How long was Tanner Morgan at Minnesota? Exploring QB's path to USFL

Tanner Morgan spent six seasons as a quarterback for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The University of Minnesota recruited the 2023 NFL draft hopeful while he was attending Ryle High School. Morgan initially committed to play college football for Western Michigan University due to his affinity for coach P. J. Fleck. However, Fleck moved to the University of Minnesota, and his treasured recruit joined him.

Thus began a six-year relationship between Morgan and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. That ended with him finishing either first or second in just about every major quarterback statistical category.

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Tanner Morgan's College Timeline and Stats

Tanner Morgan started his college career in Minnesota by redshirting in his first year in 2017.

That year, he took the back seat to significantly more experienced starters, with the Minnesota coaching staff deciding that it would be best for his development to take that route.

His breakthrough came in his second season when Morgan occupied the backup role behind incumbent starter Zack Annexstad. Morgan bided his time and finished the 2018 college season as the QB1 for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He played nine games, making 89 of 152 passes for 1,401 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.

He entered 2019 without any competition for his starting berth, which helped his confidence and eventual performance. That was the year he set several school records, including passing yards (3,253) and touchdowns (30).

Of course, it did help that he was throwing the ball to an all-star wideout corp of Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman. Both players were eventually drafted into the NFL, and Morgan hopes to join them some day. Tanner Morgan had his best college season in 2019, putting up a stat line of 3,253 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

His 2020 season saw a significant falloff, as he had to make do without a major offensive weapon in Tyler Johnson. He led his team to a 2020 Outback Bowl appearance, but that was as good as it got. He ended the year with a stat line of 1,374 passing yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

His last two years of college football surely didn't do him any favors in the eyes of NFL scouts. He seemed to regress as the years passed, struggling to lead the Minnesota Golden Gophers to new heights.

In 2021, he posted a stat line of 2,044 passing yards, ten touchdowns and nine interceptions. In 2022, the future NFL hopeful put up 1,382 passing yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. Unfortunately, his season ended with a concussion, which was the only major injury he suffered in college.

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Will Tanner Morgan succeed in USFL?

Tanner Morgan will have his work cut out in the USFL, as the league tends to be unforgiving.

Moreover, it will likely be his first taste of professional football action, and he has much to prove. The USFL has several savvy veterans, hungry prospects and just about everyone. Moreover, he will be stepping into a new locker room for the first time in six years.

It remains to be seen how the Minnesota Golden Gophers legend fares outside his old stomping ground. Let's see whether he's ready to do battle against the big boys in the USFL, and maybe then he would be ready to jump to the NFL. There are a lot of questions to be answered, but for now, we will focus on watching him take the stage at the 2023 USFL.