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Photo by: Brad Rempel
2020 Vision: Secondary
6/26/2020 10:37:00 AM | Football
Despite losing an NFL second round draft pick in unanimous All-American Antoine Winfield Jr., and an NFL seventh round draft pick in Chris Williamson, the Gophers secondary is loaded with depth coming into the 2020 season.Â
Coney Durr, Jordan Howden and Benjamin St-Juste all return after starting the majority of the 2019 season. They helped hold opponents to 184.2 yards passing per game while the Gopher offense threw for 253.3 yards per game last season.Â
Durr, a redshirt senior out of Baton Rouge, La., earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors in 2019. He was constantly one of the top rated defensive backs in the entire country when it came to forced incompletion rate by Pro Football Focus. He started all 13 games a season ago and tied for the team lead with 10 pass breakups. Â He intercepted a pass and returned it 72 yards to the house against Maryland for his first career pick-six.Â
Howden has played in all 26 games of his Gopher career with 17 starts including 12 starts in the 2019 season. He recorded 57 tackles (40 solo), broke up six passes and made one interception last season. His lone interception helped seal a victory over No. 5 at the time Penn State.Â
St-Juste transferred to Minnesota in the summer of 2019 after graduating from Michigan and made an instant impact. He has one season of eligibility left after starting the final nine games of the season last year. He recorded 45 tackles (36 solo) and tied for team lead with 10 pass breakups.Â
The Gophers will look to fill voids at safety and the nickel position left by Winfield Jr. and Williamson. Winfield Jr. was the 45th overall NFL draft pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He earned unanimous All-American and All-Big Ten First Team honors in 2019 and was named the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year. He was also a Bronko Nagurski Award Finalist which goes to the best defensive player in the nation.Â
Williamson was the 247th overall NFL draft pick by the New York Giants. He recorded 57 tackles (37 solo), including four for loss and 2.5 sacks in 2019. He also broke up three passes and intercepted one pass and returned it for a touchdown.
The 2020 version of the Gophers also have four seniors returning to the secondary in Calvin Swenson, Phillip Howard, Justus Harris and Bishop McDonald.Â
Swenson has been a member of the Quad team on special teams the past two seasons competing in all 26 games and has also saw action at safety. He recorded eight tackles (six solo) in 2019. He is also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Howard made the move from wide receiver to defensive back late in the 2018 season. He played in 11 games in 2019 and recorded five tackles, one interception and one forced fumble. He was a big reason the Gophers only allowed one punt return yard all season and helped Jacob Herbers land 19 punts inside the 20-yard line.Â
Harris has played in all 26 games the past two seasons and is another member of the Gophers Quad team on special teams. He recorded six tackles and forced one fumble in 2019. He has also blocked a punt in his career and has seen action at the nickel position.Â
McDonald started his career at Minnesota Duluth. He played in 23 career games with 78 tackles, 16 pass breakups, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one blocked kick. He sat out due to transfer rules in 2018 and did not see game action in 2019.Â
The secondary will have two juniors in Terell Smith and Benny Sapp III. Smith has played in 20 games and made nine career starts. He recorded nine tackles (seven solo) and broke up one pass a season ago. In 2018, he was named the team's Outstanding Defensive Freshman with 43 tackles (34 solo), eight pass breakups and one interception. Sapp has played in 24 games with eight career tackles. The former Eden Prairie High School star has seen the majority of his action on special teams.Â
Tyler Nubin is the lone sophomore in the secondary for 2020. As a true freshman, he played in 12 games and was a Quad team member in 2019. He recorded six tackles and two pass breakups. Nubin came to Minnesota as a four-star recruit and the No. 4 prospect in Illinois, according to Rivals.
Solomon Brown, Matt Guggemos and Caden Fey all redshirted in 2019. Brown made his collegiate debut and first career tackle against Maryland in his only game of action last season. He played 33 varsity games and finished career with 229 tackles and four interceptions, which included one pick-six for Largo High School in Largo, Fla.Â
Guggemos did not see game action after a standout high school career with Benilde St. Margaret's. He was a two-way player who also was All-State in the triple jump and the 100m in high school track and field. Fey did not see game action in 2019 after helping Eden Prairie to a state championship in his high school football career.Â
The Gophers will see five new faces in the secondary in true freshmen Michael Dixon, Abner Dubar, Miles Fleming, Jalen Glaze and Victor Pless. Dubar has been with the team since January while the other four newcomers recently joined in June.Â
Joe Harasymiak joined the Minnesota staff in December 2018 and coached defensive backs and safeties in 2019. He was promoted to Defensive Backs, Safeties and Co-Defensive Coordinator in February 2020. Paul Haynes, who has 25 years of collegiate coaching experience, joined the University of Minnesota coaching staff in February 2020 and coaches the cornerbacks.Â
Â
Coney Durr, Jordan Howden and Benjamin St-Juste all return after starting the majority of the 2019 season. They helped hold opponents to 184.2 yards passing per game while the Gopher offense threw for 253.3 yards per game last season.Â
Durr, a redshirt senior out of Baton Rouge, La., earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors in 2019. He was constantly one of the top rated defensive backs in the entire country when it came to forced incompletion rate by Pro Football Focus. He started all 13 games a season ago and tied for the team lead with 10 pass breakups. Â He intercepted a pass and returned it 72 yards to the house against Maryland for his first career pick-six.Â
Howden has played in all 26 games of his Gopher career with 17 starts including 12 starts in the 2019 season. He recorded 57 tackles (40 solo), broke up six passes and made one interception last season. His lone interception helped seal a victory over No. 5 at the time Penn State.Â
St-Juste transferred to Minnesota in the summer of 2019 after graduating from Michigan and made an instant impact. He has one season of eligibility left after starting the final nine games of the season last year. He recorded 45 tackles (36 solo) and tied for team lead with 10 pass breakups.Â
The Gophers will look to fill voids at safety and the nickel position left by Winfield Jr. and Williamson. Winfield Jr. was the 45th overall NFL draft pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He earned unanimous All-American and All-Big Ten First Team honors in 2019 and was named the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year. He was also a Bronko Nagurski Award Finalist which goes to the best defensive player in the nation.Â
Williamson was the 247th overall NFL draft pick by the New York Giants. He recorded 57 tackles (37 solo), including four for loss and 2.5 sacks in 2019. He also broke up three passes and intercepted one pass and returned it for a touchdown.
The 2020 version of the Gophers also have four seniors returning to the secondary in Calvin Swenson, Phillip Howard, Justus Harris and Bishop McDonald.Â
Swenson has been a member of the Quad team on special teams the past two seasons competing in all 26 games and has also saw action at safety. He recorded eight tackles (six solo) in 2019. He is also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Howard made the move from wide receiver to defensive back late in the 2018 season. He played in 11 games in 2019 and recorded five tackles, one interception and one forced fumble. He was a big reason the Gophers only allowed one punt return yard all season and helped Jacob Herbers land 19 punts inside the 20-yard line.Â
Harris has played in all 26 games the past two seasons and is another member of the Gophers Quad team on special teams. He recorded six tackles and forced one fumble in 2019. He has also blocked a punt in his career and has seen action at the nickel position.Â
McDonald started his career at Minnesota Duluth. He played in 23 career games with 78 tackles, 16 pass breakups, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one blocked kick. He sat out due to transfer rules in 2018 and did not see game action in 2019.Â
The secondary will have two juniors in Terell Smith and Benny Sapp III. Smith has played in 20 games and made nine career starts. He recorded nine tackles (seven solo) and broke up one pass a season ago. In 2018, he was named the team's Outstanding Defensive Freshman with 43 tackles (34 solo), eight pass breakups and one interception. Sapp has played in 24 games with eight career tackles. The former Eden Prairie High School star has seen the majority of his action on special teams.Â
Tyler Nubin is the lone sophomore in the secondary for 2020. As a true freshman, he played in 12 games and was a Quad team member in 2019. He recorded six tackles and two pass breakups. Nubin came to Minnesota as a four-star recruit and the No. 4 prospect in Illinois, according to Rivals.
Solomon Brown, Matt Guggemos and Caden Fey all redshirted in 2019. Brown made his collegiate debut and first career tackle against Maryland in his only game of action last season. He played 33 varsity games and finished career with 229 tackles and four interceptions, which included one pick-six for Largo High School in Largo, Fla.Â
Guggemos did not see game action after a standout high school career with Benilde St. Margaret's. He was a two-way player who also was All-State in the triple jump and the 100m in high school track and field. Fey did not see game action in 2019 after helping Eden Prairie to a state championship in his high school football career.Â
The Gophers will see five new faces in the secondary in true freshmen Michael Dixon, Abner Dubar, Miles Fleming, Jalen Glaze and Victor Pless. Dubar has been with the team since January while the other four newcomers recently joined in June.Â
Joe Harasymiak joined the Minnesota staff in December 2018 and coached defensive backs and safeties in 2019. He was promoted to Defensive Backs, Safeties and Co-Defensive Coordinator in February 2020. Paul Haynes, who has 25 years of collegiate coaching experience, joined the University of Minnesota coaching staff in February 2020 and coaches the cornerbacks.Â
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