Transfer Portal vs. High School Recruiting: How Minnesota Is Building Its Defense

The Gophers have used the transfer portal to their advantage when it comes to building their defense over the last five years.

Dec 26, 2025; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back John Nestor (17) against the New Mexico Lobos during the Rate Bowl at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The 2026 college football season will be the sixth year played with a full offseason of modern transfer portal rules. That gives us more than enough data to realistically analyze how Minnesota has built its roster compared to high school recruits or portal pickups. We did the offense on Wednesday, so now let's break down the defense.

*CFB Insider & Recruiting Analyst for Texas, CJ Vogel, had a tremendous graphic idea, which is what inspired this story.

How Minnesota has built its defense since 2021. | Picture via: @tonyliebert (X)

It's a little tougher to have defined roles on the defensive side of the ball compared to offense for this exercise. I opted to include four defensive linemen, one outside linebacker, two linebackers and five defensive backs.

2021

One of Minnesota's most significant portal additions came in 2021 with Abeline Christian linebacker Jack Gibbens. He was a true diamond-in-the-rough prospect, and he's entering his fifth NFL season after joining the league as an undrafted free agent (UDFA). Clemson defensive tackle Nyles Pinckney was the other major contributor that season.

2022

Minnesota has had plenty of success finding defensive talent from the FCS level, and defensive tackle Kyler Baugh joined that list from Houston Christian in 2022. Western Kentucky cornerback Beanie Bishop was their other major add that offseason. He finished his college career at West Virginia, and he's currently still in the NFL, so it was another impressive scout for Minnesota's staff.

2023

The Gophers added two more FCS defensive backs before the 2023 season: Jack Henderson from SE Louisiana and Tre'Von Jones from Elon. Both players had huge impacts on Minnesota's defense.

2024

Minnesota's best defenses have had fewer transfers, and that was the case in 2024 under defensive coordinator Corey Heatherman. Ethan Robinson from Bucknell was a tremendous addition at cornerback, and Henderson returned for his final season.

2025

If Gibbens has been Minnesota's best defensive portal add in the modern era, Iowa cornerback John Nestor is a close second. He was an interception machine for the Gophers in 2025, and he's back again this fall. LSU transfer Jaxon Howard and TCU's Jai'Onte McMillan were the only other two transfers with big roles.

2026

The interior of Minnesota's defensive line is almost guaranteed to have two transfers starting Week 1. There could be as many as six more, which would be the most in the portal era for the Gophers. They will need to see significant improvements from the unit this season.

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The numbers show that Minnesota has leaned on the transfer portal more when building its defense compared to offense. This fall could put that to the test with a significant amount of transfers set to become contributors.