Junior quarterback for Minnesota. 2026: 3 games with a box-score line.
6′5″ · 230 lb · Fayetteville, AR · Fayetteville
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The numbers
passing yards · 2026 · through week 3
3 games into 2026 so far -- Best game: 264 pass yds, 1 TD, 6 rush yds, vs Eastern Illinois
The play that turned itSwung Minnesota from 30% to 77% to win.Michigan State at Minnesota · 23-20
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Junior quarterback for Minnesota. 2026: 3 games with a box-score line.
How he plays
Operates within the system without forcing anything.
Sack rate: 90th percentile.
The full scouting readAura™ · Him Watch
+4aura tax
34th pctl our passing-value metric (wEPA) QBs · 160 qualified, n=40
— the discourse is fair.Buzz vs Tape
The wider college football conversation reads him warmer than his own fans do — a gap of 26.3 points in belief.
Man I love Drake Lindsey and I love gopher football. Got a lot of things to clean up on defense but RTBSUMGG.
Also worth knowing:
“Drake Lindsey having NFL QB hype was such ridiculous thought lol”
Drake Lindsey
Operates within the system without forcing anything. Third year in the Minnesota quarterback room, same address the whole way. 2025 brought the first one: Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week. One game to point at: 279 pass yds against Mississippi State — Week 2, 2026.
747 PASS YDS · 4 PASS TD · 6 RUSH YDS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.
Career arc
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
FRESHMAN HONORS
Freshman recognition (2025)
1 mention(s)
Badges
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed his entire career under P.J. Fleck.
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 59-7vs Eastern Illinois | 19/24 | 264 | 1 | 0 | 11.0 | 86.2 | |
| Wk 2 | L 13-38vs Mississippi State | 31/48 | 279 | 0 | 0 | 5.8 | 57.9 | Season-high 279 yds |
| Wk 3 | W 41-7vs Akron | 17/31 | 204 | 3 | 1 | 6.6 | 25.0 | 3 TD passes |
| Total | 67/103 | 747 | 4 | 1 | 7.8 | 56.4 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 59–7
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Since week 2: +204 passing yards, +3 passing TD, +1 interception.
Season context · Team result + system
3 seasons under P.J. Fleck — 18-11 over that span.
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
Elite: sack rate (90th percentile). Concern: rush yards (17th percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Season trend
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).
Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Adjusted ANY/A
7.3367 of 126 QBsSack rate
1.9%18 of 126 QBsRarely sacked (18 of 126), but Adjusted ANY/A hasn't followed (67 of 126).
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Behind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
Overall 65.0% completion on 103 attempts · 50% of attempts thrown 0–9 air yds.
Zeitgeist Passer Rating
2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.
Thin sample: 95 dropbacks54Zeitgeist Passer Ratingnot ranked until 125 dropbacks
--NCAA passer ratingno box-score line yet
Positive-play rate weight 24%
48.7%74th pct of FBS QBsshare of dropbacks that gained expected points · -1.8% schedule adj.Yards per attempt weight 56%
6.7940th pct of FBS QBssacks excluded · -0.5 schedule adj.Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)
2.2%93th pct of FBS QBsthe input passer rating cannot see · +0.1% schedule adj.Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (10 of 105 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. Scaled against the 2025 FBS population until enough 2026 QBs qualify. How ZPR is built.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 249 | 1.3 | 7.8 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 249 | 1.3 | 7.8 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
P.J. Fleck
Pass share
57.1%
112 pass / 84 run
Plays / game
65.3
3 games
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
Our Heisman model has him inside the top 25; he is not on a published award watch list yet.
Recognition
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #14 of 19 Big Ten QBs
22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
Play style
Balanced passer who operates within the system, without one standout number carrying the profile.
CFB Index positional classification
Player DNA
Balanced passer who operates within the system, without one standout number carrying the profile.
His 2026 production profile sits closest to Spencer Petras’s 2020 season.
Matches Spencer on
Differs from Spencer on
Through 2 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Parker McKinney’s path through Eastern Kentucky.
Parker McKinney
Matches Parker on
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to KJ Jackson's junior season at Arkansas (2026).
Matches KJ on
Differs from KJ on
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peaked at #59 this season.
PRONUNCIATION Your browser does not support HTML5 audio. HONORS: Academic All-Big Ten (2025) Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Sept. 29, 2025) 2025 • FRESHMAN SEASON: Started all 13 games at quarterback • won eight games, setting a program record for wins by a freshman quarterback • completed…