Gopher Football
Cornerbacks . . .
– Ukee Dozier
Senior Ukee Dozier leads the Gopher cornerbacks once again this year. The Bradenton, Florida native arrived in Minnesota as a rather unheralded recruit, but will enter his senior season having started for the better part of past three years. Ukee doesn’t have blazing speed for a cornerback, but he has partially made up for that by earning lots of playing time. He is easily the most experienced player in the Minnesota secondary having started 32 of his 37 career games (including 32 of his last 33), and he will once again be counted on to be a leader in the defensive backfield. That experience, combined with his above average 6’1″ frame has turned him into a solid cover corner.
The one really disappointing number for Ukee last year was his 0 interceptions. In fact, in his 32 starts he has only recorded 1 pick. This may not be entirely his fault though; as the defensive line has not done a good job the past couple years forcing the opposing quarterbacks into rushed passes. If the line can get a good rush going this year I would expect Ukee to get at least a few picks this year. (On the positive side, Dozier did lead the team in pass breakups last season with 8 and has 16 for his career.) I don’t think Ukee is going to be an All-American for us this year, but he’s also not going to fall flat on his face. He is one of a number of guys on our team who has a significant amount of starts and can be counted on to be a solid contributor.
– Trumaine Banks
On the other side of the Gopher secondary is sophomore Trumaine Banks. If there is a future star on the roster at cornerback, Trumaine is probably that guy. Banks turned in a very solid freshman season last year, recording 1 INT and breaking up 7 passes. He has three years left to play but he is already battle tested and is well on his way to becoming a mainstay in the secondary.
It’s kind of dangerous to make comparisons to past players (especially when they’re this good), but Banks freshman season reminded me of what Willie Middlebrooks endured in his first year. On one play you would be applauding the coverage he would display, and then on the next you would be slapping your head in frustration after watching him get burned by the receiver and taking yet another pass interference penalty. Sure, Banks took his share of lumps last year, but I don’t think it’s really a lot to worry about long term. He was only a freshman, after all, and in between those lumps were a lot of other things to be excited about. Banks showed enough coverage skills last year to leave me pretty pumped about his future. Give him another year of experience and he will be challenging for the All Big Ten team. (Trumaine went to high school at Eastmoor Academy in Columbus, Ohio, the same high school as freshman running back Justin Valentine.)
– Depth
Cornerback is a position that has a lot of prospects, but not a lot of developed depth. The player with the most experience is Senior Mike Wojciechowski. The former walk-on has become a great athlete (he’s strong and quick), but at 5’8″ is slightly undersized to be an ideal full time corner. Mike is the first guy into the game on nickel situations and has done a pretty solid job of that so far. After Wojciechowski & the two starters things get a little tricky, as three redshirt freshmen are competing for the other second string spot. As of spring practice that job belonged to Jamal Harris. Jamal was a late arrival to the 2003 recruiting class but has done well so far. He got burned by Micah Rucker in the spring game but appears to be very aggressive. He is still relatively new to the position, so once he learns more he has a chance to be a solid player. (Jamal graduated from Delray Beach HS in Florida. He was a classmate of Brandon Owens.) The other two freshmen who will see their first action this year are Desi Steib and Stephon Rhea. A bit of a mystery at this position is senior Byron Williams. Byron was a JC recruit last year, but coming out of this spring he was only listed 4th on the depth chart.
Safeties . . .
– Justin Fraley
At the strong safety spot is senior Justin Fraley. Though he has never been a regular starter, Fraley has already seen plenty of action and he did a very good job filling in when Justin Isom was injured last year. There are several positive things I see with Fraley. He did a little bit of everything last season in his reserve role, getting 45 tackles (4 for loss), 3 sacks, 2 Int’s, 2 pass breakups and 1 forced fumble. He has experience in that he is a 5th year senior. Finally, he is strong and fast enough for his position. He benches 365 lbs (best of the DB’s), he run’s a 4.5 40, and is a former HS track champion, running the 100 meters in 10.6. All of this leads up to what I believe will be a very solid year for Justin. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him do as well or better than Justin Isom did last year, and that was getting Honorable Mention All-Big Ten.
– John Pawielski
Over at the free safety spot is junior walk-on Justin Pawielski. It’s been an unlikely story so far for Pawielski. He came to Minnesota as a walk-on, but lettered as a true freshman playing mostly on special teams. Last year he made a bigger jump into the defense, and this year he came out of spring as the number one guy at free safety. He likely will not be able to completely replace Eli Ward, but the coaches are obviously thrilled with the progress he has made so far. We haven’t seen a ton of Justin yet (on defense anyway), so this is one guy on defensive I’m definitely looking forward to watching. If past history is any indication, Justin will be counted on to be a key run stopper. (aka ““ Tyrone Carter and Eli Ward)
– Depth
After Laurence Maroney, the most famous second stringer the Gophers have is sophomore Brandon Owens. Brandon was the highest rated defensive player to sign with Minnesota since Dominique Sims, so right away (probably unfairly) a lot of hope and expectations were placed upon him. He did see special teams action last year as a true freshman, but that diminished as the year went on. Brandon has a great combination of size and athleticism, so I would be shocked if he doesn’t contribute in some way (even at a position other than free safety) this year. The backup at strong safety is senior Johnathan Richmond. He has not seen a lot of action in the secondary as of yet, but has been a good special teams player. Rounding out the third strings are junior Quentin White (SS) and redshirt freshman Samad Cain.
Around the Big Ten . . .
As a conference, the Big Ten returns more talent to the secondary than any other area on the field. One first teamer, four second teamers, and four more honorable mention players will be back this fall. Ohio State appears loaded again. Despite losing Will Smith and Chris Gamble (early) to the draft, the Buckeyes return All-Big Ten players Dustin Fox and Nate Salley. Throw in Ted Ginn Jr., one of the top high school recruits in the country this year, and OSU will once again reload and be very strong in the secondary. Wisconsin return the best safety in the conference from last year, senior Jim Leonhard. Also returning for Bucky is a guy the Gophers recruited hard a few years ago, senior cornerback Scott Starks. Purdue loses most of their defensive starters, but the one key guy they do have coming back is senior Antwaun Rogers. Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Michigan brings back two solid players in the secondary Ernest Shazor and Markus Curry. Penn State returns second teamer Alan Zimaitis. Honorable Mention safeties returning are Indiana’s Herana-Daze Jones and the Spartans Jason Harmon.
Last Year . . .
It’s kind of tough to put a true measure on how well the secondary performed last year. Trumaine Banks showed flashes, but was inconsistent in coverage. Eli Ward was never a great cover safety, but was always great at stopping the run. Justin Isom was pretty solid all around, as was Ukee Dozier. But despite the positives turned out by the players, some of the biggest lapses on defense occurred through the air. Michigan, Michigan St, Wisconsin & Oregon all come to mind right away. In each of those games the secondary seemed to have problems adjusting to what the opposition would throw at them. But in the other games the defensive backfield was generally pretty solid. A lot of the problems in coverage last year could’ve stemmed from the lack of a pass rush however, so overall I would give last years unit a 6 out of 10.
Bottom Line . . .
This should be as solid of a group of DB’s as we’ve had a while. As I mentioned in the intro, we don’t have a lot of star power, but we do have experience, balance and depth. Though it wasn’t completely the secondary’s fault, teams burned us through the air last year. Avoiding those types of meltdowns will obviously be the one big issue that this year’s group will need to improve upon. The single biggest key to achieving success will be replacing both of the safeties. Considering we have two good, proven cornerbacks, we should be in good shape if Fraley & Pawielski can do the job.
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