B1G quarterback rankings entering the 2023 season: Rank them? Good luck even identifying them.

[nitramnaed]

B1G quarterback rankings entering the 2023 season: Rank them? Good luck even identifying them.​

Luke Glusco

The Big Ten returns 2 established starting quarterbacks in 2023. After that, it’s a collection of transfers, question marks and new young gunslingers long on recruiting ratings but short on experience.
As August camps drone on, we think we know most of the starters, even if they haven’t been officially named by their respective head coaches. Half of the league’s 14 programs are likely to start a freshly arrived transfer in Game 1.

9. Athan Kaliakmanis, Minnesota​

2022: 946 yards, 54.1%, 3 TDs, 4 INTs, 127.4 rating

Kaliakmanis finished out last season in place of injured veteran Tanner Morgan. Now, PJ Fleck plans to give the 6-4, 215-pound former 4-star recruit the reins and open up the passing game. Will the 7th-year Gophers head coach’s faith in the redshirt sophomore be justified? The first test comes Aug. 31, a Thursday night game vs. Nebraska to kick off the Big Ten season.

B1G quarterback rankings entering the 2023 season: Rank them? Good luck even identifying them.

Is this the most dramatic year-over-year reshuffling of the B1G quarterback deck ever? We'll commence the sorting with our initial 2023 rankings.

saturdaytradition.com

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

Tanner Mordecai at #3!

 

[BTChamp]

Tanner Mordecai at #3!

There's only one Tanner M that counts. And he ain't it.

 

[hungan1]

We will see how the in-house QBs like AK fare versus transfer QBs. It is a hit-and-miss either way at this point.

I do like the idea of four-star QBs like AK who "grew up" in the Gopher system.

 

[fmlizard]

We will see how the in-house QBs like AK fare versus transfer QBs. It is a hit-and-miss either way at this point.

I do like the idea of four-star QBs like AK who "grew up" in the Gopher system.

The Gophers have become a throwback. Is there any other Big Ten school that hasn't taken a transfer QB since the Portal began?

 

[hungan1]

The Gophers have become a throwback. Is there any other Big Ten school that hasn't taken a transfer QB since the Portal began?

Is there value in developing QBs internally? I would say yes. The Gophers do not want to invest in their development and lose them in the Transfer Portal.

PJ Fleck aggressively recruits all the top in-state and regional kids who aspire to become Gophers. They are most likely to stay put.

Look at how Cole Kramer has progressed in the Gopher system. He has two years of eligibility left!

In high school, he didn't throw the ball as much. His progress has been phenomenal. He did great in the Spring Game.

12

Cole Kramer

QB

6' 1''

205

5 / 5

2 years

Eden Prairie, Minn. / Eden Prairie

R-Sr.

 

[Dakota2]

Is there value in developing QBs internally? I would say yes. The Gophers do not want to invest in their development and lose them in the Transfer Portal.

PJ Fleck aggressively recruits all the top in-state and regional kids who aspire to become Gophers. They are most likely to stay put.

Look at how Cole Kramer has progressed in the Gopher system. He has two years of eligibility left!

In high school, he didn't throw the ball as much. His progress has been phenomenal. He did great in the Spring Game.

12

Cole Kramer

QB

6' 1''

205

5 / 5

2 years

Eden Prairie, Minn. / Eden Prairie

R-Sr.

Given similar talent, any coach would prefer to develop QBs from recruit to starter over bringing in a transfer who probably has multiple years experience learning another system.

And, Kramer didn’t throw much in the EP scheme but when he did it was obvious he had a great arm and accuracy. He can do anything needed, including run.

 

[upnorthkid]

You look at this list and man there’s going to be some rough qb play in the league this year

 

[MNBadgerGuy]

Tanner Mordecai at #3!

Outside of him being a Badger - why do you think Tanner Mordecai will be so bad? He's got better numbers than pretty much everyone in the conference. It's been done in a lower conference, but Gopher fans are super high on their transfers that came from lower level conferences.

He has some familiarity with the new system. I expect there to be a lot of stumbles while rolling out the new system. I also expect the Badgers to run the ball more than people think when they talk about the Air Raid. Over the course of the full season I think TM is going to put up some pretty solid offensive numbers, and be a major improvement over Mertz.

 

[upnorthkid]

Outside of him being a Badger - why do you think Tanner Mordecai will be so bad? He's got better numbers than pretty much everyone in the conference. It's been done in a lower conference, but Gopher fans are super high on their transfers that came from lower level conferences.

He has some familiarity with the new system. I expect there to be a lot of stumbles while rolling out the new system. I also expect the Badgers to run the ball more than people think when they talk about the Air Raid. Over the course of the full season I think TM is going to put up some pretty solid offensive numbers, and be a major improvement over Mertz.

yeah i agree with you. the way they compiled the list is a little odd/confusing when they're clearly not rating the QBs for all of them, but rather the system they're in (see OSU who would probably be fine trotting whoever out there for every game other than Michigan and PSU and maybe us and ND). Allar probably has more arm talent and should be better long term than Clifford but is young/raw. Card and McNamara both got beaten out (though by guys who seem to both be talented) and is why they're at new schools. I think it's probably more we're in for a year with overall mediocre QB play but think you have a hard time putting any of these guys ahead of Mordecai based on past performance. Based on what we know up front, it's Mccarthy and Tagovailoa then a pretty steep drop off before the second tier.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Ben Bryant at 12 seems very low, especially with how little experience there is in the conference this year. NW may be bad but Bryant is a lot higher than 12th IMO.

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

Outside of him being a Badger - why do you think Tanner Mordecai will be so bad? He's got better numbers than pretty much everyone in the conference. It's been done in a lower conference, but Gopher fans are super high on their transfers that came from lower level conferences.

He has some familiarity with the new system. I expect there to be a lot of stumbles while rolling out the new system. I also expect the Badgers to run the ball more than people think when they talk about the Air Raid. Over the course of the full season I think TM is going to put up some pretty solid offensive numbers, and be a major improvement over Mertz.

I think he's prone to make mistakes especially when he faces top tier defenses! Sure he put up big numbers but he also threw 23 ints the last two seasons. Then there was the spring game clunker. We'll see, but I can't see him as the 3rd best QB in the conference. Middle of the pack at best!

 

[MNBadgerGuy]

I think he's prone to make mistakes especially when he faces top tier defenses! Sure he put up big numbers but he also threw 23 ints the last two seasons. Then there was the spring game clunker. We'll see, but I can't see him as the 3rd best QB in the conference. Middle of the pack at best!

Fair enough. I'm not sure where he'll rank in the conference, just feel pretty confident that he's a big upgrade from Mertz. The system will take some time but offensively it can't get much worse for UW than the last couple of years. I actually think the run game will see the biggest benefit by spreading out the defense more so they're not trying to block 8 man boxes all the time.

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

Fair enough. I'm not sure where he'll rank in the conference, just feel pretty confident that he's a big upgrade from Mertz. The system will take some time but offensively it can't get much worse for UW than the last couple of years. I actually think the run game will see the biggest benefit by spreading out the defense more so they're not trying to block 8 man boxes all the time.

I would hope so as that is not a high bar to hurdle!

 

[GophersInIowa]

Fair enough. I'm not sure where he'll rank in the conference, just feel pretty confident that he's a big upgrade from Mertz. The system will take some time but offensively it can't get much worse for UW than the last couple of years. I actually think the run game will see the biggest benefit by spreading out the defense more so they're not trying to block 8 man boxes all the time.

Speaking of Mertz, I saw a ranking online that had him as the 10th best QB in the country this year. Was in the middle of drinking water and almost had some come out my nose.

 

[MNBadgerGuy]

Speaking of Mertz, I saw a ranking online that had him as the 10th best QB in the country this year. Was in the middle of drinking water and almost had some come out my nose.

That makes about as much sense as AK being the 3rd worst or whatever it was. Mertz has a lot of tools but never seemed to be able to put it together. He's fine against the Illinois State's of the world, but any team with a decent defense befuddles him.

 

[Gophers1992]

Fair enough. I'm not sure where he'll rank in the conference, just feel pretty confident that he's a big upgrade from Mertz. The system will take some time but offensively it can't get much worse for UW than the last couple of years. I actually think the run game will see the biggest benefit by spreading out the defense more so they're not trying to block 8 man boxes all the time.

Nobody said he won't be an upgrade over Mertz, or that he will be bad. That poster simply mocked him being ranked in the #3 spot. Whether that mocking is legitimate or not I don't know enough to say, but you are disputing claims that were never made.

 

[Dakota2]

Fair enough. I'm not sure where he'll rank in the conference, just feel pretty confident that he's a big upgrade from Mertz. The system will take some time but offensively it can't get much worse for UW than the last couple of years. I actually think the run game will see the biggest benefit by spreading out the defense more so they're not trying to block 8 man boxes all the time.

Mertz will be starting for a better team than Wisconsin.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I wonder - if you listed the QB's names only and did a matching test, where people had to match them to their respective teams, how many would people match correctly?

without reading the article, I might get 3 or 4 correct.

this could make for a fun video - do a "man on the street," stop people at random and ask them to name a starting B1G QB.

the overall point of the article is accurate - it's really a whole new day for QB play in the B1G with so many recent starters graduating or transferring.

 

[PeoplesFront]

I wonder - if you listed the QB's names only and did a matching test, where people had to match them to their respective teams, how many would people match correctly?

without reading the article, I might get 3 or 4 correct.

this could make for a fun video - do a "man on the street," stop people at random and ask them to name a starting B1G QB.

the overall point of the article is accurate - it's really a whole new day for QB play in the B1G with so many recent starters graduating or transferring.

That’s a pretty good idea. I’d have placed Jeff Sims as a senior level IT bro in Olathe, KS.

Regarding the list, I do think that Mordecai has the potential to be number 2 behind JJ. He could be in line for a very solid season if Wisconsin’s inevitable transition hiccups are minimal.

 

[Schnauzer]

Anyone else sick of coming to attention when passively watching Big Ten Network, instinctively thinking they are going to talk about Tanner Morgan / Gophers when they mention Tanner Mordecai? So annoying. I hate that kid already and I’ve never seen him throw a pass.