USC Gamecock fan here. I really was disappointed when Hilinski transferred and felt like he was a steal for you guys. Was eager to see him play up there this year. Is there any scoop on why he lost out to Johnson? Not up to speed with the offense yet? Just not good enough? Lazy? Too slow?
What's the scoop on Hilinski?
- Thread starter GarnetBeamer
- Start date
A year in the system and 3 years in the program plus elite physical tools…if it has really clicked for him, watch out.
I don't think we really know. We are hoping that it is because Johnson is reaching his potential (making his reads quickly) plus he is a a dual threat QB. As of today, Hilinski is the favorite to start in 2022.
The competition was really close. Both guys appear to be great friends (roommates with the center). I think most of us fans expected it to be Hilinski but the story is that Johnson has really been throwing the ball well, is a little more mobile and knows the system better.
Most fans that post here really like both QBs and look forward to Hilinski starting the next two years. Right now we are pretty excited about our QB situation with little evidence.
Pretty much going to echo what others said. We aren't 100% sure, but sounds like Hunter Johnson (former 5 star that transferred to NU a few years back from Clemson) has made big strides and they decided to go with his experience. Would be interesting to see what would happen if Johnson gets hurt or struggles- we have another QB (Andrew Marty) who has been in the system for several years. Hope we don't find out because Johnson does well and stays healthy, but wouldn't be shocked if Marty would be second man up at this point.
All that said, would be shocked if Hilinski isn't the starter the next two years. We're all very optimistic about his future with the Cats. Think it's just a situation this year where he lost out to a more experienced guy who has every bit the physical tools he has.
The consensus among NU fans when Hilinski announced he was transferring was that he was afavorite to start but not a lock. NU has two experienced upperclassmen and Hilinski had the added disadvantage of missing most of spring practice. He needs time to get familiar with the system but I wouldn’t rule out him playing this year and certainly is the favorite to start next year.
Let's hope that the preseason games give all three a chance to play (meaning we are up enough). This is something that Fitz and company did not really do to much with McCall as OC. I would like to see HJ do well enough we are happy with him through this year but also good to get the others enough experience that they are not like deer in headlights
I think most teams do this - keeping the starter in forever - and we are worse (?) than most because we are in so many close games. No 'garbage time' in most games
I don’t think that’s something you will see Fitz do with Bajakian as OC either. None of the guys in the running for starting QB had a ton of snaps under their belt, need to make sure they can actually get the team through the B1G schedule.
No it sounds like he did really good, but Hunter is also an elite talent and finally figured it out. The future is still bright for Ryan.
Besides what others have already said about experience and one-year under the OC's system, it wasn't a coincidence that he was named starter on the same day that the starting RB Porter was announced as out for the season. HJ was a track star in HS in Indiana and is pretty fast. If there's any knock on Helinski, it's his relative lack of mobility.
PS: from what I saw at practice, HJ doesn't really give up much, if anything at all, in arm strength to Hilinski. Others who attend more practices than me have told me they've seen the same. I'm excited to see HJ under a workable offensive system. I was very excited to see that he took all of the snaps against a live defense - no sharing as in past years.
PPS: A thing heard at practice about Bajakian's system versus McCall's: Mick's was hard to learn and easy to defend against. Jake's is easy to learn but hard to defend against. Love that.
PS: from what I saw at practice, HJ doesn't really give up much, if anything at all, in arm strength to Hilinski. Others who attend more practices than me have told me they've seen the same. I'm excited to see HJ under a workable offensive system. I was very excited to see that he took all of the snaps against a live defense - no sharing as in past years.
PPS: A thing heard at practice about Bajakian's system versus McCall's: Mick's was hard to learn and easy to defend against. Jake's is easy to learn but hard to defend against. Love that.
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Not to disagree with you but why would it ever be that way? and I hope you are right.
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