RandBall: Will Max Brosmer’s success influence P.J. Fleck’s approach to quarterbacks?

It doesn’t take much of an artist to connect the dots between the Gophers football team, their opponent on Saturday and the quarterbacks for both teams.

Late last season, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck told his quarterbacks that there would be an open competition for the starting job in 2024. Around that time, graduate transfer Max Brosmer came in while young 2023 starter Athan Kaliakmanis entered the portal. He wound up at Rutgers, meaning it will be Brosmer’s Gophers vs. Kaliakmanis’ Scarlet Knights on Saturday in New Jersey.

It’s a great plot line, but it will quickly fade. The more interesting question is this: Given how well Brosmer has played, particularly in clutch moments as the Gophers have rallied from fourth quarter deficits in three games during their current four-game winning streak, will Fleck make a habit of dipping into the portal for an experienced, starting-caliber quarterback in 2025 and beyond?

Star Tribune Gophers football writer Randy Johnson and I discussed that on Wednesday’s Daily Delivery podcast.

It’s hard to know what the future holds, but at least we know this: Fleck has to be tempted to try this again based on this year’s success.

Brosmer has improved as the season has gone along, thriving in clutch situations. He’s completing 68.2% of his passes (a big upgrade over Kaliakmanis). He’s also shown the type of poise and veteran leadership needed to win close games late. His numbers aren’t eye-popping: 1,989 yards passing, 13 TDs and four INTs but he has given the Gophers their most consistent and credible QB play since Tanner Morgan in 2019.

That said, there are downsides to cycling through quarterbacks like Brosmer.

First, you won’t always have success doing it. If Brosmer hadn’t been ready to jump from New Hampshire’s level to Minnesota’s level, the Gophers would have been in trouble.

Second, even if you have success you only get that player for one year (assuming it’s a grad transfer as was the case with Brosmer).

The third reason is perhaps the most pivotal: You risk losing capable young quarterbacks you have recruited and invested in to the transfer portal.

The Gophers and Fleck were clearly willing to take that risk after watching Kaliakmanis struggle with accuracy in 2023.

But how would highly touted young QB Drake Lindsey, a freshman this season, feel if a Brosmer-caliber QB was brought in next season? What about Jackson Kollock, the impressive recruit coming in next season from California?

Those are roster questions a coach has always had to ask in a limited way, but they rocketed to the forefront with the transfer portal and NIL payments.

The portal has an entrance and an exit, as the Gophers found out to their benefit with this year’s QB swap. But it won’t always be that simple.