East/West Shrine Bowl News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/east-west-shrine-bowl/ Minnesota sports, but different Thu, 30 Jan 2025 17:40:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=32,height=32,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-cropped-MSF-favicon-1.jpg East/West Shrine Bowl News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/east-west-shrine-bowl/ 32 32 Gophers QB Max Brosmer Rewarded for Big Week at East-West Shrine Bowl Practice https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/gophers-football-news/max-brosmer-east-west-shrine-bowl-all-practice-team/ Thu, 30 Jan 2025 17:39:57 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=59828 The Minnesota Gophers had an up and down season in 2024. Last year’s rollercoaster ride should have been predictable. On offense alone, the Golden Gophers underwent by far the biggest changes of the PJ Fleck era, thanks solely to QB Max Brosmer and the trust he quickly earned from a head coach who — in his 8 years at Minnesota — has never really trusted any of his previous quarterbacks.

In 2024, Max Brosmer finished with a top 5 passing season in Minnesota Gophers history. He completed 268 of his 403 passes (66.5%), easily the most accurate season of any Golden Gopher QB ever. That efficiency produced 2,828 yards (3rd most ever), 18 touchdowns (8th most ever) and just 8 interceptions.

Max Brosmer named to 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl All-Practice Team

That earned Brosmer some NFL Draft steam, along with a spot in the 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl, which takes place tonight on NFL Network. But even more important than the game itself, many times, is the week of practice that takes place leading up to the annual college football All-Star game.

There are NFL scouts and NFL Draft experts everywhere, picking apart and digesting every move. Over the week, we’ve seen some highlights of Max firing darts and there have been multiple reports mentioning his accuracy, football brain and overall consistency. Then, Thursday morning, he was the only quarterback listed on the West Shrine Bowl All-Practice Team, putting a stamp on a great week.

All of the things coming out of Texas regarding Brosmer is unsurprising. He will continue to climb draft boards for the next two months, up until the draft. He will impress every team that gives him a chance, not just on the field, but on the whiteboard, in the classroom and outside the facilities, too.

How Brosmer changed Minnesota Gophers football under PJ Fleck forever

As mentioned previously, Max Brosmer is responsible for completely changing the mindset of PJ Fleck offensively last season. How did Max earn that kind of trust from such a run-happy head coach? He proved he could take care of the football and complete passes at such a high rate that moving the football through the air became a no-brainer decision.

YearPass
Att		Rank
(FBS Teams)
202431.758th (134)
202324.0123rd (133)
202221.6126th (131)
202119.8127th (130)

In 2021, the Gophers passed the ball just 19.8 times per game. Only Navy, Army and Air Force averaged less passes per game that season. The next year, they jumped up to 21.6 passes per game, good for 6th least in the nation. Even in 2023, after Fleck finally lost Mo Ibrahim, only 10 teams passed less than the Gophers’ 24.0 attempts per game.

Then… Max Brosmer showed up. In 2024, during Brosmer’s only season wearing maroon and gold, the Minnesota Bombin’ Gophers threw the ball a whopping 31.7 times per game. That number was good for No. 58 in the country, easily within the top-half of the most pass-happy teams in the country.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Offer Donovan McNabb’s Son

This week is just another step for Brosmer, who will have to put whatever doctorate degree he earned a while back on hold. He’ll probably have a professional football career to worry about for at least another season or two. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is much longer than that, either. Here is more of what those at the East-West Shrine Bowl are saying and learning about the former New Hampshire FCS QB.

]]> Thu, 30 Jan 2025 11:40:00 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Football News Minnesota Gophers Football Former Gophers Standing Out Early at NFL Draft Prospect Bowls https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/former-gophers-nfl-draft-prospect-bowls/ Tue, 31 Jan 2023 20:08:35 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=41624 The Minnesota Gophers finished the 2022 football season with 9 wins and another bowl game victory, making PJ Fleck 4-0 in postseason play as head coach. Now, the program is looking to the future and so are its former players.

There are seven former Gophers who are competing in one of three NFL draft eligible prospect bowls. Those players include Tanner Morgan — who has already gotten a chance to perform in front of NFL scouts this offseason at the Hula Bowl — , Mohamad Ibrahim and possible first round pick, John Michael Schmitz.

NFLPA Bowl – Jan 28, 2023
  • Thomas Rush – EDGE

The NFLPA Bowl was played on January 28 and EDGE rusher, Thomas Rush, was the only Gopher in attendance. But he represented well, coming away from the week with an inflated draft stock. Rush impressed on both the practice field and on game day, where he recorded two sacks.

East/West Shrine Bowl – Feb 2, 2023
  • Tanner Morgan – QB
  • Terell Smith – CB
  • Mohamed Ibrahim – RB
  • Jordan Howden – S
  • Brent Laing – OL (U of M – Duluth)

If you’re a Minnesota Gophers fan who is interested in the upcoming NFL Draft and seeing your favorite players compete for scouts’ attention then you’ll want to find a TV that has NFL Network at 7:30 PM on Thursday.

The Shrine Bowl will feature four Gophers and one offensive lineman, Brent Laing, from the University of Minnesota – Duluth. We’ll see Tanner Morgan take plenty of snaps for the East team and Mohamad Ibrahim get handoffs for the opposing West team.

Both Jordan Howden and Terell Smith will patrol the West’s secondary. This week at practice, media members and scouts have raved about how good Terell Smith has been, going as far as calling him the best player on location through two days.

At 6’1″, 215 pounds with plenty of ball skills and athletic ability, the questions surrounding Smith’s NFL future have never been about build or talent. He has everything needed to play on Sundays, if he can put it all together.

Reese’s Senior Bowl – Feb 4, 2023
  • John Michael Schmitz – C

John Michael Schmitz was the only Gopher in 2022-23 to make the Reese’s Senior Bowl, which is far and away the most prestigious of the three. This game, too, will air on NFL Network but it will play on Saturday at 2 PM CT.

JMC was the best center in the country last season, according to Pro Football Focus, and projects to be the first center taken, come April. Will he hear his name called in day one or day two, though? Scouts will get a better close-up look at him this week, as they try to answer that question.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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