QB Difference Maker

Hay Man

Hay Man

Well-Known Member
Who is the last true difference maker at the QB position for the Hawks? Stanley was alright, but not a difference maker. Was it Beathard or Stanzi? Since Chuck Long we've had Banks and Tate, but who else has truly made the offense hum. I'm pretty sure there's not a QB on the current roster that will ever make the offense hum.
 


Bethard for sure. Prior was Drew Tate and prior was Brad Banks. These guys were the X factor. They could make plays when a play needed to be made. Most commonly but not exclusively, on 3rd down. Often the ability to pull the ball down and run made the difference in keeping drives alive. Other times they could escape pressure and make a great throw. THere are probably other ways, I'll let you guys add to this.
 


CJ definitely was a playmaker. He had all the physical gifts and was a smart QB. That is why he is still holding a clipboard in the NFL.

Banks, Tate, Stanzi, and CJ. That is the full list of difference making QBs in the KF era. Roughly 9.5 seasons out of 25. Sigh.
 


NCHawker said:
Bethard for sure. Prior was Drew Tate and prior was Brad Banks. These guys were the X factor. They could make plays when a play needed to be made. Most commonly but not exclusively, on 3rd down. Often the ability to pull the ball down and run made the difference in keeping drives alive. Other times they could escape pressure and make a great throw. THere are probably other ways, I'll let you guys add to this.
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How do you not include Stanzi? Jeepers. 7,377 yards, 56 TDs, higher TD% than Tate, higher career QB rating than Tate.

I absolutely love what Brad Banks did here, but it was a single season. The Rushmore of Iowa QBs is Chuck, Drew, Ricky, and CJ. Honorable mention goes to Nate but the only good team he ever beat in three years was OSU.
 


Fryowa said:
How do you not include Stanzi? Jeepers. 7,377 yards, 56 TDs, higher TD% than Tate, higher career QB rating than Tate.

I absolutely love what Brad Banks did here, but it was a single season. The Rushmore of Iowa QBs is Chuck, Drew, Ricky, and CJ. Honorable mention goes to Nate but the only good team he ever beat in three years was OSU.
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good question, stream of thought...just didn't come to mind I guess
 


NCHawker said:
good question, stream of thought...just didn't come to mind I guess
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Stanzi's senior year was fantastic: 64% completion percentage, 3,004 yards, 25 TDs and just 6 INTs. What would those types of numbers do to any of the last 10 seasons for the Iowa offense? How many playoffs would we have made?
 


Hay Man said:
Stanzi's senior year was fantastic: 64% completion percentage, 3,004 yards, 25 TDs and just 6 INTs. What would those types of numbers do to any of the last 10 seasons for the Iowa offense? How many playoffs would we have made?
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True, but what did Tate, Stanzi and CJ have in common? They were all three year starters but their senior years were all disappointing from a wins and losses perspective. Each led their teams to double digit wins their junior seasons and then Iowa laid an egg with a playmaking, three-year starting senior QB. Sigh.
 


Stanzi was the last QB we had where I felt he won us games and wasn’t just there to not screw up.
 








Our QB's are not difference makers. They are the weakest link in the program. Our QB's are the lowest level of talent on the Iowa FB team and possibly the worst QB's in the B10.
Fixing the Iowa program for the future starts there.
 
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SCHawkeye2 said:
Our QB's are not difference makers. They are the weakest link in the program. Our QB's are the lowest level of talent on the Iowa FB team and possibly the worst QB's in the B10.
Fixing the Iowa program for the future starts there.
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Minnesota fans might want to have a word on this, but I get your point. Assuming that the current regime is in place for a few more years, it will be on Lester to find some talent to succeed in his system. Frankly, I do not think that next years starter is in the building right now. Sullivan can hold down the job, but is he the answer? I believe we have seen his ceiling, and its fine. Just fine.

The article about Stratton being brought in as an athletic guy to develop is intriguing. Maybe there is a higher ceiling there. Time will tell. But, my money is on a portal QB as our next starter.
 


Love to have a Stanzi or a Tate onboard right now. We'd be singing a much different tune if we did. The most critical single spot on the F-team.
 




Other than Long, Iowa unfortunately has a long history of QBs ranging from mediocre to very good (at least at times). And, even Long benefitted greatly from some of the best offensive lines we've had. He rarely had to scramble or ad-lib.

Over 40-50 years, one would think that, even by sheer luck, we would have more than one that got a sniff at starting regularly at the next level. Most of the B1G programs can at least point to 3-4 over that same time period.

The same can be said for WR. Unless I've missed someone, until recently with ISM, Iowa didn't have a single receiver under Ferentz that had a catch in a regular season NFL game. From a simple probabilities standpoint, that's pretty remarkable.
 


Other than Beathard getting a dozen or so starts in the NFL, no one has anytime as a starting QB in the NFL. I would bet the farm that every other school in the Big Ten has had a QB with more NFL starts than the Hawks. Hell even Northwestern can claim Trevor Siemian - he has 33 career starts. That's more than Chuck Long's 21 career starts in the NFL.

Terrible QB history and it doesn't look to be changing anytime soon. Hope I'm wrong
 


I am hopeful that our new OC will be able to do a good job of development of QB’s. He has the experience and the comments he has made in interviews display thorough knowledge of coaching QB’s. Of course, we must recruit QB’s who are worth development. Right now? No one in the room, sad to say.

I really like Tim Lester. probably premature, but, he may be the future head coach at Iowa. Just saying…
 




I thought Ricky Stanzi was the best QB to play at Iowa. When he went pro, I would’ve bet a lot of money that he would’ve ended up with the most NFL wins for an Iowa QB. I still can’t believe that I was so wrong about that!
 


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