Minnesota Golden Gophers TOP 10 Football Players for 2024

PJ Fleck and the Minnesota Golden golfers have a big year ahead of them after a disappointing season and some turnover on the roster and the coaching staff the golfers are hoping that the top 10 returning players that we'll talk about today can make things better than what last year looked like we start with a guy who's going to be the bcal for Minnesota and that's Darius Taylor the running back had a big year for Minnesota and sent a number of people to the transfer portal because of his efforts 799 yards five touchdowns he is a big- time player that is just getting things started with his career and he is going to be an absolute Force for this offense this is a rushing attack that was still the focal point of Minnesota's offense last year and they're hoping to find a little bit more balance but Darius Taylor for sure will keep things going the passing attack like I mentioned needs to to help out in that regard if you're going to find balance the passing attack needs to be better this was a passing attack that was one of the worst in college football and Daniel Jackson is back to make sure that that happens to make sure that they are going to be a better group and we saw what he could do last year a big time player for this team 831 yards eight touchdowns he was most remembered probably for his double move against Nebraska to give Minnesota the go-ahead touchdown in what was a defensive battle to begin the year I gave them the win and showed that he is a reliable pass catcher with a new quarterback coming into town that's going to be vital and Daniel Jackson is someone who is going to give a a secondary a lot of trouble and he will be someone that can get things off to a great start it's just a matter of if everyone else around him can step up as well protecting that quarterback will be key too and Arian ursery is someone that is probably flying under the radar because no one really knows who is not a lot of people pay attention to Minnesota football especially in the Big 10 uh you're going to find other teams that you pay attention to the Ohio States the michigans those kind of teams technically are going to be those bigger names that everyone just flocks to automatically Minnesota kind of flies under the radar in that regard but urser is someone who is a big-time Talent someone who can get the job done for this offensive line experienced player and like I said if you're going to find balance the passing attack needs to take a step forward and keeping your quarterback upright is going to be the first step flipping to the defensive side of the ball Jack Henderson is a Do-it all guy for this defense he he's a former transfer himself who found a role at the Nickelback position for Minnesota and I expect him to do the the same thing this year he is someone who is a high energy guy which fits in perfectly with what Fleck wants to do with his culture and with his team and Henderson is someone who can be a leader on the defense someone who can get that group going and this is an underrated group now rossie is gone so you have to find who is going to be the guys that step up in this new system you have to learn a new system you have to work with what is this new defensive coordinator going to do because Rossy obvious did a great job of coaching this team but now you have some roster turnover now you have coach turnover and that's going to challenge some of these guys Henderson is a big time player a good leader to have returning and he will help that transition Danny strigo is one of those guys who again talking about flying under the radar someone who is super underrated because he's on Minnesota if he was on other teams probably gets more recognition but he is going to be in a good position this Minnesota team is better suited for being an underdog and Danny strigo is one of those guys that fits in that category as well seven tackles for loss six sacks that shows you the kind of production that he's capable of giving Minnesota and again you're going to see this defense continue to fly under the Raider this is a defense that thrived under Rossi and now you're you're still not seeing them get the love that they need love that they deserve really and you're going to see what a veteran group can do with a new system yes it's going to be a learning curve for a lot of people it's going to be a little bit of a transition but Minnesota has the talent to be a stif defense once again kind of the underrated theme with Minnesota's defense Justin Wally is one of those players that fits into that category he is someone who can compete with the best receivers in this conference he compete with some of the best in college football an underrated player after what you've seen from him the last couple years you've seen some inconsistencies but this is still someone who again is flying under the radar not really well known in in the Collegiate ranks not super well known maybe even the NFL ranks yet either but if you put together another big season Justin Wally is going to get people on his film and they are going the band Wigan is going to fill up pretty quick because he's capable of being that shutdown Corner Minnesota's defensive line could be electric this year when you look at the returning players they have on top of some of the transfer portal players they added this is going to be a really good group J joyer is yet another player that fits into that category seven and a half tackles for loss seven and a half sacks probably could be higher on this list but I think that speaks to the underrated talent that the talent level that this team possesses and J Joiner is one of those guys came to the team and it had a relatively good year for as I think that if you see the field a little bit more if you're if Joiner you're going to produce more and that's what's really exciting I think that's what this staff is excited about for him he's just getting started and there's Talent around him to help keep teams from or prevent teams I should say from sending extra help his way so that means that he's seing favorable matchups a little bit easier one-on-one matchups where you don't have to worry about someone chipping you double teams that kind of stuff this should be once again a really fun defense to watch and like I said they have the talent to make that happen the linebacker position is also very interesting to me because when you look at a guy like Maverick baronowski you're looking at someone who is just getting started you also have other guys like Devin Williams and Cody lindenberg that will round out that group and make them a very talented group this is the linebacker position for Minnesota has been a high energy group and we talked about that with Jack Henderson this is a team that thrives under their coach when they are playing at a high level it's because everyone is bought in to what Fleck is selling everyone is buying into that culture knows exactly what's expected of them they play with a lot of energy and and they play fundamentally sound football this is not going to be a team that wins purely off Talent they a lot of things they need to do right and when they're playing well they do those things right and Maverick baronowski is another one of those players a relatively newer player to this defense that is still I think learning the position and learning what he's capable of doing but you saw some of the flashes of what his greatness could be and if he takes another step forward after what we saw last year this is going to be an all big 10 type player everyone's got their eyes on the quarterback position Max brosmer comes in from new hampsh and everyone expects big things from him after what you saw with with him last year 3,400 yards 29 touchdowns and now he joins a new school that needs to take a step forward in the passing attack again one of the worst passing attacks in college football needs to improve if you're going to find balance if you're going to find success this was not a good effort by Minnesota's offense outside of the rushing attack and now you have talented players returning after that disappointing year that are hungry for more sucess success you have guys like brosmer coming in that have a chip on their shoulder that are looking to prove that they can play at that next level brosmer is just as important as any player on this team on this roster and if he finds a way to thrive then Minnesota is going to be in great hands and we talked about Cody linderberg an injury obviously limited him last year and and probably could be higher on this list with his experience I'm cautious though to see what he looks like post injury and I don't have a ton of concern but I'm I'm going to say let's just wait and see what happens here again that linebacker position is going to be good for Minnesota's defense and Cody Lindberg is an experienced player who can be a a leader for that group and this is an experienced group a talented group that again if they takes the right steps forward are going to be once again one of the tougher defenses to play an underrated defense that's going to surprise people and probably give a lot of people headaches because they're not expecting to face this level of talent Minnesota could be a a buling once again could be a team that exceeds expectations pjf has a lot riding on this if there's another down year I think the hot seat conversation heats up a little bit more but if he has a good year I I think that we need to take a step back and realize that Fleck knows what he's doing sometimes you're going to have a down year and it's all about trusting the culture and getting the right players in position to do their jobs