Minnesota Football: Who starts at quarterback for Gophers in 2018?

Minnesota football is coming off a disappointing season under first-year coach P.J. Fleck. Can a new face at quarterback turn it around?

There were bound to be growing pains for the young Minnesota Golden Gophers football team and their new, energetic coach P.J. Fleck- but not many thought the 2017 season would end in just two Big Ten wins and a failure to make the postseason.

While both the offense and defense were to blame in various parts of the season, the major component the Gophers need to patch up in 2018 is at the quarterback position.

Prior to the 2017 season, senior quarterback Conor Rhoda was named the starter heading into Fleck’s first year. The Gophers started off 3-0, albeit against weak competition, but once Big Ten play hit the offense started to take a hit and Rhoda began facing scrutiny from the entire fan base.

Unfortunately for Rhoda, he was demoted halfway through the season and gave way to the young and promising mobile quarterback Demry Croft. Despite being in his last year of eligibility, Rhoda was accepting of his new role and the future of the Gophers offense appeared to be in the hands of Croft.

Croft finished out the season, demonstrating his explosive speed in the running game, but his ability to throw the ball remained a struggle. Minnesota finished the year with Croft under center and the team ended their 2017 campaign with a 31-0 home loss to their arch-rival Wisconsin.

Shortly after the conclusion of the regular season, Croft announced he would be leaving the program and recently announced he would be continuing his career at Tennessee State.

https://twitter.com/_TheRealDCroft_/status/951115901646131200

This leaves Fleck and the Minnesota coaching staff facing a big, but promising dilemma next year: Who is going to be their next quarterback?

Outside of Rhoda and Croft, the rest of the quarterbacks on the Minnesota roster in 2017 were freshman- both redshirt and true. The latest depth chart to end the year had Tanner Morgan and Seth Green listed as the third and fourth string, so there is a safe assumption they could be in the running to grab the starting gig next year.

Perhaps the likely choice, though, is junior college transfer Vic Viramontes. Following the conclusion of the Gophers’ regular season, Viramontes announced he would be joining Fleck and the Gophers in 2018. He will have three seasons of eligibility with the Gophers.

Viramontes comes from Riverside City College in California and was, and still is, rated as the No. 1 dual-threat junior college quarterback in the country. Out of high school, he originally committed to Michigan as an athlete, but then later switched to California when former Wisconsin defensive coordinator took the job there as the head coach. He red-shirted a season before heading to Riverside where he played his first full season of eligibility.

Barring any transfer and eligibility obstacles, Viramontes will likely be the favorite to land the starting spot in 2018. The job will be between Morgan, Green, and him unless any other surprises surface prior to then.

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Viramontes will bring that dual-threat style the Gophers have been trying to identify with for years. With three full seasons left of eligibility, Fleck and his staff have plenty of time to establish and develop their quarterback of the future.