Do the Gophers have another Dion Lewis?
Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners any or all of his three incoming freshmen running backs could be a big time college player. Lewis was a surprise All-American at Pittsburgh in 2009, a not so well known freshman running back at the beginning of the season. He set school records, was a major contributor in Pitt’s not anticipated 10-3 season and will be included on Heisman Trophy watch lists in 2010.
Brewster will welcome a five man competition to determine the Gophers’ starting running back in August. Two junior returnees, Duane Bennett and DeLeon Eskridge, will be in the competition but so will incoming freshmen Lamonte Edwards, Donnell Kirkwood and Devon Wright.
Brewster isn’t “discounting” a returnee earning the No. 1 job but neither Bennett nor Eskridge has so far performed as an elite Big Ten Conference running back. Bennett ran for 395 yards last season, Eskridge, 309.
The two have been part of an offense that frequently was sluggish last season. The Gophers need better performance from Bennett and Eskirdge, or immediate impact from the three freshmen. “It’s really going to be interesting seeing those three young kids,” Brewster said. “They’re really going to get a very quick opportunity to show what they can do in fall camp.”
Brewster said what the freshmen will need to do is more than running. They must show a complete package of skills including pass protection and route running.
“It’s exciting for me to think about Donnell Kirkwood, Lamonte Edwards and Devon Wright, who are all I think talented young players,” Brewster said. “It’s going to be interesting to see whether or not one of those three has the maturity, has the ability similar to a Dion Lewis at Pitt because obviously he made a huge impact on Pitt’s program.”
Edwards is 6-2, 215 from Woodbury. Kirkwood, 5-10, 197, and Wright, 6-0, 190, are both from Florida high schools. None of the three has been included among the most publicized running back recruits in the nation for 2010 but they aren’t unknowns either.
Brewster said the running skills of Edwards, Kirkwood, and Wright appear to be what the Gophers need. “I would say all three of them are physical runners, have physicality about the way they run the football, and all three of them have good speed,” Brewster said. “And that speed, size, physicality is something we’re looking for.”
Edwards might be the most physical and fastest of the three, according to Brewster. In high school there were projections that Edwards might be a college linebacker but he looks too valuable to a needy Gophers offense to play on defense.