By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – After losing three quarterbacks to the transfer portal since the end of the regular season, the Iowa football team could soon flip the script by adding a quarterback.

Iowa is believed to be the favorite to land Auburn quarterback Hank Brown, who will visit Iowa City on Thursday.

Sources have told Hawk Fanatic that if the visit goes well, Brown would likely commit to Iowa.

Brown a 6-foot-4, 208-pound redshirt freshman from Nashville, Tennessee, started two games for Auburn this season and he threw for 403 yards and six touchdowns.

He completed 17-of-25 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-19 victory over New Mexico. But he also threw three interceptions in a 24-14 loss to Arkansas.

Brown also completed 7-of-9 passes for 132 yards in Auburn’s 31-13 loss to Maryland in the 2023 Music City Bowl.

Junior Brendan Sullivan is currently the only Iowa quarterback on the 2024 roster who is on scholarship following the recent departures of Cade McNamara, Marco Lainez and James Resar, all of whom have entered the transfer portal.

Resar, a true freshman from Florida, came to Iowa as a quarterback, but switched to receiver midway thought this season.

Sullivan and sophomore walk-on Jackson Stratton are expected to be Iowa’s top two quarterbacks against Missouri in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30th in Nashville.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said this past Sunday that if he had to guess, Sullivan would start over Stratton in the bowl game.

Sullivan, who transferred from Northwestern this past summer, started two games this season against Wisconsin and UCLA. But he suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter against UCLA and hasn’t played since.

Stratton started the last two regular-season games against Maryland and Nebraska, leading Iowa to wins in both games despite throwing for fewer than 100 yards in both games,

Stratton climbed from fourth on the depth to being the starter because the three quarterbacks listed ahead of him on the depth chart – McNamara , Sullivan and Lainez – were all injured down the stretch of the regular season.

McNamara started the first eight game this season. But he suffered a concussion against Northwestern in the eighth game and he would never play again.

Lainez suffered a thumb injury late in the regular season, and that prevented him from playing after McNamara and Sullivan were both injured.

Assuming Sullivan will return to Iowa for his final season, he and Brown would likely compete for the starting position heading into the 2025 season.

Iowa also will add incoming freshman quarterback Jimmy Sullivan to its 2025 roster.

Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester has told the media that he will look to add players from the transfer portal at multiple positions this offseason, and that quarterback would be a priority.

Lester apparently likes what he sees in Brown, and Brown apparently likes what he has seen and heard from Iowa’s end.