The Gophers football program had five players selected in the 2020 NFL draft. It’s held up as the school’s highest pick total in the modern era.

But Minnesota is in position to potentially eclipse that record next spring, according to head coach P.J. Fleck. “This could be our deepest draft class,” he said Monday.

Fans don’t have to just take Fleck’s word for it.

Tthe NFL season just started last weekend, so its hard to know how each college program’s draft class will shake out come next April, but there is one good place to look for how talented each program’s group prospects might become. The Senior Bowl, the premier postseason college all-star game, had only 19 teams nationwide with 11 or more players on the preseason watch list. Minnesota was among them.

For comparison, Minnesota had 11 total players on the Senior Bowl watch lists combined over 2022-23. Two were repeat honorees, and the U ended up with four total draft picks over the last two years.

But the Senior Bowl watch list has more than doubled since the U put five players in the NFL in 2020. This year’s watch list expanded from 720 prospects last year to 859 this year, a growth attributed to NFL changing eligibility rules to allow draft-eligible underclassman participate in the all-star games. For reference, only 374 players were named to the watch list for 2019.

Atop Minnesota’s Senior Bowl list for next year’s draft is left tackle Aireontae Ersery, who has received buzz as a potential first-round pick, followed by defensive end Jah Joyner, who garnered more attention in fall camp. Jim Nagy, the Senior Bowl’s executive director, was excited about U quarterback and watch list member Max Brosmer, per an NFL.com article in August.

The eight other players on the U’s list are: receiver Daniel Jackson, cornerback Justin Walley, kicker Dragan Kesich, running back Marcus Major, defensive linemen Jalen Logan-Redding, Danny Striggow and offensive linemen Quinn Carroll and Tyler Cooper.

“But nobody’s sitting there talking about just one superstar, and that one superstar isn’t making all the plays,” Fleck said. “It’s a collective distribution of talent that people have a responsibility to do and a job to do. Everybody’s excited to do that for each other.”

When the Gophers put five players in the 2020 draft — the most since five were taken in the 12-round draft in 1990 — it followed an 11-2 season in 2019. Those five draft picks played big roles in the U’s banner season — safety Antoine Winfield Jr., receiver Tyler Johnson, defensive end Carter Coughlin, linebacker Kamal Martin and cornerback Chris Williamson.

At 1-1 this season, Minnesota will need to demolish preseason expectations of 5.5 projected wins amid its difficult schedule to rival that dream season in 2019. The U can build on its 48-0 win over Rhode Island last weekend against Nevada (1-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Going into Week 1 of the NFL season, the Gophers had 18 total former players on 53-man rosters, including last year’s only pick, safety Tyler Nubin with the New York Giants.

Senior laden

Here’s the Gophers’ nine-game Big Ten schedule, followed by each opponent’s number of Senior Bowl watch-list players for 2025 NFL draft:

Sept. 21 — Iowa (8)
Sept. 28 — Michigan (14)
Oct. 5 — USC (11)
Oct. 12 — UCLA (10)
Oct. 26 — Maryland (6)
Nov. 2 — Illinois (4)
Nov. 9 — Rutgers (6)
Nov. 23 — Penn State (13)
Nov. 29 — Wisconsin (13)

Related Articles

Gophers football: North Carolina loss provides ‘fertilizer’ for Rhode Island win

Gophers report: Offensive line shows improvement but remains a question mark

John Shipley: Three things you can trust from Gophers’ rout of Rhode Island

Gophers use passing game to roll Rhode Island, 48-0

How Gophers are picking up kicker Dragan Kesich: Taco Bell meal, empathy, Ted Lasso references