Five Minnesota Golden Gophers who exceeded expectations in 2024

The 2024 offseason is well underway and after a busy December and January full of coaching changes and recruiting, we finally have the time to reflect on the 2024 season that was.

As we begin to look back at Minnesota's 8-5 season which included a victory in the Duke's Mayo Bowl over Virginia Tech, we take a look at five Golden Gophers who exceeded expectations this past fall.

There were high expectations for Brosmer when he came to Minneapolis last offseason from New Hampshire. In his lone season with the program, the 6-foot-2, 2225-pound signal caller completed 268-of-403 passing attempts for 2,828 yards and 18 touchdowns while throwing just six interceptions. He also added five rushing touchdowns to his total.

He finished fifth in the Big Ten in completions this season and sixth in completion percentage, passing touchdowns, total touchdowns responsible for, and passing yards. Thanks to his strong season, Brosmer has become a legitimate candidate to be a late day three draft pick in this year's upcoming draft and has reportedly earned an invite to this year's NFL Combine.

Overall, Brosmer this fall helped elevate the Gophers' offense drastically from its 2023 self. While it wasn't a prolific offense, it was an offense that showed the ability to move the ball on a consistent basis, especially through the air where the Gophers' 222 passing yards per game was their highest average since 2019 when they averaged 253.3 yards per game.

Spencer's first season with Minnesota in 2023 is probably safe to be classified as disappointing. After totaling 85 receptions for 1,324 yards and 15 touchdowns in 24 games, he had just nine receptions for 65 yards and three touchdowns in his first season with the program. This past fall, Spencer had a tremendous campaign with the Gophers, recording 52 receptions for 684 yards and six touchdowns.

His emergence this fall was much needed for the Gophers who entered the 2024 season with only one true reliable receiving threat in Daniel Jaackson.

The 6-foot-2 wide receiver recorded at least one reception in all 13 games and multiple receptions in 12 of them. He notably had two huge performances for the Gophers with six receptions, 99 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Maryland and six receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns against Virginia Tech.

Many around the program expected Perich to contribute as a true freshman but I'm not sure anyone saw what was going to come from the Esko, Minnesota native this fall. The former top-100 prospect was not just one of the best true freshmen in all of college football this season, he was one of the best safeties.

Perich finished his true freshman season playing in 13 games, recording 46 tackles including 28 solo tackles and three tackles for loss. He also had five intereceptions, three pass defelctions, and one forced fumble. His five interceptions ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten and fourth in all of college football, three of them came on potential game winning drives for the opposing team.

Perich was rabjed by Pro Football Focus as teh No. 80 player in the country thiis year and had the third highest PFF grade of all true freshmen at 89.0. He'll be one one of top defenders in the country once again in 2025 and is well on his way to being a high NFL Draft pick, likely in two short years.

Koi Perich wasn't the only safety to emerge in 2024 as Kerry Brown had a huge season himself. The redshirt freshmen played in 12 of 13 games for the Gophers this fall aftear appearing in five games as a true freshman.

In those 13 games played, Brown recorded 63 tackles including 34 solo tackles and three tackles for loss. He also recorded a pair of intereceptions and four pass deflections. He was the Gophers' second highest graded regular on defense according to PFF with a 77.2 grade, only behind Koi Perich.

Thanks to the duo of Perich and Brown, the Gophers will have one of the best ssafetty duos not just in the Big Ten but in all of the country in 2025.

Deciding on a fifth Gopher was a tough one but ultimately we went with defensive lineman Anthony Smith. After recording 16 tackles and two tackles for loss in the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Gophers, Smith emerged this fall as one of the Big Ten's best pass rushers.

Smith played in all 13 games for the Gophers this fall, recording 27 tackles including 12 tackles for loss and six sacks. He recorded at least one TFL in seven games and had three games of multiple TFLs. He only had two games all season in which he didn't record a tackle.

Against a top-five ranked Penn State team in November, his hometown team, Smith was dominant with four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and one interception.

If Smith carries this level of play into the 2025 season, he'll have an opportunity to be a high draft pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. An intriguing lineman, Smith has the size at 6-foot-6 and 285-pounds to play both inside and outside on the defensive line.