By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – With Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan now out for rest of the regular season due to an ankle energy, the spotlight will continue to shine on walk-on quarterback Jackson Stratton.

Stratton will at least be the backup quarterback when Iowa plays at Maryland on Saturday.

Cade McNamara, who started the first eight games before suffering a concussion against Northwestern, is expected to start against Maryland, assuming he suffers no setbacks in practice this week.

The first hint that McNamara would be available is when Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester said last Tuesday that McNamara was lifting weights again.

That seemed to indicate that McNamara had cleared concussion protocol with more than a week-and-half before Iowa’s next game.

But what about Jackson Stratton?

No offense to McNamara, but Hawkeye fans know his story; about how he transferred from Michigan with high expectations, but has since struggled with injuries and with sub-par performances.

McNamara has made 13 starts over this season and last season, but the results have mostly left something to be desired.

Whatever mobility he once had seems to have disappeared following two straight season-ending knee injuries.

But let’s get back to Stratton.

After listening to Tim Lester explain how Stratton ended up being a Hawkeye quarterback, there is one thing that just doesn’t make sense.

Lester said that he liked Stratton’s high school tape so much that he would have recruited Stratton as a high school quarterback.

Lester also in his press conference last Tuesday raved about Stratton’s ability to throw a football.

“I mean the ball comes out with unbelievable tempo and spin rate,” Lester said this past Tuesday.

Stratton was pressed into duty in the 20-17 loss to UCLA in Los Angeles, and to his credit, he held his own, completing 3-of-6 passes for 28 yards. He also led a scoring drive under extremely difficult circumstances after having replaced Sullivan, who injured his ankle in the second half.

Stratton showed the kind of arm strength and spin rate against UCLA that Lester would go on to praise four days later in the bye week press conference.

But what doesn’t make sense is why Stratton apparently switched to linebacker several weeks ago?

He then switched back to quarterback after injuries to McNamara, and to No. 3 quarterback Marco Lainez.

It makes sense that Stratton switched back to quarterback after injuries started to mount, but it doesn’t make sense why the California native, switched to linebacker in the first place, and so soon after becoming a Hawkeye.

Stratton transferred to Iowa from Colorado State this past summer as a walk-on.

He had played sparingly for Colorado State, but Lester liked Stratton’s high school film and he liked Stratton, the person, after traveling to San Diego to get to know him.

A native of Mission bay, California, Stratton passed for over, 4,400 yards and for 52 touchdowns in high school.

He was ranked as the 63rd-best pro-style quarterback by 247 Sports, and reportedly received scholarship offers from Columbia, Florida International, Brown, and Nevada before receiving his first Power Four interest from Washington in May 2021.

Stratton initially committed to the Huskies, but backed out seven months later and flipping his commitment to Colorado State.

Over two seasons with the Rams, Stratton saw action in three games – all in 2022. He completed 4-of-17 for 78 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.

Stratton apparently had some doubts after Sullivan transferred from Northwestern to Iowa this past June. But Stratton and Lester continued to talk and Stratton ultimately decided that Iowa was his best option.

Stratton and Sullivan were among three quarterbacks that joined the Iowa roster this past summer, the other being incoming freshman and Florida native, James Resar, who has since switched to receiver.

So, within a couple months, two of the three quarterbacks that were added to the Iowa roster had switched positions.

That’s a concern for a program that has struggled with quarterback development for an extended period.

Lester didn’t say why Stratton had switched to linebacker and it wasn’t brought up during his press conference last Tuesday.

It makes you wonder if Stratton, even with his ability to throw a football, still would be playing linebacker if the other quarterbacks had stayed healthy.

Or, was the switch to linebacker just temporary?

It probably is now with two of Iowa’s top three quarterback out with injuries.

It also makes you wonder what is happening with the depth and development at linebacker that a quarterback would be switched to linebacker so soon after joining the program.

Kirk Ferentz meets with the media on Tuesday, and Stratton will certainly be a topic of conversation.

McNamara still has a chance to end his up-and-down Hawkeye career on a high note. He doesn’t have to look over his shoulder at Sullivan anymore, and he still has two Big Ten games and a bowl game to flip the script.

But just in case, Lester will have the 6-foot-4, 193-pound Stratton ready to.