There is considerable hype around Minnesota’s Koi Perich, but nn he’s just half of safety equation for the Gopher secondary. The Gopher defense may be replacing their corners, but Perich and Kerry Brown are elite, will they be an upgrade over 2024?
2025 Safeties
2024 Starter: Koi Perich, Kerry Brown
2025 Starters: Koi Perich, Kerry Brown
Depth: Darius Green, Adrian Gousby, Garrison Monroe, Zahir Rainer
Koi Perich started a little slow last season but eventually he took over the starting free safety role and quickly
established himself as one of the best in the Big Ten. Heading into his sophomore season, he is in already on the radar to be a 1st team All-American. Last year he finished with five interceptions, was 5th on the team in tackles and the Gopher defense is going to need him to live up to the pre-season hype.
With Perich getting so much attention this offseason, it may be easy to forget about Kerry Brown, who is also an elite safety. Brown started 9 games last year as a redshirt freshman and finished 3rd on the team in tackles to go along with this two interceptions.
And we should not forget about Darius Green, who is playing in his final season. Green’s has unfortunately dealt with a number of injuries throughout his career after a promising sophomore season where he starte 11 games. He missed the final two games of that year and then played in just four games last season. But he adds experience, talent and perhaps most imporantly there is a level of trust with Green on the field. Green will play a lot on passing downs, potentially as the team’s primary nickle back.
This unit has elite starters and the depth is very good as well. Adrian Gousby has 19 games under his belt over his first three seasons in the program. He will be a redshirt junior this season. And watch for Shakopee’s Garrison Monroe to see some playing time as a redshirt freshmen.
Upgrade/Downgrade
This unit is the strength of the Gopher defense. The starters pair to be one of the best safety tandems in the conference and frankly Green and Gousby could be starting for other teams in the league.
All to say that this unit is an upgrade. Maybe not a huge upgrade, but it is reasonable to expect that Perich and Brown will have improved from their respective freshman seasons.
