Safety was one of the strengths of the defense for Minnesota last season with NFL draft pick Antoine Winfield Jr. leading the charge. Now they will look to replace a starter next to Jordan Howden. It will be an open competition for the next starting safety spot, however there are a few players currently on the Gophers roster with the potential to start next season.
Who’s Gone?
Antoine Winfield Jr.
Minnesota fans need no reminder just how good Antoine Winfield Jr. was last season. The 1st Team All-American and second round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was tremendous for the Gophers last season, finishing the year with an over PFF grade of 88.8 which was the highest on the team. With that, however, the Gophers are also losing his leadership and playmaking ability in the secondary that it will have to replace.
Who’s Coming Back?
Jordan Howden
If there was one player who really improved from the 2018 to 2019 season, it was Jordan Howden. After being thrust into a starting role as walk-on true freshman in 2018, it was a season of lessons for the Las Vegas native. In honesty, he was thrown into the starting role probably before he was ready for it, but with a year of learning comes great improvement that we saw last year. Howden boasted an above average PFF grade of 66.1 in 2019, including a 71.3 tackling grade. Now with the departure of Winfield, Minnesota will be leaning on Howden as the veteran safety of the team with two years of starting experience. I don’t know if an All-Big Ten season will be in the cards, but I expect Jordan to continually improve and have another great season.
Tyler Nubin
The leading candidate to replace Winfield is the Saint Charles, IL native Tyler Nubin. A consensus 4-star recruit, Nubin was highly sought after by the likes of Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, Iowa and others before committing to Minnesota. As a true freshman in 2019, Nubin posted the third highest PFF grade on the team of 84.6 (granted only 26 total snaps). He finished his freshman campaign playing in all 12 games as a Quad Team Member (playing on all four special teams) and accumulated six tackles with two PBUs. If I had a leading guess as to who will be the starting safety next to Howden, my guess is Nubin.
Calvin Swenson
A darkhorse candidate to also get playing time next season is the redshirt senior Calvin Swenson. He has been a Quad Team Member the past two seasons and has saw legitimate playing time in 2018 when Antoine Winfield Jr. went down before Howden eventually ended up starting for the season. The PFF grade for Swenson in 2019 was a slightly below average 58.8 in 32 total snaps. I do not know where the depth chart stands today, however I have reason to believe Swenson is ahead of Benny Sapp.
Benny Sapp
The incoming Junior has battled injuries throughout his high school career but has thankfully stayed healthy over the past two seasons with the Gophers. He finished the 2019 campaign seeing action in 11 games recording one tackle. The PFF grade for 2019 was a bit better than Swenson, finishing with an average 63.4 grade in seven total snaps. I would be surprised to see Sapp in the fold next season but expect him to be a regular contributor on special teams.
Who’s Coming In?
Michael Dixon
Michael Dixon out of Statesboro, GA was ranked as a 5.6 3-star from Rivals and only had Syracuse as his lone other Power Five offer, however that does not deter me one bit. Dixon committed in June before his senior season and had he spent the summer going to camps and stayed uncommitted throughout the fall, I imagine more offers would have kept coming in. At 6-1, 190 pounds with excellent ball skills, I am really high on Michael Dixon and can’t wait to see what he does for Minnesota. It may be another year or two before he is in the rotation but remember his name.
Jalen Glaze
My personal favorite in-coming recruit for the Class of 2019 is Jalen Glaze. Glaze was a 5.5 3-star ranked player out of Tallahassee, FL with reported offers from Georgia, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Mississippi State, and Louisville among many other Power Five schools. Jalen has exceptional ball skills and is a ball hawk from the deep third position. There is a reason he was recruited so highly with his speed and anticipation skills. I also believe Glaze will be a special player for Minnesota in due time. Glaze’s high school film showcased him playing both corner and safety. He will need to gain weight in order to be able to play at the D-I level, but I think he is a darkhorse for the nickel corner spot as well this season.
Abner Dubar
The 6’1, 175-pound safety from Anna, TX was previously committed to Texas Tech before pledging to Minnesota over offers from Baylor, Colorado, Houston, and Washington State among others. The hard hitting, downhill safety showcases phenomenal speed at the safety position as well as a downhill tackling ability. Given the depth I mentioned ahead I imagine a redshirt year is in the works for Dubar and think you may see him later in his Gopher career.
