And finally the JUCO transfers. JG has astutely pointed out that Brewster has gone to the JUCO well early and often in his brief tenure as a Gopher. Defensively he has had some pretty good success. Tramaine Brock was one of our best players in 2008 before succumbing to academic troubles and not playing in 2009. Traye Simmons was 2nd team All-Big Ten as a junior and a two year starter, that is a successful pickup. Simoni Lawrence was quietly one of our best defenders in 2009 and a two year starter. Cedrick McKinley was a brute along the D line and will be missed this year.
Offensively however the results have not been so great. Jeff Wills might be the best offensive JUCO we have signed and his tenure as starting RT has been tenuous at best. The big name recruits, Hayo Carpenter and David Pittman have failed miserably at living up to expectations. And even if expectations haven't been met they really haven't provided any sort of contribution to the offense. Carpenter still has a chance to make some plays but the picture to the right so far deserves a big "FAIL" embedded on the bottom.
This year we signed four JUCOs. Three have are defensive and one large TE. Defensively I would expect that two will be major contributors immediately. This is hard to gauge as there is not as much info on these guys as you can get on high school recruits, but below is your four-man JUCO class this year.
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Christyn Lewis |
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Position: CB Measurables: 6-2 / 175 Videos: [none found] Rankings: Notes: Good size for a B10 corner, the question is how fast is he and how fast can he pick up the defense and push Collado or Michael Carter for PT at the corner. The success or failure of recruiting JUCOs is apparent very quickly. Lewis was brought in because secondary depth/experience is lacking, if he's not getting playing time right away then this was not a wise usage of a scholarship. Expect to see him on the field in week 1. |
| Tiree Eure |
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Position: TE Measurables: 6-6 / 245 Videos: [1] Rankings: Notes: His initials are TE and his position is TE. That's not a coincidence folks. Eure is a BIG TE. Most are assuming that Haggeman is moving to DE and with graduation of Tow-Arnett there is a lack of TE depth. I'm assuming that most of the snaps will go to Eure and Eric Lair. I really like his size. Eure also thinks he can take anyone in bowling, see how athletic he is?
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Hershel Thornton |
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Position: S Measurables: 6-1 / 205 Videos: [1] Rankings: Notes: All of these JUCO's have good size and Thornton is no exception. It should be noted that Thornton is old, even for a JUCO transfer. He graduated high school in 2006 and took a couple years away from school/football to work. Thornton was named 1st team All-Conference in Lackawanna CC's league and will certainly add depth while pushing Kyle Theret and Kim Royston for playing time. He is a physical run-supporter and though he may not start, he'll be a key addition to the defensive secondary. |
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Dwight Tillman |
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Position: DB Measurables: 5-11 / 184 Videos: [1] Rankings: Notes: The fourth and final Lackawanna CC player to commit to Minnesota. Tillman was 2nd team All-Conference. I'd be surprised to see him getting a lot of reps but Tillman will certainly add depth and hopefully competition for the entire secondary. |
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