MN Gophers Top 3 Transfer Portal Additions

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T.J. Bush Jr.
Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

This offseason has been a busy one for the Minnesota Gophers. While the CFP National Championship game has yet to be played, P.J. Fleck’s team ended their season a few weeks ago with a Rate Bowl win against New Mexico.

The coaching staff quickly turned its focus to the transfer portal and has been dialed in on retaining and adding talent. Multiple key players announced they would be back to rock the maroon and gold again, although Koi Perich turned heel and jumped ship to join fellow Big Ten competitor Oregon.

While there are still plenty of players in the portal, roster spots are drying up. There probably won’t be many (if any) substantial moves coming. That leads us to check in on just how much talent Minnesota landed via college football’s version of free agency. Here are our top three ranked new talents for 2026.

3. Naquan Crowder | DT | Marshall

Arguably no position group saw a greater exodus for the Minnesota Gophers than the interior defensive line. The top four starters all exhausted their eligibility, and are destined for new ventures. Remaining internally was just redshirt freshman Riley Sunram, and Jaylin Hicks that could claim some playing time.

Fleck has added three interior defensive lineman in the portal. Naquan Crowder was not only the first of them, but the best as well. He had 26 tackles, three for loss, and one sack in 11 games with the Marshall Thundering Herd last year.

This is another test for Crowder who played one year at Marshall after starting his college career at division two, Cal U in Pennsylvania. With Minnesota, he’ll play alongside fellow Marshall portal commit Sid Kaba.

2. Perry Thompson | WR | Auburn

Minnesota’s receiver room skewed young last season, and it’s even less veteran now with Le’Meke Brockington and Logan Loya no longer in the mix. That puts Javon Tracy at the top in terms of experience among returning wideouts. Redshirt freshman Jalen Smith, a Mankato West product, is one of the younger players who will try to push for more snaps.

Perry Thompson might be the most athletic player the Minnesota Gophers landed in the portal though, and he comes with a pedigree. The four-star transfer has two years of eligibility left, and was a top 50 recruit out of high school.

He caught just 17 passes for 154 yards last season at Auburn, but he has a legitimate path to becoming Minnesota’s top receiver. Fleck added more pass-catchers in the portal to raise the floor of the room, but Thompson has the highest ceiling of the group and could separate quickly. If he builds early chemistry with quarterback Drake Lindsey, the Gophers’ passing game should take a step forward.

1. TJ Bush Jr | Edge | Cal

Sometimes a team just has an embarrassment of riches and it would be difficult to describe the Gophers pass rushers as anything but that. Not only did Anthony Smith, Karter Menz, and Jaxon Howard all return, but now they’re also joined by T.J. Bush Jr.

The former freshman All-American played in 13 games for Cal last season. He had 40 total tackles, 10.5 for losses, and recorded 5.5 sacks for the second straight season. He is an athletic freak that can fluster opposing offenses. Drake Lindsey was sacked by him in a bad game against the Golden Bears last year. Now he gets to work against him in practice.

Bush joining the Minnesota Gophers gives Danny Collins an incredible rotation of talent to rush off the edge. It will be tough for opposing quarterbacks to ever get complacent when staring at the Minnesota defensive line.

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