2023 Gophers Position Previews: Secondary

If you can believe it, football is almost here. Seriously. For the third year running, Ski-U-Blog will have previews of every position group entering Minnesota's season. Our last defensive preview concerns the secondary.

Likely Starters

Without any qualifications, Minnesota's best player is Tyler Nubin. He is active and violent against the run.

He anticipates passes and flies in to get his hands on them.

He is one of the best safeties in college football. If any Gopher makes an All-America team, it's this guy.

Nubin had a phenomenal 2022, the kind of year that he could've used as his last audition for the NFL.  But he stayed for one more year at the U of M. He gives a big boost to a defense in transition.

That transition starts next to Nubin, at field safety. Darius Green is stepping up to replace Jordan Howden after a brief starting spell at the end of last year due to injury, having played both deep safety and nickelback. His game against Syracuse was up-and-down but showed glimpses of what kind of player he is: a mean one.

Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi likes his safeties to be quick to come downhill to stop the run, and based on the last few guys the Gophers have had back there, he likes them to have some pop. Green is an ideal fit for that role. Now, the redshirt sophomore gets to show he's learned how to be more than just the heavy hitter he was as a high schooler.

Green could've worked in the slot permanently, and Minnesota might've used him there after Michael Dixon's transfer to Rutgers. Instead, the identity of the starter in the slot might be up to the NCAA.

Minnehaha Academy alumnus Craig McDonald arrives from Auburn, where he spent just one year after a couple seasons at Iowa State. He didn't complete that one year for the Tigers, or even come close, suffering a season-ending injury after two games. This means we really only have one season to go off of when evaluating McDonald, his 2021 campaign for the Cyclones.

McDonald played boundary safety in ISU's new-age 3-3-5. He was closer to the line at Auburn, so at least a role closer to the line of scrimmage won't be entirely new to him, but his injury cost him valuable experience. As a deep safety — especially one who frequently alternated drives on and off the field — McDonald obviously did not always get opportunities to stand out on TV. In the rare times I saw him in man coverage, he didn't look impressive, giving up an easy touchdown against West Virginia, but McDonald was mostly trustworthy in zone and responded quickly to throws in his vicinity. Being in the right place, aided by luck, produced positive results.

Defending the run, McDonald was a mixed bag. He did not take on blockers with any physicality, and his pursuit angles. He was, however, a sure tackler when he got into position.

Since McDonald transferred twice, he must receive a waiver from the NCAA to play again immediately. (Escaping Hugh Freeze seems like enough reason to grant the waiver, but that's just me.) If he's not available, another transfer will play nickel: Jack Henderson.

Henderson is the Gophers' latest import from the Southland Conference, having put together a solid career at Southeastern Louisiana, one of the better programs in FCS. Henderson made the All-Southland first team in 2022 and led the Lions in tackles (72.5 total) and havoc plays (15.0). A player who puts up those numbers as a defensive back looks ideal for nickel, where speed and physicality are both needed.

Henderson is athletic enough to hang at least with FCS receivers, he occupies his zone fairly smartly, and he's not useless trying to hold the edge against a tight end. However, his tackling numbers seem to be more attributable to being around the ball (which is good) than his tackling ability (which can be wretched). There were a few instances in the Lions' playoff games against Idaho and Samford where Henderson flung himself at the ballcarrier without bringing his arms with him, and not always making solid contact.

This technique won't work against Braelon Allen.

In other words, Henderson is more defensive back than linebacker. That's not entirely bad, but at a hybrid position, it does limit his utility. If McDonald can play, Henderson will be more of a situational player. If not, Henderson will still need to come off the field in obvious run situations and might not play much at all against the likes of Iowa and Wisconsin. Or maybe Green goes to nickel.

As up in the air as the situation in the slot is, it's a bigger mess at cornerback. One starter is entrenched, but as many as three players are battling for the other spot.

The only one who has been here is Tariq Watson, a redshirt freshman who only got into last season's romp over Western Illinois. Watson's spring game was quiet except for getting toasted on a few trick plays, which isn't entirely irrelevant but doesn't speak at all to his down-to-down skills. Frequently matched up against Kenric Lanier II (about whom there's been some recent buzz) on the field side, Watson did a fine job following his man and a couple times came up to make a tackle on a quick throw. But he never had to break up a pass.

What we really know about Watson's readiness is quite limited. I would be surprised if he starts, especially considering the experience brought into the program.

That starts with Tyler Bride, who joins the Gophers from Georgia Southern. Bride is a different type of player to Terell Smith, who was handsy and tough to go with his great speed. Bride looks a little scrawny by comparison, and you hardly ever see him jam a receiver. He played some slot corner early in 2022 and just wasn't built for it; in the win over Nebraska, you can see how Bride gets bumped around when he's near the box.

Bride's game is instead about staying in front of the receiver and either jumping on their short routes or turning his hips to keep up with them downfield. His patience can turn into flat-footedness, and he can get burned over the top, but Bride excels at reading and reacting to screens and slants.

The other new arrival is graduate transfer Tre'Von Jones, who played safety as an underclassman but finished his time at Elon as the starting field corner. Unfortunately, I can only find two Elon games on YouTube from the last two years, the most recent of which is their playoff loss to a fairly run-heavy Furman. Jones also did not arrive to the program until after the spring game. This means we don't have much reference footage. Here he is, though, playing good coverage in that playoff game.

Later, after it probably would have mattered, Jones failed to make a touchdown-saving tackle because both he and his blocker assumed a run bound for their side of the field was dead. Not the best look, but I wouldn't say lack of effort or focus was a serious problem for Jones. He is a couple inches taller than Bride but skinny, officially carrying 5 fewer pounds than his fellow transfer. Based on what's available, it doesn't seem like physicality is one of Jones' strengths so much as something he's willing to try. His career missed-tackle rate, according to Pro Football Focus, is 22 percent — not the worst you can find at the position, but potentially worthy of concern.

Between the three cornerbacks, I'd feel best about Bride getting the most snaps. He nevertheless has his limitations and will likely not be an every-down player. Expect this group to rotate, and perhaps for there to be no clear "starter."

Breaking in three new players on one side makes it especially helpful to have a third-year starter on the other. Justin Walley is not foolproof but is a real asset in the secondary. Rossi's defense requires corners who can tackle, and Walley definitely qualifies. While like a lot of corners, he can struggle to shed blocks, that doesn't mean he's a pushover as a tackler. (It's why he's on the punt coverage team.) PFF charged him with an average of just 2.1 yards after the catch allowed.

In 2022, Walley improved over his true freshman season and resultingly wasn't picked on nearly as often by opposing teams. Now a junior, he could take another step and maybe earn all-conference recognition.

Key Backups

Coleman Bryson's first college start turned into a big day: The then-true freshman from North Carolina made 7.0 tackles (all solo), broke up a pass, and recorded a pick-six against Syracuse. The performance won him Pinstripe Bowl MVP honors, which makes for a pretty solid introduction to college ball.

Bryson should get into more games this season, but Nubin's return means he doesn't have to take on a bigger role than he's ready to handle. The spring game suggests he needs to clean up some things in the interim. Like Nubin and Green, he is aggressive defending the run and meeting the ballcarrier. Bryson needs to temper that a little bit, however, as well as improve his angles and break down better to make a tackle. Zach Evans is good, but he shouldn't be able to make Bryson look this bad:

In a year, he'll be starting. He might not have all his problems sorted out but should be ready by then.

Notables Unlikely to Contribute

Another redshirt freshman, Aidan Gousby, is another backup at safety, He probably will not feature unless there's an injury. Behind him are a couple of first-years: Garrison Monroe, a former two-way player at Shakopee with excellent speed; and Kerry Brown, a positively nasty box safety who also returned kicks for Naples High School (Florida).

At cornerback, Victor Pless is the most veteran reserve but lacks any in-game college experience. Three redshirt freshmen join him in the lower rungs of the depth chart: Rhyland Kelly, converted receiver Evan Redding (Quentin's brother), and walk-on Jordan Greenhow, who played plenty in the spring game.

Officially listed at 5 feet, 10 inches and probably shorter than that, Za'Quan Bryan really only fits at nickelback. But he is an electric player. As a high schooler, he played offense, defense, and special teams, adding something to all three units. He hits hard, he runs fast, and one would think his background as an all-state receiver (in Georgia, no less) means he has the feet to track receivers pretty well. McDonald and Henderson are out of eligibility after 2024, at which point Bryan should have a chance to start.