The quarterback play in 2025 was elite. But Max Brosmer has moved on to the NFL and has made the Vikings’ 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie free agent.
2025 Quarterback
2024 Starter: Max Brosmer
2025 Starters: Drake Lindsey
Depth: Dylan Wittke, Max Shikenjanski, Emmett Moorehead
It cannot be understated what Max Brosmer meant to the program last season. He was a tremendous leader, finished 7th in the Big Ten in QB rating, took care of the ball and had the best season for a Gopher quarterback since Tanner Morgan
in 2019. He was a fantastic find in the portal.
But up next is redshirt freshman, Drake Lindsey. A talented kid from Arkansas who the staff is extremely excited about. He is 6’5”, 230 lbs and has all of the physical tools to be an elite quarterback. He grew up an Arkansas Razorbacks fan, was the Arkansas state player of the year and chose PJ Fleck over his homestate SEC school. Now he is the unquestioned QB1 for Minnesota.
Behind Lindsey is the Wittke, who transferred into the program from Virginia Tech last year and Max Shikenjanski, a former walk-on from Stillwater who is redshirt freshman. Both have been in the program for multiple years, both are familiar with what Greg Harbaugh Jr wants to run and both
Upgrade/Downgrade
While I may call this an initial downgrade, it is important to remember just how bad it can be. 2023 was a disaster at quarterbak and 2022 wasn’t all that pretty either. Brosmer wasn’t in any Heisman conversation, but he was exactly what we needed for this offense.
Now we wait and see what Lindsey looks like under center. He has the physical tools, and the staff seems to trust him to make good decisions pre and post-snap. He doesn’t have to throw for 2,500 yards with a 4:1 TD to interception ratio. This is going to be an offense that centers around the running game. But completing nearly 70% of his passes, keeping turnovers to a minimum and quickly adjusting to playing quarterback against Big Ten opponents will make for a highly successful season.
I expect this redshirt freshman will be better than what we saw on the field in 2022 and 2023, and he will not have the same numbers as Brosmer had in 2024. But Lindsey will be good, and a year from now we will be salivating over what he can do in year-2 as a starter.
