Tag Archives: illinois fighting illini

Big 10 Quarterbacks 2017

How are things going in the Big 10 Conference at the glamour position, Quarterback?

Illinois: Lovie Smith’s first year at Illinois resulted in a 3-9 record. It’s going to take a while for this experienced coach to build this program back to relevance. Last year’s Quarterback Wes Lunt used up his eligibility and either junior Chayce Crouch or Virginia Tech transfer Dwayne Lawson  are the favorites to be named the new starter. Crouch is the most experienced with 66 passing attempts the past 2 seasons and he is more athletic than one would think at 6-4, 225. Lawson was a very highly recruited Quarterback from Orlando that signed with Virginia Tech. He was a 4 star recruit and listed my ESPN as the 5th ranked Dual Threat Quarterback in the nation. Other than his mobility, the best thing about Lawson is his size which is about 6-6, 235.

Jeff George Jr has an outside shot at winning the job. His father was a great Illinois Quarterback from yesteryear.

In the summer, Dual Threat Quarterback from Chicago, Cameron Thomas, arrives. While not that highly recruited as a 3 star, but the 6-3, 185 prospect has a lot of potential.

Indiana; Kevin Wilson, who created such a good offense at Indiana was fired at season’s end in 2016 and replaced by Tom Allen. Last year’s Quarterback Richard Lagow is back for his senior season,

but after throwing 17 Interceptions last season, his position might not be safe. Last year’s back up, Zander Diamont graduated and decided to give up football.

In spite of Lagow’s numerous picks, his job is still probably safe by default. Although, Austin King and Peyton Ramsey did not look bad in the Spring game. King, from Alpharetta, Georgia, was a 3 star recruit coming out of high school and is listed at 6-2, 200. He redshirted as a true freshman and hone did not see a down of action in his second year. Ramsey is of similar build at 6-2, 205. The redshirt freshman from Cincinnati Elder High School, passed for over 6,700 yards and ran for over 2,600 yards. Lagow probably keeps his job and improves on last season.

Nick Tronti is an incoming freshman Quarterback from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida who was a 3 star Dual Threat Quarterback.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes lost CJ Beathard and they might have a Quarterback controversy on their hands next season. Right now, it’s a two man race between Nathan Stanley and Tyler Wiegers. Both Quarterbacks are similar in build with Stanley checking in at about 6-5, 215. He’s actually thrown 9 passes and completed 5 for 62 yards. Wiegers is about 6-4, 225 and he threw all of 4 passes in 2015 and completed 3 of them for 32 yards. Although he’s currently not in the race, Drew Cook from Iowa City was a rare 4 star recruit for the Hawkeyes. Drew Cook is the son of former Hawkeye All American Tight End Mark Cook who also played in the NFL. Peyton Mansell, from Belton, Texas, has the talent to challenge for the starting job, but it’s doubtful that conservative Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will play a true freshman. It will be either Stanley or Wiegers, but it won’t be decided until the Fall and it might continue if one should falter during the season.

Maryland: New Terrapin head coach DJ Durkin has majorly stepped up recruiting and I have little doubt he will succeed at Maryland. The 2017 recruiting class featured 9 four star recruits which is good for Maryland. With the improving facilities, the Terrapins can win some games and recruit lights out in the Maryland and Washington DC area.

Supposedly, junior Quarterback Caleb Henderson has impressed his coaches and teammates and he could be in the lead to earn the starting job. Sophomores Tyrrell Pigrome and Max Bortenschlager got playing time last year as true freshmen. Alabama native Pigrome looks more like an option Quarterback and he ran for over 250 yards and 4 Touchdowns. He also threw for over 300 yards. Bortenschlager is more of a classic drop back passer and threw for over 200 yards in 2016. In the summer, more competition arrives in the form of 4 star Quarterback recruit Kasim Hill from Washington DC.

Michigan: Wolverine Quarterback Wilton Speight returns, but he is going to be challenged by Brandon Peters. The freshman Peters was one of the top Quarterbacks in the 2016 recruiting class and he’s a talent. John O’Korn transferred to Michigan to play for Jim Harbaugh, but he was beaten out by Speight. Incoming freshman Dylan McCaffrey is one of the top Quarterbacks in the 2017 class. Quarterback should be a strength at Michigan for a while even though they will lose Speight and O’Korn after this season.

redshirt freshman

Alex Malzone is still around, but has little chance of playing. Long term, I believe that Brandon Peters or Dylan McCaffrey are the answer, but are they ready to take over now? Most Michigan fans really hope Wilton Speight is not the guy. Speight had his moments last season, both good and bad.

Michigan State: The Spartans never really found a replacement for Connor Cook last season, trying 3 guys while slipping to 3-9 on the season. Tyler O’Connor, Brian Lewerke and Damion Terry were all given opportunities to turn things around. O’Connor was a senior and Lewerke might be the leader right now. Terry missed the Spring, but should be back in the summer, or later. Brian Lewerke is the favorite to win the job and there was talk that he reminded some of former Spartan great, Kirk Cousins.

There’s also Messiah DeWeaver who redshirted last season, but was a 4 star recruit out of Huber Heights, Ohio. Walk-on Colar Kuhns provides some depth. The Spartans have the 12th ranked Dual Threat Quarterback in Rocky Lombardi from West Des Moines, Iowa.

Lewerke was starting to come on last season before being lost for the year and it was a bad year for the Spartans.

Minnesota: PJ Fleck is the new head coach for the Gophers and they lost long time Quarterback Mitch Leidner. Sophomore Demry Croft who is in his 3rd year but only played in 2015. Last season, Conor Rhoda was the back up. Croft is the much better athlete than Rhoda and appears to be leading the race at the moment. Seth Green may also be in the race and he’s a big, athletic player that redshirted last season as a freshman. From Fleck’s first recruiting class, true freshmen Rey Estes from East St Louis, Illinois and Tanner Morgan from Union, Kentucky join the Quarterback battle. Also coming in with Fleck’s first class is Neil McLaurin from Southwest Mississippi Junior College. McLaurin is the number 1 ranked Junior College Dual Threat Quarterback. Once McLaurin arrives he has a legitimate shot at winning the Quarterback job.

Look for either Croft or McLaurin to start at Quarterback for the Gophers in 2017.

And our only hope is that we survive until he’s tossed out of office getting viagra in australia in November, 2012. 3. Tongkat Ali is Asia’s number one libido tonic and has been very popular all over the buy sildenafil viagra world for its high price. In fact, there are numerous packages available in the market, which look after treating ED, PE and sildenafil 10mg low libido. They include both in-car training and classroom training to provide both types of treatments to the patients. low cost cialis Nebraska: It seemed like Tommy Armstrong played 10 years for the Huskers, but those days are Tanner Lee should be the next Husker Quarterback: Tanner Lee

over and some Husker fans are glad for small miracles.

Tanner Lee started off at Tulane before a coaching change sent him to Nebraska. Lee had to sit out last year, but the blessing in that was it gave him time to learn the offense.

Lee’s competition comes from freshmen. Redshirt freshman Patrick O’Brien is a big kid at 6-4, 230. In the recent Nebraska Spring Game, O’Brien was sharp and crisp and he looked like he could be a challenge to Tanner Lee.

True freshman and early enrollee Tristan Gebbia looks like the Quarterback of the future for the Cornhuskers. Even though he needs to add some weight to his frame, Gebbia was impressive with his passing and athletic ability. O’Brien could prove me wrong and I welcome that.

Northwestern: The Wildcats have never been known for offense, but junior Clayton Thorson is now one of the top Quarterbacks in the country. After throwing for 3,182 yards in 2016, the 6-4, 220 Thorson established himself as a top notch Quarterback and he is athletic enough to be a good runner out of the position. Matt Alviti is established as Thorson’s back up. TJ Green came in and redshirted as a true freshman and didn’t see any action in 2016. The son of 15 year NFL Quarterback Trent Green played at the famous Kansas City Rockhurst High School and was a preferred Walk-on at Northwestern. Green has little chance of playing, but I wouldn’t completely write him off, either. The only other Quarterback on the roster is redshirt freshman Aiden Smith. The Fort Wayne, Indiana native had a really good high school career and could take over the job in the future. But, right now, Clayton Thorson is the man and one of the best Quarterbacks at least in the Big 10.

Ohio State: dissatisfaction is brewing in Columbus over 5th year senior JT Barrett. A lot of fans want  Barrett replaced by one of the other talented Quarterbacks. Barrett has thrown for 6,381 yards and he has run for 2,465 yards. Barrett was forced into playing as a redshirt freshman when Braxton Joe Burrow was the back up last season, but this year he will have to battle talented redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins Jr to maintain his position. Haskins is from Potomac, Maryland and was committed to the home state Maryland Terrapins. But, he switched to the Buckeyes and it was kind of a big deal because Haskins was ranked as the 4th best Dual Threat Quarterback in the 2016 class. Burrow has his advantages, but so does Haskins. With the fantastic 2017 recruiting class, the Buckeyes signed Las Vegas Bishop Gorman’s Quarterback, Tate Martell. At 5-11, 205, Martell is not among the bigger Quarterbacks, but he is talented with his arm and with his feet. Not only is he physically talented, he is also a winner and that’s very important. The Buckeyes have plenty of talent at Quarterback, but getting them all to stay around is another thing all together. Quarterbacks tend to transfer when they aren’t getting playing time.

Miller was injured and helped lead the Buckeyes into a position to win the national title in 2014. In spite of that, Buckeye fans have not embraced JT Barrett.

Penn State: Trace McSorley is a proven winner. He was a winner in high school and since earning the starting job with the Nittany Lions he has proven he’s a winner again. McSorley and teammates permanently removed Penn State head coach James Franklin from the hot seat with fans saying he couldn’t coach. McSorley is only a junior this season and at 6-0, 205 he is not likely to leave early.

Penn State has one of the more impressive back up Quarterbacks in the country in sophomore Tommy Stevens. Coming in as only a 3 star recruit, Stevens is more of the prototype Quarterback at 6-4, 220 and he throws a really beautiful deep ball. Stevens may only start one season at Penn State, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays in the NFL. In the 2016 recruiting class, the Nittany Lions signed 4 star Quarterback Jake Zembiec from Rochester, New York and listed as 6-4, 210. In their Sean Clifford from St Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. ESPN had him ranked as the 3rd best drop back passer in the country. The future looks bright in State College, Pennsylvania as the Nittany Lions may have finally recovered from the last days of Joe Paterno.

latest recruiting class, they signed 4 star Quarterback

Purdue: The Boilermakers made some big changes last season and hired Jeff Brohm away from Western Kentucky. David Blough returns from last season, but he led the nation with most interceptions thrown. On the positive side, Blough threw for 3,552 yards and 25 Touchdowns. Luckily for Florida and LSU that Blough came along and beat out Austin Appleby and Danny Etling and they transferred to the SEC schools.

Elijah Sindelar backed up Blough last season as a freshman and while throwing for 165 yards, he also threw 3 Interceptions and 0 Touchdowns. The only other Quarterbacks on the roster are walk-ons Aaron Banks and Danny Carrollo. In their latest recruiting class, the Boilermakers signed former sensational Boilermaker Mike Alstott, Griffin Alstott. They also signed Nicholas Sipe, the nephew of former NFL Quarterback Brian Sipe.

In the Spring Game, Jeff Brohm was not afraid to show opponents what he was going to do and the

offense looked really good.

Rutgers: The Scarlett Knights had it rough last season under new coach Chris Ash. After losing 0-39 to Penn State, 0-49 to Michigan State, 0-58 to Ohio State and 0-77 to Michigan, I have to wonder if Chris Ash regrets his decision to leave as Defensive Coordinator at Ohio State. The program is a mess over all, but there’s always hope.

Gio Rescigno is expected to be the starter again. TCU transfer Zach Allen was supposed to back up Rescigno, but he tore his ACL. Kyle Bolin is transferring to Rutgers from Louisville where he backed up Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson. Bolin started a few games before the arrival of Jackson and I like his chances at starting. They also have a D2 graduate transfer named Rob Nittolo.

Incoming freshman Johnathan Lewis is a Dual Threat Quarterback with good size at 6-4, 225 and he could be the future for Rutgers

Wisconsin: The Badgers struggled at Quarterback last season, but freshman Alex Hornibrook shows potential for the future. Fighting for the back up job will be redshirt freshman Kare Lyles and true freshman Jack Coan. Lyles is from Scottsdale, Arizona and is a tough customer at 6-0, 225. Coan was a 3 star from West Sayville, New York and an early enrollee. He looks most likely to earn the back up job.