Another new starter at QB, will this be an upgrade over last year?
Welcome to August! We are just a few weeks away from the 2024 Gopher Football season. The season previews are a little late getting out, maybe it is the Olympics, or maybe it is the release of EA Sport’s NCAA Football, but here we are.
Last year, we were heading into the unknown of having a Gopher quarterback not named Tanner Morgan for the first time in six seasons. That turned out to be pretty bad, even after a final season under Morgan that really wasn’t very good in 2022. But we all know the passing game has to be better, it starts at quarterback.
2023
Starter: Athan Kaliakmanis
Depth: Cole Kramer, Drew Viotto, Max Shikenjanski
A year ago, I very clearly let the pre-season excitement get the best of me. Did I know that this was going to be a downgrade? Yes, I did. Did I project that this would be neutral? Yes, I’m embarrassed to say I did that too. But 58% of you all projected that quarterback would be an upgrade.
It wasn’t. The Gopher passing offense threw for about 500 fewer yards on more attempts from 2022 to 2023. But the anticipation of the Kaliakmanis era was there and it quickly wore off and it was one of the worst Gopher passing offenses in memory.
Kaliakmanis struggled to make the right decisions, hit open receivers and the offense came to a halt when the injuries to running back began to pile up. In the offseason, he decided to transfer to Rutgers and reunite with Kirk Cirracca.
Kramer stuck around for the bowl game, getting the start, before deciding to move on with life away from football. Viotto also decided to find a new home and transfer to Eastern Michigan where he’ll find a better opportunity to play.
2024
Starter: Max Brosmer
Depth: Drake Lindsey, Dylan Wittke, Shikenjanski
With the entire quarterback room transferring, the Gophers needed to find some immediate help. And they found their guy with New Hampshire transfer, Max Brosmer who had a huge season at the FCS level, finishing as a finalist for the Walter Payton Award.
Last season, Brosmer threw 29 touchdowns, just 6 interceptions, nearly 3,500 yards and completed 64% of his passes. For context, the Gopher offense threw for 1,864 yards and 16 touchdowns. Obviously, there are different systems and different opponents, but those are pretty stark differences.
Also transferring to Minnesota is Dylan Wittke, from Virginia Tech. Wittky is here for depth as well being a young quarterback who may very well be starting for the Gophers a year from now. A Buford, Georgia native who was a part of 3 straight state championships. The first in Class 4A, then in Class 5A and then in 6A.
Also incoming is true freshman, Drake Lindsey from Fayetteville, Arkansas. Lindsey is one of those Fleck recruits who fell in love with Fleck and the Gopher program. So even when the Razorbacks came on strong, there was no swaying Lindsey from rowing the boat. Almost certainly should be redshirting this season and the staff is very excited about his future.
Upgrade/Downgrade
Now we get to the key question…is quarterback going to be an upgrade or downgrade from last season? Brosmer brings experience and an accurate arm, but is he an immediate upgrade? This depends as much on the coaching staff as it does on Brosmer’s arm, but if the quarterback position is a downgrade in 2024, this is going to be a VERY LONG season.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of adding Brosmer is his leadership. He joined the team prior to their bowl game and was a part of those practices. He was voted as a team captain long before spring practices even began. This summer he hosted most of the skill position players in Georgia for several days for team-bonding and workouts. This guy is a leader who has significant experience throwing the ball around.
I’m cautiously optimistic that Brosmer is going to be the perfect fit for what this staff wants to do on offense. He is experienced enough to know how to read a defense and find his open receiver. Then he has the arm and accuracy to complete that pass. In no way is this going to become an offense that airs it out 40 times in a game, but I am certain that the completion percentage will go up, 3rd down conversions will go up and the offense will be better because defenses will have to respect the play-action passing game.
It will be an upgrade.