Gophers’ transfer class gets a failing grade

[BleedGopher]

Per Blake:

Under head coach P.J. Fleck, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have had great success in the transfer portal over the years. Chris Williamson, Benjamin St.-Juste, Jack Gibbens, Jack Henderson, Elijah Spencer, and Ethan Robinson are all examples of transfer players who became impact players in maroon and gold.

This past offseason, Fleck and co. dug deep in the portal, taking nearly two dozen transfers.

The results? Far more misses than hits.

Quarterback​

Transfer(s): Zach Pyron (Georgia Tech), Emmett Morehead (Old Dominion)
The Gophers went looking for a veteran quarterback to challenge redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey and provide a safety net for the season. Pyron came and went, transferring to South Alabama after failing to impress during spring camp. Morehead was then brought in but never saw the field, as walk-on Mike Shikenjanski served as the second-string quarterback. Morehead is now out of eligibility.

Running Back​

Transfer(s): A.J. Turner (Marshall), Cam Davis (Washington)
Turner opened the season as the No. 2 running back behind Darius Taylor and rushed for 64 yards and one touchdown before suffering a season-ending leg injury in Week 3 against Cal. Davis stepped into a bigger role when both Taylor and Turner were sidelined but never did much with the opportunity, rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries. Turner can return next season for his last year of eligibility.

Wide Receiver​

Transfer(s): Javon Tracy (Miami Ohio), Logan Loya (UCLA), Malachi Coleman (Nebraska)
Tracy was hot and cold all season long, but he finished second on the team with 35 receptions for 439 receiving yards and a team-leading six touchdowns. Loya never found his footing, hauling in a mere 10 receptions for 61 yards. Coleman struggled to see the field through the first half of the season but saw his snaps increase significantly over the final six games. He finished the regular season with only five receptions for 83 receiving yards, but it is clear the Gophers see him as a much-needed deep threat in the passing game.

Gophers’ transfer class gets a failing grade

The portal did not giveth the Gophers much this season

www.thedailygopher.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Panthadad2]

I'll quibble a bit on a couple points.
- The team relied on Cam Davis often as a 3rd down back. He had 18 receptions and seemed to be a halfway decent blocker.
- Coleman has a future as a physical receiver and good downfield blocker even if it took a while to see the field.
- Lastly, I agree that offensive line was the biggest whiff. Those guys are hard to develop and the ones transferring in were below Fleck's typical "home-grown" OL.

 

[forever a gopher]

I'll quibble a bit on a couple points.
- The team relied on Cam Davis often as a 3rd down back. He had 18 receptions and seemed to be a halfway decent blocker.
- Coleman has a future as a physical receiver and good downfield blocker even if it took a while to see the field.
- Lastly, I agree that offensive line was the biggest whiff. Those guys are hard to develop and the ones transferring in were below Fleck's typical "home-grown" OL.

Both OL and DL were the biggest whiffs, IMO. No shocker that this Gopher squad was pretty easily pushed around at the line of scrimmage.

I think it was Ryan Burns that threw out ideas regarding how they need to re-think transfers. One suggestion was going with fewer, but more impactful. Also, made the point about how they've had far more success with G4/FCS transfers coming up than P4 transfers. I don't think it's a coincidence that the year they hit the portal the hardest was the one they did the worst. Knowing they don't have the most NIL $ to throw around, it seems that taking fewer transfers, but ones that probably have a higher likelihood of working out would be the better approach. 5 of their 7 OL/DL transfers were P4 transfers. And that was the worst spot.

 

[Word]

The qbs were backups and not needed so they can't really be graded.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

QB's weren't brought in to play. No biggie that they didn't.

Hard to grade the RB's since Turner was #2 and got hurt.

WR's were probably a disappointment. But Tracy did end up being one of our main guys. I would say that's more of a C- than a fail.

Biber was solid. B

OL and DL....yeah those were mostly misses. D or F for a grade there.

LB....I don't think they were really expecting to rely on Roberson.

Secondary....Nester's game alone against Wisconsin is a candidacy for an A. At the very least it's a B+

Special Teams: Denaburg was an F but Weston was a C.

Taken as a whole it is definitely a low grade but I'd be hard-pressed to say that it's overall an F. Not every transfer is supposed to start.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Failing grade feels harsh....some definite misses......I would break down the groups like this.

QB - Brought in for depth....never needed it as Drake stayed healthy all year. - No Grade

RB - Turner looked like a good pickup then went down for the season. Davis was ok - B

WR - Tracy took a while to settle in but could be a nice weapon next year. Coleman was a project who also looks like he could be a weapon at some point. Loya played a lot on special teams I believe - Solid B with potential for more depending on what happens with Tracy and Coleman next year.

TE - Biber was a solid pickup - B

OL - This was a very disappointing group but did get some starters from it - D

DL - Lawrence was solid as a rotation piece. - C

LB - Roberson was a miss, not sure if he played special teams but did little on Defense - F

DB - Nestor was a very solid pickup and obviously ended the season on high note with his performance against Wisconsin. Other guy was a non-factor but both could be back. - B

ST - Denaburg was worthless on kicks over 40 but hit his short kicks and extra points, plus most KO went out of the EZ. Weston was solid and has multiple years left. Will give the group a C

Overall I would give this transfer group a C grade. Definitely not failing but also left a lot to be desired with some definite misses but also a bunch of guys with eligibility left who could make an impact next year.

 

[Texan Gopher]

Nestor Lawrence and Tracy were all guys that had some huge plays at key times for us this year.

The OL and K are where the transfer portal grade falls apart.

 

[btowngopher]

Can’t really call a transfer a whiff if we ended up needing to play them a lot. They might not have played great, but the alternatives were sitting on the bench.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I think it was Ryan Burns that threw out ideas regarding how they need to re-think transfers. One suggestion was going with fewer, but more impactful.

I’m not sure this is a trade you can just make.

More impactful is what you want from everyone….

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Can’t really call a transfer a whiff if we ended up needing to play them a lot. They might not have played great, but the alternatives were sitting on the bench.

Yeah, if they played often, then they beat out someone.

 

[btowngopher]

Both OL and DL were the biggest whiffs, IMO. No shocker that this Gopher squad was pretty easily pushed around at the line of scrimmage.

I think it was Ryan Burns that threw out ideas regarding how they need to re-think transfers. One suggestion was going with fewer, but more impactful. Also, made the point about how they've had far more success with G4/FCS transfers coming up than P4 transfers. I don't think it's a coincidence that the year they hit the portal the hardest was the one they did the worst. Knowing they don't have the most NIL $ to throw around, it seems that taking fewer transfers, but ones that probably have a higher likelihood of working out would be the better approach. 5 of their 7 OL/DL transfers were P4 transfers. And that was the worst spot.

They have to fill spots from the guys that leave, as far as the NIL budget we don’t really know how they divide that up amongst targets. I’m not sure that’s true about the g4/fcs transfers being better either, I’d like to see some numbers on that.