Gophers’ Trey Potts, Michael Brown-Stephens Enter Transfer Portal

The transfer portal giveth and the transfer portal taketh away. On Monday, according to On3.com, it took (RB) Trey Potts and (WR) Michael Brown-Stephens from the Minnesota Gophers.

Minnesota running back Trey Potts and wide receiver Michael Brown-Stephens have entered the transfer portal, @on3sports has learned.

Potts has run for 1,026 yards and nine TDs the last two seasons. Brown-Stephens has 45 catches the last two years.https://t.co/eVdQABdqay

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) March 13, 2023

Goodbye Trey Potts

Trey Potts served as a backup for Mohamed Ibrahim during most of his career in Dinkytown. But when Ibrahim went down with an achilles injury in 2021, Potts grabbed his moment and ran with it… for 552 yards and 6 touchdowns on 112 carries (4.9 YPC).

Unfortunately, his career was plagued by injuries as well. Potts only got to play 5 sensational games in 2021 because he suffered a career threatening injury vs Purdue. Against all odds, he came back to rejoin the team in 2022. Once again, Trey found himself behind Mo on the depth chart but he stayed healthy, finishing with 471 yards on 101 carries (4.7 YPC). Potts has one season of eligibility left.

Goodbye Michael Brown-Stephens

Michael Brown-Stephens had an up and down career in maroon and gold, as well. He got a lot of playing time over the last two seasons as a sophomore and junior. Problem was, he didn’t produce much.

For a lot of his career, MBS has served as the main deep threat on roster for PJ Fleck, mostly out of necessity because Chris Autman-Bell was dealt with injuries for most of the past two seasons. Unfortunately, he didn’t fair as well as PJ Fleck had hoped. In the last two seasons combined, Brown-Stephens caught less than 50 total passes for less than 1,000 yards and just 1 touchdown.

Writing was on the wall

Both Trey Potts and Michael Brown-Stephens saw the writing on the wall. With incoming transfer talents (RB) Sean Tyler and (WR) Corey Crooms entering the fold and youngsters already on roster ready to step up, playing time was going to be hard to come by.

Minnesota grabbing All-MAC RB Sean Tyler and WR Corey Crooms from the portal made the path to playing time a lot more difficult for both

also opens up a path for younger guys like Darius Taylor, Zach Evans and Kristen Hoskins to potentially earn more snaps https://t.co/DzQXUGcxts

— Ryan Burns (@RyanBurnsMN) March 13, 2023

Some transfer portal losses hurt more than others and, while the portal entries of Potts and Brown-Stephens certainly may hurt at some points, this seems to be one of those scenarios where the Minnesota Gophers upgraded more than they downgraded through the portal at both positions.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan