Minnesota Football: 3 Way-too-early 2022 Breakout Candidates

No. 1 – Justin Walley, CB

Outside of studs like Mafe, Otemowo, and Gibbens, Minnesota football is also losing their top defensive back from a year ago in Coney Durr. With the Baton Rouge native ending his final season in maroon and gold with 40 tackles, 5 pass breakups, 1.5 sacks, and one fumble recovery.

However, slotting in directly behind Durr in terms of production last year was cornerback Justin Walley, who played in all 13 games, and started in the final six, finishing with 29 tackles, 7 pass breakups, one interception, 1 forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. That was good enough to earn him the highest true freshman grade in college football with 76.7, per Pro Football Focus, and a True Freshman All-American via 247Sports.

Walley was also named the Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week following Minnesota football’s clutch performance against the Wisconsin Badgers to cap off the season.

https://twitter.com/MinnesotaOnBTN/status/1465356767387340800

So, Justin Walley feels like the player most poised for a breakout campaign in 2022 as he takes over Durr’s role as Minnesota football’s lockdown corner for the foreseeable future.

In high school, Walley was an SI All-American candidate, and Mr. Football in the state of Mississippi. Scouts described him as a lean and fluid player with incredible quickness, coordination, body control, and ball-tracking ability, all of which was on full display in 2021.

The Gophers still have one of the best safety duos in the Big Ten with Tyler Nubin and Jordan Howden. But they will need somebody to step up at cornerback if they hope to build off their 9-4 record from a season ago, and Justin Walley feels primed to take on this role coming off his sensational freshman season with Minnesota football.

Despite being just a three-star recruit in 2020, and the 13th-ranked prospect out of Mississippi, he’s easily become one of the best young defensive backs in the Big Ten, if not all of college football. Expect him to demolish the already high expectations those have set out for him in 2022.