B1G QB rankings

[katatonic2]

14. Aidan Chiles, Northwestern​

Am I intrigued by the combination of Chip Kelly and Aidan Chiles at Northwestern of all places? I certainly am. Do I think the idea that the Wildcats will suddenly have an electric offense is far-fetched? Also, a yes. It's never too late to improve, but I've seen a lot of Chiles the last couple of years, and I haven't seen enough signs of progress to believe he'll improve significantly enough on the bad (turnovers, holding onto the ball too long, taking sacks) parts to be an above-average QB at the P4 level. He sure can sling it, though.

Big Ten QB rankings entering 2026 season: Dante Moore leads the way after Oregon star spurns NFL Draft

The Big Ten is loaded with returning experience this season, while also welcoming in some high-profile newcomers via the transfer portal

www.cbssports.com

Seems a little low to me, but there are a lot of what-ifs that go into these things (O-line, receivers, etc).

 

[techtim72]

The take on Chiles is that he is too mistake prone. My guess is he will brutalize the weaker teams with the dual threat but struggle against the better teams. Plus with the running he will be injury prone. So expect Boe to get plenty of action.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

14. Aidan Chiles, Northwestern​

Am I intrigued by the combination of Chip Kelly and Aidan Chiles at Northwestern of all places? I certainly am. Do I think the idea that the Wildcats will suddenly have an electric offense is far-fetched? Also, a yes. It's never too late to improve, but I've seen a lot of Chiles the last couple of years, and I haven't seen enough signs of progress to believe he'll improve significantly enough on the bad (turnovers, holding onto the ball too long, taking sacks) parts to be an above-average QB at the P4 level. He sure can sling it, though.

Big Ten QB rankings entering 2026 season: Dante Moore leads the way after Oregon star spurns NFL Draft

The Big Ten is loaded with returning experience this season, while also welcoming in some high-profile newcomers via the transfer portal

www.cbssports.com

Seems a little low to me, but there are a lot of what-ifs that go into these things (O-line, receivers, etc).

*barring injury.

He is a way better runner than Stone, and also Stone was hardly precise with his passing. Not a huge upgrade but definitely an upgrade, on paper.

They key is the OL, as usual.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

The take on Chiles is that he is too mistake prone. My guess is he will brutalize the weaker teams with the dual threat but struggle against the better teams. Plus with the running he will be injury prone. So expect Boe to get plenty of action.

Get ready for a poor year then,

 

[AdamOnFirst]

The “Chiles is too turnover prone and isn’t getting better” take I’ve seen is extremely weird to me given… he’s extremely obviously gotten better with turnovers and didn’t have too many last year. Two years he threw 10 picks, last year he threw only 3 and two were while playing hurt against an extremely good Nebraska pass rush and defense. So… like that’s extremely obvious improvement. So what are we talking about here? Find a different critique.

 

[CatManTrue]

The “Chiles is too turnover prone and isn’t getting better” take I’ve seen is extremely weird to me given… he’s extremely obviously gotten better with turnovers and didn’t have too many last year. Two years he threw 10 picks, last year he threw only 3 and two were while playing hurt against an extremely good Nebraska pass rush and defense. So… like that’s extremely obvious improvement. So what are we talking about here? Find a different critique.

It’s called “lazy writing”.

Hopefully Chip Kelly still knows more about running a successful college football offense than every inexperienced internet writer combined.

 

[techtim72]

Get ready for a poor year then,

I have been advocating for a dual threat QB forever so I won't back off on Chiles. He has gotten better and NU should benefit from that particularly with Kelly coaching. I do think, however, that with a running QB comes the potential for more injuries so having a capable backup is even more critical. Ideally the backup is also dual threat. I actually think Boe is a good fit as a No 2.

 

[NU'06er]

I just think it's all speculation until we see Chiles in Kelly's system.

Whether he looked great or terrible elsewhere, or flashed big play capability, or turned the ball over too much, or whatever else -- it's hard to say how much of that is intrinsic to him individually versus how much of it is different system/different talent around him, etc. until we see it translate to the new setting...

(You'd think we'd know this well from the difference between the numbers SMU Preston Stone posted versus what Northwestern Preston Stone did.)

 

[TheC]

I just think it's all speculation until we see Chiles in Kelly's system.

Whether he looked great or terrible elsewhere, or flashed big play capability, or turned the ball over too much, or whatever else -- it's hard to say how much of that is intrinsic to him individually versus how much of it is different system/different talent around him, etc. until we see it translate to the new setting...

(You'd think we'd know this well from the difference between the numbers SMU Preston Stone posted versus what Northwestern Preston Stone did.)

At least Chiles played against the same defenses, so that part won't change. Watching MSU over the past two years, Chiles had much better WRs at MSU, but a worse offensive line. He struggled with pressure, which he was constantly under. The question may really come down to whether our OL is any good this year and whether our WR core improves. They started showing signs later in the season last fall.