Minnesota Football: UDFA Roundup

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Minnesota Football: UDFA Roundup
By gopherguy05@yorka1982, May 4, 2022, The Daily Gopher
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NOV 20 Minnesota at Indiana
Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

As we all know by now, the Minnesota Gophers had four players selected in last weekend’s 2022 NFL Draft. Boye Mafe was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2nd round, Daniel Faalele will join Rashod Bateman with the Baltimore Ravens after being selected in the 4th round, Esezi Otomewo will stay in Minneapolis after he was taken in the 5th round by the Minnesota Vikings, and Ko Kieft will join Dinkytown South after being selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 6th round and will join Antoine Winfield Junior and Tayler Johnson.
But another six Gophers from this year’s draft class will not see their NFL dream die yet. Whether they have signed full UDFA contracts with an invite to next fall’s training camp ,or whether they just got invites to rookie minicamps over the next couple of weeks that will see them try and earn one of those elusive camp invites, they are still grinding trying to make their NFL dreams come true too. So here is a list of where the non-drafted Gophers ended up.

Blaise Andries—OL—Miami Dolphins​

Some people thought Blaise might sneak in the last round of the draft, but he made it all the way through and signed a UDFA deal with the Dolphins. Miami only had four draft picks this season because of their trade for former Chiefs wide out Tyreek Hill, so there were plenty of training camp spots to go around. Blaise will head to camp in the fall and try to see if he can earn a roster spot, or at least hang on as a practice squad player with Miami.

Jack Gibbons—LB—Tennessee Titans​

Gibbons will head to Nashville after signing a UDFA deal with Tennessee. The Titans are deep at linebacker, but Gibbons will be given a full chance to see if he can steal a roster spot or at least sneak onto the practice squad come August.

Sam Schuleter—OT—San Francisco 49ers​

Schlueter leaves the U after 46 starts at left tackle and signs a UDFA with the San Francisco 49ers. He will have a steep road to hoe to make the Niners 53 man roster but with an impressive camp anything could be possible.

Micah Dew-Treadway—DT—Chicago Bears​

Dew-Treadway went from Notre Dame to Minnesota, and now heads back southeast as the former Gopher DT signed a UDFA deal with the Chicago Bears. Chicago signed a glut of UDFA deals this offseason as under new GM Ryan Poles they are trying to reshape their roster.

Coney Durr—CB—Chicago Bears/ Minnesota Vikings​

Durr is the first Gopher who will need to work a bit harder to see his NFL dreams come true as he did not get a full UDFA offer but was invited to both the Bears and Vikings rookie minicamps. The Bears camp will be first this upcoming weekend where Durr will see if he impresses enough to get a full UDFA offer with the Bears. If not he will head back to Minnesota and participate in the Vikings rookie minicamp the following weekend and try and earn a spot there.

Niles Pickney—DT—New Orleans Saints​

Pickney will be in the same position as Durr as he was invited to the Saints rookie minicamp next weekend in New Orleans. Pickney came to the Gophers after three season with Clemson.

Good luck to all ten Gophers who will hopefully see their NFL dreams come true next fall.

Ski-U-Pahdcast - Ep 5.34: Recapping the NFL Draft and Spring Game

 
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It's crazy how many of those 2019 Gophers are either in the NFL, got drafted this year, signed a UDFA this year, or are at least getting a camp tryout this year.

In addition to this list you have Justus Harris (Giants), Seth Green (Texans), and Keonte Schad (Cardinals) getting chances.

Obviously UDFA's (and especially tryouts) are long shots to make NFL rosters, but that might be 2x-3x as many players from any one Gopher team (not including Gibbens/Pinkney obviously) to get NFL chances that I can think of. Did Thomas Barber ever get a shot? Outside of Barber (and Connor Olson who I understand made it known he was going to become a Dr and didn't work out) I am not sure a starter on that team won't at least get a shot in the NFL (Morgan might or might not). Then you have all the rotational guys or backups who have since become starters getting their shot like Mafe/Harris or guys who transferred for more PT like Green/Schad.
 

EG#9 said:
It's crazy how many of those 2019 Gophers are either in the NFL, got drafted this year, signed a UDFA this year, or are at least getting a camp tryout this year.

In addition to this list you have Justus Harris (Giants), Seth Green (Texans), and Keonte Schad (Cardinals) getting chances.

Obviously UDFA's (and especially tryouts) are long shots to make NFL rosters, but that might be 2x-3x as many players from any one Gopher team (not including Gibbens/Pinkney obviously) to get NFL chances that I can think of. Did Thomas Barber ever get a shot? Outside of Barber (and Connor Olson who I understand made it known he was going to become a Dr and didn't work out) I am not sure a starter on that team won't at least get a shot in the NFL (Morgan might or might not). Then you have all the rotational guys or backups who have since become starters getting their shot like Mafe/Harris or guys who transferred for more PT like Green/Schad.
Click to expand...

Good post and it shows our overall depth and that we have some good coaching as well - vast improvement and tangible/measurable results.
 



Not a player on the 2021 team, but I see that Sam Renner is in Northern Wisconsin this weekend trying out for the Packers.
 
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I think Coney Durr finds a way to have an NFL career. He is decent in coverage and he can tackle. Teams are playing so much nickel nowadays that having a 4th or 5th CB who can tackle is extremely important. I think it's part of the reason why so many teams are shifting to more of a super S instead of a small CB playing the slot.
 





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