2024 Gophers Position Previews: Offensive Line

September's coming soon, so it is once again time to start thinking about football. Ski-U-Blog will analyze every position group on the Gophers' roster: starters, depth, and potential future contributors. This is the fourth and final post covering the offense, which will look at Minnesota's experienced offensive line.

Likely Starters

Aireontae Ersery should be the Gophers' next Day 2 pick in the NFL Draft next April. He enters the season in high regard, having made the media's all-conference first team a year ago and earning the fourth-highest rating among offensive linemen in EA Sports' College Football video game. Ersery, Darius Taylor, and Dragan Kesich are the three Gophers outside observers agree are among the best in the Big Ten at their position — if not the best.

The key for Ersery is how well he moves his 330-pound frame. Run blocking and pass protection start from the ground up. That means having both a strong base to move people off the ball or fend off bull rushers, and quick feet. Ersery has both. Whether on the back side or the play side, he is a superb reach blocker, stepping across the face of a defensive lineman to cut off the path to the ballcarrier:

And Ersery can keep in front of speed rushers trying to break past him, maintaining a pocket into which his quarterback can step.

That combination of size and athleticism, combined with the smarts to pick up late rushers and pass off a defender to a teammate, is what makes Ersery a pro prospect.

2024 Gophers Position Previews: Quarterbacks

September's coming soon, so it is once again time to start thinking about football. Ski-U-Blog will analyze every position group on the Gophers' roster: starters, depth, and potential future contributors. The third post in this annual series covers a nearly totally remade quarterback group.

Likely Starter

Last year's version of this post looked a lot different. Athan Kaliakmanis was entering his first full year as the Gophers' No. 1, and the big question was when he could put together his physical tools for more than a few plays a game, and become a genuine power-conference starter. The answer, if we ever get one, will not come while Kaliakmanis wears a Minnesota uniform: After a difficult season and a semi-public dispute over his reasons for leaving, Kaliakmanis transferred to Rutgers to rejoin his former coordinator, Kirk Ciarrocca. Backup Cole Kramer started his post-football life, and third-stringer Drew Viotto left for Eastern Michigan.

Filling the void is Max Brosmer, a New Hampshire graduate in his last year of eligibility. As every broadcast is sure to mention between Week 1 and at least the end of October, Brosmer took a group of teammates on a part-work, part-bonding retreat in his native Georgia after spring practices. He clearly does not want to spend the whole season as The New Guy.

By the stats, Brosmer (with a long "O," like "throw") is intriguing but not exciting. He was 2nd in the FCS in passing attempts and passing yards while throwing just five interceptions, but his per-attempt (7.5 yards) and per-completion (11.8) numbers were fairly middling. Over half of his attempts last season, according to Pro Football Focus, were within 9 yards of the line of scrimmage or behind it.

At first glance, the Gophers found a quarterback who has shown he can take care of the ball in the short and intermediate game.

The question is whether Brosmer can reliably threaten FBS secondaries deep. Over his career, per PFF, he has averaged 14.1 yards per attempt on his passes of 20 yards or more. That is not outstanding but better than average, hinting that he could at least be serviceable throwing the long ball.

2024 Gophers Position Previews: Running Backs

September's coming soon, so it is once again time to start thinking about football. Ski-U-Blog will analyze every position group on the Gophers' roster: starters, depth, and potential future contributors. Today, we move to the running backs.

Likely Starter

The most publicized Gopher this preseason will surely be Darius Taylor. In Taylor's first three full games as a college player, he ran for 529 yards. In the opportunity he had, which was reduced by injury but still almost a full season's worth of carries, he looked like one of the best backs in the Big Ten.

Taylor is an ideal Minnesota running back. Like Mohamed Ibrahim — but 4 inches taller — he runs with extraordinary balance and bounces off hits. (This toughness is Taylor's best attribute and the one he shows off most.)

Like Rodney Smith, he is intelligent, changing speeds to navigate tight spaces, find his hole, and cut through it.

And like Shannon Brooks, he can explode into the third level after one missed tackle.

With a new quarterback and unanswered questions in the receiving corps, Taylor will be the centerpiece of Minnesota's offense. While I will always advocate for them to throw the ball more, it would be wrong to not give a talent like this the ball.

2024 Gophers Position Previews: Receivers and Tight Ends

September's coming soon, so it is once again time to start thinking about football. Ski-U-Blog will analyze every position group on the Gophers' roster: starters, depth, and potential future contributors. We begin with a look at the pass-catchers.

Likely Starters

For much of Daniel Jackson's career, he has worn different hats to complement the players around him. When the Gophers just needed to get Rashod Bateman the ball wherever and as much as possible, Jackson was an outside receiver giving the offense an option over the top. When Chris Autman-Bell, a jump-ball master, ascended to Minnesota's No. 1 option, Jackson became a slot receiver, picking up catches underneath and scurrying ahead for yardage. As a junior, he was the second-favorite target to Brevyn Spann-Ford. He took jobs wherever needed, and he did them all well.

In 2023, Jackson finally had the chance to put it all together. He became the team's most dangerous receiver, and no one on the team received even half his 117 targets.

Jackson is not as fast as some of his teammates, but he runs crisp routes to fool defenders and find open space. He can win contested catches and shows superb body control. He can pick up yards after the catch. He can play inside or outside. With such a complete toolbox, it is no wonder Jackson was the first-choice target at every level of the field.

Having debuted during the pandemic season, Jackson had an extra year of eligibility and came back to school rather than leave for the NFL. Barring injury, he has a real chance to finish the year on the All-Big Ten first team and pass program greats like Tutu Atwell and Ernie Wheelwright in the record book.