
There's an old expression in football that says if a team has two potential starting quarterbacks, it really has zero starting quarterbacks.
The Gophers used both Demry Croft and Conor Rhoda at the position last season, and the results were often less than ideal during P.J. Fleck's 5-7 debut.
But what if a team has four quarterbacks?
Sorry, still zero starters.
But that's the position the Gophers football team and Fleck find themselves in this year after Croft transferred and Rhoda graduated. After a few spring practices, there isn't really any more clarity on how things will sort themselves out when the Gophers open the season Aug. 30 vs. New Mexico State.
The candidates are redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan, junior college transfer Vic Viramontes, sophomore Seth Green and true freshman Zack Annexstad. They are all tied in a very important category: Division I passes thrown (zero), meaning this is a true competition in every sense. Fleck has already said he'd prefer to settle on one starter instead of using two QBs this season.
But figuring things out is going to be … fun? That's at least part of how Fleck is approaching it.
"We've got a lot of work to do there. We have a bunch of guys that have never thrown a pass in college football. That's not an excuse, that's just reality," Fleck said Tuesday evening at the conclusion of practice. "That's the fun of it. We get to develop from the ground up. But I think we're making strides. … We have to take major, major steps forward as we continue in the spring."