How Jackson Stratton went from Iowa’s long-term development project to short-term fix at QB

IOWA CITY — Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester was “kind of down in the dumps” when looking at the transfer portal options at quarterback in the spring.

“I was all excited for it to open up, and it opened up, and there weren’t a lot of names on it,” Lester said. “Very, very limited amount of people that I was interested in that actually had playing time.”

(Iowa did end up getting Brendan Sullivan from Northwestern, but “Sully had a lot of options,” so that was no guarantee.)

Wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr had an idea, though.

“He’s like, ‘Hey, you’ve developed quarterbacks your whole life,’” Lester said. “He’s like, ‘Why don’t you watch all those guys that are on it, their high school film, and maybe develop one.’”

The outcome of Budmayr’s suggestion (and Lester’s subsequent search for a quarterback to develop) was Jackson Stratton — the ex-Colorado State quarterback who has gone from fourth-string walk-on to Iowa’s anticipated starter this week against Maryland.

Lester “literally watched every guy in the portal that had never played” during the spring. By the time he got to Stratton — a 6-foot-5 quarterback from Mission Bay, Calif., who played sparingly at Colorado State — Lester “loved his film.”

“If he was in high school, which he’s not, but if he was in high school, I would have recruited him off that high school film,” Lester said.

Much of what appeals to Lester about his long-term development project stems from Stratton being a “natural thrower.”

“The ball comes out with unbelievable tempo and spin rate,” Lester said.

His off-the-field attributes surely did not hurt either.

“He works hard; he’s eager to learn,” his teammate Sullivan said earlier this month. “Always asking questions. Got a really strong arm and can sling it pretty well.”

But what once appeared to be a long-term development project has, by necessity, turned into a short-term fix.

Jackson Stratton is Iowa’s expected starting QB against Maryland

Former team captain Cade McNamara’s status puzzlingly is in doubt almost a month after his concussion against Northwestern, and Sullivan is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with an ankle injury. Marco Lainez has returned, but he is less than a month out from a hand injury that required surgery.

Recommended Reading

Quarterback mystery wheel keeps spinning round and round at Iowa, especially this week

Ferentz said during his Tuesday news conference Stratton would be Iowa’s starting quarterback “if we were playing right now” and reiterated that position during his Wednesday radio show.

That leaves Iowa with an expected starter who has 44 collegiate snaps in his career, according to Pro Football Focus. (It’s quite the contrast from McNamara’s 1,606 career snaps and Sullivan’s 739.)

“There’s no replacement for reps,” Lester said during last week’s bye. “And he hasn’t gotten a lot. So would I be confident? No. I’d be encouraged because I know the human being and I know how he’s worked at it.”

Ferentz is a “heck of a lot more comfortable” with Stratton than he was maybe a week earlier.

“I'm not saying this in a negative way toward Jackson at all, but he hadn't gotten any reps,” Ferentz said during his Tuesday news conference. “Once we started doing game prep, two guys get the reps, and (McNamara and Sullivan) was obviously the first two guys.”

Stratton now has the relative luxury of two weeks of practice to further acclimate to Iowa’s first-team offense and get familiar with his center.

“He’s got bigger hands, so I got more room with the snaps and whatnot,” Logan Jones said with a smile. “So he feels pretty good under there, probably my favorite.”

Jackson Stratton’s limited college experience

The only other time Stratton got his hands on in-game experience was when he was a true freshman at Colorado State in 2022. He went 4-of-17 with one touchdown and two interceptions in four games.

“It got me some game time experience, even if maybe I wasn’t exactly ready for it at the time,” Stratton told The Gazette in June shortly after his commitment to the Hawkeyes. “I felt like that experience was invaluable.”

Two years later, Stratton seemed better prepared for the opportunity against UCLA, completing 3 of 6 passes for 28 yards and scrambling for a 14-yard gain as well.

“I thought he did a really admirable job for a guy who has not had a lot of work,” Ferentz said. “I thought he did a good job. He can throw it, seemed composed.”

It also was a symbolic full-circle moment, as Lester visited Stratton 100-some miles south of the Rose Bowl in the San Diego area about six months earlier. Now, the 6-foot-5 quarterback could be a QB1 in the Big Ten.

“I was just teasing him about did you ever think you'd be playing in the Rose Bowl this year,” Ferentz said. “He had to admit that was kind of a far-fetched thing certainly.”

  Buy Photo

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

Sign up for our curated Iowa Hawkeyes athletics newsletter at thegazette.com/hawks.