The Gopher Report continues on it's re-ranking of the classes 2010-17 from #8 down to #1. Coming in at #6 in the rankings: The Class of 2014
The Class of 2014 had 22 total commitments and was given the 52nd overall team recruiting rank and eighth in the Big Ten.
Here is a breakdown of the class:
The past couple of classes had been led mostly by their star power being quite top heavy, with not much depth to boast. The Class of 2014 is arguably quite the opposite. The Gophers had two players from this class achieve All-Big Ten honors, Rodney Smith and Steven Richardson, while it produced a number of other starters at various positions.
Rodney Smith holds the Gophers school record for All-Purpose Yards (5,441 yards), is third all-time in carries (879), third all-time in rushing yards (4,122) and sixth in rushing touchdowns with 29. Smith is ingrained in Minnesota history and will forever be a Maroon & Gold legend.
Steven Richardson started 44 games at defensive tackle and was named All-Big Ten Third Team as a junior in 2016. He finished his Gophers career with 103 total tackles, 29 TFLs, and 12.5 sacks before signing with the Los Angeles Chargers as a UDFA.
Jonathan Celestin started a total of 25 games including all 12 as a senior where he finished with 78 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, 1 sack, and 1 INT. He finished his Gophers career with 217 tackles, 19.5 TFLs, and 3.5 sacks and has since bounced around the AFL and XFL recently.
Jared Weyler started 27 games at guard and center for the Gophers becoming a pivotal member on the inside during the beginning of the Fleck tenure.
Other role players such as Brandon Lingen, Gaelin Elmore, Gary Moore, Andrew Stelter, Jerry Gibson, and Cody Poock also came from this class giving it pretty solid depth across the board.
Who outplayed their rating?
Easy ones are Rodney Smith and Jonathan Celestin who were both 5.4 two-stars and Steven Richardson, a 5.5 three-star. Smith and Richardson went on to become All-Big Ten members while all three got UDFA contracts in the NFL.
Who did not play up to their ranking?
Unfortunately, highly ranked Jeff Jones was never able to see game action for the Gophers as off the field issues kept him from wearing the Maroon & Gold.
Craig James is another interesting player who transferred to Southern Illinois after his sophomore season at Minnesota but has since bounced around on various NFL teams showcasing his talent. It would have been interesting to see what he could've done for the Gophers.
Summary:
Recruiting is difficult, as is continuity. While this class had a couple stars and some solid depth around it, it lost a lot of players to transfers when PJ Fleck took over as the head coach, giving it the ranking of #6 on our list.
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