The Illinois football team doesn’t have a quarterback controversy right now.
I think the statement above is a fact because there hasn’t been any inclination from the coaching staff of a change, and Lovie Smith hasn’t exactly been the type of coach to make a quarterback change. With that being said, it seems that some of the Illinois fanbase would like to see a shift with the quarterback position.
In a short poll on Twitter conducted by the Writing Illini, I posed the question; who do you want as the Illini starting quarterback for the rest of the season, all quarterbacks being healthy? The four options for this poll included Brandon Peters, Matt Robinson, Isaiah Williams and Coran Taylor. The results didn’t shock me but the percentages did.
The poll came back with an overwhelming 68-percent in favor of Williams shedding his redshirt – assuming they were redshirting him – and taking over the starting quarterback role on the team. The No. 2 in the poll was Peters at 16-percent, followed by Taylor at 9-percent and Robinson at 6-percent. Of course, there are some statistical flaws here with only 433 votes.
Who do you want as the #Illini starting QB for the rest of the season? (All QB's being healthy)
— Writing Illini (@WritingIlliniFS) October 7, 2019
I figured Williams was going to come back with the most votes to be the starter. He came in from the class of 2019 with so much hype. He won at the high school level and could bring that to Illinois. He is also electric with his feet and has a cannon for an arm. But I didn’t expect him to bring in 68-percent of the vote. I thought it would be closer between him and Peters for the starting job.
Obviously, Lovie is going to go with Peters when he is fully healthy. I expect Robinson to continue being the backup this season, and Williams will, likely, take a redshirt and be a freshman again in 2020. That is the probable course of action when it comes to the quarterback position. But I think the fanbase is ready to see the young guns. I think we want someone who can come in and create a spark for this offense. That someone is Isaiah Williams.