Minnesota Fall Camp Position Previews: Quarterback

BleedGopher

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Per Dylan:

Let's take a closer look at the names inside the Gophers' quarterback room.

STARTER - MAX BROSMER​

The Gophers entered this offseason looking for a starting quarterback entering this fall and they believe they found a great fit in New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer.

The Georgia native comes to Minnesota with 36 career games played, 8,713 career passing yards and 70 touchdowns as well 263 career rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. He was a 2023 Walter Payton Award finalist as well as being AP Second-Team FCS All-American.

At Big Ten Media Days, P.J. Fleck praised Brosmer and what he's shown since joining the program in January.

"We were going to take a portal quarterback to come in and start and play right away. Someone had to come in and engulf the program, fit the culture, and want to be there for all the right reasons. I think a lot of people want that but when you're in that role its really difficult when you get there and who really wants that. He's a meticulous why seeker and he's a very curious, curious individual and anytime you have a curious leader you can accomplish a lot. The slogan, the quote, he's a coach on the field gets thrown around a lot but he truly is. This guy, be can be a doctor, a surgeon, and he probably will be. But he could be a phenomenal coach if he decides that one day after he's done playing."

Brosmer is the ultimate X-Factor for the Gophers entering this fall. If the Georgia native can make the transition from FCS to FBS smoothly, the Gophers could be in for a big 2024 season, perhaps even a surprising one to those from outside Minnesota.

BACKUP - DRAKE LINDSEY OR DYLAN WITTKE​

It will be interesting to see where the Gophers go when it comes to the backup quarterback position.
Freshman Drake Lindsey is someone that the Golden Gophers staff is VERY high on and believes he is the future of the program.

During his senior season at Fayetteville High School in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Lindsey put together an incredible senior season, recording a 69% completion percentage while throwing for 3,941 yards and 54 touchdowns while throwing just three interceptions in the process. He was named the 7A Offensive Player of the Year in Arkansas while also being named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Arkansas.

Wittke, is a transfer from Virginia Tech who is entering his second collegiate season but first with the Gophers. The Buford, Georgia native was 50-4 in his high school career. He mostly received Group of Five offers in his recruitment but did have Power Four offers at the time from Virginia Tech and Colorado.

While Lindsey is the favorite to be the starting quarterback come 2025, the Gophers could choose to go with Wittke as the backup in 2024 if preserving Lindsey's fourth year of eligibility is important.

DEPTH - MAX SHIKENJANSKI & JEREMIAH FINALY​

Shikenjanski - The Stillwater, Minnesota native walked on to the Minnesota roster as part of their 2023 recruiting class and as expected redshirted last season, seeing zero in-game action.

Finaly - A native of Los Alamitos California, Finaly is entering his first year with Minnesota. As a senior at Crean Lutheran High School, Finaly thew for 1,625 yards and 18 touchdowns.


Go Gophers!!
 


Max QB1. The Drake QB2.
Is Wittke possible as a situational QB/wildcat type sub?

From his high school recruiting profile:
2022: Had the highest testing rating at the Elite 11’s stop in Orlando. Clocked a 4.55 in the 40-yard dash at the camp and had a 37-inch vertical jump to go along with a 4.31 short shuttle.

Technically was not listed as a dual-threat but seems like a capable runner. Found this write up from when he was recruited by VT.
 
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I think I have thrown these out there before, but these are Brosmer's stats last year - Passing Yards per Game: Ranked #1 in FCS with 314.9 yards per game. Total Offense: Also ranked #1 in FCS with 325.0 yards per game. Passing Yards: Second in the nation with 3,464 passing yards. Passing Touchdowns: Second in the nation with 29 touchdowns.

I'm not worried about him physically as I think these stats are strong enough to show that he has the tools. I think the biggest leap for any FCS guy is mental. So, having heard him talk a few times now I'm getting the feeling he has the mental piece as well. This might not be a big deal to some but at B1G Media Days he was saying he played chess to stay mentally sharp. So, again after practice yesterday someone asked him what he did with periods of downtime and again he throws out that he probably squeezes 15-16 games of online chess a day. Some may say whatever, but I prefer hearing that then blowing all your time on video games like Fortnite and EA Sports College Football 25.
 



I think I have thrown these out there before, but these are Brosmer's stats last year - Passing Yards per Game: Ranked #1 in FCS with 314.9 yards per game. Total Offense: Also ranked #1 in FCS with 325.0 yards per game. Passing Yards: Second in the nation with 3,464 passing yards. Passing Touchdowns: Second in the nation with 29 touchdowns.

I'm not worried about him physically as I think these stats are strong enough to show that he has the tools. I think the biggest leap for any FCS guy is mental. So, having heard him talk a few times now I'm getting the feeling he has the mental piece as well. This might not be a big deal to some but at B1G Media Days he was saying he played chess to stay mentally sharp. So, again after practice yesterday someone asked him what he did with periods of downtime and again he throws out that he probably squeezes 15-16 games of online chess a day. Some may say whatever, but I prefer hearing that then blowing all your time on video games like Fortnite and EA Sports College Football 25.
Thought I heard he was pre-med and going to be a surgeon.
 

the Gopher Gridiron Podcast and the new episode of the Pair and a Spare podcast both have made similar comments about the Coaches wanting to make changes in the passing game.

I'm skeptical until I actually see it on the field - but Ryan Burns & co. say they're hearing a lot of talk about a different approach - emphasizing short, quick passes to help keep the team out of 2nd & long or 3rd & long situations.

that doesn't mean (I think) that the Gophers are suddenly going to start throwing the ball 30 times a game - but if they could just throw it 25 or 26 times a game consistently, I think that could help compliment the run game.

we'll see in 3 weeks.
 

the Gopher Gridiron Podcast and the new episode of the Pair and a Spare podcast both have made similar comments about the Coaches wanting to make changes in the passing game.

I'm skeptical until I actually see it on the field - but Ryan Burns & co. say they're hearing a lot of talk about a different approach - emphasizing short, quick passes to help keep the team out of 2nd & long or 3rd & long situations.

that doesn't mean (I think) that the Gophers are suddenly going to start throwing the ball 30 times a game - but if they could just throw it 25 or 26 times a game consistently, I think that could help compliment the run game.

we'll see in 3 weeks.
It will be nice when Talking Season is over and we can start Put Up or Shut Up season and finally see what we have with all the changes.
 



When I saw the career rushing stat at 263 yards Brosner, I wondered how that compared to Asad Abdul-Khaliq? Asad was arguably both a runner and passer when he was not handing off to NFL-class RBs and his FB.

The answer was Abdul-Khaliq had 1,158 yards rushing with 16 TDs rushing over his career.

Based on this and Max's numbers, I do not see a lot of tuck and running this season at QB but maybe that's a latent talent not exploited at New Hampshire.

Back to Asad, like Max he was on the field for 4 seasons. After he moved on he admitted he did not work as hard as he should have and could have been better. I don't think we'll have that issue this season with Max.
 


It’s only natural to get excited about shiny new things. One only has to remember how excited people on this forum were last summer about AK. Max padded his stats slinging it when coming behind for a losing team in a 3rd rate FCS league. Top level D3 teams would beat NH. Fast forward to today. Defenses in the top half of the Big will be a lot harder to throw on. If he is not elusive he better have a NFL caliber release. That being said, 6-6 should be a realistic season.
 

It’s only natural to get excited about shiny new things. One only has to remember how excited people on this forum were last summer about AK. Max padded his stats slinging it when coming behind for a losing team in a 3rd rate FCS league. Top level D3 teams would beat NH. Fast forward to today. Defenses in the top half of the Big will be a lot harder to throw on. If he is not elusive he better have a NFL caliber release. That being said, 6-6 should be a realistic season.
I fervently disagree
 



I hope he is good. Gophers need him to be good. But i honestly will believe it when I see it. It’s a big competitive jump.
 

It’s only natural to get excited about shiny new things. One only has to remember how excited people on this forum were last summer about AK. Max padded his stats slinging it when coming behind for a losing team in a 3rd rate FCS league. Top level D3 teams would beat NH. Fast forward to today. Defenses in the top half of the Big will be a lot harder to throw on. If he is not elusive he better have a NFL caliber release. That being said, 6-6 should be a realistic season.
ahahahaha no.
 

It’s only natural to get excited about shiny new things. One only has to remember how excited people on this forum were last summer about AK. Max padded his stats slinging it when coming behind for a losing team in a 3rd rate FCS league. Top level D3 teams would beat NH. Fast forward to today. Defenses in the top half of the Big will be a lot harder to throw on. If he is not elusive he better have a NFL caliber release. That being said, 6-6 should be a realistic season.
I guess I will go off the comments of Quincy Avery as someone whose career is training QBs as to whether Max has the talent. Avery has trained Max for the last nine years. Avery also works with NFL quarterbacks C.J. Stroud, Justin Fields, Jalen Hurts, Viking Josh Dobbs, Trey Lance, DeShaun Watson, and more.

Just as a refresher, in an interview with GopherHole's Nadine Babu he said: "Max Brosmer is not only someone who is super smart, but he is very accurate. He's athletic enough, right? He's not going to blow you away with his athleticism, he can move enough in the pocket. But in terms of NFL-level accuracy, he's up there. He can go through a training session with the best of the best guys in the world, throw for throw with those guys," Avery told Babu. "I think he's blown some of those guys away with just how talented he was for somebody who's playing quarterback at the University of New Hampshire."

 

Laker is an NDSU troll...just ignore.
 

It’s only natural to get excited about shiny new things. One only has to remember how excited people on this forum were last summer about AK. Max padded his stats slinging it when coming behind for a losing team in a 3rd rate FCS league. Top level D3 teams would beat NH. Fast forward to today. Defenses in the top half of the Big will be a lot harder to throw on. If he is not elusive he better have a NFL caliber release. That being said, 6-6 should be a realistic season.
You must be a big Mount Union fan I take it.
 


NDSU- no way. Cousin's kid did play for Mount Union but don't really follow them. Being a successful qb is not all about arm strength. Reading complex defenses and dodging fast rushers is at a whole different level in the Big. One only has to look at Penn States young qb, Top rated QB in HS. His first year as a starter he had trouble. Size, mobility, arm, it is all there but he still struggles because he lacks the ability to make quick decisions and find receivers down field. " Excerpt of scouting report on Allar.
From a tools perspective, he has it all — a big arm, an NFL-ready frame at 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds and good lower-body mobility,” Miller writes. “But his struggles to keep his eyes downfield and make throws vertically are notable; his 39.6 QBR on vertical routes ranked ninth in the conference. Allar’s tools excite NFL scouts — one AFC South area scout I spoke to thinks Allar has QB1 talent — but he must refine his game this season.“Penn State opens with six winnable games against below-average defenses before traveling to Wisconsin on Oct. 26 and hosting Ohio State on Nov. 2. Those games could go a long way in determining his NFL draft stock. In a class without a clear-cut QB1, several scouts I’ve talked to believe Allar can become that player.”

It will take a half season for Max to adjust. 6-6 and a bowl game. I could be wrong.
 


...

It will take a half season for Max to adjust. 6-6 and a bowl game. I could be wrong.
So you're saying he could adjust right away and go 7-5, or 8-4, or 9-3, or 10-2...?
 

So you're saying he could adjust right away and go 7-5, or 8-4, or 9-3, or 10-2...?
it might take a while to the speed and complexities of Big level football. Practice is one thing. Games are another. I predict that his games will be inconsistent.
 

NDSU- no way. Cousin's kid did play for Mount Union but don't really follow them. Being a successful qb is not all about arm strength. Reading complex defenses and dodging fast rushers is at a whole different level in the Big. One only has to look at Penn States young qb, Top rated QB in HS. His first year as a starter he had trouble. Size, mobility, arm, it is all there but he still struggles because he lacks the ability to make quick decisions and find receivers down field. " Excerpt of scouting report on Allar.
From a tools perspective, he has it all — a big arm, an NFL-ready frame at 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds and good lower-body mobility,” Miller writes. “But his struggles to keep his eyes downfield and make throws vertically are notable; his 39.6 QBR on vertical routes ranked ninth in the conference. Allar’s tools excite NFL scouts — one AFC South area scout I spoke to thinks Allar has QB1 talent — but he must refine his game this season.“Penn State opens with six winnable games against below-average defenses before traveling to Wisconsin on Oct. 26 and hosting Ohio State on Nov. 2. Those games could go a long way in determining his NFL draft stock. In a class without a clear-cut QB1, several scouts I’ve talked to believe Allar can become that player.”

It will take a half season for Max to adjust. 6-6 and a bowl game. I could be wrong.
My take looks pretty close. Max looked ok at the end when NC went into a prevent. I still think it will take a half season for Max to settle in . Mac’s defense isn’t that great. I’m a little concerned about Max’s elusiveness. Big defenses might be a problem.
 




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