Identifying Potential Transfer Priorities for the Gophers (2023-24)

P.J. Fleck has twice shown he can build a winning team at Minnesota. His ability to do it a third time will likely determine whether at the end of next season he is still the Gophers' head coach. He comes off his first sub-.500 full season since his debut, a fall that simultaneously was foreseeable and still came up short of even modest expectations.

Depending on one's perspective, Minnesota will have new starters at three offensive positions and three defensive positions. Inexperience was the story of 2023, which means experience will be the story entering 2024. Whether that translates to substantial improvement is the key to answering the question: Are the pieces in place but just weren't ready yet, or has Fleck run out of steam?

At one of the six positions turning over, the Gophers will need no additional help: While their best overall player, Tyler Nubin, departs, three underclassmen saw time at boundary safety this season. Veteran Craig McDonald, who hardly played after arriving from Auburn over the summer, will be back. Four-star recruit Koi Perich could also be part of the picture, assuming he signs. There is healthy competition at the back of the secondary.

Other departures do not leave so many options. Between now and the next fall camp, players will transfer from the U of M. This happens often, which Fleck has made or accepted as part of how he does his business. This can thin the depth chart. For example, Braelen Oliver and Donald Willis' departures made the situation at linebacker dicier to the point of a borderline crisis after a series of injuries.

The transfer market goes both ways, though, and Minnesota has been unafraid to plug holes with players leaving other programs. Sometimes, they have hit; sometimes, they have not. But Minnesota will surely seek to reload this way again. With that in mind, here are some places where Minnesota may want reinforcements.

In this post, players are referred to by their class (freshman, sophomore, etc.) entering the 2024 season. This practice may be slightly confusing, but since this covers the 2024 roster, it is better than the alternative.

Quarterback

Potential need: immediate contributor and depth

In the interest of transparency: If it seems I have buried the lede a bit, it is because this post was about 99-percent done as of Tuesday morning. For whatever reason, I chose to wait to publish it.

That decision prevented this post from becoming instantly outdated, as Athan Kaliakmanis announced Tuesday his intention to transfer from Minnesota. Hours later, backup Drew Viotto did the same.

These departures came a day after the Gophers showed their cards by offering a scholarship to New Hampshire graduate-transfer Max Brosmer. Fleck reportedly could not guarantee Kaliakmanis the starting job after an inconsistent 2023, informing the quarterback room that he would look for transfers.

As a result of Kaliakmanis and Viotto leaving, the Gophers will have two quarterbacks on the roster entering the bowl game. With Cole Kramer participating in Senior Day (despite having one more year of eligibility), it is likely that redshirt-freshman Max Shikenjanski will be the only quarterback on the team who will remain next season. There is just one quarterback in the incoming recruiting class, so Minnesota will need to find a starter and a backup.

So far, the list of quarterbacks putting their names in the portal is mostly full of veterans who lost a first-string job (Will Howard, Max Johnson, Noah Kim), lost their coach (Will Rogers, Brendan Sorsby, Dexter Williams II), or want one more shot to play after a late-career injury (Gerry Bohanon, Spencer Petras, Tyler Shough). Most are not appealing, but Brosmer, Rogers, and Holy Cross' Matthew Sluka show that talented quarterbacks can hit the market. More surely will. Attracting the right one will be the most important task this offseason.

Wide Receiver

Potential need: depth

In Daniel Jackson, Le'Meke Brockington, and Elijah Spencer, Minnesota has three starting-quality receivers. Behind them, though, there is no experience, and the departure of Brevyn Spann-Ford leaves Minnesota without a receiving threat at tight end.

Donielle Hayes, Kenric Lanier II, and T.J. McWilliams all arrived to Minneapolis with some pedigree but all redshirted in 2023. Kristen Hoskins and Quentin Redding both fit the "diminutive slot receiver" archetype, but neither has received a real shot on offense yet. The two commits in this year's recruiting class will be unproven by definition.

Fleck has talked up Lanier enough for me to think he should figure into the receiver rotation next year somehow. Someone else will still need to step up, or Minnesota will need to find a decent fourth option from outside the program.

Center

Potential need: immediate contributor

The only spot on the offensive line where Minnesota might truly need help is center. Three guards played regularly last season. Both Aireontae Ersery and Quinn Carroll are locked in at left and right tackle. But behind the outgoing Nathan Boe is also the outgoing Karter Shaw, leaving just one player on the roster who has played center in an FBS game. While redshirt senior Jackson Ruschmeyer's brother Axel made the jump from walk-on to trusted starter, the younger Ruschmeyer seems unlikely to be more than a backup.

This is not a position you can cover easily: The center typically must know how to read fronts like a quarterback and make protection calls pre-snap. Additionally, as anyone who has played even high school ball can tell you, being able to snap a ball properly is not just something everyone can do. Delivering an accurate snap and then becoming a blocker is its own skill. Can high-level athletes learn how to do it? Sure, but it's not as simple as telling a guard he is now a center.

Minnesota will prefer someone who has done the job previously. Redshirt sophomore Cade McConnell and redshirt freshman Jerome Williams have snapped in pregame warmups, and both could be part of the starting five in 2025 or 2026. For now, however, a veteran center is a safer choice.

Defensive Tackle

Potential need: immediate contributor or depth

This season gave a lot of Gophers their most substantive playing time to date, especially on a largely turned-over defense. A handful of players, such as those on the defensive line, gave evidence that they will be difference-makers next fall. The leaders of that group should make the front four one of the team's strengths entering next season.

The problem is a lack of trustworthy depth. At tackle, Deven Eastern looks like a playmaker. Around him are question marks.

Nose tackle Logan Richter, who has played his most ever snaps this year, has never made much of a mark at Minnesota. Nor has Darnell Jefferies, who will be back to lend a hand after missing 2023 to an injury. The other options are redshirt juniors Nate Becker and Luther McCoy and a litany of underclassmen who have never played a snap in college: Martin Owusu, Theorin Randle, and incoming freshmen Jide Abasiri and Riley Sunram. There is no obvious starter next to Eastern.

There may be an internal solution. Jalen Logan-Redding played a lot of 3-technique this season and could make the switch full-time, with Eastern sliding over to nose tackle. This would also lessen the logjam at 5-technique end, allowing Jah Joyner and Anthony Smith to become partners rather than splitting a starter's snaps three ways. Even taking that path, however, will necessitate finding more help at nose, since Eastern has not played that role in college. If none of the reserves are ready for a bigger role, Minnesota must recruit someone who is.

Rush End

Potential need: depth

Danny Striggow is unlikely to match the place in Gophers lore of Carter Coughlin or Boye Mafe, two former stars at his position, but he is an effective starter. Who will back him up?

The only rush end the Gophers have given real playing time besides Striggow is Chris Collins. He enters bowl season having recorded 1.0 havoc play, his interception of former North Carolina teammate Drake Maye. Collins has not impressed at the U of M, and that may say something about the players behind him who could not supplant him.

Among them, only fifth-year Lucas Finessy, who returned to game action in mid-October after a serious injury late in 2022, has played any meaningful snaps for the Gophers. Unless someone at 5-technique or linebacker changes positions to rush end, the Gophers should bring in a transfer to give Striggow extra cover.

Cornerback

Potential need: immediate contributor

Minnesota tried to make up for the departure of Terell Smith with transfers, and the results were underwhelming. Tre'Von Jones has done a passable job coming over from Elon but would have been a third-choice cornerback in previous Minnesota secondaries. Tyler Bride, meanwhile, has hardly featured and did not impress whenever he did appear.

Outside of Bride, the Gophers' most experienced corners are redshirt sophomore Tariq Watson and redshirt freshman Za'Quan Bryan, the latter of whom made his college debut against Wisconsin. At some point, the greenhorns have to play. But rotating so few players through the position this year means there may not be anyone ready to start opposite Walley. If proven cornerbacks are available, the Gophers should try to add one to their lineup.

This analysis, of course, does not take into account any outgoings that we have not found out about yet. There were a few unexpected departures at the end of last season, and by the time the transfer window opens on Dec. 4, the Gophers could have a few more holes to fill. Maybe someone wants more playing time, or needs to be closer to home, or is just tired of Fleck. Regardless, getting this window right is crucial to making next season a bounceback year rather than another disappointment.