Gophers football given No. 2 transfer portal grade in Big Ten

Rivals.com is a fan of Minnesota's offseason moves.

Dec 30, 2022; Tucson, AZ, USA; Ohio Bobcats running back Sieh Bangura (22) runs with the ball / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Popular recruiting service Rivals.com gave out its "transfer portal grades" for the Big Ten and the Gophers earned a B, the second-best mark in the conference.

Oregon, USC, Northwestern, Michigan State, UCLA and Indiana were all given a B-, while Washington was the only school graded better than Minnesota with a B+.

P.J. Fleck and the Gophers had a busy offseason, losing 14 scholarship players to the portal and they gained commitments from 12 more.

Players lost (14):

- JJ Guedet, OL
- Dino Kaliakmanis, WR
- Tyrell Lawrence, OL
- Tyler Bride, CB
- Tariq Watson, CB
- De'Eric Mister, OL
- Cade McConnell, OL
- Victor Pless, CB
- Logan Purcell, OL
- Marquese Williams, RB
- Drew Viotto, QB
- Dallas Sims, WR
- Zach Evans, RB
- Drew Viotto, QB
- Athan Kaliakmanis, QB

Kaliakmanis was the only player Gophers lost with more than 139 snaps played with the program, allowing the staff to find higher-impact players with 14 open scholarships.

Players gained (12):

- Max Brosmer, QB, New Hampshire
- Ethan Robinson, CB, Bucknell
- Jai'Onte' McMillan, DB, TCU
- Sieh Bangura, RB, Ohio
- Cristian Driver, WR, Penn State
- Marcus Major, RB, Houston
- Jaxon Howard, DE, LSU
- Adam Kissayi, DE, Clemson
- Tyler Williams, WR, Georgia
- Dylan Wittke, QB, Virginia Tech
- Aluma Nkele, OT, UTEP
- Jaren Mangham, RB, Michigan State

Headlined by presumptive starting QB Max Brosmer, the Gophers added as many as seven players that could play meaningful snaps in Week 1. Players like Jaxon Howard and Tyler Williams could be building blocks as underclassmen with multiple seasons of eligibility remaining.

There is no doubt that Fleck and his staff upgraded the roster this offseason. The only question now is whether or not it's enough to compete in the new 18-team Big Ten.