Drake Lindsey looks to bring Joe Burrow's 'swagger and aura' to Gophers football

For the third straight season, the Gophers will have a new starting quarterback. All signs point towards redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey being the man in 2025.

"Since January, it has been thrust on me to take the role, and I have had a lot of help from the older guys," Lindsey said. "It has been really good to be thrust into this spot, but a lot of pressure, a lot of new opportunity. It's really exciting. I am just really excited to have these guys behind me and the coaches. We're excited to get to Buffalo."

Lindsey was a heralded high school prospect coming out of Fayetteville, Arkansas. He threw for nearly 5,000 yards with more than 50 touchdowns and only four interceptions on his way to earning 2023 Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year, along with a state championship as a senior.

He has only five passes at the collegiate level, but an incredibly close relationship with Max Brosmer last season has prepared him for being the starting QB for a Big Ten program, less than two years removed from his high school career.

"It's just the little things, like managing the line of scrimmage, looking up at the play clock non-spot, making sure everyone is on the ball, just the little things that Max had really taught me, and the coaches had taught me," Lindsey said. "Just the detail within every single play, and this year, I think it's day-and-night difference than last year."

Lindsey brings a much different energy to Gophers football than Brosmer did last season. Listed at 6-foot-5, he talked about how his leadership style is much more extroverted. He mentioned Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow as a player he looks up to.

"Just his presence and what he brings to the team," Lindsey said. "I said this in high school... my game, I kind of want to replicate Joe Burrow when he was taking off in college. His swagger, his aura that he brings to the field, and how the team just gathers around him. It's not just constant talk, what he's bringing to the team."

Lindsey is unproven to national college football fans, and even people who follow the Gophers football program closely. He has all of the intangibles to be the new leader for Minnesota, and it's now time to prove it on the field.