Previously: Minnesota Offense After multiple years of finishing in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense, Minnesota has fallen to 45th this season in the category. Should it be reason for us to think this group is not up to the usual standard of being a strength of PJ Fleck's squad, or should we still have faith? Let's examine: The Film: Minnesota's three P5 opponents this season were Nebraska, UNC, and Northwestern. Though the 'Cats had success against the Gophers, they are unequivocally the worst offense of the three so I opted not to chart them (though I did incorporate film). UNC is the better offense than Nebraska, but UNC's pass-happy spread is not a terribly relevant comparison for Michigan. Thus, it was better off to chart Nebraska, while using a heavy amount of tape from the UNC game to more properly assess the pass defense of Minnesota. Personnel: Click for big You can describe Minnesota as either a 3-4 or a 4-2-5/4-3. I opt for the latter, because I view the RUSH edge as essentially a WDE. The three who are definitely defensive linemen are 285 lb. "SDE" Jalen Logan-Redding and two true, hulking "DTs" Deven Eastern and Kyler Baugh. All three of these players had their moments in the tape I have reviewed but all three are best described as "just guys". They make players here and there, but also got moved far too much to believe they are stars without pass-rush dominance (which was absent). Anthony Smith comes in for Logan-Redding, but he doesn't come off the field too much. Eastern is the tackle who leaves the most and is generally replaced by Logan Richter, a player I thought was particularly weak. The RUSH spot, as Minnesota calls it, or WDE, as we are going to call it, is occupied by Danny Striggow. He's also fine in the same way the other DL starters are. Flashes but largely mediocre. If Striggow leaves, Jah Joyner is an intriguing player because he's Minnesota's only good organic rusher on the DL, but the rest of his game is underdeveloped. Chris Collins is the more SAM style guy to plug into that hole, capable of dropping into coverage at 255 lbs. much more than anyone else. I don't have anything too exciting to say about him. At the LB spot the two regular starters are MLB Maverick Baranowski and WLB Devon Williams. They are also fine, some very real tackling issues (as is the case across the defense), but they are not bad players. Williams is particularly good as a blitzer, while Baranowski did show some wobbles in coverage. If they go with a DB shaped "linebacker", it's HSP Jack Henderson, who is 215 lbs. and called the "STAR". PFF loves his game, I am more measured in my opinion of it. If Minnesota wants a third true LB on the field, then WMU transfer Ryan Selig enters the game, but I was not impressed by him. In the secondary I thought the play of corner Justin Walley was pretty strong, but a notch below star status. He's a returning starter and is opposite new starter Tre'Von Jones, a transfer from Elon. Jones looked iffy against Nebraska and had some rough moments against UNC, so he receives the cyan designation. The safeties are headlined by star of the defense Tyler Nubin, still sporting impeccable PFF grades which likely have not docked his NFL Draft profile, which projected him in the back end of the first round entering the season. The other safety is Darius Green, who seemed okay. The starting tandem is quality, but if either guy has to leave, Gopher fans should watch out for Aidan Gousby, who had to play 22 snaps against UNC and got COOKED. None of the four true DBs leave the field if they don't have to. [AFTER THE JUMP: meh]