Is it a big gamble to go into next season without a very experienced QB?

uihawk82 · Jan 24, 2026

Hank Brown played some games at Auburn iirc but Heck doesnt have much playing time.

I am sure OC Lester knows his qbs but practice is one thing vs real game conditions.

Brendan Sullivan played quite a bit at NW and even against Iowa. Cade M had a great season at Mich. Grono had an outstanding career and the coaches knew these guys could do it even though two of them had injury issues.

The coaches have brought in about 5 Dbacks and several linemen.

If there is a QB still in the portal who has a season of college ball under his belt with good stats and video and at least two years of playing time left should the staff try to bring him to Iowa?

Jonesy5960 · Jan 24, 2026

uihawk82 said:
Hank Brown played some games at Auburn iirc but Heck doesnt have much playing time.

I am sure OC Lester knows his qbs but practice is one thing vs real game conditions.

Brendan Sullivan played quite a bit at NW and even against Iowa. Cade M had a great season at Mich. Grono had an outstanding career and the coaches knew these guys could do it even though two of them had injury issues.

The coaches have brought in about 5 Dbacks and several linemen.

If there is a QB still in the portal who has a season of college ball under his belt with good stats and video and at least two years of playing time left should the staff try to bring him to Iowa?

Yes. It is a huge risk.

Next question.

85Bears · Jan 24, 2026

Forget about brown, Heck is the starter and i Think Lester and KF know they have something good. I think Heck will be good but he’s going to have to take care of the ball and not gamble too much.

Wobmam Rulez! · Jan 24, 2026

How does someone gain experience without playing?

DukeSlater · Jan 24, 2026

uihawk82 said:
Hank Brown played some games at Auburn iirc but Heck doesnt have much playing time.

I am sure OC Lester knows his qbs but practice is one thing vs real game conditions.

Brendan Sullivan played quite a bit at NW and even against Iowa. Cade M had a great season at Mich. Grono had an outstanding career and the coaches knew these guys could do it even though two of them had injury issues.

The coaches have brought in about 5 Dbacks and several linemen.

If there is a QB still in the portal who has a season of college ball under his belt with good stats and video and at least two years of playing time left should the staff try to bring him to Iowa?

No. Learning Lester's offense takes time. I don't like that, but it's a fact. So as MG demonstrated, even a kid who started for four years and won national titles and did about everything you can do as a QB looked like a freshman most of the season. He was coming off an injury and missed spring ball. He was still learning the offense right up to the bowl game. Knowing Lester's offense is more important than experience, at least that's what the evidence tells me.

So I'm not concerned about Hecklinski's lack of playing time. Instead, I'm enthused because he knows the Lester offense and, from what little we've seen and been told, he has some talent. That combination works for me much better than bringing in a new guy and trying to force feed him the offense. It hasn't worked so far, although MG did the best he could under the circumstances.

MeetTheFerentzes · Jan 24, 2026

This is a "show-me" season for Lester. He's had fine results since arriving, but this will be the first season that he is depending on a QB that he has actually developed himself. No matter who the guy is this fall, it will one of his 3 hand-picked guys that he's had over a year to groom; unequivocally a "Lester QB." I would find a significant dropoff at QB to be quite a concern. Let's hope that he and his guy come through....

HawksRule73 · Jan 24, 2026

All the guys we got in the portal, plus Heck, have multiple years. In addition, this was our best recruiting class in years. I don’t have huge expectations the next 2 years, but 2028 is the year. No michigan, OSU, Oregon, or Indiana. Away is MSU, Purdue, Minn, PSU, and USC…with home games against ISU, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers, and Wisconsin plus 2 scrubs.

That’s the year I’m pointing to.

MeetTheFerentzes · Jan 24, 2026

HawksRule73 said:
All the guys we got in the portal, plus Heck, have multiple years. In addition, this was our best recruiting class in years. I don’t have huge expectations the next 2 years, but 2028 is the year. No michigan, OSU, Oregon, or Indiana. Away is MSU, Purdue, Minn, PSU, and USC…with home games against ISU, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers, and Wisconsin plus 2 scrubs.

That’s the year I’m pointing to.

I've never been one to wait around for an easy schedule. The B1G is full of blue-bloods, and I want the Hawkeyes playing them. I would hope the players and coaches feel the same. Besides, history shows that Iowa under KF tends to play up to or down to their competition, and their best seasons have happened when they've had difficult schedules, not easy ones (2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2019 2025). 2015 was a fun season, but Iowa truly earned the "fake ID" moniker.

That 2028 home schedule is awful. Most of home schedules during the B1G West years were better than that. They should discount season tickets.

HawksRule73 · Jan 24, 2026

MeetTheFerentzes said:
I've never been one to wait around for an easy schedule. The B1G is full of blue-bloods, and I want the Hawkeyes playing them. I would hope the players and coaches feel the same. Besides, history shows that Iowa under KF tends to play up to or down to their competition, and their best seasons have happened when they've had difficult schedules, not easy ones (2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2019 2025). 2015 was a fun season, but Iowa truly earned the "fake ID" moniker.

That 2028 home schedule is awful. Most of home schedules during the B1G West years were better than that. They should discount season tickets.

Good point about playing up or down to competition. Hopefully that means CFP this year then!

HMB Trumpet · Jan 24, 2026

DukeSlater said:
No. Learning Lester's offense takes time. I don't like that, but it's a fact. So as MG demonstrated, even a kid who started for four years and won national titles and did about everything you can do as a QB looked like a freshman most of the season. He was coming off an injury and missed spring ball. He was still learning the offense right up to the bowl game. Knowing Lester's offense is more important than experience, at least that's what the evidence tells me.

So I'm not concerned about Hecklinski's lack of playing time. Instead, I'm enthused because he knows the Lester offense and, from what little we've seen and been told, he has some talent. That combination works for me much better than bringing in a new guy and trying to force feed him the offense. It hasn't worked so far, although MG did the best he could under the circumstances.

This sounds right to me. Plus, we've seen inexperienced guys become successful in their initial seasons as starters. Drew Tate, Ricky Stanzi, and Nate Stanley come to mind.

shrinkhawk · Jan 24, 2026

Maybe it is an overblown worry, but one relative concern is Heck is "only" 5ft 11.
He may have swag, smarts and be a great leader but stats are stats...very few starting Division I QBs historically are less than 6ft.
If he overcomes that measurable, like Bryce Young or Kyler Murray,...kudos to him. Certainly rooting for him to succeed.

NWHawk33 · Jan 24, 2026

It's a risk but it's needed at some point. Look how many holes we filled in the portal. We don't sign nearly as many quality guys as we did if we had to pay another QB a billion dollars.

r_desihawk · Jan 24, 2026

gronowski was a outstanding qb once he got comfortable but he was kind of pathetic the first 4 or so games. so lester’s approach of going with a qb already steeped for a year in his offense to start the season is rational.
second, the 2025 iowa defense did outperform preseason expectations and ended with a decent ranking but imo they were simply not in the same class as the defenses of 2021-23.
i suspect that the staff wants to pair a reasonably good offense with a lethal/elite (as in top 5) defense. so at this point investing in defense and supporting offensive pieces rather than a new stud at qb appears to be well thought out.
even on this board many of us have wanted to see exactly this for a while.
maybe as a result of just sticking with qbs already in the system we’ll finally get to see a good offense underpinned by a killer defense. that’s what i am hoping for anyway

UIAlumFireFighter · Jan 24, 2026

Wobmam Rulez! said:
How does someone gain experience without playing?

Yes, but counting on him to be a #1 QB from the get-go after only having TWO pass attempts prior is a huge risk. We've seen this story before where a guy apparently crushes it at practice but then craps the bed in the games. Then they stick with said quarterback hoping he improves throughout the season, sacrificing multiple losses in the process. And then there you have it, another season resulting in the Hawkeyes out of post-season significance.

Brad Banks seemingly came out of nowhere in 2002 and I certainly had that thought/opinion but he had 68 pass attempts during the 2001 season.

Two pass attempts?

Here's to hoping he's truly ready to take the reigns of a Big Ten football team!

UIAlumFireFighter · Jan 24, 2026

HawksRule73 said:
All the guys we got in the portal, plus Heck, have multiple years. In addition, this was our best recruiting class in years. I don’t have huge expectations the next 2 years, but 2028 is the year. No michigan, OSU, Oregon, or Indiana. Away is MSU, Purdue, Minn, PSU, and USC…with home games against ISU, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers, and Wisconsin plus 2 scrubs.

That’s the year I’m pointing to.

The "win now" approach is the new way of life. I couldn't care less if a player is at Iowa for 3 years, 2 years, or 1 year. Why? Because if Iowa portals a guy that ends up having a stand-out season (The Goal), he's going to leave when offered more cheddar.

Win. Now.

Heathen Raider · Jan 24, 2026

uihawk82 said:
Hank Brown played some games at Auburn iirc but Heck doesnt have much playing time.

I am sure OC Lester knows his qbs but practice is one thing vs real game conditions.

Brendan Sullivan played quite a bit at NW and even against Iowa. Cade M had a great season at Mich. Grono had an outstanding career and the coaches knew these guys could do it even though two of them had injury issues.

The coaches have brought in about 5 Dbacks and several linemen.

If there is a QB still in the portal who has a season of college ball under his belt with good stats and video and at least two years of playing time left should the staff try to bring him to Iowa?

Every public film of Brown shows a bad QB if Iowa is counting on Him Iowa is screwed , At least the brief Heck playing time and film shows a Guy who has skills

Palmerhawk · Jan 24, 2026

Actually, Iowa has a history of rookie qbs playing well initially but tailing off in later years.
Stanzi,Vandenberg,beathard,stanley,petrus were all better their 1st years, then not as good, due to injury( cj), or caution.
Drew Tate was a short gunslinger from the southern year round passing leagues and he came in fearlessly firing away.
Hopefully heck is Tate 2.0.

85Bears · Jan 24, 2026

Heathen Raider said:
Every public film of Brown shows a bad QB if Iowa is counting on Him Iowa is screwed , At least the brief Heck playing time and film shows a Guy who has skills

he had some stretches where he played pretty well at Auburn.

Heathen Raider · Jan 24, 2026

85Bears said:
he had some stretches where he played pretty well at Auburn.

In between always defaulting late to the flat and barely escaping the multiple pick 6s against lower level Teams, go back and watch the films for those tendencies and also watch His Iowa exposure . He is a backup and probably no better than a 3 at a decent P4 program ,

squeezebox_1 · Jan 24, 2026

Heathen Raider said:
Every public film of Brown shows a bad QB if Iowa is counting on Him Iowa is screwed , At least the brief Heck playing time and film shows a Guy who has skills

Honestly, If Heck goes down, I am on board with Sullivan. He didn't show accuracy, but at the very least has wheels. We are doomed if Brown sees meaningful time at QB.

85Bears · Jan 24, 2026

squeezebox_1 said:
Honestly, If Heck goes down, I am on board with Sullivan. He didn't show accuracy, but at the very least has wheels. We are doomed if Brown sees meaningful time at QB.

Maybe , Brown has lacked poise, he had flashes at Auburn where he looked good. Probably a confidence issue. i Don’t know if he can get comfortable and settle down or not

squeezebox_1 · Jan 24, 2026

85Bears said:
Maybe , Brown has lacked poise, he had flashes at Auburn where he looked good. Probably a confidence issue. i Don’t know if he can get comfortable and settle down or not

I do want to say he was young, but those flashes were against Alabama A&M and New Mexico. He was exposed against Arkansas. IMO he doesn't look any different in an Iowa uniform.

Lionhawk85 · Jan 24, 2026

I sort of think it could be low risk, high reward.

Mediocre play by Hecklinski and/or Brown will very likely be good enough for 7 to 8 wins. But above average to good or very good likely equals playoff contention to playoff qualification.

not spending big on a QB allowed us to fill holes and focus on retention/depth that would have been unlikely with a huge chunk tied up into one player. And tying a huge NIL commitment into one QB puts a lot of eggs in one basket with injury (as we’ve already frustrating experienced) and also a risk of the QB not grasping the offense as quickly or effectively as we need.

I think the staff is banking on Heck or Brown capitalizing on more time in the offense and if they hit on just a few of the new players that all seem to have good upside, that aggregate positive will be higher than banking on one QB from the portal.

could be wrong, of course, but that’s my take (hope!!)

85Bears · Jan 24, 2026

squeezebox_1 said:
I do want to say he was young, but those flashes were against Alabama A&M and New Mexico. He was exposed against Arkansas. IMO he doesn't look any different in an Iowa uniform.

I watched him fill on for auburn, qb was injured, and he looked pretty decent for a freshman. this was before Iowa had any interest, imo he has some tools but gets rattled, has had confidence issues. It’s not really true to say he’s sucked in every opportunity in his young career. I get that he won’t be forgiven for the bad pass against IU until,he redeems hImyself.

if he ever settles down and gets focused he has some ability, that’s why he was signed

85Bears · Jan 24, 2026

Lionhawk85 said:
I sort of think it could be low risk, high reward.

Mediocre play by Hecklinski and/or Brown will very likely be good enough for 7 to 8 wins. But above average to good or very good likely equals playoff contention to playoff qualification.

not spending big on a QB allowed us to fill holes and focus on retention/depth that would have been unlikely with a huge chunk tied up into one player. And tying a huge NIL commitment into one QB puts a lot of eggs in one basket with injury (as we’ve already frustrating experienced) and also a risk of the QB not grasping the offense as quickly or effectively as we need.

I think the staff is banking on Heck or Brown capitalizing on more time in the offense and if they hit on just a few of the new players that all seem to have good upside, that aggregate positive will be higher than banking on one QB from the portal.

could be wrong, of course, but that’s my take (hope!!)

TEam looks solid , o line questions I trust the coaches, skill positions look great, linebackers and secondary will be good. Question for this team that I can see is d line, specifically DT.

85Bears · Jan 24, 2026

rchawk · Jan 25, 2026

squeezebox_1 said:
Honestly, If Heck gges down, I am on board with Sullivan. He didn't show accuracy, but at the very least has wheels. We are doomed if Brown sees meaningful time at QB.

Judgements against Brown seem to be based on half a dozen plays in the Indiana game.

Hawk_4shur · Jan 25, 2026

Not a risk. The risk would be paying $$$ for a QB that doesn't learn the offense or gets hurt.

93hawkeye · Jan 25, 2026

QB play is very important, but KF's teams succeed or fail with the defensive line. And the Hawks just lost a bunch of experience there.

squeezebox_1 · Jan 25, 2026

rchawk said:
Judgements against Brown seem to be based on half a dozen plays in the Indiana game.

Na, I’ve been saying it since watching his auburn film and spring practice last year. The Indiana game just cemented it.

HawkInDenver · Jan 25, 2026

Lots of good comments in this thread.

I don't think its a big gamble to be starting a new QB, especially if they have a year or two of practice to learn the system.

Yes, the portal makes it possible to find a new experienced guy every year; but it was / is not uncommon to start a young inexperienced guy with no meaningful playing experience. They, of course, take lots of reps in practice and most teams will have some "tune-up" games against lesser competition to start the season.

OnlyTheObscure · Jan 25, 2026

Unless you plan on poaching a two year starter from another school all the time it’s going to happen.

Herky T Hawk · Jan 25, 2026

Yes it is a gamble. But the bigger gamble would be bringing in another QB that is injured already and misses spring practice. A healthy dude that can prepare with a full playbook will be big for us.

Max Rebo · Jan 25, 2026

Is it a gamble? Yes. But that’s sports. There’s never a guarantee.

While the portal theoretically makes it possible to grab an experienced QB every off-season, doing so runs the risk of missing on a great QB that you might be developing in your program. Think of guys like Chuck Long, Chuck Hartlieb, Matt Rodgers, Brad Banks, and Drew Tate. Once upon a time, each was a brand-new starter, with limited in-game experience. Had the portal existed during their time, and if the mentality had been to always choose an experienced player from the portal over an inexperienced guy in the program, none of these all-B1G QBs would have ever seen the field.

Besides that, even taking a guy out of the portal carries risk. The guy might be injured. He might have to miss spring practice. He might be a narcissistic head-case who quits on his team. And honestly, had Iowa gone to the portal for a starting QB, there’s a reasonable chance that both Hecklinski and Brown would have transferred out. That would have left Jimmy Sullivan as the top backup, one snap away from being thrust into action. Talk about taking a gamble.

AndreTheHawk · Jan 25, 2026

Jonesy5960 said:
Yes. It is a huge risk.

Next question.

Just like the 6 million previous times it's happened in College Football history. Yawn.

QChawks · Jan 25, 2026

All the QB has to do is hand off the ball and not get sacked

uihawk82 · Jan 25, 2026

squeezebox_1 said:
Na, I’ve been saying it since watching his auburn film and spring practice last year. The Indiana game just cemented it.

I hope he brown ups his game a lot and pushes Heck. If heck is good but brown come back to beat him out as starter then that is the best we have

I assume that Lester sees better footwork and passing from Heck, more able to run the RPO and keep the ball on occasion, maybe Heck is better leader in the huddle also

Iron Doc · Jan 25, 2026

uihawk82 said:
Hank Brown played some games at Auburn iirc but Heck doesnt have much playing time.

I am sure OC Lester knows his qbs but practice is one thing vs real game conditions.

Brendan Sullivan played quite a bit at NW and even against Iowa. Cade M had a great season at Mich. Grono had an outstanding career and the coaches knew these guys could do it even though two of them had injury issues.

The coaches have brought in about 5 Dbacks and several linemen.

If there is a QB still in the portal who has a season of college ball under his belt with good stats and video and at least two years of playing time left should the staff try to bring him to Iowa?

Just don't bring in ANOTHER damaged goods QB!!!

MeetTheFerentzes · Jan 25, 2026

squeezebox_1 said:
Na, I’ve been saying it since watching his auburn film and spring practice last year. The Indiana game just cemented it.

This is where I am, too, regarding Brown. Hope we're wrong, but most fans in my circle consider him Petras 2.0. Lester is the big difference compared to the Petras era, though, so that could be a big difference.

oldxbbc · Jan 25, 2026

Everyone thinks a little different. I just have positive vibes about Hecklinsi and at this point am glad he will be around for more than one year!

Is it a big gamble to go into next season without a very experienced QB?

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