Ranking the classes 2010-17: #1

The Gopher Report continues on it's re-ranking of the classes 2010-17 from #8 down to #1. Coming in at #1 in the rankings: The Class of 2016

#8: CLASS OF 2015

#7: CLASS OF 2010

#6: CLASS OF 2014

#5: CLASS OF 2011

#4: CLASS OF 2017

#3: CLASS OF 2013

#2: CLASS OF 2012

The Class of 2016 had 21 total commitments and was given the 50th overall team recruiting rank and 10th in the Big Ten.

Here is a breakdown of the class:

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This class has so much star power and depth from the top to bottom. I counted essentially 18 players who were either full-time starters or consistent contributors. This class produced (to this point) four NFL draft picks.

Antoine Winfield Jr. - First Team All-Big Ten. Unanimous All-American. 2nd round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tyler Johnson - Two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection. 5th round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Carter Coughlin - Two-time Second Team All-Big Ten Selection. 7th round draft pick of the New York Giants.

Kamal Martin - All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2019). 5th round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers.

Thomas Barber - Finished with 274 tackles (167 solo), 19.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles and finished tied for second in school history with seven fumble recoveries. All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2019)

Coney Durr - 23 career starts (so far) 75 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 16 PBUs, three INTs. All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2019)

Garrison Wright - Started all 25 career games in two seasons

Sam Schlueter - 26 career starts heading into his final season

Conner Olson - Started 38 career games heading into his final season

Donnell Greene - Started 29 career games across three seasons.

Other contributors include: Ko Kieft, Tai'yon Devers, Merrick Jackson, Vincent Calhoun, Phillip Howard, Kobe McCrary. Every single player on this list except Drew Hmielewski and Tamarion Johnson started a game for Minnesota. That type of depth and talent across an entire recruiting class is excellent.

The 2016 Class (which is still going) finished with these stats:

932 Tackles, 96 TFL, 38.5 sacks, 19 INT, 38 PBU, 23 forced fumbles, 15 fumble recoveries

238 Catches; 3,573 Rec yds, 33 Rec TDs, 238 Rush attempts; 1,123 Rush yds, 24 Rush TDs

118 Combined starts on the offensive line

Easiest choice of this whole series. Antoine Winfield Jr. was ranked a 5.4 3-star by Rivals and will go down as one of the most decorated Minnesota Gophers in recent memory. His accolades include:

Unanimous All-American (2019)

All-Big Ten First Team (2019)

Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year (2019)

Bronko Nagurski Award Finalist - Best Defensive Player in the Nation (2019)

Bronko Nagurski Award - Team MVP (2019)

Carl Eller Award - Outstanding Defensive Player (2019)

Winfield Jr. was a tone setter on the back end for Minnesota for his two full seasons he played. Had it not been for injury, Antoine easily could have re-wrote the record books even more that he did.

Drew Hmielewski was a two-sport athlete for the Gophers playing football and baseball his freshman year on campus, however decided after his freshman season to focus solely on baseball.

Demarcus (Mark) Williams caught two passes as a redshirt freshman for 43 yards in 2017 before transferring.

I said this from the beginning and will say it again. Recruiting is hard. It is incredibly difficult to evaluate a 17-year old kid and try to dictate what he will become years later. Evaluators and coaches try to make an educated decision based upon the information they have at hand but there are plenty of hits and misses. If a recruiting class gets 50-60% to become solid contributors, that is a great class. Then again, that is why we love college football! The stories of low-ranked, walk-on's, etc. coming out of the weeds to become great players is what makes college football the greatest sport on the planet.

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