Indiana Football: Big Ten Position Rankings – Penix Jr a top five quarterback?

10. Adrian Martinez – Nebraska

Martinez was great as a freshman and had a lot of experts thinking the Cornhuskers could be a threat in the Big Ten West. They also thought Martinez could be a darkhorse Heisman candidate. Well neither of those things happened as he struggled through his sophomore year and many are wondering if he should even be the starting quarterback. At his best, Martinez can beat you with both his arm and his legs. But he is also very prone to throwing interceptions and killing Cornhusker drives.

9. Rocky Lombardi – Michigan State

Lombardi is replacing Brian Lewerke and will have new head coach in Mel Tucker after Mark Dantonio abruptly resigned before national signing day. Lombardi started three games in 2018 when Lewerke was hurt and many fans were hoping he would be the starting quarterback last year as Lewerke really struggled after strong first year. Lombardi is a dual-threat quarterback that can hurt you just like Nebraska’s Martinez can. The Spartans offense has been bad the last two years, but can it be better with Lombardi leading the offense. We will see but the Spartan fans are excited about him.

8. Peyton Ramsey – Northwestern

Indiana fans are very familiar with Ramsey and it will be weird to see him in the purple uniforms of Northwestern. Ramsey has proven he can be a very good quarterback in the Big Ten, but just hasn’t completely broken through. He still hasn’t shown he can lead a team to victory against the big boys of the conference but has shown he can be very efficient. He was 30th in the country in quarterback efficiency last year. Ramsey immediately makes the Wildcats much better and it will be interesting how he does in the Big Ten West instead of the loaded East.

7. Dylan McCaffrey – Michigan

McCaffrey has looked very good in his limited time at Michigan. He has sat behind Shea Patterson the last two years but probably could have been the starter. He did break his collarbone at the end of his freshman year but showed he can beat you in many different ways. He is very quick and right now is a better version of both Martinez and Lombardi. If Michigan can design their offense around his strengths they could be very dangerous this year and he could be a breakout star.

6. Jack Coan – Wisconsin

Coan was very well last year passing for 2,727 yards and 18 touchdowns and only five interceptions. But he also had Jonathan Taylor next to him and he rushed for 2,003 yards to help out. How will Coan do without the defenses having to key so much on Taylor? Even with his great numbers a lot of experts still thought he was a manager of the game and benefited from Taylor in the offense. Can he duplicate that without a Heisman worthy running back next to him? If he can then Wisconsin could be a playoff contender this year.