Per 247Sports, a trio of Big Ten West squads will feature potential “renaissance season” quarterbacks.
When you’re at a point in life where you just feel lost, it’s always a great idea to head out West! If you are a college quarterback, head to the Big Ten West in particular!
Robbie Weinstein of 247Sports recently published his list of the transfer portal quarterbacks primed for career renaissance seasons. Three Big Ten West quarterbacks were featured in Purdue’s Hudson Card, Nebraska‘s Jeff Simms, and Iowa‘s Cade McNamara.
For Cade McNamara, Weinstein pretty much expressed all of our feelings toward the potential Hawkeye passing attack in 2023. McNamara is a good quarterback, and a massive step up from players before, but will he be allowed to flourish given Iowa’s tricky situation?
OK, Iowa’s offensive scheme, philosophy and play calling are big concerns here. But McNamara was a solid-to-good starting quarterback at Michigan, is better than who the Hawkeyes have had in the past and will face defenses that he is plenty familiar with. – Weinstein, 247Sports.
Weinstein included McNamara alongside Pittsburgh’s Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux, Oregon State’s DJ Uiagalelei, and Virginia Tech’s Kyron Drones as honorable mention renaissance candidates.
Both Card and Sims were part of Weinstein’s top five renaissance candidates.
Hudson Card really did get a bit of a raw deal at Texas. He always looked promising whenever thrust into action for the Longhorns over the past two seasons. Unfortunately, he was never going to get the nod in Texas over star transfer Quinn Ewers. Now taking over the reins for Purdue from Aidan O’Connell, Card has already started to impress early on for the Boilermakers.
Card impressed enough during spring ball that projected backup Brady Allen transferred to Louisville. Walters raved about Card following Purdue’s last spring practice, via 247Sports’ Mick Walker.
“Hudson Card, I feel like, (has) got a chance to be really special,” Walters said. “Hadn’t played a ton of ball as a starter, but he’s very mature, very poised. Got a good command of what we’re trying to do schematically, and he’s got some talent, so I’m happy he’s here. – Weinstein, 247Sports.
For the newest Cornhusker Jeff Sims, talent has never been a question. There have been those in draft circles over the past few years enamored with his raw talent, pegging him as a true potential NFL candidate. Unfortunately at a Georgia Tech program without an identity, Sims didn’t realize his true potential with the Yellow Jackets.
Now the newest transfer quarterback for Nebraska, there is a lot of hope around Lincoln that Sims can help new skipper Matt Rhule bring the Cornhuskers back to relevance.
Most importantly, coaching should not be an issue. Rhule may have failed in the NFL, but a lot of that came down to the lack of a franchise quarterback on his roster with the Carolina Panthers. He has proven himself as an impressive offensive mind at the college level and should be a big upgrade for Sims relative to Collins and company. – Weinstein, 247Sports.
Sticking with the theme of this offseason, there’s plenty of new in the Big Ten West. Purdue will be led by first-year head coach Ryan Walters and Nebraska by former Baylor and Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule.
Each brought in transfer quarterbacks. Of course, Iowa dipped its toe into the transfer portal for McNamara and plenty of others. Meanwhile, another popular pick in the West, the Wisconsin Badgers, brought in SMU transfer quarterback Tanner Mordecai to go along with first-year head coach Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Phil Longo.
It will be fun to watch all of this unfold in 2023.
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