Ranking Big Ten quarterbacks by PFF passing grade through Week 8
It was a wild weekend in the Big Ten this past week, with Illinois somehow taking down Penn State after nine overtimes, and Minnesota thoroughly beating Maryland. But in those two cases, it wasn’t because of the quarterback play.
C.J. Stroud looked incredible, once again, for Ohio State, while Indiana struggles to find a competent backup while Michael Penix Jr. is out with injury. Both Cade McNamara and Ryan Hilinski dinked and dunked on each other in the Michigan football vs. Northwestern game, and Wisconsin let Aidan O’Connell make mistakes while its running game dictated, instead of QB Graham Mertz.
This week presents some giant challenges for some of the marquee teams with Ohio State vs. Penn State and Michigan vs. MSU. But before we can get to Saturday, here is how PFF ranks the Big Ten’s quarterbacks through Week 8.
List
Big Ten power rankings after Week 8: 11 of 14 teams move after crazy week
Artur Sitkowski - Illinois
Photo: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
PFF Grade: 37.1
Context
Sitkowski fell the hardest this week, dropping 10 points according to PFF’s overall ranking. He’s now the lowest-rated quarterback in the conference. Still, Illinois got the win over Penn State, which was highly unexpected.
Jack Tuttle - Indiana
Photo: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
PFF Grade: 41.2
Context
Tuttle followed up his bad performance against Michigan State with an even worse one against Ohio State. He threw the ball only seven times and had four completions. There is no way that the Hoosiers can continue to play him once Penix is healthy.
Ryan Hilinski - Northwestern
Photo: Isaiah Hole
PFF Grade: 52.4
Context
Hilinski went 14-for-29 for 114 yards, with zero touchdowns to an interception against Michigan. Though he had looked better the past two weeks, having to go up against a resurgent Wolverines defense did him no favors. And, actually, his PFF grade rose two points, despite the stats.
Graham Mertz - Wisconsin
Photo: Isaiah Hole
PFF Grade: 53.2
Context
Wisconsin used Mertz very, very sparingly in the win over Purdue, relying more heavily on running backs Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi. Until Mertz regains some confidence and takes better care of the football, he’ll likely be relegated to even lower than game manager at this point. Still, he gained two points in his PFF grade this week.
Brandon Peters - Illinois
Photo: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
PFF Grade: 53.8
Context
Peters is oft-injured and may have just lost the starting job to Artur Sitkowski. Which says a lot about the sixth-year at this juncture, given where Sitkowski stands in this ranking.
Hunter Johnson - Northwestern
Photo: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports
PFF Grade: 55.3
Context
Johnson actually saw a couple of snaps against Michigan and his grade rose by two points. That said, though he’s graded higher by PFF than starter Ryan Hilinski, Northwestern seems intent to stay with the South Carolina transfer.
Noah Vedral - Rutgers
Photo: Isaiah Hole
PFF Grade: 58.4
Context
Vedral and Rutgers were off this week, but they’ll need more from the quarterback position if they are to win three more games and get to bowl eligibility.
Jack Plummer - Purdue
Photo: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
PFF Grade: 67.0
Context
Plummer has been relegated to a secondary role in the Purdue offense, which makes sense, given what Aidan O’Connell has been doing. He’s still seeing the field, albeit sparingly.
Michael Penix Jr. - Indiana
Photo: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
PFF Grade: 67.8
Context
Penix is still sidelined with injury at the moment, and Indiana certainly hopes it can get him back before it travels to Michigan in two weeks.
Sean Clifford - Penn State
Photo: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
PFF Grade: 70.8
Context
Clifford was another one of the biggest fallers this week, having lost four points. He returned to action against Illinois and failed to live up to the lofty standards in Happy Valley, displaying absolutely pedestrian numbers. If Penn State intends on rebounding against Ohio State, it’ll need more out of Clifford this week.
Adrian Martinez - Nebraska
Photo: Isaiah Hole
PFF Grade: 71.3
Context
Martinez and Nebraska were off this week, mercifully, as the Huskers need to figure out how to keep from making mistakes. His numbers are actually quite solid in just about every way, it’s more the timing of the mistakes than anything that’s cost Nebraska.
Tanner Morgan - Minnesota
Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
PFF Grade: 73.7
Context
A week after looking like he had returned to his 2019 form, Morgan went back in his shell a bit. Granted, it didn’t really matter due to the rushing attack and the defense, but he’s still a far cry from the high-end NFL draft pick he had started to appear to be.
Cade McNamara - Michigan
Photo: Isaiah Hole
PFF Grade: 73.8
Context
McNamara’s score fell a good four points this week, as he struggled to hit receivers downfield. He still had decent numbers in terms of completion percentage (he was 20-for-27 against Northwestern) but was only completing 5 yards per completion. For Michigan to win in the back-end of the schedule, it’ll need more production from the quarterback and wide receivers.
Spencer Petras - Iowa
Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras (7) gets set under center Tyler Linderbaum (65) and offensive lineman Kyler Schott (64) lines up during a NCAA non-conference football game against Kent State, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.
PFF Grade: 74.6
Context
Iowa was off this week, which is good news for Spencer Petras as he tries to cleanse himself from his worst performance yet as a starter.
Aidan O'Connell - Purdue
(Nikos Frazier/Journal & Courier via AP)
PFF Grade: 79.8
Context
O’Connell continues to be an interception machine, with 7 touchdowns to 8 interceptions, but clearly PFF is outweighing the positives over the negatives. He’s won the primary starting job in West Lafayette, though they still rotate. But he wasn’t able to recapture the magic as he did against Iowa this past week against Wisconsin.
Payton Thorne - Michigan State
Photo: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
PFF Grade: 81.8
Context
Thorne and Michigan State were off in Week 8, but resume this next week hosting a tough Michigan Wolverines defense. We’ll see if his numbers stay the same, go up, or go down.
Taulia Tagovailoa - Maryland
(AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)
PFF Grade: 87.1
Context
Honestly, not really sure why PFF still has Tagovailoa graded so high, save for his torrid start. The past few weeks, he hasn’t looked like the world-beater he appeared to be, especially as the weapons in his arsenal continue to thin out. His numbers still look good, with 1,949 yards on 70.8% passing, and 15 touchdowns to 8 interceptions. However, mistakes have cost him and the Terps on a weekly basis.
C.J. Stroud - Ohio State
(AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
PFF Grade: 92.4
Context
What more can you say at this juncture about the ascension of redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud? He’s thrown for almost 2,000 yards (and even while missing one game), with 22 touchdowns to 3 interceptions. He’s making good decisions, and even throwing mostly to where only his talented receivers can make a play. He’s head and shoulders above where he was at the beginning of the year.
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