For most of P.J. Fleck’s first seven years as Gophers football coach, Minnesota was known as a running team, one that would feed the football to a halfback, grind out yards, move the chains and drain the clock.
One of the beneficiaries of the passing emphasis is tight end Jameson Geers, a fourth-year junior who’s emerging as one of Brosmer’s top targets. Geers has 13 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown this season, ranking fifth in catches and yards on the team.
Geers, 6-5 and 255 pounds, gives Brosmer a big target at tight end, and his value was on display late in the first half of last week’s 48-23 Gophers win over Maryland. With Minnesota facing second-and-3 from its 42-yard line with 23 seconds left in the second quarter, Brosmer found Geers over the middle, and the 6-5, 255-pounder leaped to make a tough catch for a 23-yard gain to the Maryland 35. Four plays later, Dragan Kesich’s 34-yard field goal stretched the Gophers lead to 34-10.
“I have a lot to work on, but I feel like I’m improving, and our coaches are doing a really good job of utilizing me in the game plan — just being able to be myself out there and using my strengths,” Geers said. “Throughout the back end of the year, I think I’m going to be improving even more. I’m excited for that.”
“Excellent,” Harbaugh said of Geers’ development. “[Tight ends coach] Eric Koehler has done fantastic job with him and developing that room. The way we use the tight end position, it’s really fun, really cool for those guys. It’s unique. We can split them out wide … we can put them in the backfield. We can do a lot of different things.”
Before Geers could display his pass-catching skills, he first had to prove he could block. It’s required work to Fleck.
