Craig McDonald ...come on down ....

Donate To GopherHole














State of Football said:
This one doesn’t excite me…
Click to expand...

247sports.com

Minnesota earns a commitment from Auburn DB transfer Craig McDonald

Minnesota hosted former in-state native and Iowa State and then Auburn defensive back transfer Craig McDonald on an unofficial visit this weekend and earned his commitment
247sports.com 247sports.com

...
In 2021 as a redshirt freshman, McDonald played in all 13 games for Iowa State, earning three starts on defense. He was first-team academic All-Big 12, and totaled 41 tackles, two interceptions and 1.5 tackles for loss. During that 2021 season, he totaled 410 defensive snaps, earning a 71.3 overall PFF grade on those as a redshirt freshman.

After that 2021 season, McDonald put his name into the transfer portal and ended up in the SEC with the Auburn Tigers. In his third-year of college football in 2022, McDonald saw action at safety for the Tigers against Mercer and Penn State before going down with an injury. He's expected to be at 100% when arriving on campus at Minnesota this summer. ..

Solid as a freshman. Injury last year. I don't see any reason to be down. Hopefully he can get a waiver to be eligible this season.
 

State of Football said:
This one doesn’t excite me…
Click to expand...
I think you're misled then, he's a solid talent that fits very well into the Nickel role we've got going. Good competition and may earn himself some playing time. We're still likely to pick up one more DB and maybe a DL, depends what the staff thinks of the current DL...
 






MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
He's not.
Click to expand...
My bad.

Kinda surprised by that.

Has had three full academic years (2020, 2021, 2022), plus three summers, plus if he enrolled early at Iowa State an extra semester. Would definitely be possible to earn an undergrad with that many semesters. Guess he chose the lighter course load route.
 

pharmacygopher said:
Solid as a freshman. Injury last year. I don't see any reason to be down. Hopefully he can get a waiver to be eligible this season.
Click to expand...
Selfishly, we all want a guy who can help the team to be able to do so as soon as possible.

But generally, I'm against such waivers these days. You get your one free transfer. You get another one if/when you graduate with an undergrad. Not a fan of giving another one inbetween those.

Best chance is if he can try to claim it like he needs to come home to be closer to sick family. Short of that, I would deny it.

Coaching change (if that's the case, don't know much about Auburn these days) isn't good enough, for me.
 

Gophers_4life said:
For whatever it's worth, Bryson and Green started and played well in the bowl game against Syracuse.

Shouldn't they be the assumed starters?
Click to expand...
Both those guys are likely to see significant playing time but neither is a true CB
 



MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
I don't think either plays the nickel position?
Click to expand...
I thought that was exactly the position Bryson played and excelled at during the bowl game?

I can easily be wrong here, someone please correct me.


Otherwise, how would Bryson, Green, and Howden all be on the field at the same time?
 

Gophers_4life said:
McDonald is a safety?
Click to expand...

McDonald is for the nickel spot. He will be competing with Jack Henderson for PT if he gets a waiver for this year. If he doesn't get a waiver for 2023 season, Rowan will be cross-trained at Sam and Nickel. The staff obviously feels there is enough upside and talent with McDonald to take on the risk that he may only be able to practice this year.

Safeties are Nubin and Green backed up by Coleman and Gousby
 


Gophers_4life said:
I thought that was exactly the position Bryson played and excelled at during the bowl game?

I can easily be wrong here, someone please correct me.


Otherwise, how would Bryson, Green, and Howden all be on the field at the same time?
Click to expand...
Bryson was the other safety.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Selfishly, we all want a guy who can help the team to be able to do so as soon as possible.

But generally, I'm against such waivers these days. You get your one free transfer. You get another one if/when you graduate with an undergrad. Not a fan of giving another one inbetween those.

Best chance is if he can try to claim it like he needs to come home to be closer to sick family. Short of that, I would deny it.

Coaching change (if that's the case, don't know much about Auburn these days) isn't good enough, for me.
Click to expand...
Good thing its not up to you then 😂 We'll see what the NCAA waiver roulette wheel spits out.
 

If McDonald has to sit out a year for NCAA rule purposes, does his scholarship count against the 2023 limit, or does begin to it count when his playing eligibility starts, in 2024? If the later, I like this as I think McDonald is actually a safety (not a nickel) and will provide veteran presence at that position after Nubin leaves for the NFL. I think the nickel position looks to be Henderson backed up by Zolman. But, if McDonald is ineligible this year but his scholarship counts against this year's limit, not sure I understand the benefit to the Gophers as we enter a really tough season.

On the other hand, if McDonald is immediately eligible, maybe he backs up both nickel and safety. Or maybe he is the rotation as a big corner, like T-Time. Who knows?

Anyway, with Tre'Von Jones and McDonald, I think our DB group already has more talent, and considerably more game experience, than it did a month ago. Maybe that is the simple answer.
 
Last edited:

Gophergrandpa said:
If McDonald has to sit out a year for NCAA rule purposes, does his scholarship count against the 2023 limit, or does begin to it count when his playing eligibility starts, in 2024?
Click to expand...

I'm sure it counts just like it did in the pre-portal days
 

Gophers_4life said:
My bad.

Kinda surprised by that.

Has had three full academic years (2020, 2021, 2022), plus three summers, plus if he enrolled early at Iowa State an extra semester. Would definitely be possible to earn an undergrad with that many semesters. Guess he chose the lighter course load route.
Click to expand...
How long did it take you to complete your undergrad? Did you also have D1 athlete time commitments?
 

matt said:
How long did it take you to complete your undergrad? Did you also have D1 athlete time commitments?
Click to expand...
8 semesters is the norm. He would’ve had at least 9 with three summer semesters (athletes usually take these nowadays)
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom