There may be a leader in the battle to win the starting quarterback job for the Gophers.
The contenders: Conor Rhoda and Demry Croft.
The likely winner: Croft.
That’s according to Gophers 247 analyst Kyle Goblirsch, who explained why on the latest episode of GoMN’s One Hunnit Podcast (The Gophers talk begins at about the 23:25 mark).
“I’m leaning hard actually that it’s Demry Croft,” Goblirsch said. “Demry, in my opinion, separated himself in the spring. I know the staff won’t publicly say that yet – I think they’re trying to keep their cards a little closer to the vest than P.J.’s leading on with some of his public comments.
“If you’re picking on talent alone, Demry is the guy. He just offers so much more to the offense.”
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Rhoda is a fifth-year senior with one start under his belt and Croft is a redshirt sophomore who played in three games as a freshman in 2015.
Dark horses to win the job are freshman Tanner Morgan and redshirt freshman Seth Green.
Gophers fans used to watching the offense in the Jerry Kill/Tracy Claeys era struggle to the throw the ball are in for a pleasant surprise. At Western Michigan, Fleck’s teams routinely passed for 3,500 yards while rushing for 2,500 or more over the course of a season.
“I absolutely think it translates,” Goblirsch said of Fleck and offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca’s offense at WMU. “That’s probably the biggest thing I’m most excited to watch this fall camp.”
Fleck and Ciarrocca employ a run-pass option, which sets up a lot of man-to-man situations on defense, which is the bread and butter for big play potential.
“There’s going to be a threat to pass the ball,” Goblirsch said. “Shannon Brooks (Gophers RB) brought it up this last week at the Gopher media day, where he said ‘this offense is going to be far more aggressive than we’re used to seeing here.’ I’m excited to see it.”
Fans can go check out the new look during open practices this Tuesday, Aug. 8, Friday, Aug. 11 and Tuesday, Aug. 15 at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex in Minneapolis.
