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MINNEAPOLIS — Max Brosmer’s short-but-stellar stay shaped Minnesota into a dangerous passing team last season, when the Gophers threw the ball more times than they ran it for the first time in 17 years.

Brosmer is in the NFL now, a promising prospect playing just down the road with the Vikings who has handed the reins to the offense to redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey. Therein lies the biggest questions facing the Gophers in 2025: How quickly can Lindsey develop, and how committed will coach P.J. Fleck and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Greg Harbaugh Jr. remain to the passing attack?

With Darius Taylor returning to the backfield, a steer of the play calling back toward the program’s roots wouldn’t be at all surprising. The junior, who rushed for career highs of 986 yards and 10 touchdowns in 12 games last season, was fifth in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game in 2024.

“Whatever the game plan calls for, I’m going to do, and my quarterback will do as well,” Taylor said. “I think our team is more than capable of playing in both facets of the game.”

The Gophers, who open at home against Buffalo on Aug. 28, won an eighth straight bowl game to finish 8-5 last year. Taylor also caught 54 passes for 350 yards and two scores during the process, as Brosmer’s prowess in his lone season after transferring from New Hampshire also gave him a boost as a receiver.

“I love catching the ball,” said Taylor, who began his high school career in Detroit as a wide receiver. “It’s exciting to get into space.”

Mr. Everything

There’s hardly a Gophers player who’s generated more hype than safety Koi Perich, who was a first team All-Big Ten selection as a freshman last season and will also add wide receiver to his existing kick returning role this year in an attempt to maximize the myriad talents of the second team preseason All-America pick.

“Why wouldn’t you take one of your best players,” Fleck said, “and find unique ways to put the ball in his hand?”

Disruptive presence

New defensive coordinator Danny Collins must replace six starters, including cornerback Justin Walley, a third-round NFL draft pick. But with Perich and Kerry Brown at safety, seven interceptions return from last year. And between Deven Eastern and Jalen Logan-Redding, there are 61 career starts back for the interior of the line. Then there’s defensive end Anthony Smith, who’s considered Minnesota’s best NFL prospect for 2026 after his 11½ tackles for loss last season were the most by a Gophers player in six years.

“I think Anthony Smith can be the best one to ever play here, since we’ve been here on the defensive line,” said Collins, who’s been on Fleck’s staff for all nine seasons. “I think the sky is the limit for him.”

Pass-catching committee

The Gophers are counting on depth to carry their wide receiver group with transfers Logan Loya (UCLA) and Javon Tracy (Miami of Ohio) bringing nearly 2,500 career yards between them. Loya is a sixth-year player who was a captain for the Bruins last season. Tracy was a first team all-conference pick in 2024 for the RedHawks who has two years of eligibility left. Le’Meke Brockington is the leading returning player, with redshirt freshman Jalen Smith the most likely prospect to carve out a contributing role — along with the wild card that is Perich.

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“There’s not this one name that everybody knows like Daniel Jackson or Rashod Bateman or Tyler Johnson,” Fleck said, listing three former Gophers currently with NFL teams, including last season’s leading receiver, Jackson. “But collectively it has a chance to be one of our best units we’ve ever had here. They’re very selfless.”

Five spots, five new starters

Three mainstays are gone from the offensive line, including Aireontae Ersery, a second-round draft pick by the Houston Texans. With Greg Johnson moving from center to guard and Ashton Beers going vice versa, the Gophers will have a new starter at each position. The right side was filled out with the transfer portal: guard Marcellus Marshall (Central Florida) and tackle Dylan Ray (Kentucky).

Manageable schedule

Though the Gophers have road games against two of the top seven teams in the preseason AP poll, defending national champion Ohio State and defending Big Ten champion Oregon, they’ve got a lighter load than many of their conference peers by facing only two others among the predicted top 10 teams in the Big Ten media poll: Nebraska (home) and Iowa (road).

Minnesota’s nonconference slate also includes Northwestern State, which went 0-12 last season in the FCS, and California, which tied for 14th in its first year in the ACC and came in 15th in the preseason media poll.

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