Gophers' Tyler Nubin viewed as potential 2024 first-round pick
One of the top names already getting attention for the 2024 NFL Draft is Minnesota Golden Gophers safety Tyler Nubin.
The fifth-year senior announced in December that he was returning for his final year of eligibility, and if the early projections are accurate it could pay off big time as he could hear his name called in the first round of the NFL Draft. Dane Brugler, the top draft analyst for The Athletic, has Nubin among the players going in the first round of his way-too-early 2024 mock draft (subscription required).
"Nubin would have been a Day 2 pick had he declared for the 2023 draft, but he elected to return to Minnesota for his senior year. With his athleticism and opportunistic ball skills, he has NFL starting ability," Brugler wrote, predicting Nubin as the 32nd overall pick.
Nubin was second team All-Big Ten in 2022 after finishing with 55 tackles and a team-leading four interceptions, and according to Pro Football Focus he was the best safety in the country in terms of completion percentage allowed in his coverage.
Lowest completion rate allowed among Safeties last season:
— PFF College (@PFF_College) March 19, 2023
🐿 Tyler Nubin - 35% pic.twitter.com/s5AbUV8Irg
His presence in the secondary will be huge as the Gophers have to replace four starters on defense, including safety Jordan Howden, cornerback Terell Smith, linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin and defensive end Thomas Rush.
Howden was drafted in the fifth round by the New Orleans Saints and the Smith went 19 picks later (also in the fifth round) to the Chicago Bears. The other Gopher drafted over the weekend was center John Michael Schmitz, who went to the New York Giants in the second round.
Five other Gophers signed with NFL teams as undrafted free agents.
- Mohamed Ibrahim, RB (Detroit Lions)
- Tanner Morgan, QB (Pittsburgh Steelers)
- Thomas Rush, DL (Tennessee Titans)
- Mariano Sori-Marin, LB (San Francisco 49ers)
- Chuck Giliago, OG (Green Bay Packers)
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.