Minnesota Football Recruiting: Woodbury LB Joey Gerlach commits to the Gophers

Remember recruiting? Head coach P.J. Fleck and co. have only had one verbal commitment since June, but the recruiting machine is gearing back up ahead of Early National Signing Day on Wednesday, Dec. 15. The Minnesota Golden Gophers received a pledge Tuesday night from Woodbury linebacker Joey Gerlach, who was previously committed to South Dakota State.

Get to know Joey Gerlach

Height: 6’3”
Weight: 195

Power 5 Scholarship Offers: None

247 Sports Composite Rating: N/A

247 Sports Scouting Report

As a pure run defender, he closes well, takes good angles to the ball, can change directions. He can still get stronger and will add to his 195-pound frame. That should help his impact as a tackler. He is a very solid tackler, but there is still room to add explosiveness and power as a hitter.

In the end, we really like this take for Minnesota. This feels like a Cody Lindenberg type of get. Gerlach is athletic, versatile, plays hard and does so in all phases of the game and as difficult as it is to find kids like that to translate to linebacker, you can’t pass up a guy like this in your backyard.

Hudl Highlights (Link)