The Gophers football program is producing NFL draft picks at a rate unseen for Minnesota in decades.
Eleven U players have been selected over the past three drafts (2020-22), and this is the foundation for what can happen this week. If three more players are drafted from Thursday to Saturday, those 14 total across four consecutive drafts would be the most since 1988-91.
If four or more prospects come off the board in Kansas City, Mo., it would be the most since 17 were picked from 1972-75. That stands as the program record in the common draft era (post-1970).
“That is a really healthy program,” head coach P.J. Fleck said.
All-America center John Michael Schmitz is most likely to be the first Gophers player to hear his name called, likely in the second round but possibly in the first. Cornerback Terell Smith and safety Jordan Howden are the next top U draft prospect forecast to go in the middle to late rounds.
The Gophers’ other draft hopefuls are All-American running back Mo Ibrahim, defensive end/linebacker Thomas Rush, linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin, quarterback Tanner Morgan, kicker Matthew Trickett, and offensive linemen Chuck Fillaga and Axel Ruschymeyer.
The Gophers have netted a big volume of picks in the past few years, and also ended long droughts.
When mammoth offensive tackle Daniel Faalele was drafted but the Ravens in the fourth round last year, he was the first U lineman drafted since 2006. That lull was used by competing programs on the recruiting trail, but not anymore.
“Our offense has made it to where we are developing guys to reach their fullest potential and also play at the highest level at some point,” U offensive line coach Brian Callahan said earlier this month.
If Schmitz is taken in the first two rounds, he will be the first Gopher players taken that high since Brian Williams went to the Giants with the 18th pick in 1989.
Callahan has had at least three O-linemen make all-Big Ten in the past two years. When including honorable mention, all five linemen have been named in consecutive years.
“The all-Big Ten thing, I think, is pretty cool, especially when we are talking to kids because, let’s face it, where we are located it is critically important that we work really hard in that room and as a program we develop that position,” Callahan said. “I think people that really watch football, they know that we are very good.
“Now, we don’t rest on our laurels,” Callahan continued. “We’ve got to do it again this year. It’s a huge challenge, but I think that this is a great place to play offensive line. I think people are realizing that.”
The Gophers’ 6-foot-6, 325-pound left tackle Aireontae Ersery, who is entering his fourth season in Dinkytown, is expected to be a higher draft pick when he decides to leave Minnesota. Safety Tyler Nubin and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford represent two more intriguing NFL prospects in 2024.
NFL.com gave Schmitz a grade of 6.41 and the label of “starter within two years.” The Giants, who sent offensive line coach Bobby Johnson to the U’s Pro Day in March, are a popular destination for Schmitz in mock drafts; they have the 57th overall pick, in the second round. The Titans are another projected suitor; they own the 41st pick, also in the second round.
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NFL.com assessed Smith with a 6.29 grade and the tag “will eventually be average starter.” The cornerback is tantalizing with his speed (4.41-second 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine) and his size (6 feet tall).
Ibrahim got a 6.16 grade from NFL.com and the description of “good backup with the potential to develop into starter.” He was pegged to be drafted in the fifth or sixth round but doesn’t appear on many seven-round mock drafts. His lack of top-end speed appears to be his biggest knock, but a program-record 4,668 career rushing yards is proof that he is a workhorse.
Howden received a 5.69 grade from NFL.com and in the category to be at the bottom of a roster or on the practice squad. He was tagged as a seventh-round pick or undrafted free agent, but appears on mock drafts in the fifth to the seventh round.
Those four players and the other U hopefuls will have a nerve-racking week.
“It’s great for me,” Fleck said of him being able to watch players move on to the next level. “It’s not great for them. They are all anxious, full of anxiety and stress, not knowing. …
“(In) recruiting, they got to pick where they went to school,” Fleck continued. In the draft, “they don’t get to pick. They are going to be transplanted somewhere that they have no idea. There are 32 possibilities and they have no idea. Their whole life will change.”
