Court Chaos Over Eligibility Muddles Minnesota Kicking Battle
A federal court fight over a fifth year of eligibility for the 2022 high school class has left Minnesota's kicking job — and rosters nationwide — in limbo just days before the season opener.
The eligibility chaos rippling through college football has landed squarely on Minnesota's kicking depth chart, just 10 days before the Gophers open their season against Eastern Illinois.
Brady Denaburg, who handled place-kicking duties for Minnesota last year after three seasons at Syracuse, was out of the picture until a federal judge in Denver ruled July 31 that athletes from the 2022 high school class were eligible for a fifth year of competition. The NCAA had previously excluded that class from its new "five-for-five" rule. That ruling was then temporarily halted Friday by an appeals court injunction, leaving thousands of athletes, including Denaburg, back in limbo.
"Playing's in limbo," Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said Monday. "I do hope that we come to some resolution at some point about what we're going to do with all these players... it's lawsuit after lawsuit, just a ping-pong match that goes back and forth."
The situation grew more tangled three days after the initial ruling, when a clarification excluded athletes who had already signed professional contracts — prompting a countersuit in Louisiana state court that won a temporary restraining order Wednesday. That group includes former New Mexico kicker Luke Drzewiecki, who was in rookie minicamp with the Baltimore Ravens this spring before transferring to Minnesota to follow special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato.
With sophomore Daniel Jackson and Michigan transfer Beckham Sunderland also in the mix, the Gophers now have four kickers competing in practice, with anywhere from two to four eligible for the opener. Fleck compared the uncertainty to the 2020 season, when COVID-19 testing could sideline players without warning.
The confusion has also touched Indiana's national championship defense, where two starting defensive linemen, Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt, were practicing under the same eligibility ruling. Coach Curt Cignetti backed both players, saying the program would make no roster cuts if they are ruled eligible.
Denaburg went 33 for 33 on extra points last year and 14 for 21 on field goals. Drzewiecki was 36 for 36 on extra points and 18 for 19 on field goals in his senior season at New Mexico. "We don't know what will happen and who will be eligible and who won't be eligible," Fleck said. "You'd love some answers as soon as possible."
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
