foot nine but someone that multiple big ten teams targeted including uh daniel house's favorite former coordinator joe rossie they wanted him bad here's what i would tell you if taylor daniels wasn't five foot nine he wouldn't be coming to the university of minnesota because if he was six foot he'd be a top 100 player with the tape that he has he's incredibly physical on tape to me i think there's a lot of similarities potentially between he and kerry brown and that aspect and then finally they were able to execute a flip for the little brown jug when minnesota was able to get las vegas centennial's maxxewa miles flipped to them from the university of michigan where he had been committed big the biggest safety or defense of back in this class at almost six foot two so i know i've said a lot of names what stands out to you about what danny colons is trying to do as these guys continue to get closer to campus well what i noticed is like you mentioned different flavors of skill set you know in the back end they want guys that they can mix and match based on the type of scheme they're gonna play that specific week you know you look at how minnesota sits back and kind of rolls zones and plays inverted zones you can read about that on the website i did a big article on that and what is the website called and how can people get into it gilfers guru dot com check it out five dollars a month you can get access to but it came up organically good job house multiple you know coverage types guys that have you know the ability to play in different types of zones that's what you're looking for and you know that's what danny colons clearly prioritize i mean safety minnesota's done a solid job of identifying safeties that have translated well and i think now he's continuing to do that where he's like i want nickels i want guys that can play inside outside all sorts of different stuff i'd say ji german when i watch and play and like i thought about it and noodled it and i hate making comparisons what do you mean i hold you to this and so is all of the thousands of gopher fans that are listening this will never let you forget it isn't that right hank up kick i kind of like i kind of see a little like mike samer still type of of players those people who don't know that that is your favorite form of michigan nickel yes and they have similar body types like similar styles of play but i was kind of the one that popped up in my mind when i was watching i agree with taylor daniel's i think he can kind of do a lot of different stuff coming around the line of scrimmage work underneath and roam plays with good vision on the quarterback unique type of player that that they can deploy in a lot of different ways you know especially when they're in maybe some sub-package unique coverage styles with any kind of defense okay interesting interesting now i would comment further but to end off this podcast i think one of the things that listeners would like to know is all right guys you've talked about a lot of these guys you've at least said the names of 29 different guys and i don't know that i see minnesota necessarily adding a ton more in this class again i understand that the roster limits are very fluid still somewhere between 105 110 it's it's all very fluid trust me when i say when i have these conversations with high ranking gopher officials fluidity is the name of the game and i know that the lovely folks on go for gazette.com love when i use the word fluid but that's just if i'm being talked to about that i have to convey it down to you listeners and handsome and lovely subscribers as well so the final thing that i want us to discuss here is i want us to pick one guy on the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball that is one of your favorites now i'm not saying this is the best commit i'm not saying it's the worst commit i'm saying he's a guy that has piqued your interest for xyz reason and he's got these different things going for him that have you excited to say in 2028 or 2029 when he first breaks onto the hunting to bank stadiums field know that i was one of the guys first on him so let's start with one guy on the offensive side of the ball and you can start. I would say david max my guy the more head receiver i just think that he's got some natural separation i watched him in person i saw i just felt like there's something with like how he moves and like the tempo of his routes and how he sets stuff up i think that there is going to be something there like you said to be just a natural separating receiver in the big town like he doesn't have that burner speed necessarily at this point which you know could be developed and continue to get better in that area but when you can run routes and get open there's i see something there all right i mean i've already waxed poetically about david mac on this podcast already so i get that one i was going to pick a receiver but i don't want to double down on the receiver position i've already talked about why i'm so high on brooks baco as well um boy i guess you know what screw it i'm gonna stick to the receiver position and talk about carlos fergason who i think definitely has four star ability when he is legitimately six foot four he can as you put on the tape he runs incredibly well for his size and i think he can get out of if i'm going to be putting on my isak frick t hat his breakpoints a.k.a when he gets out of his route some guys that size struggle to do so with change of direction stuff i think for his size that is going to be an asset for him and i think about guys that can go up and win 50-50 balls it's an area that minnesota has struggled in for years now essentially since we saw a younger healthier chris ottman bell like chris ottman bell didn't have the size that carlos fergason has but it's going to be one thing where i want to see minnesota have a develop a high school receiver that has that size and that also can kind of take the top off the defense at that type of size be able to help you so that's where i'm going to go with carlos fergason now as we go to the defensive side of the ball i want you to sell me on your new favorite defensive tackle who i think you have already compared in the back of my mind to steven richardson but go on about your favorite six foot one defensive tackle from california like lamani fogo i thought he's good two-way player i mean i thought his guard tape was great as well i think he's really good at like bending sinking anchoring you know just in that tape but then also looking at like how he's he's able to really fire off the ball the dt shed blocks and then like when he gets to the top of the rush he's able to really kind of bend and finish the rush i think that's something that really stood out when i watched it like his balance and how he moves and i think he's got some potential to be uh one of the surprises of the class like i'm willing to put a good bet on him for the future so i'm gonna also stick with an undersized guy at the position and that's where i talked about him a little bit already but i'm gonna go with seetin hall preps taylor daniels i just cannot get over in my mind and this is where you kind of put yourself into a hole i know that i'm the only one doing this house but i just see so much of karae brown in taylor daniels's tape where you look at a five foot nine guy who just flies around and is completely fearless on the back end to me that's the type of guy that you put on special teams immediately especially now in this five for five era let him get his feet wet and then you find a room for him at nickle you find room for him it's wrong safety karae brown's not gonna be here forever he's only got two more years of tape and that's where it's going to be for me taylor daniels like i said i think if he was a couple inches taller i don't know that he'd necessarily be coming to the university of minnesota i'm okay with him only being five nine five ten because that dude plays incredibly hard he flies around he knows how to track the ball and it wouldn't shock me at all come 2829 that you see taylor daniels roaming out there thinking and you're watching him out at hunting in bank stadium thinking boy there's a lot of karae brown in that type of game so all right house before we get out of here to you have anything else you want to tell the lovely lovely listeners no just uh lots of content on the website getting ready for the season you know just did a breakdown on some of the coverage stuff minnesota did last year breakdowns on all the guys that we talked about today going into the weeds kind of a expanded version of what we just talked about on the podcast so you know just getting ready for football season it's almost here i'm like i'm just ready for games to be played now and we got to wait another like 60 days you know well we're at least in july which means internal media days three weeks away i will be in chicago for big ten media days in four weeks which means in five weeks fall campus here and all the theoreticals and we finally just get to talk about football again so that's where i'll make one last shameless plug here go for gazette dot com is the same thing that you were used to hearing about it's minnesota 24 seven day and oh and has got an exclusive one-on-one with don plics away on the women's basketball side of things ryan james has an exclusive nico medved one-on-one talking all things about transfers i was able to get daric burns from dinky town athletes to go on the record talking about shell companies and nyl he takes some shots at nix saben and what he's been saying like hey man if you want to hear about what's actually going on and what does the protect college sports acts mean for the university of minnesota there is no one better and who knows it better than daric burns plus we've got so much more coming in the pipeline 75 percent off for new annual subscribers at gopher gazette dot com but if you're watching us on youtube thank you for looking at our faces for at least for me but we will talk to you guys soon and go gophers