Gardner Minshew

Gardner Flint Minshew II (born May 16, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at East Carolina before transferring to Washington State, and was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Following an injury to starter Nick Foles in the opening game of 2019, Minshew took over starting duties until Foles returned later in the year. He took over starting duties again after Foles was benched following poor performance, and was traded to the Eagles prior to the start of the 2021 season after the Jaguars drafted Trevor Lawrence.

Minshew attended Brandon High School in Brandon, Mississippi where he played quarterback for the Brandon Bulldogs from 2011–2014. He played sparingly during his freshman year, but he became the starting quarterback his sophomore year, a job he kept through his senior year. During his sophomore year in 2012, he led the Bulldogs to the 6A Mississippi Championship game, where the Bulldogs lost, 23–31. Minshew led the Bulldogs to a South 6A championship his senior year in 2014. He was rated as a three-star prospect and the 70th-best pro-style quarterback in his class coming out of high school by the 247Sports.com Composite, which aggregates the ratings of the major recruiting services. Minshew committed to play football at Troy University, in Troy, Alabama in December 2014. He graduated from high school early and attended school at Troy on an academic scholarship for a semester before deciding to transfer to Northwest Mississippi Community College.

Statistics

Minshew began his college football career in 2015 at Northwest Mississippi Community College. He led the team to the NJCAA National Football Championship, passing for 3,228 yards with a 60.8% completion percentage.

Minshew transferred to East Carolina University in 2016, where he played in seven games with two starts at QB for the Pirates. In 2017, he split time with Duke University transfer Thomas Sirk as East Carolina's quarterback.Minshew began to show his talents late in the season by passing for over 350 yards in 3 consecutive games (463 yards and 3 touchdowns against Houston, 444 yards and 4 touchdowns against Cincinnati, and 351 yards against Memphis). Minshew finished the year with 2,140 yards passing and 16 touchdowns for the Pirates, and received his bachelor's degree in December 2017.

In the fall of 2018, Minshew enrolled as a graduate student at Washington State. He became immediately eligible under the NCAA's graduate transfer rules. Minshew helped lead Washington State to a school-record 11 wins in 2018. In his third game as the school's starting quarterback, he passed for a career-high 470 yards and a school-record 78.9% completion rate in a 59–24 victory over Eastern Washington. On November 17, he threw for 473 passing yards and broke another school record with seven passing touchdowns against Arizona. At the end of the 2018 season, Minshew led the FBS in pass completions (433), pass attempts (613), passing yards per game (367.6), was second in passing yards (4,477) and finished in the top five in touchdowns (38). During Washington State's Alamo Bowl win over Iowa State, Minshew claimed the Pac-12 single season record for most passing yards, a record previously held by Jared Goff.

Minshew was awarded the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation's top senior- or fourth-year quarterback. He was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year for 2018, joining Rueben Mayes (1984 and 1985), Steve Broussard (1989), Drew Bledsoe (1992), Ryan Leaf (1997), and Jason Gesser (2002) as the only Washington State players to win the award since it began in 1975. Minshew finished fifth in voting for the Heisman Trophy, becoming the ninth player in Washington State history to place in the top 10 for the award, and the highest WSU finisher since Ryan Leaf, who was third in Heisman voting in 1997.

Statistics

Jacksonville Jaguars

2019 season

Minshew was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round, 178th overall, of the 2019 NFL Draft.

On September 8, 2019, Minshew made his NFL debut against the Kansas City Chiefs when starter Nick Foles was taken out of the game due to a shoulder injury. He completed 22-of-25 passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the 40–26 loss. Minshew's pass completion percentage of 88% is the highest of any player making his debut in NFL history (minimum 15 pass attempts, since at least 1950), and also the highest single-game pass completion percentage in Jaguars history. Minshew was named the starter going forward after it was revealed that Foles had suffered a broken clavicle. During Week 2 against the Houston Texans, Minshew finished with 213 passing yards and a touchdown along with 56 rushing yards as the Jaguars lost 13–12. In Week 3, against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football, he earned his first victory as a professional. He passed for 204 yards and two touchdowns in the 20–7 victory. In Week 4, against the Denver Broncos, he passed for 213 yards and two touchdowns in the 26–24 victory. Late in the game, he engineered a drive that helped set up the Jaguars' game-winning field goal by Josh Lambo. During Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers, Minshew finished with 374 passing yards and two touchdowns as the Jaguars lost 27–34. After a Week 6 loss to the New Orleans Saints and a Week 7 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, he had 279 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in a 29–15 victory over the New York Jets. During Week 9 against the Texans at Wembley Stadium, Minshew finished with 309 passing yards and 2 interceptions as the Jaguars lost 3–26. Days later, it was announced that Minshew would resume the backup role after Foles returned from his collar bone injury. In Week 13 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minshew was reinserted into the starting lineup in the second half after Foles was benched due to a poor performance. In the game, Minshew threw for 147 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the 28–11 loss. After the game, Jaguars' head coach Doug Marrone stated that Minshew would be the starting quarterback for the next game as well. In Week 15 against the Oakland Raiders, Minshew threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns to wide receiver Chris Conley, both of which occurred with five or less minutes in the game, as the Jaguars recovered from a 16–3 deficit to win the game 20–16. In Week 17 against the Indianapolis Colts, Minshew threw for 295 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception during the 38–20 win. Overall, he appeared in 14 games and recorded 3,271 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, and six interceptions to go along with 67 carries for 344 rushing yards in his rookie season.

2020 season

During the 2020 off-season, Foles was traded to the Chicago Bears making Minshew the uncontested starter for the 2020 NFL season. Minshew was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the Jaguars on August 2, 2020, and activated from the list two days later.

Minshew started off the season strong going 19-of-20 for 173 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in the 27–20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. He became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least three touchdowns and complete at least 95% of his passes in a Week 1 game. During Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans, Minshew finished with 339 passing yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions as the Jaguars lost 30–33. In Week 4, Minshew passed for 351 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the 33–25 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. After a Week 7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Minshew revealed he had suffered through a thumb fracture and a ligament strain. During the process of recovery, Minshew was replaced with Jake Luton and Mike Glennon. Minshew returned in Week 14, once Glennon was benched against the Tennessee Titans in a 31–10 loss; during the game, Minshew threw for 178 yards and a touchdown. Minshew was named the starting quarterback for the Jaguars' Week 15 game. In Week 15 against the Baltimore Ravens, Minshew threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns during the 40–14 loss.After the game, it was announced that Glennon would be the team's starting quarterback for the Jaguars' Week 16 game against the Chicago Bears.

Philadelphia Eagles

Minshew was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles on August 28, 2021, in exchange for a conditional sixth-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Jaguars franchise records

• Most consecutive games with at least three passing touchdowns: 3

Rookie

• Completions: 285
• Completion percentage (minimum 2 starts): 60.6%
• Passing yards: 3,271
• Passing touchdowns: 21
• Fewest interceptions (minimum 3 starts): 6
• Touchdown percentage: 4.5%
• Interception percentage (minimum 2 starts): 1.3%
• Passer rating: 91.2
• Yards per game: 233.6
• Wins: 6
• Fourth quarter comebacks: 3
• Game-winning drives: 3