Illinois Football: It is simple, Isaiah Williams should start for the Illini

Lovie Smith and the Illinois football program will make a decision this weekend on who the starting quarterback will be against Nebraska.

This is a decision that some people are calling an easy one. Brandon Peters is healthy again, so he should start for the Illini.

I keep hearing that Peters gives Illinois the best chance of winning. The noise is echoing that Isaiah Williams doesn’t have the accuracy, so we should go with the better arm. That same noise is saying you can’t win if you can’t pass the football.

Do you know who else had the same statements being thrown at him?

Lamar Jackson.

Some of you are going to stop reading this article after name dropping Jackson. I am not saying Williams is going to be Jackson, who is a Heisman Trophy winner in college and an MVP winner in the NFL. But the conversation is similar between the two.

Williams was actually a higher rated recruit coming out of high school. The Trinity Catholic star was a four-star and ranked as the No. 116 player in his class while Jackson was a three-star and the No. 409 player in his class.

The talk about Williams coming out of high school was that he should transition to another position. The athletic freak could have played somewhere else, but he is a quarterback at heart and that is why he chose Illinois.

What position did Jackson play in his first start with Louisville?

Running back.

Louisville started 0-3 that season and in the fourth game, the Cardinals got the win with Jackson at quarterback. He ran for 184 yards, which was a Louisville school record at the quarterback position.

Illinois started 0-3 this season and in the fourth game, the Illini got the win with Williams at quarterback. He ran for 192 yards, which is an Illinois school record at the quarterback position.

Are you worried about Williams’ first start because of his passing? The young St. Louis native was 7-of-18 through the air, which comes out to a completion percentage of 38.9-percent. During Jackson’s freshman season, he had multiple games with a lower completion percentage than Williams had in his first start.

Jackson continued to show improvement as a freshman and then had a Heisman Trophy winning sophomore campaign and a sensational junior year at Louisville. A big reason for his development?

The Cardinals gave him reps.

Again, I am not saying Williams is going to end up being Jackson. But I wanted to point out that just because the throwing aspect isn’t on point yet, doesn’t mean you should send him back to the bench.

It seems that Illinois fans even what Williams behind center this weekend against Nebraska. In a short poll the Writing Illini posted on Twitter, 61.4-percent of voters picked Williams as the starter for the Illini compared to only 38.6-percent for Peters.

Peters has a career completion percentage of 54-percent. He isn’t completing passes at a high clip, so why not go with the electric playmaker behind center? Williams’ legs led Illinois to a victory once, and I am sure they would again if he would get a chance.