This article ranks the current QB situations in the BIG Ten heading into spring ball.
1. Michigan
This one is easy. All year everyone was staying stop the run and you can beat the Wolverines. Well, JJ McCarthy proved that wrong after his amazing game throwing the ball against Ohio State. McCarthy is back again, and I expect him to have an even better year after losing to TCU in the Fiesta Bowl this year.
2. Ohio State
Even with the loss of CJ Stroud to the NFL, it is still hard to keep Ohio State out of the top two here with how many huge recruits they still have in the QB room. It starts with Kyle McCord, who was a five-star in the 2021 class as well as the sixth-ranked QB nationally. He is expected to start, but there is still a lot of talent behind him. Devin Brown from Utah is also a four-star from the 2022 class, and the Buckeyes also grabbed Tristan Gebbia from Oregon State in the portal. The Buckeyes will be just fine with Stroud gone.
3. Wisconsin
Luke Fickell has gone to work in the quarterback room since being hired in Madison. Graham Mertz left for Florida, but the Badgers were able to pick up Tanner Mordecai from SMU, Nick Evers from Oklahoma, and Braedyn Locke from Mississippi State. Mordecai has been putting up monster numbers at SMU over the last few years, and I am excited to see how he does at a power-five level. I also think Fickell coming from the same conference will make this dynamic even better.
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4. Illinois
This one may come as a surprise to some, but after losing Tommy DeVito the fighting Illini have done a great job of replenishing the QB room for next season. They were able to grab former four-star Luke Altmyer from Ole Miss, who was one of the top QBs in the 2021 class. In addition to that, they also got John Paddock Jr from Ball State out of the portal as a walk-on. That’s right they didn’t even need to burn a scholarship to grab a decent backup QB. They also have redshirt freshman Donovan Leary, yes that’s Devin’s brother, who will battle Paddock Jr for the QB2 spot.
5. Iowa
One of the most boring offenses in college football this past season, this may be more due to offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, but they are about to get a jump start. Former Michigan QB Cade McNamara. McNamara led Michigan all the way to a big 10 championship and a college football playoff, so don’t write him off just because he lost the job to JJ McCarthy.
In addition to McNamara, the Hawkeyes also signed three-star Marco Lainez III at the position during the early period.
6. Penn State
The only reason why Penn State isn’t in the top five is that Drew Allar is still unproven, but man does he have talent. The five-star from the 2022 class is expected to take over as Sean Clifford is now out at Penn State. Allar played in five games this past season and had 344 yards in 35 completions. The future here is very bright.
7. Nebraska
Nebraska’s quarterback room is stacked but is also very unproven. Matt Rhule dove into the portal pool and came up with Jeff Sims. Jeff Sims is a solid QB, he started for almost three years at Georgia Tech before getting injured in 2022 and I think Nebraska is a great fresh start for him. As for the rest of the room, the Huskers still have former Texas QB Casey Thompson and a former four-star who transferred from Florida State last year, Chubba Purdy. Recognize that last name? Well, that’s because he is 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s younger brother.
8. Purdue
Another QB room that is quietly good. First off, Hudson Card is a great pick-up in the portal for the Boilermakers. He has had a lot of experience at Texas both before and after Quinn Ewers came into the picture. In 2022 he had 928 yards passing and 6 touchdowns with only one interception. He isn’t what Texas fans wanted, but he is still a solid quarterback.
After Card, Purdue has a former four-star, Brady Allen from the 2022 class. Allen is a very solid talent who could stay and learn this new offense and be ready to quickly jump in and make Purdue successful for years.
9. Maryland
Tulia Tagovailoa is still living in the shadow of his brother, but his coming back is still huge for the terps. He will not be one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the conference. There isn’t much behind him that people must worry about, but I have said it multiple times in previous rankings, consistency is key.
10. Michigan State
Payton Thorne did not have a good year in 2022, which has left a lot of questions in the Michigan State QB room. Thorne will probably be the starter; however former three-star Noah Kim and more importantly, 2022 four-star Katin Houser are nipping at the heels of Thorne. If Thorne doesn’t have a great year again in 2023, I would expect Houser to get a chance, considering he is the best they have sitting on the bench.
11. Indiana
The Hoosiers have been hurting at the QB position since Michael Penix Jr. left for Washington just over a year ago. In addition to this, they also saw Connor Bazelak leave for bowling green in this year’s portal window. This leaves Dexter Williams and a new portal pick-up from Tennessee, Tayven Jackson. Both will have to come back from injuries in 2023, Williams from a dislocated knee that required surgery and Jackson from a Collarbone. With that being said, it is hard to tell how both will come back and do next season.
12. Northwestern
One of Northwestern’s only bright spots is their projected starting quarterback, Brendan Sullivan. Sullivan gained a lot of experience by starting games against teams like Ohio State at the back end of the season. He even gave Northwestern a decent shot of winning that game. The only problem I have with Northwestern’s QB room is that there isn’t a lot of depth. Ryan Hilinski, when he played in 2022 before getting injured, had six TDs with seven interceptions. Not the best stat line.
https://twitter.com/Bradley_Locker/status/1589270232555982849
13. Minnesota
To me, there are still a lot of questions for the Golden Gophers at the quarterback position. Tanner Morgan is gone, and it looks like redshirt sophomore Athan Kaliakmanis is going to take over the starting job. Kaliakmanis did get a lot of good reps in 2022, with 946 yards and three touchdowns. The problem is he also threw four interceptions in that period.
After him, the gophers don’t have much other than Cole Kramer, who is a redshirt senior.
https://twitter.com/GopherFootball/status/1565550660627709953
14. Rutgers
There will be a QB battle here between Evan Simon and Gavin Wimsatt. Both had very similar stats in 2022. Evan Simon had four touchdowns and six interceptions, and Wimsatt had five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Also, both QBs hovered around 750-770 yards in the air this season. In my opinion, Rutgers could go either way here and not change a thing; both could use the experience, but it wasn’t shown much in their actual output on the field.
