Northwestern Football: Can Hunter Johnson elevate this offense?
By Daniel Smyth
Northwestern football will look to improve upon one of its most successful seasons ever. In order to do so, it will need to rely on Hunter Johnson.
For four consecutive seasons, Clayton Thorson was the general of the Northwestern offense.
During his time with the Wildcats he started 53 consecutive games, led them to multiple 10-win seasons and set multiple school passing records.
Thorson’s career ended on a high note, leading the Wildcats to a Big Ten West division title (they would lose to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship) and a Holiday Bowl victory over Utah.
With Thorson now playing for the Philadelphia Eagles there is a void at the quarterback position. Can Hunter Johnson, a former five-star recruit and Clemson transfer, be the man to take control of this offense?
The former Clemson star showed promise during his time with the team. During his freshman season Johnson passed for 234 yards, two touchdowns and completed 78.8 percent of his throws, in garbage time.
His best performance came against The Citadel where he completed seven of his eight passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. He was able to show off his big arm that day.
In addition to a strong-arm, Johnson was also able to show off his accuracy and game management skills against Wake Forest. That day Johnson went 5-for-5 for 42 yards and a touchdown against the Demon Deacons.
Certainly Johnson showed some great upside during his time with Clemson, and it is clear he has all the tools necessary to be successful at Northwestern.
Ultimately, it did not workout for Johnson because Kelly Bryant beat him in a quarterback competition to be the starter his freshman year. With Trevor Lawrence arriving on campus a year later Clemson’s quarterback room was too crowded, plain and simple.
Despite the rocky start to his collegiate career, Johnson has a chance to be a special quarterback for Northwestern. In fact, the Wildcats have never had a quarterback as highly rated as him.
Entering 2019 as the favorite to start for the first time Hunter Johnson should be able to replicate Thorson’s production from last season, at minimum.
Pat Fitzgerald had an entire year to prepare Johnson for his spread offense due to the NCAA transfer rules that required the Johnson to sit out 2018. With a year to learn mixed with his talent the sky is the limit for Johnson.
The 2019 season will finally be Johnson’s time to shine.