The Minnesota Gophers football team is preparing for week one of their 2024 schedule , which will feature a Friday night home contest at Huntington Bank Stadium, August 29, vs the North Carolina Tar Heels.
There are a lot of new faces on defense, even a new defensive coordinator. On offense, the QB torch has been passed to grad transfer Max Brosmer. There are unproven new faces on the offensive line, too. But at wide receiver, many of the same names will be on the call sheet later this month.
Daniel Jackson added to Biletnikoff Award watch list
One of those familiar faces is WR Daniel Jackson, who was just added to the Biletnikoff Award watch list yesterday. The 5th year senior has led the Gophers in receiving yards each of the past two seasons . He’s compiled a total of 96 receptions, 1,388 yards and 13 touchdowns between 2022 and 2023.
And he put up those numbers on an offense that has been aerially inept since 2019. Unlike just about every passing weapon this team has put on the field over the past four seasons, Jackson was able to blossom into a reliable option for former QB1s Tanner Morgan and Athan Kaliakmanis.
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Now, Daniel Jackson will almost surely be drafted at some point in the 2025 NFL Draft. How high will he go? That will be decided over the next three to four months. It will also largely be dictated by how well he and Max Brosmer gel in this supposedly modernized Gopher offense.
While he may not be on every college football fan or media member’s radar, Jackson definitely has himself a huge fan in CFB expert and insider, Scott Dochterman, over at The Athletic .
CFB insider heaps big praise on Minnesota Gophers’ “best little known WR in the country”
As part of an interesting SEC vs Big Ten piece that dropped on Thursday, Dochterman couldn’t help but go out of his way to mention the 6-0, 200 lb WR out of Mission, KS, calling him “the best little-known receiver in the country”.
In this B1G vs SEC article, Minnesota is matched up vs Florida. Dochterman picks the Gophers in a 34-24 victory, meaning not only is he high on Daniel Jackson, but he’s also buying what PJ Fleck is selling this fall. And that isn’t exactly the popular trend right now.
Florida vs. Minnesota
In three games against the Gophers while at Wisconsin, Florida quarterback Graham Mertz never threw a touchdown and suffered a concussion in the only meeting the Badgers won. That unfortunate trend extends to this matchup for the Gators. Plus, the Gophers have the best little-known receiver in the country in Daniel Jackson .
Minnesota 34, Florida 24.
Scott Dochterman – The Athletic
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Remember, sportsbooks have pinned the Gophers as one of the worst teams in the Big Ten this season. FanDuel puts their odds to win the conference at +25000 ; their over/under win total at just 5.5. Clearly, Scott is one of the more optimistic CFB experts out there, when it comes to Minnesota in 2024. He attributes part of that to Jackson.
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