Michigan State Football: Could Brian Lewerke contend for Big Ten’s best QB?

Michigan State football’s Brian Lewerke is coming off a rough season but can he bounce back in 2019 and be the best quarterback in the Big Ten?

Brian Lewerke is one of the most all-around talented quarterbacks to come to East Lansing since former Spartan Drew Stanton. True, there have been four NFL quarterbacks to don the green and white since Stanton. However, Lewerke possesses the dual-threat talent to take Michigan State far in 2019.

After a stellar 2017 campaign where he tossed 20 touchdowns with over 2,700 yards through the air and 559 yards on the ground, it appeared as if Lewerke was poised for an even bigger 2018 season.

However, from the kickoff of the Utah State game, there appeared to be something off with MSU. Spartan fans have grown accustomed to slow starts and remained patient, but with a drowsy loss to Arizona State in Tempe, the reality was clear — this Spartan team is going to struggle.

Lewerke tried as best he could to rise above the offensive line trouble and injuries, but he got hurt in the Penn State game — or somewhere around then. He struggled due to the injury and was replaced by Rocky Lombardi and then he came back. It was a frustrating for him, MSU and for the fans. He did show promise for a better 2019 in the spring game — he had that familiar sharpness on his throws that was missing in 2018.

The quarterback landscape in the Big Ten is a bit shaky now with Penn State’s Tommy Stevens transferring to Mississippi State but Iowa’s Nate Stanley is a strong candidate for the conference’s best after throwing for over 2,800 yards and 26 touchdowns. Northwestern’s Hunter Johnson could end up being pretty good, however, he has yet to take a snap there.

It’s unclear if Purdue’s Elijah Sindelar can put it together for an entire season but having Rondale Moore on your team will provide opportunities for the Boilermakers. Ohio State has a new transfer in the talentedJustin Fields but I’ve been skeptical of his play. When he was at Georgia, they kept it vanilla and did more quarterback runs and he didn’t play particularly well in the spring game. I understand it’s just a spring game, but like Johnson at Northwestern the jury is still out.

While both had hype coming out of high school, they are inexperienced in college football and need to prove themselves.

Michigan’s Shea Patterson comes in as the favorite to be the best in the Big Ten, however, the offense is changing to a more uptempo attack and there could be some growing pains for the Wolverines. Rico Beard on the Spartan Beat podcast pointed out that you need the right offensive linemen in order to speed things up otherwise the big boys up front will get tired. It’ll be interesting to watch this development.

Also, Patterson experienced his best numbers in a more controlled offense versus the wide open one he ran at Ole Miss — he threw more interceptions. He’s the front-runner, for now but there’s another quarterback who could emerge as the best and that would be MSU’s Lewerke. He had a tough 2018 campaign, but he is back and so are his top targets.

My top three in the Big Ten as of right now would be:

1. Michigan’s Shea Patterson
2. Iowa’s Nate Stanley
3. MSU’s Brian Lewerke
4. Northwestern’s Hunter Johnson (based on hype and what Pat Fitzgerald can do with QBs)
5. OSU’s Justin Fields (because he will use his legs more and they will play off that)

Lewerke could be end up being the best, but there are many ‘ifs’ that need to happen and most are out of his control — looking at you, offensive line and Brad Salem.

Who are your top five quarterbacks in the Big Ten?