The Gopher Report continues on it's re-ranking of the classes 2010-17 from #8 down to #1. Coming in at #2 in the rankings: The Class of 2012
The Class of 2012 had 27 total commitments and was given the 72nd overall team recruiting rank and 12th (last at that time) in the Big Ten.
Here is a breakdown of the class:
This class in particular is a really fun one for me to review as I was a 2012 graduate that played with or against a lot of these players. Many pillars of the Kill regime came from this class, his second as the coach of the Gophers.
Mitch Leidner started 41 career games for Minnesota and helped re-write the record books:
Rushed 446 times (15th all-time in school history) for 1,495 yards (third in school history for a quarterback) and 33 career touchdowns (most in school history for a quarterback, fourth for any player)
Passed for 7,287 yards (third most in school history) and 36 touchdowns (fifth in school history)
Ranks fifth all-time in school history in completion percentage (56.4), second in completions (580) and second in attempts (1,029)
Only Minnesota quarterback ever to pass and rush for 30 career touchdowns
Ranks second all-time in total offense with 8,882 yards.
Maxx Williams was drafted in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens (Round 2 Pick 55). He was named First Team All-Big Ten in 2014 and currently plays for the Arizona Cardinals where last season he had 15 catches for 202 yards and one touchdown.
Eric Murray started 39 career games at Minnesota while being honored All-Big Ten Second Team in 2014 as well as Third Team in 2015. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs (Round 4 Pick 106). On April 1, 2020, Murray signed a three-year, $20.25 million dollar contract with the Houston Texans.
Briean Boddy-Calhoun was named All-Big Ten First Team in 2014 when he registered 51 tackles, two TFL, five INTs, and nine PBUs. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent where he had three interceptions as a rookie in 2016. He currently plays for the Indianapolis Colts.
Damarius Travis started 23 career games for the Gophers.
Jonah Pirsig started 30 games for Minnesota.
KJ Maye was a reliable receiver for Leidner in 2015 where he accumulated 73 catches for 773 yards and five touchdowns.
Jack Lynn started 28 career games at linebacker for Minnesota which included 76 tackles and 11 TFLs as a junior, earning All-Big Ten Honorable Mention.
Antonio Johnson started 26 career games and led the team with 102 tackles as a senior in 2015.
Ben Lauer started 14 games as a Gopher at left tackle before medically retiring in 2015.
Scott Ekpe started 15 career games.
Other contributors include Isaac Freuchte, Lincoln Plsek, Nick Rallis, Yoshoub Timms, Alex Keith, Rodrick Williams, and Roland Johnson.
Who outplayed their rating?
A few choices here really stick out. Eric Murray as a 5.4 two-star turning into a shutdown corner and a fourth round pick is probably the highlight of this class in terms of overplaying your ranking.
Mitch Leidner was a steady leader in the Maroon & Gold for four years and led the Gophers to two 8-5 seasons as well as a 9-4 season and deserves to get credit for helping the turnaround during the Kill era.
Ben Lauer was a 5.2 two-star who was named to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America Team after his redshirt freshman season in 2013. He started overall 14 games at LT and if not for injury, could have started quite a few more.
Who did not pan out in the Maroon & Gold?
Philip Nelson transferred to East Carolina in 2015 after two years at the University of Minnesota where he started 16 games over the course of those two seasons. He most recently played for the San Diego Fleet of the AAF and the Dallas Renegades of the XFL.
Andre McDonald transferred to UW-River Falls after two seasons with the Gophers and most recently played for the Green Bay Blizzard of the Indoor Football League in 2017.
Jamel Harbison transferred from the Gophers after two years on campus.
Summary:
As I've said before, recruiting is incredibly difficult. It is tough to evaluate a kid who is still in high school and see what he might translate to at the next level. That being said, the Gophers did a great job in this class to get quality depth and have NFL-caliber stars that were foundations of multiple winning seasons. Even without the two highest ranked recruits in the class staying with Minnesota, they found quality players that produced to wins. A majority of this class became contributors which is ultimately why it earns the #2 ranking of mine in the re-ranking of classes.
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