Will this be the final thing I will write for The Daily Iowan regarding the Iowa football team’s whirlwind of a quarterback situation? One can hope.

Ever since three-year starter Nate Stanley graduated after the 2019 season, the Hawkeyes have had their fair share of inconsistent quarterback play. Spencer Petras has started 19 games over the past two seasons — including in the Big Ten Championship Game and Citrus Bowl last season — although his play at times has pushed the Iowa fanbase to the brink. For better or worse, I think Petras will be Iowa’s starting quarterback for the 2022 season.

Now, this is nothing against Petras personally. He is among the most insightful and comedic athletes I’ve talked to. But his performance on the field in his two years as a starter has been mediocre at best. He has a 57.2 career completion percentage and a 19-14 TD-INT ratio.

Heading into spring practice, Petras was the top quarterback on Iowa’s depth chart. That doesn’t necessarily mean much. Alex Padilla, who started three games last season, will have a chance to earn the starting job. Redshirt freshman Joey Labas will, too. But Padilla was quickly sent back to the bench when Petras recovered from an injury last season. And Labas is inexperienced, although has been reported to look good in practice.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz doubled down on his offense earlier this offseason by making offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz quarterbacks coach. I think Iowa will do the same by sticking with Petras as starting quarterback next season.