Pat Fitzgerald needs to make a choice and stick with it.
Before the first game of the year, Fitzgerald tabbed senior Hunter Johnson as his starting quarterback. He would see action in the first three games before being replaced by sophomore Ryan Hilinski. The Wildcats would start Hilinski for the next four games, and technically a fifth, but Fitzgerald would bench Hilinski early against Minnesota and replace him with senior Andrew Marty.
Last weekend, Marty got the starting nod against Iowa. Against a very solid Hawkeye defense, he would go 25 of 44, for 270 yards, and one touchdown. He also would throw three interceptions. Throwing picks against Iowa isn’t anything uncommon this season, as the Hawkeyes have made a living off turnovers this year. Honestly, with the lack of weapons NU has and the level of competition Marty saw in his first start of the year, I thought he did fairly well.
However, as you could probably tell from the title of this article, I believe pulling the reigns away from Hilinski was the wrong move by Fitzgerald.
Northwestern had an outstanding run to the West Division crown and Big Ten Championship last season. They received excellent play from transfer quarterback Peyton Ramsey, and had talents like cornerback Greg Newsome III, tackle Rashawn Slater, and receiver Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman.
But this 2021 team is lacking in multiple areas. Anyone that follows NU knew that coming into this season. If they didn’t, it’s been apparent almost every Saturday this fall.
Fitzgerald has routinely gone through cycles of building the program up over the course of a few years, then unleashing a team that contends for division and conference titles. However, this is then followed once again by a few down years as the program rebuilds. It’s not unlike a water geyser that needs time to build pressure before releasing a spectacle of heated water.
So how does Ryan Hilinski starting fit into all this? He fits by gaining experience and fighting through difficult patches and stretches this year. He fits by gaining live reps that furthers his knowledge of the offense. He fits by being exposed to more coverages and looks than he may see running scout team. Through these experiences, when Northwestern is once more ready to contend in the Big Ten, they will have an experienced and battle tested leader at quarterback.
Hilinski might not be the best quarterback right now on NU. To be honest, I’m not sure who is. What I do know is Hilinkski is the only player that has a chance to grow at NU out of the three mentioned above. We know he can be an effective quarterback though, from his sample size this year, and his freshman year starting for South Carolina.
Fitzgerald needs to ask himself, in a year that was going to be a struggle and has been in the win column, how can he best prepare NU for future success? It starts with handing the reigns back to Hilinski, working on his development, and building up the talent around him through recruiting or the transfer portal.
The other advantage to this is, if NU develops Hilinski the right way and he becomes one of the better quarterbacks in the Big Ten by his senior year, that won’t go unnoticed on the recruiting trail. Instead of having to rely on whoever enters the transfer portal, Northwestern can prove they can develop talent at one of the key positions in the game.
Everyone wants to win on Saturday. Based off the talent and play we’ve seen so far from the Wildcats, Hilinski may even be the best option for that. However, NU needs to be honest with itself. At this point what are they looking to salvage from this season? The answer may be exposing younger players to action in preparation for 2022.
So don’t delay that preparation by removing Ryan Hilinski at quarterback.