If your only glimpse of the Gophers football team in 2016 was the spring game, you've seen a partial picture. To get a full perspective, it's always good to view those last few practices that are also open to the public. The spring game is on Big Ten Network, and coaches never want to show too much for future opponents to store on their DVR.

The best I saw the offense look was last Thursday, when the Gophers went through a long scrimmage, complete with a full officiating crew, just two days before the spring game.

One big difference came on defense. In the Thursday practice, defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel pulled the reigns a bit, keeping the team in its 4-3 base defense with few stunts. Two days later, the Gophers surprisingly unleashed their defense more for the spring game, which made it even tougher for the quarterbacks, etc.

So no matter when you watch, there are variables. But here are some takeaways from that Thursday practice and how it differed from the spring game:

1) Shannon Brooks is a force. Last year's leading rusher managed just 19 yards on 10 carries in the spring game, but the White team's offensive line had trouble opening up holes. On Thursday, the Gophers lined up their first-team offense against the first-team defense, and Brooks was terrific. On the second play of the scrimmage, he took a handoff, burst through a hole, made a great cut and trucked over two defensive backs for a 23-yard gain. I also had Brooks down for runs of 7, 9 and 18 yards.

Bottom line: James Johannesson had an impressive spring game. Jonathan Femi-Cole showed in that same Thursday practice that he can fight for tough yardage. But Brooks and Rodney Smith remain running backs 1A and 1B in this offense, and both are just sophomores.

2) Demry Croft is better than his numbers showed Saturday. Croft was inconsistent all spring and repeatedly overthrew receivers. He threw one cringe-worthy interception in the spring game and had another one on a tipped pass, finishing 8-for-19 for 45 yards with six sacks. But he had other possible completions Saturday -- some when he scrambled and made decent throws -- that were either dropped by receivers or batted away on nice plays by the defensive backs. In that Thursday practice, Croft threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Register and hit Drew Wolitarsky for a 44-yard gain. With all his reps coming against the first-team defense, Croft also showed his running ability. One drive, for example, went Brooks for 7, Brooks for 9, Croft for 6 on the read option, and then Croft for 6 more on the read option.

Bottom line: Mitch Leidner is almost fully recovered from foot surgery. This remains his team, and as long as the Gophers can keep him healthy this fall, their offense will be in the hands of a poised, experienced fifth-year senior. If something happens to Leidner, the Gophers will be holding their breath with Croft. But Croft showed glimpses this spring. And this is still his freshman year, academically. So there is plenty of upside and room to grow during offseason workouts.

Also notable from that Thursday practice: Conor Rhoda and Seth Green took turns running the second-team offense. At one point, Green made a good strong throw for an 8-yard touchdown pass to Adam Mayer. But at this point, I'd be very surprised if Green doesn't redshirt this fall. ... Starting left tackle Garrison Wright got shaken up on Brooks' aforementioned 23-yard run. Wright was playing through some stuff this spring and still didn't seem to be at his best in the spring game. ... Emmit Carpenter made a 53-yard field goal, setting the stage for his 4-for-4 FG performance Saturday.