Gophers receive a commitment from JUCO safety Gervarrius Owens

DanielHouse

Active member
Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
594
Reaction score
248
Points
43
The Gophers have received a commitment from JUCO safety Gervarrius Owens. He chose Minnesota over offers from Texas Tech and Louisville, among others. He took a visit to Louisville on Feb. 1 after spending time at the University of Minnesota on Jan. 26.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound safety originally committed to Kansas State and played there in 2017. He decided to transfer from the Wildcats to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, the same school Minnesota assistant Clay Patterson was the head coach at from 2016-17. The relationship these two had probably was beneficial when the Gophers were recruiting him. In 2018, Owens posted 92 tackles, three pass breakups and three interceptions. He was named SWJCFC First Team All-Conference last year and played a big role in Northeastern Oklahoma A&M's defense. Based upon his path, it looks like Owens should have three years of eligibility remaining.

His experience will be a valuable asset to a secondary searching for defensive back depth, team speed and playmakers. Owens is an excellent athlete and has shown some physicality when moving downhill in run support. His tackling skills really jump off the charts on tape. His ability to break on the ball and make plays allows him to be disruptive in the backend. He's played the deep half of the field consistently and I could see him having some position flexibility to move between all the cornerback spots and safety. He fits the mold of a player the Gophers needed to add in the 2019 cycle. This offseason, it was necessary to find a versatile, explosive player in the backend that can move all over the field. It's especially the case as Antoine Winfield Jr. works his way back from injury. If the duo does play together, they are rather interchangeable and each have the coverage skills to man the back half. I could see Winfield Jr. being used in the box more with Owens playing single-high safety. However, they could both shift between roles, too. Overall, the opportunities are plentiful and this addition certainly provides some flexibility for the coaching staff.

Minnesota needs to be more opportunistic defensively and Owens is the type of player that can help with scheme flexibility and creativity.

Owens is now the fourth defensive back Minnesota has added in the 2019 recruiting cycle. You can check out his film here:

<iframe src='//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/10665025/5beb40a05ca9a208c079704b' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Last edited:



Great addition! Congrats to Gervarrius!
 

Awesome and getting a juco first team all american is a great consolation for Kristian Williams.

I wouldn't say I preferred Owens over Kristian Williams but I wouldn't say I didn't prefer him either.

Williams is probably the better long term prospect and Owens helps us more in the short term. Either would have been great and we ended up with Owens so I'm happy.
 


The Gophers are increasingly improving every position group. They needed an infusion in DBs.

Are they going to add any surprise late additions?
 



Nice size. Looks like he's got a real nose for the ball.
 



Hey alright!! Getting to the end here. Wonder if we'll have some surprises?
 


Juco guys are always a bit of a crap shoot but hopefully he is able to hit the ground running and play a key role for the team as early as this season.
 

Juco guys are always a bit of a crap shoot but hopefully he is able to hit the ground running and play a key role for the team as early as this season.

Yeah it is strange.

You'll see highly rated JUCO guy one year go on to contribute, the next a dude even higher rated at the same position..... and the team gets nothing out of them.

JUCO talent pool ebbs and flows pretty unpredictably.
 



Juco guys are always a bit of a crap shoot but hopefully he is able to hit the ground running and play a key role for the team as early as this season.

True, lets hope he's in the mold of D. Greene, D. Campbell or D. Wilson and not like H. Carpenter or V. Viramontes.
 

Awesome and getting a juco first team all american is a great consolation for Kristian Williams.

I wouldn't say I preferred Owens over Kristian Williams but I wouldn't say I didn't prefer him either.

Williams is probably the better long term prospect and Owens helps us more in the short term. Either would have been great and we ended up with Owens so I'm happy.

Everyone say that 10 times really fast!
 

Awesome and getting a juco first team all american is a great consolation for Kristian Williams.

I wouldn't say I preferred Owens over Kristian Williams but I wouldn't say I didn't prefer him either.

Williams is probably the better long term prospect and Owens helps us more in the short term. Either would have been great and we ended up with Owens so I'm happy.

Fleck couldn’t hold onto Williams so no use crying over spilt milk.

The biggest, glaring need in the roster was safety. We have a couple of feel good walk on stories that played last year and not very well.

We needed a safety. I’m hoping this is a guy that looks good on the field, not getting a scholly from a t-shirt gun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

With Williams bailing out at the end it was a good call to look over the roster and see we needed a safety. After the other additions on the d line and the grad transfer I think this is a good consolation prize given the way the roster looks. First team JUCO is about all you could hope to ask for. Welcome Gervarrius!
 

True, lets hope he's in the mold of D. Greene, D. Campbell or D. Wilson and not like H. Carpenter or V. Viramontes.
I am hoping for Tramaine Brock type ability at safety without the grade issues.

Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk
 



not struggling for depth at DT, even with OJ Smith and Silver moving on. So Williams moving on doesnt hurt,
True Freshman was starting at safety last year due to injury, this is a nice pick up.

2 scholarships left?
 


Bummer to lose the DT, but Owens seems like a nice add.
We won't know for another year or two how many of these players were key contributors.

On to 2020.
 


So he'll be entering as a sophomore?

That's the one class we don't need extra players. By my count we now have 30 scholarship sophomores. That's alot.
 





Well our over signing and lack of scholarships has been interesting. I have no idea what the f the staff is doing, but its a fire right now...
 




Top Bottom