I am not sure how you could have watched both of them play last year and think the program was better off giving more reps to Hilinski. Sullivan showed a lot of promise in limited action. Undoubtedly he is a better player now than last summer and my understanding is that the summer camp QB battle was a pick em decision. Fitz made the wrong choice in my opinion. We'll see if Bryant is a better alternative than Hilinski but I think it is fair to say I have my doubts. Not only do I think Sullivan would be the better choice for the program long term, I'd be surprised if he isn't Bryant's equal or better option to play QB for NU come conclusion of summer camp.
BREAKING: NU lands Cincinnati QB Ben Bryant
- Thread starter lou v
- Start date
Come on corbi. We had no data on Sully at the start of the season. After watching several games, of course it was evident that Hilinski was not the guy. But the first data point from Dublin clearly was encouraging.
It’s more that 1) we can’t be 100% certain of Hilinski’s health come fall and 2) Laush still has a lot of work to do as a passer.
It made/makes way WAAYYY too much sense to bring in a veteran QB to compete for the starting job. If Sullivan still wins the job then all the better.
I think the challenge is that Hilinski is pretty good.. when he has a pocket and he has time. In camp due to hitting restrictions that is available. Against Nebraska with a weak pass rush he was good. Then as the season wore on it got worse and worse. I obviously wasn't at the fall camp practices, but it's entirely plausible that Hilinski looked like the better option there, but turned out to be a suboptimal play as the actual season progressed with a bad OL leading to worse play and loss of confidence.
Would think Fitz and Bajakian take that experience into account as they are making evaluations this year... I have no view on who should start, but it should absolutely be an open competition and may the best man win.
True dat. That said, you have to feel that a QB of his stature would not come to spend his last year with a thought of going pro to sit on the bench. Have to feel that he had some reasonable expectations in order to commit
Expectations meaning he saw our dogshit qb play last year and knows those dudes suck and aren't competition for him?
No matter who starts, the game thread will be calling for the back up prior to the end of the first half!
I am not second guessing the decision. I am saying it was the wrong one in retrospect although I will point out i raised reservations about the choice before game 1 last year for some of the same reasons I am expressing my concerns now. It was a pick em call and Fitz made the wrong call in retrospect. He made the wrong call because he deferred to the experienced transfer, who also happened to once again be relatively immobile rather than giving the more mobile, promising young QB that NU recruited out of HS a chance to prove himself. When given the chance to play, I think Sullivan showed, albeit in a limited amount of time, that his mobility and ability to make plays off schedule made NU's offense more resilient and unpredictable. I am glad to have Bryant on board and am all in favor of an open competition but I think Bryant has a lot of the same characteristics that Hilinski has as a Qb and I am concerned those don't mesh well with NU's talent/scheme. If things are close at the end of fall camp, I hope Fitz gives Sully the chance to start this time around.
Looks like Bryant had 2 seasons of good starting production vs Hilinski’s one at SCar and had slightly better completion % and higher TD:INT ratio and much higher QBR.
You look at that freshman season for Hilinski though. Started the whole year, beat #3 UGA and put up a lot of yards against #2 Bama. Guess he was just not a fit for our personnel, with scant WR talent and inconsistent pass pro.
The Nebraska game was a great performance by him, showing what he could do when our OL was totally dominant in run and pass blocking to open up the whole offense.
I too am concerned about Bryant being able to match previous production as a non mobile QB with a lot of question marks on our OL.
Or, “we expect that we will break 2-3 QBs this season behind a pretty porous OL so we are simply stocking the shelve so we don’t have to run another walk on out there.”
Disagree. Many, many more snaps and experience.
Because we did not see Sullivan play till several games in and the coaches had not seen them in anything but practice. Hillinsky had a least had several higher level starts prior to that and was likely the most logical choice. The OL deficiencies did not really show up till after that first game.
Ben Bryant has completed 74% of his college attempts 638/859, has 6406 passing yards, ,37 tds, 17 intercepts, QB rating of 140.3, and is 16-9 in starts. That is very good against any and all competition.
Also have to remember that in camp our OL was working against our DL and in retrospect that was not very good either so the OL might have seemed more stable than it was
Agreed. From what I've seen he definitely seems more accurate than Hilinski, low bar but it is a very important factor in his favor. Having said that, he is transferring out of Cinci because he was not guaranteed a starting spot despite those stats. They had a coaching change so that is a factor but also worth noting that his former coach didn't recruit Bryant to join him at Wisconsin. The kid is a great add for NU just based on his experience and our desperate need to add depth at the position but let's be realistic about him. He is not a savior a la Ramsey nor is he a lock to start in my opinion because Sullivan is a better player than what most people think.
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Wisconsin got two transfer QBs before Bryant entered the portal. Competition in the QB room is good, and Bryant will make the room better for NU whether he starts (my bet) or not.
He has a lot more starting experience, more passes thrown etc. Hopefully somewhat more mobile as well but for that we will have to wait and see.
You know that’s not how it works. If Fickel had wanted him at Wisconsin over the two guys he got, Bryant would have transferred to Wisconsin shortly Fickel had taken the job.
We don’t have to wait on the latter. He is a stationary pocket passer. That has not worked out well for NU in the past.
And an obstinate head coach, a porous OL, a questionable OC, ….
You might have to porous another drink or two this fall, Bob
Question is, if BB ends up playing, will he be stationary by design or he is, even if not a "running QB," at least capable of rolling out, etc. (also, does BB have hood pocket presence - knowing how to move around in the pocket to sidestep pressure and buy that extra tick of time)?
Even If BB ends up playing and is an upgrade, analysts seem to think the other B1GW programs got better at the QB position with their transfers.
Well, anyway, I hope this Cincinnati guy helps us. One thingI don't think I could bear-Cats losing 10+ games again.
I've been saving that one for a long time
I've been saving that one for a long time
His stats in 2 years as a starter are almost identical to Peyton Ramsey's stats for 2 and a half years as a starter at IU.
That's always a good sign. Previous production at this level is a good indicator of future success. I really like his TD-Interception ratio.
Let’s be realistic. We are not expecting a Joe Burrow. Fickell knows the expectations are super high at Wisconsin so HE was looking for his Joe Burrow, while we are hoping for at least a Peyton Ramsey. Fickell wants to get to 10+ wins right away while we are hoping to go from 1 win to 4-6 wins.
Agreed but this guy is not as good as Peyton Ramsey. Don't expect that kind of turnaround because of him.
Like. But I'm not sure that is correct. He might well be better. Peyton's arm strength was very suspect. I think this young man can play and he wants us to win as badly as we do.
With the OL and WR corps being ?? I think you're going to need some level of mobility at QB because whoever starts is going to be running out of the pocket more than not.
