Minnesota Gophers Add Talented Big Ten Lineman to Defense

College football transfer portal season is alive and well this spring, and like every other program in the country, P.J. Fleck continues to seek out talent outside Dinkytown to help strengthen possible weaknesses on the Minnesota Gophers 2025 depth chart.

There is plenty of returning talent for next year’s Golden Gophers, but there’s been plenty of turnover this offseason, too. On offense, they’re making changes yet again at the most important position in all of sports, quarterback.

Out is Max Brosmer, who’s hoping to hear his name called this weekend during the 2025 NFL Draft. Talented true junior Drake Lindsey is Max’s expected replacement, after Georgia Tech transfer Zach Pyron re-entered the portal last week.

On defense, not only are the Minnesota Gophers trying to find replacements for previous staples on the front seven like (DL) Jah Joyner, (LB) Cody Lindenberg and (DL) Danny Striggow, but they’re also deploying a new defensive coordinator, Danny Collins, for the second-straight season.

Mo Omonode sticks in Big Ten and lands with Minnesota Gophers

Thus, PJ Fleck and his staff were on the transfer portal hunt for more talent up front. On Tuesday, they found some in Purdue soon-to-be senior defensive tackle Mo Omonode, who currently has one year of eligibility remaining.

In his three seasons as a Boilermaker, Omonode operated as a rotational nose tackle, and produced some impressive PFF grades (see below). In other words, he’s exactly what the Minnesota Gophers defense was looking for.

RTB🚣🏾🚣🏾 pic.twitter.com/MCWPWqYKvW

— Mariere Omonode (@moomonode50) April 22, 2025

Mo Omonode played in in 33 games during his career with the Purdue Boilermakers, where the Indiana native racked up 32 total tackles and 3.5 sacks. More impressive are his PFF grades. Last season, Omonode posted a 71.6 PFF grade, which was actually down from the 80.2 mark he earned as a sophomore.

Kevin Kane, the former Purdue defensive coordinator, is now part of Fleck’s staff in Minnesota, which explains part of this move. The expectation should be that Omonode immediately works in with the MN Gophers returning DL talent, including Anthony Smith, Deven Eastern, Jaxon Howard, Lucas Finnessy and Jalen Logan-Redding. Another transfer, Rushawn Lawrence, will also be a part of that mix.

MN Gophers defense to have plenty of familiarity

P.J. Fleck lost five total starters from the Minnesota Gophers defense last season — Jah Joyner, Danny Striggow, Cody Lindenberg, Justin Walley, and Ethan Robinson — who are all looking for NFL jobs this offseason. Of course, the most exciting part of the defense remains sophomore Koi Perich.

Related: Koi Perich Playing Offense and Defense for Gophers?

He’s going to factor in on both sides of the ball this season, and that could make him among the most dynamic players in college football. As a true freshman he picked off a conference-leading five passes and recorded 46 tackles. The Minnesota Gophers have already kicked off their spring practices. They open the season on August 28 against Buffalo at Huntington Bank Stadium.