Greg McElroy loves Iowa’s fit with Cade McNamara at quarterback

Greg McElroy is a fan of Cade McNamara’s fit in Iowa as the Hawkeyes’ new quarterback following his transfer from Michigan.

McNamara came in at No. 4 in the Big Ten quarterback rankings, according to McElroy. However, McNamara is not going to be the type of signal caller that’ll be a huge game changer, according to the analyst.

But he provides upside for the Hawkeyes.

“This is a bird in the hand type of pick for me,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Some people don’t necessarily love the upside. I personally love that he’s going to be pushed into an offense that is about ball control, but he has at times put the team on his back but he needs a good solid run game. He needs a good supporting cast. 

“Both those things are a little bit up in the air with Iowa based on what they did last year. However, I do think he’s probably the best Iowa quarterback that’s suited up in quite a while, it’s been a minute since they’ve had a guy that has played this much football and high level football.” 

J.J. McCarthy beat out McNamara last season after the two split starts early on. The writing was on the wall for McNamara’s transfer.

As a starter, leading Michigan to a Big Ten title in 2021, McNamara finished with 2,576 yards, 15 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 64.2% completion percentage.

“He’s not going to be a guy that can take over the game,” McElroy said. “He’s going to be a guy that gets you from point A to point B without any speed bumps along the way. He’s a steady, solid game manager with underrated mobility. And I think in that offense, he can be the, probably, best version of Iowa’s offense, if that’s saying something. (Cade) can kind of accelerate that offense in a certain way. So I’m a big believer in Cade McNamara. 

“He didn’t lose the job to J.J. McCarthy because he played poorly. He got beat out by a guy that just has a higher ceiling and understandably that guy was a little younger too. So Cade McNamara was the odd man out. He gets a fresh start at Iowa where I think he’ll have a really nice season.”

As a member of the Class of 2019, McNamara was a four-star recruit out of Reno (Nev.) Damonte Ranch, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 overall prospect in the state, the No. 13 quarterback in the class and the No. 278 overall prospect in the class.