ESPN gives Cade McNamara D+ grade as transfer quarterback
One quick peek across college football shows you that it’s a sport where there’s plenty of new faces in new places.
Per ESPN, transfer quarterbacks have started 53.4% of all Football Bowl Subdivision games. At Iowa, every game so far in 2023 has been started by a transfer quarterback.
Former Michigan Wolverine Cade McNamara started each of the season’s first five games before Wisconsin transfer Deacon Hill started against Purdue.
With that many quarterbacks playing musical chairs, the midseason point is a natural moment to assess how each situation is playing out. ESPN took it upon itself to hand out grades to all 46 first-year college football transfer quarterbacks.
Given the fact that McNamara was already dealing with a quad injury before he was lost for the season to a torn ACL against Michigan State, the grade ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and Tom VanHaaren gave him feels a little harsh.
McNamara’s 2023 season ended with 505 passing yards and four touchdowns against three interceptions. The 6-foot-1, 205 pound senior from Reno, Nev., was completing just 51.1% of his passes.
All of that added up to a D+ grade per ESPN.
McNamara came in with a Big Ten championship and a CFP appearance from Michigan under his belt, but also some injury baggage. He missed most of last season with a knee injury and was limited during spring practice. After a quad injury shortened his preseason, he started strong with 191 pass yards and two touchdowns in the opener against Utah State. But McNamara’s production dropped off and, like the offense, bottomed out in a shutout loss at Penn State (five completions, 42 pass yards). He then suffered a torn ACL early in a Sept. 30 game against Michigan State. McNamara intends to return to Iowa in 2024, but even before the injury, he didn’t spark Iowa’s offense as much as expected. – Rittenberg, VanHaaren, ESPN.
Relative to expectation, it’s fair to give McNamara a below-average grade. He didn’t improve Iowa’s offense like expected.
Still, the signal-caller was really never healthy. Fans will be left to wonder what-if until they get another look at McNamara in Iowa City in 2024. With a healthy bill of health, maybe he can still be the quarterback that gets the Hawkeyes’ offense jumpstarted back to respectable.
There’s an argument to be made that McNamara deserved the same grade that Hill got: A grade of incomplete.
After one start last week against Purdue and extended play the week before in leading Iowa to a comeback win over the Spartans, here’s what ESPN had to say about Hill.
Hill redshirted in the 2021 season and played in just one game for Wisconsin during the 2022 season. He had played behind Michigan transfer Cade McNamara until McNamara injured his knee against Michigan State. Hill threw for 115 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the 26-16 win over the Spartans. He completed just 6 of 21 passes, none to a wide receiver, in last week’s win over Purdue. Hill is completing just 37.5% of his passes. – Rittenberg, VanHaaren, ESPN.
Hill needs to really improve the completion percentage if he and the Iowa offense are going to spring the upset on Saturday in Madison, Wis., versus his old team in the Wisconsin Badgers.
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