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Minnesota Football Recruiting: Owen Salzwadel Officially Signs

How he fits

Owen is a tall, big framed, long armed defensive end with a good first step and a strong motor. That's an essential prerequisite for any defensive end, though Salzwadel combines a knack for timing his jumps to bat down passes and effective use of hands to shed blockers. Ultimately though, his game is toughness, which makes him ideal as a run stuffing defensive end.

Chances to play in 2013

Limited, though not definitely. Even though the staff like what they saw out of Salzwadel at last year's summer camp, defensive end is one of the few positions where the Gophers have a fair amount of depth on defense. 4 out of the 5 DEs with extensive playing experience from last year return, while Salzwadel is also behind the learning curve with Hank Ekpe enrolling early.

Still, it's not out of the question to see Owen playing this fall, if for no other reason than he provides a slightly different skill set to the table than the Gophers currently have at DE. In all likelihood though, he redshirts.