By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – While most of the attention is on Cade McNamara’s inability to make throws down field, have you ever considered that his his most glaring weakness has little or noting to do with his passing skills?

Have you ever considered that the two straight season-ending knee injuries that he suffered in 2022 and 2023 have stripped him of whatever ability he had to move in and from the pocket?

McNamara was hardly a dual-threat quarterback when he led Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title and to the college playoff that season.

But he was able to move the pocket and manipulate defenses with his legs. He could scramble enough to where defenses had to at least be aware of it.

As a Hawkeye, however, that just hasn’t been the case, the latest example being Saturday’s 32-20 loss at Michigan State.

McNamara completed less than 50 percent of his passes (11-of-23) for 150 yards against Michigan State.

But he also ran just once for six yards, while Michigan State dual-threat quarterback Aidan Chiles had 51 rushing yards and 256 passing yards. Chiles also extended plays with his mobility.

The matchup at quarterback wasn’t even close, and what separated them the most was speed and mobility.

Iowa hasn’t had anything close to a mobile quarterback since C.J. Beathard started in 2015 and 2016.

Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan is probably the closest Iowa has had to a mobile quarterback since Beathard, but Sullivan so far has only played in red zone packages.

McNamara has been dealing with physical setbacks since early in the 2022 season when he suffered a season-ending knee injury while still playing for Michigan.

He then suffered a quad injury in Iowa’s 2023 Kids Day practice followed by a season-ending knee injury against Michigan State in the fifth game of the 2023 season.

McNamara has dealt with a lot of wear and tear on his body, and to play a sport as violent as football, and to play it at a very high level, isn’t easy under those circumstances.

McNamara is also just 6-foot-1, so he doesn’t have the luxury of being able to stand in the pocket and look over defenders for an open receiver.

Iowa, which hosts Northwestern on Saturday, has had previous success with a dual-threat quarterback under Kirk Ferentz.

But that was 22 years ago when Brad Banks led Iowa to a Big Ten title and finished runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles wasn’t even born then, while Caitlin Clark was less than a year old.

There are so many factors that have contributed to Iowa’s long-standing struggles on offense under Kirk Ferentz, with the lack of mobility at quarterback certainly among the biggest factors.

Defenses have so much more to prepare for when facing a mobile quarterback.

When a play breaks down, so often in Iowa’s case it means the end of the play.

But with a mobile quarterback, there is always the threat of turning a broken play into a first down or a significant gain.

In McNamara’s case, however, that threat seems almost non-existent.