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Best UND players at each position from 1990 until now


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Posted

I was thinking about a lot of the UND football players I have watched over the last twenty years (about as far as I can stretch the memory) and wanted other peoples thoughts. Who are the best players to play football at UND over the last twenty years? Give positions and names and please feel free to give reasons for your choices if you would like to do so.

Posted

QB

Kelby Klosterman

Reed Manke

RB

Phillip Moore

Shannon Burnell

Ryan Chappell

WR

Weston Dressler

Jeff McElroy

Brady Trenbeath

Mike Juhasz

Dan Graf

TE

Jim Kleinsasser

OL

Chris Kuper

Jason Childs

Greg Lotysz

Tim Prinsen

Marcus McKenzie

Ben Olson

DL

Mark Callahan

Glen Matthews

Scott Schultz

Ben Dixon

LB

Mike Mooney

Digger Anderson

Travis O'Neel

Eric Schmidt

Tim Tibesar

Jason Mitchell

David Borowicz

S

Kelly Howe

Danny Gagner

James Cheatham

CB

Craig Riendeau

Ryan Manke

Brent Johnson

K

Jeff Glas

Cameron Peterka

Posted
I wish we could go back just a few years earlier even. Tracy Martin was better than any of those receivers IMHO.

Martin was a great player on some bad Sioux teams. Not sure he was better than Dressler, though.

Posted
I would take John Bowenkamp over Manke.

Bowenkamp had better physical abilities, but I just really liked the intangibles that Manke brought to the table. When he was healthy, he was extremely effective. Bowenkamp wasn't as consistent IMO, and didn't move around in the pocket and avoid the rush as well as Manke did. I don't believe Bowenkamp could have lead the Sioux to a win at UNI.

Posted
Bowenkamp had better physical abilities, but I just really liked the intangibles that Manke brought to the table. When he was healthy, he was extremely effective. Bowenkamp wasn't as consistent IMO, and didn't move around in the pocket and avoid the rush as well as Manke did. I don't believe Bowenkamp could have lead the Sioux to a win at UNI.

I agree. I would take Manke over Bowenkamp any day.

Posted

Manke was definately more mobile, a better improviser, and was obviously a great leader. I've always felt that Bownkamp was possibly the best pure drop-back passer to play for UND, and had a great arm that was very accurate on deep throws. He had a pretty special season in 2003 as far as I am concerned, and played quite well in 2002 under very difficult circumstances as a sophomore. And while I agree that North Dakota probably wouldn't have beaten UNI with Bowenkamp playing in Manke's place, I also am not sure that Manke could have led UND to the national championship game in 2003. It is too bad that Bowenkamp's senior season was mostly lost to injury.

Both were great QBs in my opinion, can't go wrong with either.

Posted

I'd also like to mention that along with Weston Dressler, not so much as a WR but as a return specialist, Travis Lueck was pretty amazing to watch when he was returning kicks. I think he was only here for one season, but he was a game-changer. Possibly even a better kick returner than Weston?

Posted

Here's my shot at it. That is a TOUGH list to compile. I left a lot of great players off the list. So many good players, and that's just from 1990-present! We have been very spoiled for the last 20 years.

QB

Kelby Klosterman

Reed Manke

(HM: Tony Stein)

TB

Phillip Moore

Shannon Burnell

Ryan Chappell

FB

David Wisthoff

WR

Weston Dressler

Jeff McElroy

Jesse Smith

Mike Juhasz

Tim Gelinske

TE

Jim Kleinsasser

OL

Bill Riviere

Chris Kuper

Jason Childs

Greg Lotysz

Tim Prinsen

Marcus McKenzie

Ben Olson

Brian Troen

DL

Monte Shaide

David Hillesheim

Mark Callahan

Scott Schultz

Eric Halvorson

Adam Wolff

LB

Mike Mooney ILB

Digger Anderson ILB

Travis O'Neel ILB

Tim Tibesar ILB

David Borowicz OLB

Steve Brennan OLB

Wes Atkinson OLB

Ryan Goven OLB

Eric Schmidt OLB

S

Kelly Howe

Danny Gagner

James Cheatham

CB

Craig Riendeau

Blaine O'Gorman

Brent Johnson

K

Jeff Glas

Cameron Peterka

P

Brent Halfmann

Posted
Manke was definately more mobile, a better improviser, and was obviously a great leader. I've always felt that Bownkamp was possibly the best pure drop-back passer to play for UND, and had a great arm that was very accurate on deep throws. He had a pretty special season in 2003 as far as I am concerned, and played quite well in 2002 under very difficult circumstances as a sophomore. And while I agree that North Dakota probably wouldn't have beaten UNI with Bowenkamp playing in Manke's place, I also am not sure that Manke could have led UND to the national championship game in 2003. It is too bad that Bowenkamp's senior season was mostly lost to injury.

Both were great QBs in my opinion, can't go wrong with either.

It's hard to say. My recollection of 2003 is a lot of very close games, and a lot of switching of quarterbacks between Bowenkamp and Joe Wilson--sometimes due to injuries, and sometimes due to ineffectiveness of one or the other.

Posted
My recollection of 2003 is a lot of very close games, and a lot of switching of quarterbacks between Bowenkamp and Joe Wilson--sometimes due to injuries, and sometimes due to ineffectiveness of one or the other.

True. And the same could be said about the two seasons that Manke and Chris Belmore shared time at the position.

Posted
True. And the same could be said about the two seasons that Manke and Chris Belmore shared time at the position.

I guess I draw a distinction between those two situations. Manke was never pulled for poor performance to the best of my knowledge. Belmore was given the nod as the starter when Bowenkamp went down in 2004, and kept the job longer than he should have IMO. This was one of the only times I ever disagreed with a Dale Lennon decision during his tenure as head coach. Once Manke finally got his shot, injuries were the only things that ever kept him out of a game.

Posted
So who might be some players on the current roster who could be included on this list in a few years? I'll say Boyle, Hawkins and Saporu.

I would have said Josh Murray if this thread were started a month ago.......... :)

Posted
Todd Kovash was one of the most prolific passers I have ever seen in a UND uniform.

I had kind of forgotten that Kovash actually did play in the 1990's (1990 was his sr. year). He was a good quarterback, and certainly had a large hand in the turnaround of UND football after the disastrous mid-1980's. I believe he was a part of Roger Thomas's first recruiting class.

Posted
Valid point. Klancher was a very solid qb, as was Kory Wahl.

Klancher had a lot of strong points but man did he almost always have all day to stand in the pocket and throw.

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