The battle for the starting quarterback role for the 2018 Indiana Hoosiers just got more interesting. Former Arizona quarterback and graduate transfer Brandon Dawkins has announced that he will play his final season at Indiana.
B-Town let’s get to work. ⚪️🔴
— Brandon Dawkins (@BDawks) April 11, 2018
As a graduate transfer Dawkins will be eligible to play for the Hoosiers immediately. That will set up an interesting competition for the starting role. Freshman Michael Penix and sophomore Peyton Ramsey were thought to be battling for the top spot prior to Dawkins’ arrival.
Dawkins had this to say about his decision to join the Hoosiers:
“I didn’t see a better fit for me,” Dawkins said. “I could have committed there two weeks ago. There were other schools, but at the end of the day, Indiana definitely showed that they’re interested and they wanted me, they made that clear and apparent. I really respect that about them. They weren’t going to dance around. They genuinely wanted me.”
Dawkins was the starting quarterback for the Wildcats in 2017 before he suffered an injury in week 5. In 23 career games at Arizona, Dawkins passed for 2,414 yards. He completed 56% of his passes and threw 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. As a dual-threat quarterback, Dawkins also ran for 1,582 yards and 20 touchdowns with the Wildcats.
Coming out of Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California, Dawkins was a 4-star prospect according to ESPN and 3-star prospect at Rivals. He signed with Arizona in the summer of 2013. Dawkins will join a recent run of California native quarterbacks that have played at Indiana including Nate Sudfeld and Zander Diamont.
Dawkins’ 2016-17 Highlights
Here is a Dawkins highlight reel. While we aren’t saying he is as gifted as Antwaan Randle El, the Hoosier legend comes to mind in terms of comparing him to former IU quarterbacks.
A Monster Game vs. UTEP
Dawkins had an incredible game in 2017 against UTEP, going 18 of 21 passing, with 185 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also ran 14 times for 133 yards and 3 more touchdowns.
It wasn’t Dawkins, but make sure you also watch the punt return spin-move on this highlight reel.
You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
