Now that MarQueis Gray has graduated and Max Shortell has transferred, the Gophers quarterback depth chart isn't exactly filled with graybeards.
Returning starter Philip Nelson is 19, and so is the team's top backup option, Mitch Leidner. Both arrived on campus in January 2012, halfway through what would have been their senior year of high school.
When Gray and Shortell were injured last fall, the Gophers sped up the learning curve for Nelson out of Mankato West, starting him the season's final seven games.
Meanwhile, Leidner finished out his redshirt year, running the scout team, impersonating the likes of Nebraska's Taylor Martinez and Texas Tech's Seth Doege against Minnesota's first-team defense.
Gophers coaches were impressed with Leidner's competitive fire and aptitude then, and they've seen it carry over into his first five spring practices. Leidner still has the strong arm he showed running a pro-style offense at Lakeville South, but he's gotten noticeably stronger and quicker.
"You definitely need to be able to run here, so I had to get faster; there's no choice," Leidner said. "On the scout team, you're running Nebraska's offense, all those different offenses with running quarterbacks — you learn how to run the ball and set up blocks and read defenders, so it's good."
Leidner is 6-4, 233 pounds. In offseason workouts, he bench pressed 330 pounds and squatted 430. In terms of body type and build, Gophers coach Jerry Kill compares him to Collin Klein, last year's Heisman finalist from Kansas State.
Nelson is 6-2, 215 pounds. He averaged nearly 10 rushes per game last fall and could continue taking a pounding on read-option plays. That means Leidner will have to be ready, in case of injury.