Gophers ‘absolutely’ will seek a quarterback in NCAA transfer portal

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Greder:

“We absolutely are going to bring in a transfer quarterback to compete,” Fleck said. “I think that is really good for everybody. Drake understands that. Dylan understands that. Max understands that. Everybody understands that. Jackson understands that.”

www.twincities.com

Gophers ‘absolutely’ will seek a quarterback in NCAA transfer portal

The to-be determined quarterback would compete with Drake Lindsey and others in 2025.
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!
 



As they should.

No one knows if Lindsey is ready to play yet. If he is great, if he's not and he leaves because someone better is brought in so be it. It's a win now environment and you need a good QB to compete.
 

"seek" doesn't mean you get one but yeah of course you do shop around / hope to get one.
 
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Will be interesting to see what level of QB prospect we get linked to as things heat up.

Competition is always a good thing and Drake is still very young so if there is any doubt that he might not be ready to be the guy next year they have to look for other options.
 

I think the real question is - how much depth do you need at QB?

ideally, you want a veteran starter, a quality backup and a Freshman QB to learn the system.

Kollock is coming in as the FR QB. If they bring in a QB from the portal, that means that either Lindsey or Wittke is the odd man out.....most likely Wittke. I'll bet a buck that Wittke will be going into the portal.
 

I forgot what the current RS rules are. Did Drake formally use his freshman year of eligibility or did he not play enough and still has 4 to play?

Go Gophers!!
 






I think Lindsey only played in 2 games and in one he only handed off.
 

Looking at the efficiency Brosmer had in the offense, I wouldn’t be surprised if McNamara or Moss could be extremely effective here.
Better physical tools for both, but I question whether either would have Brosmer’s presence in the pocket. Million dollar arms and ten cent heads don’t mix well.

Lindsay burned nothing this year.
 



I think all QB's are fine with it for spring football because they believe they'll be the starter.
Come end of spring, I do believe we will see some departures.
 

I think it says more about Wittke than Lindsay. I would assume they're looking for a more experienced backup in case Lindsey goes down or struggles. The way Fleck framed it last year when looking for a QB was way different. Going into next year, their depth is RS-FR, RS-SO, RS-SO (walk on), FR. Someone can correct me if wrong, but Max is still a walk-on, correct? That means they would only have 3 scholarship QB's on roster with 0 career starts, and 4 career passes combined at the most important position in football.
 

BleedGopher said:
I forgot what the current RS rules are. Did Drake formally use his freshman year of eligibility or did he not play enough and still has 4 to play?

Go Gophers!!
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I think he only participated in 3 games. Briefly if i remember. Drake looks like a dude that can play in warmups.
 

forever a gopher said:
I think it says more about Wittke than Lindsay. I would assume they're looking for a more experienced backup in case Lindsey goes down or struggles. The way Fleck framed it last year when looking for a QB was way different. Going into next year, their depth is RS-FR, RS-SO, RS-SO (walk on), FR. Someone can correct me if wrong, but Max is still a walk-on, correct? That means they would only have 3 scholarship QB's on roster with 0 career starts, and 4 career passes combined at the most important position in football.
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I would hope they are looking for a starter. If you can find a guy like Brosmer or better in the portal who would choose Minnesota, I wouldn't worry about a guy with fewer career passes than fingers on one hand. I hope Lindsey pans out here but we shouldn't be afraid of offending and losing someone who has yet to set foot on the field if we think we can be a better team with someone else at the helm. We should have learned from AK not to anoint.
 

You have to first look for someone you believe might win the starting job. If you have to settle for a depth add so be it, but the idea should be to bring in the best talent possible.
 

I'm going to assume Fleck will be looking for an experienced and highly successful QB from a G6 or FCS program. Can't see him grabbing a highly rated but inexperienced backup from a P4.
 

What kind of quality do you think he’ll get if he’s recruiting a backup? I don’t think anyone does that, at least intentionally. If a coach thinks his starter is already on the team then he’s not going to spend time and $ recruiting another guy unless there’s no depth at all, or if your starter has 1 year left and the transfer has multiple years AND is willing to be a backup for a year. My guess is there’s very few QBs out there who want to commit to a likely backup role - that’s why they’re transferring in the first place.
 

Proved me wrong here. I wouldn’t of thought he was going to do that. I certainly hope that 3 ends up being the solution.
 

Well, if they want another under the radar guy.

 


They absolutely need to add someone to that QB room. It's not like Drake was this highly coveted QB recruit that has to play or else someone else will take him. If he wins the job great, but he's got less of a pedigree than Athan had in terms of a recruiting profile when he was handed the job.

It will be tough to get someone who turns out as good as Max did, but Max didn't exactly have the big NIL spenders after him.
 

EG#9 said:
They absolutely need to add someone to that QB room. It's not like Drake was this highly coveted QB recruit that has to play or else someone else will take him. If he wins the job great, but he's got less of a pedigree than Athan had in terms of a recruiting profile when he was handed the job.

It will be tough to get someone who turns out as good as Max did, but Max didn't exactly have the big NIL spenders after him.
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Regardless of "stars" I think Drake definitely has a better resume than AK had. His high school stats were insane and played in (and won the state title) in the largest class in Arkansas. AK had a covid (and injury?) interrupted high school career that made him much harder to judge.

Not saying Drake is a lock to be good in college but I'd take his high school football resume over AK's any day.
 


A couple of FCS guys to keep an eye on:

1. SDSU QB Mark Gronowski. After exploring the draft (he never entered the portal but there was reliable info that he was going to grad transfer to Northwestern) following the 2023 season, Gronowski elected to return to SDSU. He has said this year is his final season at SDSU. He has one season of eligibility remaining. His intention is/was to declare for the draft but he's had a bit of a rocky season without three receivers who each spent time in NFL camps this fall. He doesn't look like an NFL caliber QB without those guys but Easton Stick from NDSU has stuck around in the NFL and he never looked the part, either, so what do I know? He grew up an hour from Evanston and his former OC at SDSU is at NW now. He grew of Badger fan. Are either of those spots very desirable? I'm not sure the biggest bag gets Mark on campus. Fit would be more important.

2. Zach Calzada, University of the Incarnate Word. Originally at Texas A & M where he played in 10 games. Transfered to Auburn and never saw the field after injuring his shoulder. He's got a cannon for an arm and is showing it in his second year at UIW. UIW I believe received the 6 seed in the FCS playoffs and he isn't in the portal but you have to wonder if a guy like this won't take another crack at FBS after two unfulfilling stints. He has for sure one year left of eligibility and perhaps two, if he received a medical redshirt for the season lost to injury. He's a real gamer with a big arm, is mobile and isn't afraid of contact. I'd assume he'd get a pretty good bag if he does enter the portal. He might qualify for grad transfer status and may not need to enter the portal.
 

swede2 said:
A couple of FCS guys to keep an eye on:

1. SDSU QB Mark Gronowski. After exploring the draft (he never entered the portal but there was reliable info that he was going to grad transfer to Northwestern) following the 2023 season, Gronowski elected to return to SDSU. He has said this year is his final season at SDSU. He has one season of eligibility remaining. His intention is/was to declare for the draft but he's had a bit of a rocky season without three receivers who each spent time in NFL camps this fall. He doesn't look like an NFL caliber QB without those guys but Easton Stick from NDSU has stuck around in the NFL and he never looked the part, either, so what do I know? He grew up an hour from Evanston and his former OC at SDSU is at NW now. He grew of Badger fan. Are either of those spots very desirable? I'm not sure the biggest bag gets Mark on campus. Fit would be more important.

2. Zach Calzada, University of the Incarnate Word. Originally at Texas A & M where he played in 10 games. Transfered to Auburn and never saw the field after injuring his shoulder. He's got a cannon for an arm and is showing it in his second year at UIW. UIW I believe received the 6 seed in the FCS playoffs and he isn't in the portal but you have to wonder if a guy like this won't take another crack at FBS after two unfulfilling stints. He has for sure one year left of eligibility and perhaps two, if he received a medical redshirt for the season lost to injury. He's a real gamer with a big arm, is mobile and isn't afraid of contact. I'd assume he'd get a pretty good bag if he does enter the portal. He might qualify for grad transfer status and may not need to enter the portal.
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Gronowski is interesting if you're going to go back to the ground and pound and throw over the top style. He doesn't strike me as the pocket passer we ran more this year.

We should in theory be a desirable place to transfer to. Not the top tier where guys like Gabriel go (we'll see who fits that mold as the season ends) but could see someone like Kaidon Salter (Liberty) or even Thomas Castellanos (BC) being interested in though Castellanos is being linked with bigger teams though I don't super see it purely based on his size and arm strength. Both would be ones that fit quite well with our prior more RPO heavy style
 

Word said:
Regardless of "stars" I think Drake definitely has a better resume than AK had. His high school stats were insane and played in (and won the state title) in the largest class in Arkansas. AK had a covid (and injury?) interrupted high school career that made him much harder to judge.

Not saying Drake is a lock to be good in college but I'd take his high school football resume over AK's any day.
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If Drake leaves, say this spring...I believe he would land at a lateral school at the worst... Top 50 team. I think we could argue if AK8 didn't land at Rutgers he was likely going to a team below 50.
Drake and Kollock are prospects higher than we usually recruit.
 

Didn't they try to bring in a guy from Fresno State (?) last season, to be a backup?
 

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