Next Year's Starting QB

[IowasLaw]

It was just announced that Cade is out for the remainder of the year. He has 1 year of eligibility remaining. It begs the question, assuming Hill finishes the season as a below avg Big 10 QB and the Hawks win 9 games, who do you want as your starter next year? Many will be quick to say Cade all the way, let's look at the numbers.

Through 5 games, Cade ranks 13th in the Big 10 in yards per game (101 yards: the top 10 QBs in the conference all average at least 175 yards or more), 13th in completion percentage (hitting just 51% in a dink and dump offense while the top 9 guys are all over 60%), and 13th in passer rating. Obviously, Hill's stats aren't much better, completing just 43% of his passes thus far, but you never know how much he'll improve.

With Brian calling the plays and QB guru Budmyr teaching mechanics, there is no guarantee Hill will ever get any better. Odds are, he will regress and become more conservative. But he's a big strong guy with some mobility and he's willing to throw the ball down the field.

If Cade is back to his gimpy and immobile early season form in the spring and Hill is slightly improved from his Michigan State debut, I'm probably giving the nod to Hill as the lesser of two evils. However, the coaching staff needs to do some soul searching and either once again rely on the portal (because they cannot develop QBs) or play one of the freshmen early and often. Marco Lainez is a 3 star who had some decent offers like Illinois and Maryland. Next year's QB recruit, Resar, is another 3 star with mostly MAC caliber offers and Indiana.

Without a QB next year, there will be no run game against decent opponents. Without a run game, we could be looking at a dumpster fire going up against the likes of Ohio State, Washington, USC, etc. The time is now to start thinking about next year's QB.

 

[HawkinK.C.1]

I'd take Cade if he's healthy. That was easy.

 

[INXS83]

I'd take Cade if he's healthy. That was easy.

Anybody heard if Cade would come back in 2024 if he's done for this season? Too soon?

 

[pistachio1999]

Will the NIL pay him again for 2024? That's the question.

 

[HawkMachine]

Any idea what the return policy is?

Hopefully we saved our receipt.

 

[BHCrusader2010]

No No and No. A still bad, still injured stiff vs the new conference. How Ferentz.

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

Any idea what the return policy is?

Hopefully we saved our receipt.

Deion has em all.

 

[jonesy5960]

Hoping we have a different offense and personnel next year because the whole thing needs to start from scratch.

 

[littlez]

It was just announced that Cade is out for the remainder of the year. He has 1 year of eligibility remaining. It begs the question, assuming Hill finishes the season as a below avg Big 10 QB and the Hawks win 9 games, who do you want as your starter next year? Many will be quick to say Cade all the way, let's look at the numbers.

Through 5 games, Cade ranks 13th in the Big 10 in yards per game (101 yards: the top 10 QBs in the conference all average at least 175 yards or more), 13th in completion percentage (hitting just 51% in a dink and dump offense while the top 9 guys are all over 60%), and 13th in passer rating. Obviously, Hill's stats aren't much better, completing just 43% of his passes thus far, but you never know how much he'll improve.

With Brian calling the plays and QB guru Budmyr teaching mechanics, there is no guarantee Hill will ever get any better. Odds are, he will regress and become more conservative. But he's a big strong guy with some mobility and he's willing to throw the ball down the field.

If Cade is back to his gimpy and immobile early season form in the spring and Hill is slightly improved from his Michigan State debut, I'm probably giving the nod to Hill as the lesser of two evils. However, the coaching staff needs to do some soul searching and either once again rely on the portal (because they cannot develop QBs) or play one of the freshmen early and often. Marco Lainez is a 3 star who had some decent offers like Illinois and Maryland. Next year's QB recruit, Resar, is another 3 star with mostly MAC caliber offers and Indiana.

Without a QB next year, there will be no run game against decent opponents. Without a run game, we could be looking at a dumpster fire going up against the likes of Ohio State, Washington, USC, etc. The time is now to start thinking about next year's QB.

I'm sorry but w/Cades history I just can't see him back next year. And after the 1st half of the Utah St game he was downright Petras-lite. Now I"m blaming most of that on his injury but this poor kid is beat up. I think we all know what's going to happen the rest of the season. Nothing. What I liked about Hill is he was laughing and smiling out there and basically looked unafraid the entire night. And he certainly wasn't afraid to go downfield and toss the ball to a receiver, which Cade hadn't done since the 1st half of the Utah St game. Now do I think he's going to be great? Absolutely not. Nobody can w/this scheme. So it's going to look pretty pedestrian the rest of the year of course. If Big Brian and Kirk are back next year I have little to zero hope for this offense no matter who plays QB.

 

[WestCoastHawkI]

Cade is not a game changer. I'd be fine with him not coming back

 

[littlez]

Cade is not a game changer. I'd be fine with him not coming back

We really don’t know what an even semi healthy Cade could have done. And not sure what Brian and Kirk thought that you could have a guy on 1 leg and play only in the pocket was going to be able to do. Without any fear of a bootleg or rollout you’ve cut the field off. And we’ve always been a pretty solid bootleg team. I think the bus is riding with Big Deacon moving forward, good or bad.

 

[hawkguy77]

It was just announced that Cade is out for the remainder of the year. He has 1 year of eligibility remaining. It begs the question, assuming Hill finishes the season as a below avg Big 10 QB and the Hawks win 9 games, who do you want as your starter next year? Many will be quick to say Cade all the way, let's look at the numbers.

Through 5 games, Cade ranks 13th in the Big 10 in yards per game (101 yards: the top 10 QBs in the conference all average at least 175 yards or more), 13th in completion percentage (hitting just 51% in a dink and dump offense while the top 9 guys are all over 60%), and 13th in passer rating. Obviously, Hill's stats aren't much better, completing just 43% of his passes thus far, but you never know how much he'll improve.

With Brian calling the plays and QB guru Budmyr teaching mechanics, there is no guarantee Hill will ever get any better. Odds are, he will regress and become more conservative. But he's a big strong guy with some mobility and he's willing to throw the ball down the field.

If Cade is back to his gimpy and immobile early season form in the spring and Hill is slightly improved from his Michigan State debut, I'm probably giving the nod to Hill as the lesser of two evils. However, the coaching staff needs to do some soul searching and either once again rely on the portal (because they cannot develop QBs) or play one of the freshmen early and often. Marco Lainez is a 3 star who had some decent offers like Illinois and Maryland. Next year's QB recruit, Resar, is another 3 star with mostly MAC caliber offers and Indiana.

Without a QB next year, there will be no run game against decent opponents. Without a run game, we could be looking at a dumpster fire going up against the likes of Ohio State, Washington, USC, etc. The time is now to start thinking about next year's QB.

Are you presuming Joe Labas is leaving? I for one would like to see him in the mix for starter next spring.

 

[gojojo]

Will he graduate by the end of the year? If so, he can transfer again without sitting out a season. Perhaps he doesn't want to come back.

I would have loved to see him play at full strength. He was obviously hurting and it was effecting his play.

I'm curious how long the leash is on Chunk Long. He sure looked bad in August open practice and I liked what little I saw in Labas in the bowl game.

 

[Iron Doc]

Hill in 2024.
Not that it matters with our crap offensive scheme.
Hill might simply be more durable.

 

[sober_teacher]

I have too many questions to say who I think should be the QB next year.

Does Cade want to come back?
Do any of the other QBs transfer? If so, who?
Most importantly, do we have any staffing changes?

Different AD, does she push back against Kirk about Brian, do any of the position coaches leave…does Kirk himself step down?

 

[BonzoFury]

Cade is not a game changer. I'd be fine with him not coming back

Good kid, but a bit over-hyped

 

[jo12208]

We really don’t know what an even semi healthy Cade could have done. And not sure what Brian and Kirk thought that you could have a guy on 1 leg and play only in the pocket was going to be able to do. Without any fear of a bootleg or rollout you’ve cut the field off. And we’ve always been a pretty solid bootleg team. I think the bus is riding with Big Deacon moving forward, good or bad.

I don't remember but was Cade cleared by Iowa's medical staff when he wanted to transfer to Iowa?

 

[sober_teacher]

I don't remember but was Cade cleared by Iowa's medical staff when he wanted to transfer to Iowa?

he went thru offseason surgery and was cleared over the summer. He was fully healthy at the start of fall camp, obviously injured himself at Kids Day and never got healthy again.

 

[twindman]

Cade looked really good in Michigan highlights. We never saw the healthy Cade. He seems to have touch on the ball, accuracy, can scramble a bit and go thru progressions (when guys get open).

 

[2D_]

It really doesn't matter who we put back there, as long as we keep running this scheme under Kirk, nothing will change.

And next year, Iowa and about 80% of the Big Ten will turn into cannon fodder for the top 5 teams.

 

[Garzatough85]

I'd take Cade if he's healthy. That was easy.

Nope

 

[IAFB2021Champs]

Are you presuming Joe Labas is leaving? I for one would like to see him in the mix for starter next spring.

I was hoping to see him this year and next year.

 

[QChawks]

small sample size but I didn't see anything special from Cade, right now it's big Deacon's job to lose

 

[SDHawkDoc]

I'm going to continue to hope for the highly unlikely until it is impossible. That is, an entirely new offensive scheme with a mobile qb who runs as an integral part of said offense. That would possibly require a different qb than any of those on the roster. Yes, I know, the odds against this happening are so high that it's nothing more than wishful thinking.

If it's the same old, same old with the KF/BF Iowa incompetent O I'm not sure that it matters. Flip a coin.

 

[83Hawk]

How about we wait and see how Deacon does this season first?

 

[paladinhawk]

20 replies and no Marco Lainez? Come on... the mobile 3rd/4th string QB who hasn't played a down of college football yet. He'll take us to the promised land!

 

[Hawk-A-Doodle-Doo]

 

[BonzoFury]

It really doesn't matter who we put back there, as long as we keep running this scheme under Kirk, nothing will change.

And next year, Iowa and about 80% of the Big Ten will turn into cannon fodder for the top 5 teams.

Yep. tOSU, Michigan, PSU, USC and Oregon will be in their own tier.

 

[BonzoFury]

20 replies and no Marco Lainez? Come on... the mobile 3rd/4th string QB who hasn't played a down of college football yet. He'll take us to the promised land!

Takes years to learn the complex offense.

 

[Rambler Hawk]

It was just announced that Cade is out for the remainder of the year. He has 1 year of eligibility remaining. It begs the question, assuming Hill finishes the season as a below avg Big 10 QB and the Hawks win 9 games, who do you want as your starter next year? Many will be quick to say Cade all the way, let's look at the numbers.

Through 5 games, Cade ranks 13th in the Big 10 in yards per game (101 yards: the top 10 QBs in the conference all average at least 175 yards or more), 13th in completion percentage (hitting just 51% in a dink and dump offense while the top 9 guys are all over 60%), and 13th in passer rating. Obviously, Hill's stats aren't much better, completing just 43% of his passes thus far, but you never know how much he'll improve.

With Brian calling the plays and QB guru Budmyr teaching mechanics, there is no guarantee Hill will ever get any better. Odds are, he will regress and become more conservative. But he's a big strong guy with some mobility and he's willing to throw the ball down the field.

If Cade is back to his gimpy and immobile early season form in the spring and Hill is slightly improved from his Michigan State debut, I'm probably giving the nod to Hill as the lesser of two evils. However, the coaching staff needs to do some soul searching and either once again rely on the portal (because they cannot develop QBs) or play one of the freshmen early and often. Marco Lainez is a 3 star who had some decent offers like Illinois and Maryland. Next year's QB recruit, Resar, is another 3 star with mostly MAC caliber offers and Indiana.

Without a QB next year, there will be no run game against decent opponents. Without a run game, we could be looking at a dumpster fire going up against the likes of Ohio State, Washington, USC, etc. The time is now to start thinking about next year's QB.

I am guessing since it is Iowa, next year will come down to ‘who is the best of the worst’…much like the Padilla vs Petras fun ‘argument’. 😉

I swear Iowa and Wisconsin seem to field the worst, most immobile QBs in the west…so glad we landed one of their discards! Haha Just kidding - I too am hopeful with D-Hill. Makes you wonder how Merenz sucked at Wisconsin, but seemed to have found life at the formidable Florida program? 🤔(Haven’t followed his last couple starts though).

 

[Max_Rebo]

How about we wait and see how Deacon does this season first?

This is really the correct answer. Way too many variables to provide reasonable answers at this juncture.

That said, it’s an Internet message board, so I’m game to speculate along with everyone else.

Obviously, if Deacon looks fantastic, he will probably keep the job. If he looks terrible, it will probably be someone else under center.

Most likely, however, is that Deacon will have some good moments, and some bad one, leaving room for all of us to debate this topic for months.

Even if Cade comes back, I worry about his health. He will likely be coming off of multiple major surgeries, and he hasn’t been able to stay healthy for almost two years. There’s not much reason to be confident that we will ever see the best version of Cade McNamara ever again.

What I would like to see would be a wide-open competition. Give everyone a shot, including Labas, Lainez, and Resar. Of course, I rarely get what I want.

The other wildcard in all this is the coaching staff. Who the hell knows what will happen with that, but the more changes there are in the coaching staff, the more uncertain our future quarterback situation will be.

It’s also possible that our starting QB for 2024 isn’t that even on the roster this year. Maybe we go portal shopping for the second year in a row.

 

[littlez]

I am guessing since it is Iowa, next year will come down to ‘who is the best of the worst’…much like the Padilla vs Petras fun ‘argument’. 😉

I swear Iowa and Wisconsin seem to field the worst, most immobile QBs in the west…so glad we landed one of their discards! Haha Just kidding - I too am hopeful with D-Hill. Makes you wonder how Merenz sucked at Wisconsin, but seemed to have found life at the formidable Florida program? 🤔(Haven’t followed his last couple starts though).

It’s Mertz and he’s not exactly killing it at Florida.

 

[anon_b29nm7v7dwp6r]

I will say that I have liked what I have seen out of Deacon so far. He sort of reminds me of another big Hawkeye great QB, Nathan Chandler. Seems to be decisive with the ball…and honestly on some of his play fakes and movements seems to be surprisingly agile.

There was also at least 1-2 plays the other night where you could visibly see him go through progressions and zip the ball somewhere. The wideout dropped it….but hey….we’re not USC, can’t be greedy.

 

[ICWestfan]

If Hill/Labas has a Petras type year, I want the back up from Alabama to transfer to Iowa, along with a couple of those 5* WR's who don't see the field.

 

[ShonnDeereGreene]

Unfortunately when we got Cade we also assumed he’d be leading an offense with improved OL and WR play. What we got was the same level of OL play (could argue better pass blocking and worse run blocking), underwhelming WR play, and throw in losing our best threats in Lachey, Johnson, and Patterson taboot.

Cades health and personal desires and much too unknown, and we really have no idea what to expect from Deacon. If he crushes it the rest of this year we likely have our answer. Anything other than that and I think we’re looking at our first upcoming season without a true heir apparent in quite some time.

When was our last true open QB battle - Rudock, Beathard, and Sokol?

 

[ShonnDeereGreene]

Anybody heard if Cade would come back in 2024 if he's done for this season? Too soon?

This is a great question. Probably too soon but so many factors to settle out. Poor kid - really feel bad for him and am rooting for him. He wasn’t shying away from any challenge - and that’s fantastic in a QB. Put me in the camp we never got to see what he was capable of after the kids day injury.

- Will he heal in time?
- Does he have it in him to rehab and come all the way back again?
- Will he be guaranteed the starting job, and if not does he come back to win it or go somewhere and know he’ll start his last year?
- Will we have the same coaching staff?
- Does he regret his decision after seeing the same offensive struggles as last year?

 

[MikeyHawk]

Unfortunately when we got Cade we also assumed he’d be leading an offense with improved OL and WR play. What we got was the same level of OL play (could argue better pass blocking and worse run blocking), underwhelming WR play, and throw in losing our best threats in Lachey, Johnson, and Patterson taboot.

Cades health and personal desires and much too unknown, and we really have no idea what to expect from Deacon. If he crushes it the rest of this year we likely have our answer. Anything other than that and I think we’re looking at our first upcoming season without a true heir apparent in quite some time.

When was our last true open QB battle - Rudock, Beathard, and Sokol?

What year was that QB battle?

 

[Rambler Hawk]

It’s Mertz and he’s not exactly killing it at Florida.

LOL, uh sure thing....

 

[littlez]

LOL, uh sure thing....

Not sure what’s so funny but they’re 3-2 and been curb stomped by Utah where they scored 11 points and just got their asses handed to them by a mediocre Kentucky team. He’s not good.

 

[Sett1997]

We really don’t know what an even semi healthy Cade could have done. And not sure what Brian and Kirk thought that you could have a guy on 1 leg and play only in the pocket was going to be able to do. Without any fear of a bootleg or rollout you’ve cut the field off. And we’ve always been a pretty solid bootleg team. I think the bus is riding with Big Deacon moving forward, good or bad.

Bingo.