Wake Forest Football: Can Kendall Hinton adequately replace John Wolford?

Few expect Wake Forest football to match their eight win season from 2017. Can Kendall Hinton lead them back to contender status in the ACC in 2018?

Wake Forest football is without a doubt one of the most underrated programs in the ACC in the past two years. They’ve emerged as a tough out in the ACC after being one of the teams commonly found at the bottom of the conference standings in the previous five years.

The Demon Deacons finished up with an eight win campaign in 2017, as one of the best results in recent memory for the program. That was largely thanks to the efforts of senior quarterback John Wolford who posted a magnificient stat line in his final year in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wolford tossed 29 touchdowns to only six interceptions, and fell just short of racking up 3,200 passing yards. He also added 10 more touchdowns on the ground. Any quarterback that totals 39 touchdowns with only six picks deserves a ton of respect for their performance.

However, now with Wolford gone, Wake Forest needs to find the next man up. That responsibility is likely to fall to rising senior Kendall Hinton. In limited action last season, Hinton tossed four touchdowns and ran for another. All that while Hinton did not have a single interception.

Hinton will be helped by the return of one of Wake Forest’s leading wide receivers from 2017 in rising redshirt junior Scotty Washington. They also bring back emerging starters on the outside in Tabari Hines, Chuck Wade and Cortez Lewis.

The presence of four returning receivers with solid experience definitely eases the transition for Hinton. Since he didn’t get too much action behind Wolford last year, he’ll need the supporting cast to be at their best. However, Hinton did show the flashes of being able to successfully lead this offense last season.

Hinton displayed some pretty massive progress last season, compared to his first two in Winston-Salem. Before 2017, Hinton had four career passing touchdowns to six interceptions. He tied his career total in passing touchdowns while not managing a single pick in his junior campaign.

And, Hinton has a dual threat aspect to his game that makes him very dangerous outside the pocket. Wolford had a great year running the ball in 2017, but Hinton is more athletic. That’ll help open up the passing game for him too in 2018.

Next: Does Jessie Bates have highest upside of all safeties in draft?

There’s no doubt that replacing Wolford is a tall task for Hinton, or whoever starts the bulk of the 2018 regular season for the Demon Deacons. Hinton shows the signs of being able to lead Wake Forest back to their third consecutive postseason appearance. It’ll be tough for him to go in and immediately match the production levels of Wolford. No one should realistically expect that to happen.