Make no mistake, the Iowa Hawkeyes have a quarterback problem.
Quite a bit of that has to do with the recovery of Cade McNamara. While he rehabs, new offensive coordinator Tim Lester has the curse veiled as an opportunity to let Deacon Hill battle with Marco Lainez for the backup job.
The thing is, Hill showed in 2023 that he's far from the answer. But he's gotten the lion's share of the practice reps thanks to experience.
Lainez performed well in Iowa's spring game and still has some good karma from his performance in the Citrus Bowl.
Nonetheless, Iowa fans are hoping that neither has to see the field in 2024. McNamara gives the team the best chance to win. The worry is that if McNamara is unavailable for whatever reason, the offense will sputter to a halt as it did in 2023.
Iowa has been less than aggressive in the Transfer Portal. There's little indication that head coach Kirk Ferentz is as emboldened to scour the portal for a quarterback as many fans would like to.
But, if he were to at least take a peak, there would be one name in the portal that should be of some interest: Nick Evers the No. 2 quarterback available in the Transfer Portal, according to On3.
Evers has had a pogo-stick career in college football so far. He initially committed to Florida to play for Dan Mullen but bounced to Oklahoma after Mullen was ousted. His stay in Norman lasted one season before he bounced up to Madison, Wisconsin in 2023 to play for the Badgers.
Evers is a former 4-star prospect and was a top-10 quarterback in his recruiting class. One of the many scholarship offers he was given came from the Hawkeyes program.
Evers has bounced around in large part due to a lack of starting opportunities. He hasn't been an option to start in either of the two seasons he's been a part of a college football program. He has shown impressive athletic ability and promising arm talent in spring games to his credit.
That said, recruiting Evers with the understanding that he'd have to sit at least one more year might be a tough sell.
But, we return to the question of McNamara's health. He will be cleared in June, but that doesn't promise a healthy season. If Evers were the secondary option, his talent would at least provide some assurance that Iowa's season won't implode without McNamara.
Then in 2025, a battle between Evers and Lainez for the starting job would take place. On paper, that might be Evers's job with two years of eligibility.
Evers has to play regular-season ball to prove his ability, sure. But the potential is there and his talents are greater than heading to UConn for playing time. Iowa provides a potential home for him to showcase his talents on a larger stage with a team that has a quality cast of players around the quarterback position.
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