–> The Gophers were not done adding to their QB room, Fresno State transfer Logan Fife was the latest signal caller to join the Maroon & Gold Sunday.
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Logan Fife was one of many portal visitors over the weekend for Minnesota. He enjoyed his time so much, he verbally committed to the program Sunday. With New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer expected to be QB1 in 2024, there was still a need for some depth behind him with only a redshirt freshman (Max Shikenjanski) and a true freshman (Drake Lindsey) on the roster. Fife will now be the fourth arm for the Gophers to deploy next season.
Let’s Start Rowing! #RTB #SkiUMah pic.twitter.com/cZ3V6Bkp0h
— Logan Fife (@fife_logan) December 17, 2023
Who is Logan Fife?:
Logan Fife grew up in Tracy, California, a suburb of nearly 100,000 people near Stockton. As a senior at Tracy High School in 2019, he threw for 2,230 yards, completing 50% of his passes with 22 TDs and added 362 yards on the ground and seven touchdowns. He started for three seasons at the varsity level earning All-League honors twice. He was a very under-recruited prospect, rated as the 43rd-best dual-threat QB in the 2019 class according to 247sports. He chose Fresno State over only one other D1 (FCS) offer from Cal Poly.
In the 2020 (COVID season), Fife redshirted as a true freshman. He opened 2021 as the presumptive backup to (now New Orleans Saints) QB Jake Haener, appearing in only the season-opener in relief duty. In 2022 as a redshirt sophomore, he appeared in 10 games, 4 as the starter filling in for an injured Haener. He completed 84/120 throws (70%), throwing for 892 yards, 2 TDs and 6 INTs, adding 3 more on the ground. In 2023, Fresno State brought in UCF transfer QB Mikey Keene who beat Fife out for the starting role. Fife still played sparingly, completing 57.1% of his passes for 642 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs. After entering the Transfer Portal on Nov. 28 he will now join Minnesota with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
- Scouting Report:
Listed at 6-foot, 205 pounds, Fife has relatively average measurables for a QB. He has pretty standard arm strength. It’s difficult to fully gauge someone with only 287 career dropbacks, but he won’t do anything that will jump off the page. With that being said, now Washington HC Kalen DeBoer recruited him and Fife was able to rub shoulders with NFL QB Jake Haener. He’s a veteran presence as a position group that badly needed it for the Gophers.
**Highlights**
Some extra game film from this year! #transferportal pic.twitter.com/mRmh9tvnQG
— Logan Fife (@fife_logan) December 12, 2023
Instant Reaction:
As I mentioned after the Gophers added New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer, it still made sense to add some more depth at the QB position. Many teams have as many as six QBs on the roster, Fife now gives Minnesota three scholarship players and four players overall at that position. While highly touted Arkansas high school prospect Drake Lindsey is certainly talented, it would be a tough ask for any true freshman to immediately step into the backup role on day one in the spring. So while Lindsey still has the skills and opportunity to work in that spot, he will not have the pressure to do so.
It has been reported that Fife and the Gophers staff were pretty transparent about the fact that Brosmer was brought in to be “the guy” in 2024, but Brosmer only has one season of eligibility remaining while Fife has two. So the 2025 season could be an opportunity for Fife to develop into the starter, but in the meantime, he will provide Minnesota with a serviceable backup.
What is next?:
The Transfer Portal taketh just as much as it giveth. Just a week after the Gophers had was seemed like a “home run” weekend adding four potential difference makers from the portal, two of them have not flipped to different schools, but Minnesota has brought in two players now at other positions. With Joe Rossi surprisingly leaving for Michigan State it’s not entirely shocking to see players change their mind, but that is just college sports in 2023. Losing FIU DT Jordan Guerad and Indiana RB Trent Howland leaves a massive hole at both those positions, but thankfully for Fleck and the Gophers there are about 2,000 different players to choose from.
Portal Additions:
- New Hampshire, QB Max Brosmer
- Bucknell, CB Ethan Robinson
- *Navarro College (JUCO), EDGE, Eddy Toussom
- Fresno State, QB, Logan Fife