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Should Cade McNamara be a certainty to be the starting QB?

IMO Cade will be penciled in as the #1 going into next season, provided he's not injured. He was the #1 in 2023, until he got hurt. I doubt Hill is the new #1 just because he filled in for McNamara.

Not that I think McNamara has done enough to have earned that spot no matter what.. But that's my prediction.
I freaking hope Hill doesn't start over McNamara.

Gimpy Cade is still light-years better than 100% Deacon. Cade is serviceable behind a decent OL; Deacon can have 5 All Americans protecting him and he'd still have putrid numbers. I'm sure he's a good kid and all but he's just not a college QB.
 
wr and OL are MUCH bigger problems than QB. without big improvement it won't matter who is at QB.
I agree that OL and WR are a problem, but don’t downplay the QB issue. Iowa just finished a season with the worst season-long QB play I have ever seen or even heard of. Some of it could be attributed to issues in those other positions, but it was abysmal in its own right. And everyone knows that QB is the most important position on the field.
 
I agree that OL and WR are a problem, but don’t downplay the QB issue. Iowa just finished a season with the worst season-long QB play I have ever seen or even heard of. Some of it could be attributed to issues in those other positions, but it was abysmal in its own right. And everyone knows that QB is the most important position in sports.
FIFY...
 
Man there is a bunch of stupidity in this thread. A healthy McNamara is easily the best QB Iowa has seen in some time. He just had no supporting cast other than Lachey and All. Give him a line and a couple WR that aren't running in cement shoes and we'll be ok. Those two positions are the real crux of our offense.
 
Man there is a bunch of stupidity in this thread. A healthy McNamara is easily the best QB Iowa has seen in some time. He just had no supporting cast other than Lachey and All. Give him a line and a couple WR that aren't running in cement shoes and we'll be ok.
pot meet kettle
 
I agree it's most likely that Iowa needs a QB that can run.
It's more like the OL needs to improve so our running QB can throw and not run for his life.

Spend NIL money on the OL. This is a story about how OSU does not like to pay their OL money. This player got benched for the bowl game because of this interview. Time to start sending out invites to Iowa.

 
Use NIL money as a lever. We have to bring in another QB to avoid a repeat of this year. Pull some $ from one to give the transfer. Things are different now than the way it looked a year ago. Cade is even more banged up now and has now only played in like 3/4 games the last 2 years. We want him healthy but the risk is too much to put all our eggs in one fragile basket.
Unless you're writing the check I hope the Swarm never pays $200k for Cade and another $200k for another QB to sit on the bench and watch. There are five players in front of the QB that could improve with the money.
 
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Man there is a bunch of stupidity in this thread. A healthy McNamara is easily the best QB Iowa has seen in some time. He just had no supporting cast other than Lachey and All. Give him a line and a couple WR that aren't running in cement shoes and we'll be ok. Those two positions are the real crux of our offense.

I'm not sure there is stupidity on here, but I'm good with a healthy Cade and some big changes with our offense, including the O line. I'm not convinced Cade can make it through 13 games.
 
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Man there is a bunch of stupidity in this thread. A healthy McNamara is easily the best QB Iowa has seen in some time. He just had no supporting cast other than Lachey and All. Give him a line and a couple WR that aren't running in cement shoes and we'll be ok. Those two positions are the real crux of our offense.
It's not stupidity. This phrase you used has become an oxymoron over the past 2 years. He injured himself twice just running out of the pocket. His history suggests that it's more likely than not that he can't survive a full season and you end up with a guy like Hill running the show again.
 
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the lack of o-line development added to injury questions with Cade tell us all we need to know. A mobile quarterback isn't just an addition it is necessary. He had nearly 80% completion in high school and was moved up to 2nd string. I'm sure Deacon is a great kid, but **** him, he can sit 3rd string, or better yet, transfer out.

10:45 is the start, and it is easy to see why there is excitement.

Most QB rushing yards since CJB vs Iowa State in '15 at Ames...there is no doubt that type of mobility excites the fans, the team, etc. It simply takes pressure off of trying to scheme or block 100% perfect every play...every team has a QB with legs to extend plays...Deacon has to move to OL or somewhere else IMO, is he scholly or walk on?
 
Most QB rushing yards since CJB vs Iowa State in '15 at Ames...there is no doubt that type of mobility excites the fans, the team, etc. It simply takes pressure of trying to a scheme or block 100% perfect every play...every team has a QB with legs to extend plays...Deacon has to move to OL or somewhere else IMO, is he scholly or walk on?
that one is thanks to Budmayr, he is a scholly, he was the replacement for Padilla.
 
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Man there is a bunch of stupidity in this thread. A healthy McNamara is easily the best QB Iowa has seen in some time. He just had no supporting cast other than Lachey and All. Give him a line and a couple WR that aren't running in cement shoes and we'll be ok. Those two positions are the real crux of our offense.
yes and yes...fix or even repair the OL, new OC, Lachey and Addy at TE, Brown/Bostick/Andersen/Wetjen at WR + maybe a late portal add at WR and that's a decent offensive grouping to retool the offense behind Cade and Marco as QB1 and QB2.
 
The fact we are recruiting Ty proves Cade is not guaranteed to be the starter…despite what KF has Said publicly.
 
Mcnamara will be in the portal if Iowa does that. Cade doesn't like to compete. He thinks he's above it
Good. I hope McNamara goes in the portal. Over-rated, injury prone, undersized....he won't play another down in a game as a Hawkeye QB. Our O line isn't going to magically get better....and we have a LONG way to go before we have a couple good WRs. Our RBs are serviceable but certainly not good/great. We need a damn QB from the portal. Cade = no, Hill = absolutely not, Marco = who knows, but probably not. Get a QB!
 
Most QB rushing yards since CJB vs Iowa State in '15 at Ames...there is no doubt that type of mobility excites the fans, the team, etc. It simply takes pressure off of trying to scheme or block 100% perfect every play...every team has a QB with legs to extend plays...Deacon has to move to OL or somewhere else IMO, is he scholly or walk on?
A big problem with the way Iowa's offense is run, is that it requires everyone to execute flawlessly on every play. That just doesn't happen, on any level. So you need a QB who can identify and compensate for the little breakdowns that occur. Kirk has his QBs so afraid of making a mistake, it has taken all the improvisation and risk taking out of them. When something goes wrong, they just don't know what to do.
 
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Good. I hope McNamara goes in the portal. Over-rated, injury prone, undersized....he won't play another down in a game as a Hawkeye QB. Our O line isn't going to magically get better....and we have a LONG way to go before we have a couple good WRs. Our RBs are serviceable but certainly not good/great. We need a damn QB from the portal. Cade = no, Hill = absolutely not, Marco = who knows, but probably not. Get a QB!
Uh, one is visiting from Oregon this weekend
 
Cade did not even have ACL surgery until 10/25. He will have missed both spring ball sessions and not seriously be ready to work come August other than noncontact tossing the ball around. IF...IF...he makes it to real games (10 months after a acl repaIr!) he will be hampered mobility wise, rusty as hell and one twist away from disaster. So we got that to look forward to.
 
A QB that can run (not necessarily a running QB) simply adds another dimension to the offense. Despite Kirk's statement that offense is complicated, I will cite to an earlier oft-used statement of his, football is not "rocket science". A mobile QB requires the defense to pay attention to that threat, and in doing so, distracts them from other assignments they have. Simple, not complicated.

His passing stats in the bowl game are essentially meaningless, he was tossed into a no win situation. Tennessee figured that Iowa would do nothing but throw at that point, and Iowa did nothing to shake them from that belief. Here you go, Marco, I know you haven't played a single down up to now, and I know that you haven't spent any (meaningful) time practicing with the first team, and I know that we're going to line up in five wide with no additional pass protection without even a hint that we'll try something else, but go out and see what you can do with this pile of crap we've left you with. And oh, by the way, if you're not immediately successful in that situation, you'll be branded a failure, with no hope of improvement or possibility of success, by some. I'm not saying he's destined for greatness, but he deserves the reps this spring with the starting unit to see what he can do. We know what Hill can do, and we don't need any more of that.
It was a meaningless game and Iowa treated it like a conference game. They absolutely should have given each QB a quarter like the Stanzi / JC competition

It literally could not have been any worse than what was shown to us for 3 1/2 quarters.

This would have given Marco some reps during bowl prep, and it would have motivated everyone to work harder. Hill is horrible, but he still tried his best. Who knows maybe knowing there’s now a game within a game, something clicks a little easier

Instead we got a waste of a game for any potential 2024 players…..i guess some young RB got a few carries for some reason ???? Yet QB is locked down
 
A big problem with the way Iowa's offense is run, is that it requires everyone to execute flawlessly on every play. That just doesn't happen, on any level. So you need a QB who can identify and compensate for the little breakdowns that occur. Kirk has his QBs so afraid of making a mistake, it has taken all the improvisation and risk taking out of them. When something goes wrong, they just don't know what to do.
You also have to execute flawlessly against an opponent who knows what you’re going to do.

Every year (or even week) during the season “Iowa doesn’t try to trick you. They line up and do what they do”

2002 and 2008 OL could handle it

Never happened outside of those years
 
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