Who is Gardner Minshew? Get to Know the Jaguars Rookie Quarterback
The Gardner Minshew era has begun in Jacksonville. With starter Nick Foles potentially out for the season after breaking his left clavicle during Sunday's loss to the Chiefs, Minshew is set to take over under center.
Minshew, 23, was drafted by the Jaguars in the sixth round in the 2019 NFL draft out of Washington State. The rookie quarterback from Flowood, Miss., began his college football career in 2015 at Northwest Mississippi Community College and transferred to East Carolina in 2016. He spent two seasons with the Pirates before enrolling as a graduate transfer at Washington State in the fall of 2018.
Minshew helped lead the Cougars to a school-record-breaking 11 wins in 2018, passing for a career-high 470 yards and a school-record 78.9% completion rate in a 59–24 victory over Eastern Washington in his third game as the school's starting quarterback. He threw for 473 passing yards and broke another school record with seven passing touchdowns against Arizona in November and finished the 2018 regular season as the FBS leader in pass completions (433), pass attempts (613), passing yards per game (367.6). During Washington State's 28–26 Alamo Bowl win over Iowa State, Minshew claimed the Pac-12 single-season record for most passing yards, a record previously held by Rams quarterback Jared Goff.
The grad transfer QB won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award which is given to the nation's top senior- or fourth-year quarterback and earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors for 2018 as he finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting.
Minshew’s completion percentage (88.0) during his NFL debut on Sunday was the highest in league history for any player with at least 15 pass attempts making their first professional start. It also set a franchise single-game record among players with at least 25 pass attempts.
How long he'll remain the Jaguars starter is still unknown. Foles underwent surgery Monday morning and is expected to return "afterward" but no definitive timeline has been set. Foles was knocked out of the game after being leveled by a pair of Chiefs defenders on the first touchdown throw of his Jacksonville career, a 35-yard pass to DJ Chark.
Jacksonville also signed Steelers quarterback Josh Dobbs on Monday as Foles headed to the IR. Minshew is still expected to remain the team's starter despite Dobbs's signing.
Foles went 5-of-8 passing for 75 yards and a touchdown before exiting the game. The eighth-year QB signed a four-year, $88 million deal with the Jaguars in free agency.
