Fact or Fiction: The 2024 class will get Minnesota over the hump
Rivals national recruiting analyst Greg Smith, Sean Williams of TheGopherReport.com, Eliot Clough of GoIowaAwesome.com and Dylan Callaghan-Croley of HappyValleyInsider.com tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
MORE FACT OR FICTION: Aaron Chiles has pulled off the biggest surprise of the 2024 class
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1. The 2024 recruiting class will be the one to get Minnesota over the hump.
Smith's take: FACT. I was very prepared to go with fiction here, but I’m not sure people outside of Minneapolis realize the Gophers have won at least nine games in three of the last four seasons. That solid foundation - plus this class - could have P. J. Fleck’s crew competing for a Big Ten championship.
There are several players to like in this class, starting with offensive lineman Nathan Roy. The Wisconsin native was a huge pickup for the team. One sleeper to watch in the class is running back Ohifame Ijeboi out of Philly. His recruitment was starting to take off when the Gophers got him on campus for an official visit and won his pledge.
The other thing that would give me hope is that Minnesota has done such a terrific job so far this cycle keeping top talent home. I don’t think this class finishes the rankings in the top 10 where they sit now, but we are going to look back at this class as a gigantic one for the Gophers.
Williams' take: FACT. Minnesota's 2024 class currently ranks 10th in the country with 23 total commitments. That's a great trend for a program that wants to remain on its upward trend.
This recruiting cycle, Fleck and his staff have done an exceptional job of landing the best talent in-state, which includes defensive end Jide Abasiri (No. 1 in-state), defensive tackle Mo Saine (No.3 in-state), and safety Koi Perich (No. 5 in-state) to go along with the likes of cornerback Simon Seidl, wide receiver Jalen Smith, linebacker Mason Carrier and linebacker Sam Macy.
Two top in-state targets remain uncommitted in defensive end Wyatt Gilmore and offensive lineman Emerson Mandell. If the Gophers can land one of the two, that's big. If they land both, that's icing on the cake.
Minnesota's other big wins include Roy, three-star defensive tackle Riley Sunram and three-star tight end Julian Johnson.
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2. Iowa QB Alex Manske (2025) will end up rated higher than JJ Kohl was.
Smith' take: FACT. JJ Kohl’s rise in the 2023 class was one of the biggest stories in the Midwest that cycle. He went from off-the-radar to being ranked No. 101 in the nation. So, saying that Manske will end up rated higher than Kohl is going out on a limb.
Hear me out here. If you pop on Manske’s film you’ll see a true dual-threat quarterback that can make any throw. He doesn’t play against the same level of competition that Kohl played against, which will hurt him in the process. However, Manske’s athleticism and big arm can’t be ignored. He will continue to polish his overall game and the offers are already rolling in for him.
I’d love to see him on the camp circuit to get a clearer picture of how he stacks up against national competition. My gut says he will do just fine.
Clough's take: FICTION. Kohl was one of the most polished and precise passers we have seen in Iowa prep history. Not only did he regularly play against the highest level of competition Iowa had to offer, he impressed nationally with what he did at the Elite 11 camps.
Manske is fun to watch, will continue to grow as a passer and has a bright future ahead of him, but it's tough to foresee a scenario where he is dubbed a better prospect than Kohl was out of high school in 2023.
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3. After his Elite11 performance Ethan Grunkemeyer is the most underrated QB in the country.
Smith's take: FICTION. Ethan Grunkemeyer was one of the nice stories of the Elite11 competition that featured some of the best quarterbacks in the country. He had a very good showing during the competition, but I would not say he’s the choice here - although Penn State got a good one.
My selection would be Texas Tech quarterback commit Will Hammond. The signal-caller racked up 2,763 passing yards and 30 touchdowns for his team last season, adding 828 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. Hammond had an excellent pro day, hitting 18 of 20 throws. He also performed well in the accuracy challenge and in the 7-on-7 period, completing 10-of-13 throws, two of which went for TDs.
When the next rankings meetings are held, I’d vote for him to be in the Rivals250 and a top 10 quarterback in the country. Coach Joey McGuire got a steal in Hammond.
Callaghan-Croley's take: FACT. Grunkemeyer has been a quarterback that has flown under the radar for a while now, but this offseason he's shown that he's one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and at No. 29 in our quarterback rankings he is surely the most underrated signal caller in the country. Grunkemeyer has a pretty effortless throwing motion, generates a great amount of power from his lower body and shows pretty good accuracy in the process.
While we just went through a rankings update, Grunkemeyer appears to be a quarterback who could firmly be in the mix for a fourth star in the next update. Much like his future teammate in Drew Allar, Grunkemeyer could rise quite high if he continues to show what he's done this spring and carries it into next fall.