Curtis Dunlap Jr Enters Transfer Portal (Again)

The Minnesota Gophers offensive line came into the 2021 season as one of its strongest and deepest positions. Results have been less consistent than expected. Tuesday morning, those trenches were thinned out by guard Curtis Dunlap Jr’s entrance into the NCAA Transfer Portal (via Ryan Burns – GopherIllustrated.com).

Source tells me that #Gophers offensive lineman Curtis Dunlap has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Dunlap has played in every game for Minnesota this season at guard.

— Ryan Burns (@RyanBurnsMN) October 12, 2021

Dunlap wasn’t considered a starter but was being rotated in on the regular 7-man rotation that Minnesota’s been using at offensive line. Like much of the o-line in 2021, Dunlap has had his good and bad moments, but he was certainly considered an important part of the team’s future.

The IMG Academy standout committed at the tail-end of Fleck’s 2018 recruiting class, alongside his massive friend, Daniel Faalele. Both 4-star recruits sat on top of that year’s class and projected as future NFL talent. Faalele is still seen in that same light but Dunlap has fallen a bit off the radar.

Not Dunlap’s first Transfer Portal rodeo

Curtis has been in the transfer portal before. He entered the portal in 2020, as the Big Ten was reinstating their cancelled season, just to pull his name back out days later. I wouldn’t expect that to happen again.

Due to injury, Dunlap never saw the field in 2020 after the Big Ten resumed football activities. As previously mentioned, he was getting regular playing time in 2021. The bye week changes people…

If anything else breaks on this subject, it’ll be added to this blog.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan