Drake Lindsey

#5 · QB · Minnesota6′5″ · 230 lb · Fayetteville, AR

Graded Shaky or Rough in each of the last two games.

Last game: L 16-23 in overtime at No. 4 Indiana, Oct 31 · 20 of 37 for 120 yards, a touchdown, a lost fumble · 5 carries for -15 yards. Started all eight of Minnesota’s games.

Minnesota’s next game: vs UCLA, Sat Nov 7, 12:00 p.m. ET · FOX

Minnesota is 5-3 in the eight games played. A short-game passer who rarely runs.

Weakest: 6.1 yards an attempt, 18th lowest of 158 starters.

Passing yards

1,592

161 of 259, 62%

TD–INT

10–6

6.1 per throw

NCAA rating

121.9

101st of 119

ZPR

36

96th of 119

How ZPR works

Shaky or worse in 5 of 8 graded games.

  • 1-1 against ranked teams, 128 passing yards a game.

Best by our grade: Michigan. Lowest: at Indiana, sacked 2 times. Biggest game: at Indiana, No. 4. Best play: Completion for 17 yards, at Indiana, overtime 0:00. Win chance 7% to 34%. Costliest play: Interception, returned for a touchdown, against Michigan, Q2 2:48. Win chance 46% to 19%.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Eastern Illinois

W 59–7·FCS

Solid

264 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 2 for 6 · Sacked 0

Season

Fades after halftime

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Dashed outlines on the Season row are last season’s average. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Short-game passer

Also: stays in the pocket, yards after catch

Why this word
Runs1.5 a gameRarelyA lot
Throws6.2 yards past the lineShortDeep
Completes61% by play-by-playFewerMore
Takes sacks4% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws shorter than most and rarely runs. 1.5 carries a game. Closest matches: Sagapolutele, Dickens, Moss ’25, Washington.

Where the throws go

Behind the line24%typical 17%
Short47%typical 47%
Middle20%typical 22%
Deep9%typical 14%

Runs 1.5 times a game; 89% of starters run more.

Closest in style

SagapoluteleDickensMoss ’25WashingtonThis QB

Nearer the middle means more alike.

  • Sagapolutele California · Short-game passer
    1,751 yards, 11 TD, 6 INT so far. Both throw behind the line a lot and hit few big plays.
  • Dickens Northern Illinois · Short-game passer
    1,617 yards, 8 TD, 6 INT so far. Both hit few big plays and are less efficient.
  • Moss ’25 Louisville 2025 · Short-game passer
    2,679 yards, 16 TD, 7 INT. Both hit few big plays and rarely run.
  • Washington Maryland · Short-game passer
    1,805 yards, 9 TD, 7 INT so far. Both are less efficient and hit few big plays.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

  • RecordMinnesota is 5-3.
  • Fans after Indiana

    Drake Lindsey ruined this entire game. The Gophers will never have a good QB

    Minnesota fan

What’s being said

3 stories this week.

Oct 31: 1Nov 2: 1Nov 3: 1L 16-23 at IndianaLOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 1
Oct 31: 1Nov 2: 1Nov 3: 1L 16-23 at IndianaLOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 1
Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

All 32 stories this season

His most important play this season

  1. Q1, 1:57 · Minnesota up 7Drake Lindsey finds Jalen Smith for a 9-yard touchdownMinnesota at Washington, week 4Q1, 1:57 · Minnesota 14, Washington 0▲18%Minnesota’s chance to win, 43% to 61%▲18%Minnesota’s chance to win, 43% to 61%Jalen Smith 9 yd pass from Drake Lindsey (Luke Drzewiecki Kick)Watch from this playCFB ON FOX

All 9 of his plays on video

Drake Lindsey

QB · Minnesota · #5

Third year in the Minnesota quarterback room. The first one came in 2025: Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week. One game to point at: 279 passing yards against Mississippi State — Week 2, 2026.

1,592 passing yards · 10 passing TD · 6 rushing yards