Where does Drew Allar rank on Sporting News’ top Big Ten QBs list?
The upcoming season in the Big Ten will be interesting when it comes to the quarterbacks. There’s a chance that half of the teams will have transfer quarterbacks starting on Week 1 and other major programs in the conference will have first-year starters taking the reins.
The Big Ten West has the most turnover at the quarterback position going into the season. Coaching changes, graduating players, and wanting to upgrade the position have turned the western part of the conference into a destination for transfer quarterbacks. The eastern side is a little bit more stable with familiar faces returning, but they’ll have first-year starters and new quarterbacks playing in Week 1 for their teams as well.
With all that said, there are more unknowns surrounding the Big Ten conference than there’s been in a while. Quarterbacks are more important than ever at the college level so having a quality player at that position could be the difference between a winning season, a losing season, or loftier expectations and goals.
Here is how Sporting News ranks the quarterbacks in the Big Ten prior to the 2023-23 season.
Northwestern - Brendan Sullivan (redshirt sophomore)
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The Northwestern quarterback competition is definitely the most wide open out of all the programs in the conference. Brendan Sullivan appears to be the leader in the race right now since he played in limited appearances last season. Ryan Hilinski started six games last season and could earn the starting role back. However, he was injured before the spring game and wasn’t able to participate.
Another wrinkle is Ben Bryant transferring in from Cincinnati. Bryant is a sixth year player and used his graduate transfer to head to Northwestern. If he’s able to win the job, his experience might catapult Northwestern up this list, but he only got into the program in early May which might make it difficult to be the opening day starter.
Michigan State - Noah Kim (redshirt junior)
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Michigan State took a major hit when last year’s starter Payton Thorne entered the transfer portal on May 1st. Thorne was the starter for the previous two seasons and was expected to be the Spartans’ signal caller for the upcoming season. However, he is heading to Auburn after deciding to leave Michigan State.
This puts Noah Kim into the spotlight right now as the potential starter. Kim has never started a game in his career but was able to see the field in limited action last season. Kim was battling Thorne during the spring so it’s his job going into Week 1.
Rutgers - Gavin Wimsatt (redshirt sophomore)
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Gavin Wimsatt is expected to be the starter for Rutgers during their opening game. Wimsatt saw the field eight times last season, including making six starts after starter Noah Vedral was injured. There has been a competition between Wimsatt and Evan Simon, who made appeared in nine games and made two starts last season.
There is a possibility that both players see the field at quarterback during the opener and for the rest of the season. Here are last year’s stats for the two players.
Wimsatt: 65-145, 757 Yds, 5 TD, 7 Int
Simon: 79-137, 777 Yds, 4 TD, 6 Int
Indiana - Tayven Jackson (redshirt freshman)
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The Indiana quarterback situation is going to be tough to start the season. Dexter Williams II was going to be the starter for the 2023-24 season, but he dislocated his knee in the final game and won’t be ready for the opener. There’s a good chance that Williams won’t return at all this season, so Indiana head coach Tom Allen is likely going with Tayven Jackson to start their year.
Jackson is the younger brother of Indiana basketball star Trayce Jackson-Davis and is transferring in from Tennessee. Jackson has zero career starts but did the see field three times for the Volunteers in 2022. Brendan Sorsby is also a redshirt freshman who could be the starter, but it’s likely that Jackson will be the choice for the opener.
Illinois - Luke Altmyer (sophomore)
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Coming off an impressive 8-5 season last year, Illinois is looking to continue their success under head coach Bret Bielema. To do so, he is tapping into the transfer portal for the third straight year to get his quarterback.
Luke Altmyer is expected to win the starting position after transferring from Ole Miss. He played nine games while at Ole Miss, starting only one of them. John Paddock is a senior who transferred from Ball State after finally becoming the starter in 2022. It’s more likely that Paddock will be competing with redshirt freshman Donovan Leary for the backup role than competing for the starting position.
Minnesota - Athan Kaliakmanis (redshirt sophomore)
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Longtime quarterback Tanner Morgan is now graduated from the program after setting multiple school records in the five seasons that he was at Minnesota. Injuries to Morgan during his last season forced head coach P.J. Fleck to turn to his young quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis.
Kaliakmanis started five games last season, going 3-2 as a starter. He appeared in 11 games over the course of the season and is expected to be the heir apparent for the Golden Gophers. Here are his stats from last season.
Kaliakmanis: 60-111, 946 Yds, 3 TD, 4 Int
Nebraska - Jeff Sims (junior)
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Nebraska is one of the Big Ten teams who has a new head coach and quarterback coming into 2023-24. Matt Rhule is taking over the program after his stint in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. Last year’s starter Casey Thompson decided to hit the transfer portal on April 28th for the second time in his college career.
Rhule will be turning to Georgia Tech transfer Jeff Sims to lead the program. Sims appeared in 25 games, starting 23 of them while at Georgia Tech. He’s an experienced player coming into a program who has had massive struggles compared to expectations in recent years. Here are the career stats and last season’s stats for Sims.
Sims career: 364-633, 4,464 Yds, 30 TD, 23 Int
Sims 2022-23: 110-188, 1,115 Yds, 5 TD, 3 Int
Purdue - Hudson Card (redshirt junior)
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Purdue is another team in the Big Ten West who will have a new head coach and quarterback this season. Jeff Brohm left for his alma mater Louisville in the offseason. Two year starter, Aidan O’Connell led the Boilermakers to a Big Ten Championship appearance against Michigan last season. Now, first year head coach Ryan Walters will turn to Texas transfer, Hudson Card, to be his starter for the opener.
Last season, Card lost his job to Quinn Ewers who transferred in from Ohio State. After Ewers was injured last season, Card filled in as the starting quarterback. In his Texas career, he appeared in 22 games, but only started five of them in three seasons. Here are his career stats and stats from last year.
Card career: 127-194, 1,523 Yds, 11 TD, 2 Int
Card 2022-23: 75-108, 928 Yds, 6 TD, 1 Int
Wisconsin - Tanner Mordecai (redshirt senior)
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Yet another new head coach and new quarterback combination for a team in the western part of the conference. Luke Fickell is taking over at head coach, leaving Cincinnati when the Wisconsin job opened. This will be the third stop for Tanner Mordecai in his career. He started at Oklahoma before heading to SMU in 2021 and becoming a prolific passer.
Mordecai was a two-year starter at SMU, starting in all 24 possible games. All three of the quarterbacks for Fickell transferred into the program. Mordecai has the most experience and will be the opening day starter. Number six seems extremely low on this list due to his overall experience. He should be able to make an impact on the offense immediately based on his career output.
Here are the stats that Mordecai has racked up throughout his career and what he did last season.
Mordecai career: 646-967, 7,791 Yds, 76 TD, 23 Int
Mordecai 2022-23: 288-443, 3,524 Yds, 33 TD, 10 Int
Iowa - Cade McNamara (senior)
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No matter if Cade McNamara can get Iowa back to a Big Ten championship or not, he is definitely an upgrade at the position compared to what the Hawkeyes had last year. The quarterbacks last season combined for seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Not close to acceptable in today’s college football.
McNamara started 16 games in his career at Michigan including the aforementioned conference title game and a College Football Playoff game in 2021. However, he lost his job to J.J. McCarthy last season and only appeared in three games. Here are his career stats.
McNamara career: 267-423, 3,181 Yds, 21 TD, 7 Int
Maryland - Taulia Tagovailoa (redshirt senior)
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Taulia Tagovailoa is the most experienced Big Ten starting quarterback for the upcoming season. He has made 29 career starts all at Maryland. He also holds the school record for career passing yards and touchdowns. Tagovailoa has been a staple of the Mike Locksley program and helped put them in a much healthier position than when they first joined the Big Ten.
Last season was a down year compared to Tagovailoa’s junior season. He regressed a bit statistically and is looking to come back and show last year is a fluke. Because of how productive he’s been and the amount of experience he has, it feels like he might be a little low on this list. Here are the career and previous season stats of Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa career: 674-999, 7,979 Yds, 52 TD, 26 Int
Tagovailoa 2022-23: 262-391, 3,008 Yds, 18 TD, 8 Int
Penn State - Drew Allar (sophomore)
The Penn State quarterback Drew Allar warms up on the sideline during the Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, April 15, 2023, in State College.
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Penn State‘s longtime quarterback Sean Clifford has finally moved on to the next level after graduating and getting drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Draft. Now, it seems like the Drew Allar era will begin during the opener against West Virginia. Allar is a true sophomore who came into college as a coveted five-star recruit.
According to James Franklin, there was a quarterback competition during the spring between Allar and redshirt freshman Beau Pribula. After a superior Blue-White game, Allar is expected to win the competition and be the starter. During his freshman season, he did appear in 10 games, but has zero career starts. Here are his career stats from his one season in college.
Allar career: 35-60, 344 Yds, 4 TD, 0 Int
Ohio State - Kyle McCord (junior)
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This will be an interesting year for Ohio State. They’re coming off a period where their last three starting quarterbacks were all first-round draft picks in the NFL. This helped them create an offensive juggernaut that overpowered the majority of schools in the Big Ten. Kyle McCord does not have the NFL hype as of now that Haskins, Field, and Stroud all had for the Buckeyes.
There was a thought that McCord might not even be the starting for the 2022-23 season. Despite being a five-star recruit coming into Ohio State, McCord hadn’t been able to separate himself throughout his career. Redshirt freshman Devin Brown was set to challenge him for the job, but ultimately an injury prevent Brown from playing in the spring game. McCord has appeared in 12 games and started one of them for the Buckeyes. Because of the unknowns, it feels like McCord might be high on this list, although he was a talented prospect. Here are his career stats.
McCord career: 41-58, 606 Yds, 3 TD, 2 Int
Michigan - J.J. McCarthy (junior)
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This is a no-brainer number one ranking here. McCarthy was a game-changer for Michigan when they eventually turned the keys over to him last season. They went back to the Big Ten Championship game and College Football Playoff with McCarthy as the starter. They also beat Ohio State in Columbus for the first time since 2000.
There is no question that McCarthy is super talented. He came into Michigan as a five-star recruit and could leave as a first round draft pick in the NFL Draft. He’s appeared in 25 games, starting 13 of them. Jim Harbaugh is hoping that McCarthy can lead them to a CFP Championship game this time around. Here are the stats from last season when McCarthy became the starter.
McCarthy 2022-23: 208-322, 2,719 Yds, 22 TD, 5 Int
