The Minnesota coaching staff is already on the recruiting trail, marking the start of two crazy recruiting weeks that will culminate in National Signing Day (December 15). While the coaches are on the road, many current players have their own future decisions to make. Others don’t.

The seniors who can return, if they so choose:
– QB Tanner Morgan
– RB Mohamed Ibrahim
– WR Chris Autman-Bell
– OL Blaise Andries, Daniel Faalele, John Michael Schmitz & Axel Ruschmeyer
– DE Boye Mafe, Esezi Otomewo & Thomas Rush
– LB Mariano Sori-Marin
(cont'd)

— The Daily Gopher (@TheDailyGopher) November 22, 2021

What older guys do will trickle down to younger players on roster, who can now hit the transfer portal and immediately play elsewhere next season. Oh, and let’s not forget that Selection Sunday is less than a week away, at which point the (8-4) Minnesota Gophers will find out their 2021-22 bowl fate.

Morgan Returns, Clark Hits Portal

As I foreshadowed in my blog on Saturday, which called for an open QB competition for next year’s starter, Tanner Morgan will return for a super redshirt senior season in 2022. He will join Mohamed Ibrahim, who did the same earlier last week.

Following Morgan’s announcement, Jacob Clark (a former high school star QB from Rockwall, TX) entered his name into the transfer portal. I was excited about Clark as a prospect but he seemingly had fallen down the depth chart and next year will be his 4th as a college football player.

The remaining QB’s who could start in the seemingly near future are now Tanner Morgan, Zack Annexstad, Cole Kramer and Athan Kaliakmanis. Jacob Knuth, a 3-star QB prospect out of South Dakota, is also expected to sign his National Letter of Intent in December.

O-Line: Faalele Accepts Senior Bowl Invite

Most have expected Daniel Faalele to enter the NFL Draft after this season, Hell, many thought he would do it last year, even after missing the season due to COVID-19 concerns. This morning, the junior accepted an invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl, which is the top destination for NFL Draft prospects hoping to showcase their skills in a postseason Pro Bowl type game.

Please welcome OL Daniel Faalele @DanielFaalele_ from @GopherFootball to the 2022 @Reeses Senior Bowl!!! #RTB #SkiUMah #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ @JimNagy_SB @PaniniAmerica #RatedRookie pic.twitter.com/WlWonhIHDw

— Reese's Senior Bowl (@seniorbowl) November 29, 2021

Daniel isn’t the only offensive lineman departing Dinkytown after the 2021 season is complete. Starters Connor Olson and Sam Schlueter have to leave, along with everyone’s favorite 2022 NFL TE prospect, Ko Kieft. (OL) Austin Beier is also believed to be leaving.

Big Turnover on Defense

The Minnesota Gophers could have a lot of fresh faces on defense in 2022. The many departures start with two grad-transfers, (DT) Nyles Pinckney and (LB) Jack Gibbens, who were HUGE figures in the 2021 defensive turnaround.

Other regulars without any eligibility remaining are (DT) Micah Dew-Treadway, (DT) Val Martin, (CB) Coney Durr, (S) Phil Howard and (CB) Justus Harris. One major unknown who still could return is (DE) Boye Mafe, who was expected to enter the NFL Draft but hasn’t announced anything yet and didn’t pen a letter to the University of Minnesota or the fanbase like other intended departees have. A Boye Mafe return tour would be significant, especially given his freak athleticism and extreme draftability.

The linebacker room will not only lose Jack Gibbons to graduation but also James Gordon, who is one of the first guys you let off the bus… but struggled to find the field. Over the weekend, he entered the transfer portal. With Braelen Oliver, Mariano Sori-Marin, Donald Willis and all of the other linebackers expected to return, Gordon obviously didn’t see that changing.

More announcements/movement expected

There should be more announced in the coming weeks as more players decide what to do with their future. We’ll keep you up to date when those decisions are made. The two players to keep an eye out for are (WR) Chris Autman-Bell and the aforementioned Boye Mafe.

Context: Given Boye’s #NFLDraft stock, belief is he'll turn pro. Fleck said last week fourth-year O-lineman Daniel Faalele is expected to depart after 2021. But more uncertain for others, such as Tanner Morgan and Chris Autman-Bell, who said last week they haven’t decided plans.

— Andy Greder (@andygreder) November 23, 2021

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

It’s been a different kind of offseason for the Minnesota Gophers football team. Normally, PJ Fleck likes to take a full 25-man class of mostly high schoolers. In 2021, Fleck opted for just 16 of those. Because of the free year of eligibility in 2020 for existing players, Fleck has filled out roster holes with transfers this offseason, hoping for more immediate results in 2021.

The latest in his impressive transfer class is DT Nyles Pinckney. A former Clemson Tiger, Pinckney has a wealth of experience that current Golden Gophers can only dream of.

Pinckney is a graduate transfer who played four seasons under Dabo Swinney. That includes NINE games as a RS freshman, ELEVEN games as a RS sophomore, TWELVE as a RS junior and ELEVEN more in 2020 as a RS Senior.

Pinckney is already on NFL Draft radars and had an invite to the East/West Shrine Bowl this offseason. Still, he only started 13 of his career games for the ACC powerhouse. That’s why Nyles is looking to pump up his NFL profile for one more season under another “raw raw” head coach, PJ Fleck.

pic.twitter.com/Dpwh0th16i

— Nyles Pinckney (@NylesPinckney) January 11, 2021

Wealth of experience at DT

The Gophers now have a ridiculous wealth of experience at defensive tackle. According to GopherIllustrated.com, Pinckney will become the most tenured of the DT bunch (by snap count – 1,166) when he joins the team. But he joins 7th-year senior Micah Dew-Treadway and 5th year seniors Keonte Schad and (NC State transfer) Val Martin.

Together, they house around 3,000 career defensive snaps. The senior group will allow another year of growth for promising young DT’s Rashad Cheney and De’Angelo Carter as well.

Gaining strength and experience up middle of defense

Fleck has now added multiple transfers up the middle on defense, including Pinckney and Martin at DT and Jack Gibbens at inside linebacker. That’s good because this is a defense that was destroyed by the interior run game all season.

The other transfer they added was Dylan Wright from Texas A&M, who still has all four seasons of his eligibility remaining.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan