By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – This is meant as no disrespect to any of the quarterbacks on the Iowa football team, but adding at least one or two quarterbacks from the transfer portal should be the top priority this coming offseason.

The Jackson Stratton story of how he has gone from being Iowa’s fourth-team quarterback to the now the starter as a walk-on is inspiring and fun, but it doesn’t change the fact that Iowa has serious issues at the quarterback position.

The investment in Cade McNamara hasn’t really paid off, and even if it had, his career as a Hawkeye quarterback is almost over, with Friday’s regular season finale against Nebraska, and a bowl game all that remains, if he is even healthy enough to play.

Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan only has one season of eligibility remaining and he hasn’t shown enough this season to know for sure that he is the answer at quarterback, while redshirt freshman Marco Lainez barely has played in a game as a Hawkeye, the fourth quarter of last season’s Citrus Bowl his only action.

Iowa will add incoming freshman and Fort Wayne, Indiana native Jimmy Sullivan to the roster next season, and while he shows promise and potential, it would be asking a lot for a true freshman to run Iowa’s offense, especially playing behind an offensive line that will have at least three new starters next season.

Iowa needs help right away at the quarterback position.

Brendan Sullivan might ultimately be the answer for next season, but to rely on just him would be risky, partly because of how he plays the position as a running quarterback.

According to Kirk Ferentz, Stratton appears to have played well enough in Saturday’s 29-13 victory at Maryland to earn the start against Nebraska on Friday.

“Would assume so,” Kirk Ferentz said when asked if Stratton would start against Nebraska. “He’s the leader of the group right now.”

Stratton also might prove to be the long-term solution at quarterback.

But that still shouldn’t stop Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester from searching the transfer portal high and low to find the right fits, on and off the field.

A cynic would say that no quarterback in his right mind, and with other options, would pick Iowa right now because of Iowa’s recent history of producing mediocre quarterbacks, and because of the state of the passing game.

Okay, maybe so.

But Minnesota landed Max Brosmer from the transfer portal this past offseason and the former New Hampshire quarterback has more than held his own with 2,426 passing yards and 15 touchdown passes this season.

Those numbers would practically make him a legend for Iowa, considering the Iowa quarterbacks have passed for just 1,465 yards this season, including the 76 yards that Stratton compiled against Maryland.

Iowa doesn’t have to land the second coming of Brad Banks, or even C.J. Beathard from the portal.

It sure would be nice, but you also have to be realistic.

Iowa just needs to add quarterbacks that can hold their own and play winning football at this level.

McNamara was thought to have fit that description when he transferred from Michigan to Iowa late in 2022, but it just hasn’t worked out for multiple reasons, including injuries, but mostly due to sub-par performances.

Iowa doesn’t owe anything to its quarterbacks besides a fair chance to compete, and may the best quarterback play.

Competition breeds success, and right now, Iowa needs more competition in its quarterback room.

The Iowa Swarm Collective will obviously play a big part in helping to land quarterbacks because there is sort of pay-for-play mentality these days.

Iowa has to play the NIL game or risk falling behind even further with its quarterback play.

It would also help the quarterbacks by upgrading the wide receiver position. Iowa has some intriguing young talent at wide receiver, and Northwestern transfer Jacob Gill has certainly provided a spark at receiver.

But the position still lacks quality depth and playmakers.

This isn’t to say that Iowa should spend millions in its attempt to upgrade the quarterback position, because for one, that amount of NIL money doesn’t appear to be available, and because it wouldn’t cost that much to land some decent quarterbacks if you look hard enough and do the proper vetting.

It would be silly to think that a Big Ten program with Iowa’s long-standing success and proud tradition couldn’t attract some decent quarterbacks.

Lester threw for over 11,000 yards as a college quarterback and he’s been a Division I head coach.

So, he has a lot to sell to quarterbacks, including his credibility.

Lester also has said that he will be active in the portal this coming offseason, searching for help at all positions.

Iowa also needs to be active in the portal for defensive players with eight defensive starters moving on after this season.

But Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker has shown time and again that he can develop and build from within on defense, while adding a player or two from the portal.

That hasn’t been the case on offense, especially with the quarterbacks.

It’s long overdue for that to change.