Who is in the boat and who is on the radar?
When Gopher football goes any lengthy period of time between actual recruiting news, it becomes easy to forget what the current class looks like and where things seem to be heading. Or maybe it’s just me.
Regardless, now seem as good of a time as any to recap the current Gopher 2022 recruiting class and also who are the remaining targets to fill out the next group of elite Golden Gophers.
THE CURRENT CLASS (13)
Currently there are 13 kids committed to the Class of 2022. There are also 13 current seniors on scholarship. As we know, there will be more kids added to this class as these numbers are always fluid, transfers happen and the numbers always work out.
So here are the 13 kids currently rowing the boat.
QB – Jacob Knuth – South Dakota kid who is 6’4”, has a strong arm and happens to be noted as mobile. His first game of the season saw 4 passing touchdowns and 2 more rushing. And through three games he has 7 passing touchdowns, 4 rushing and 1 receiving. The Gophers are done at quarterback for this recruiting class.
RB – Zach Evans – Texas kid whose quarterback is headed to Indiana. He also has a Baylor commit and an Auburn commit as receivers on this high powered offense. His Rockwall-Heath team scored 70 points last week and Evans rushed for 130 yards on 15 carries, scoring 3 times. The Rockwall-Heath offense has scored 56, 62 and 70 in their wins! Their lone loss was a 35-36 loss to Southlake Carrol where he had 156 yards and 2 touchdowns. Currently ranked #8 in Dave Campbell’s rankings, in the highest Texas class. But this kid is putting up great numbers on a talented offense against the best of Texas.
TE – Spencer Alvarez – Columbia Heights tight end who, as you may recall, was injured as a junior and therefor lightly recruited. The Gophers targeted him as their TE and he committed.
WR – Ike White – Baltimore area wide receiver playing for St. Francis Academy, a team playing a national schedule. On their schedule is IMG Academy (FL), St. Thomas More (LA), De La Salle (CA), St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) and more. Currently the USA Today ranks St. Francis as the #19 team in the country.
WR – Kristin Hoskins – An extremely athletic and under-the-radar receiver from Alexandra, MN.
OL – Tony Nelson – Big and athletic tackle from outstate Minnesota.
ATH – Aidan Gousby – Possibly a defensive back, possibly a receiver but Gousby is very quick.
DL – Trey Bixby – Currently the highest ranked kid in this class, Bixby is going to be an exciting player to watch. Having moved around a bit the last few years, Bixby is now playing for Eden Prairie.
DL – Anthony Smith – The second highest ranked player on the board and another defensive lineman. That should really excited Gopher fans. Smith is big and very athletic who is also an accomplished basketball player.
DE – Jack Pryburn – A rush end out of Florida who may end up filling that Thomas Rush / Carter Coughlin role for the Gophers.
CB – Rhyland Kelly – I love me some 6’2” corners and Kelly is coming to the Gophers from Florida. Kelly did not have a great offer list, but chose the Gophers after taking an official visit to Purdue.
CB – Tariq Watson – Louisiana corner who is extremely fast.
S – Coleman Bryson – A 6’2”, 190 LB safety out of Georgia. Wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see Bryson end up as a linebacker as a fundamental and instinctual football player.
So those are your 13 current commitments and next is the most important part. Who is next?
STILL RECRUITING
I would expect that they will sign 4 or 5 more players in this class. Offensive line and linebacker would appear to be the biggest holes currently in the class of 2022. The bulk of recruiting is done for this class, other than maintaining your current verbals. I would expect they will hit the grad transfer market hard for a couple key players who could contribute right away in 2022, depending on which players come back for their bonus covid year or not.
OL – Carson Hinzman – this is a longshot but Hinzman is still being heavily pursued by the Gopher staff. He lives just over the border in Hammond, WI and is one of the highest rated interior offensive lineman available still. The 4-star prospect has taken official visits to Wisconsin, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Iowa. Can the Gophers snag him? It’s unlikely, but they aren’t giving up and perhaps they can get him to use his 5th and final official visit to Minnesota.
That is about it, there isn’t a lot of chatter about other recruits currently.
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