Hecklinski at Bucky

[thedukeofearl]

I'm sure Hecklinski is a great kid but he's no Russell Wilson or Doug Flutie.

Those guys are a rather tough standard to measure up to

 

[haydensly]

Tate and Banks were both 5" 11" - ish

Lester has compared Hecklinski to Tate. Says he is a "gunslinger". FWIW, when Warren Ruggiero was OC at Wake Forest, he thought that Hecklinski would end up being a four year starter there.

I get the hesitancy to anoint a 5'10" QB but I do think it's a possibility in college FB. I'm not saying he is going to be Doug Flutie or anything but it could be interesting.

 

[ICHawk24]

Lester is a positive guy and speaks highly about all the QBs. I love having Lester as our OC/QBC.

Hecklinski is one inch shorter than Drew Brees, who set numerous Big Ten records, and is second all-time in the National Football League in passing yards and passing TDs.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

If he's mobile, accurate and has a quick release, he could shine in Lester's system. A really good example would be Dillon Gabriel - small QB who shredded some great defenses.

As for Brown, I posted after the IU game that I saw some troubling things with him when he came in to relieve Gron. His body language and demeanor definitely didn't scream "leader," "moxie," etc. I wonder if the coaches picked up on that as well.

 

[HawkPowerlifter]

I think the big thing if the offense will move the pocket and etc. Sitting in the pocket for a shorter quarterback like gives smaller windows to throw through, but if you have a mobile quarterback that can move the pocket and get away from the long arms of D lineman, it allows them a little more room to maneuver.

 

[Fryowa]

Lester has compared Hecklinski to Tate. Says he is a "gunslinger". FWIW, when Warren Ruggiero was OC at Wake Forest, he thought that Hecklinski would end up being a four year starter there.

I get the hesitancy to anoint a 5'10" QB but I do think it's a possibility in college FB. I'm not saying he is going to be Doug Flutie or anything but it could be interesting.

To be fair, Lester has talked positively about every single QB. I wouldn't read too much into it.

 

[Zstatman]

I'd think Hecklinski is Ruggiero's guy, wonder if that makes any difference. Ruggiero did bring him along from Wake Forest.

I'm always wishing our backups got more snaps than they do. I was wishing they would pull Gronkowski earlier than they did. I understand the need for snaps but why take a chance with a bad knee?

In these days of NIL and the portal, all of our backups could be gone next year. That's the name of the game now.

 

[Grady]

It really is much ado about nothing. If either of those guys is playing meaningful snaps it means something has gone very, very wrong and there are much bigger fish to fry anyway.

Also, there's portal shopping that's going to happen at the end of the season anyway so they aren't going to see a starting job anyway after MG leaves.

You're probably right about Iowa hitting the QB portal after the season, but Iowa still would prefer to keep backup QBs on the roster who have actual game experience or that they 'like', rather than lose Brown and Hecklinski to the portal and have to trust a true or redshirt Fr with no experience as the primary backup next season.

I think this is also why you'll notice Ferentz not diminishing or bad-mouthing Iowa's backup QBs this season, as he has a habit of doing. They don't have to be stick around and be publicly insulted anymore.

 

[haydensly]

You're probably right about Iowa hitting the QB portal after the season, but Iowa still would prefer to keep backup QBs on the roster who have actual game experience or that they 'like', rather than lose Brown and Hecklinski to the portal and have to trust a true or redshirt Fr with no experience as the primary backup next season.

I think this is also why you'll notice Ferentz not diminishing or bad-mouthing Iowa's backup QBs this season, as he has a habit of doing. They don't have to be stick around and be publicly insulted anymore.

The backup quarterbacks are at minimum better if not way better than what we have had for several years. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I think they like what they've got. I'm getting this from some of the podcasts that I have listened to over the past two weeks.

One of the things that Lester has to figure out is whether they need to go to the portal for a QB or not. They have a very short and early window this year, it's about a 2 week period in January. So they won't be able to go through spring practice and then make that decision. This is a change that was just announced.

 

[trj]

I would bet Hecklinski or Brown will be the starter in 2026 if Kirk is the head coach. Kirk and Lester have both publicly stated that they don’t want to get a starting quarterback out of the portal every year. They want in-house development for a potential starter. Unless somebody falls into their lap…Brown or Hecklinski will be the starter in 2026, IMO.