Alex Padilla has suited up in black and gold for the final time. Padilla announced today that he's entering the transfer portal:
pic.twitter.com/YUsJHVon4o
— Alex Padilla (@APadilla_8) November 29, 2022
As his tweet notes, he's a graduate transfer (congrats on completing your undergraduate degree, Alex!) and he has two years of football eligibility remaining to use at a new school. As a graduate transfer, he'll also be eligible immediately to play at a new school.
Padilla has served as Spencer Petras' primary backup at quarterback for each of the past three seasons. He saw the field in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 seasons, although most of his playing time came in 2021.
| YEAR | COMP | ATT | COMP% | YARDS | AVG | TD | INT | RAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | 2 | 50% | 12 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 100.4 |
| 2021 | 55 | 112 | 49.1% | 636 | 5.7 | 2 | 2 | 99.1 |
| 2022 | 21 | 43 | 48.8% | 173 | 4.0 | 1 | 2 | 81.0 |
He replaced an injured Spencer Petras in the 2021 Northwestern game and went 18/28 for 173 yards (0 TD, 0 INT) in helping lead Iowa past the Wildcats. He also started the next three games (all wins) against Minnesota, Illinois, and Nebraska. While he started the Nebraska game, he did not finish it -- after going 6/14 for 76 yards, Padilla was replaced by Petras, who finished the game for Iowa. Padilla also saw action in the Big Ten Championship Game against Michigan, albeit long after the game had stopped being competitive. His finest game -- in terms of yardage and touchdowns, at least -- came against Minnesota, when he was 11/24 for 206 yards, 2 TD, and zero interceptions.
Padilla and Petras were able to battle for the starting job during spring ball and summer practice, though it's unclear how close that battle was in the eyes of the coaches. Petras began the season as the starting quarterback and took every snap until Padilla replaced him in the second half of Iowa's brutal beating by Ohio State. Unfortunately, Padilla was no better in that game -- he fumbled his first snap and later threw an interception while going 5/10 for 32 yards. His final appearance in an Iowa uniform came just last week, when he again stepped in for an injured Spencer Petras. Unfortunately, Padilla wasn't able to conjure much magic in Iowa's 24-17 loss to Nebraska; he finished 16/33 for 141 yards, a touchdown, and an interception and a lost fumble.
Padilla struggled in many of his on-field appearances for Iowa, though it's not as if the Iowa offense was markedly better when he wasn't on the field, either. A lack of options at wide receiver and poor play at offensive line made things challenging for whoever was at quarterback for Iowa -- to say nothing of the issues with the playcalling and offensive schemes.
This departure does create some question marks for Iowa at the quarterback position, in the short and long term. In the short term, if Spencer Petras isn't recovered from his shoulder injury in time for Iowa's bowl game (whenever and wherever that is), then we'll probably be getting a first glimpse of Joey Labas in an actual game about a month from now. In the longer term, Iowa now has more uncertainty about who will be the quarterback for the 2023 season. Petras was a senior in 2022, though he does have a COVID super-senior year that he could use in 2023 if he chooses to do so. Padilla would have been favored to replace Petras if he departed, but that's no longer an option with this move. If Petras does indeed move on from Iowa after 2022 (which is probably the most likely outcome at this point), then Iowa will be looking at a brand-new quarterback in 2023, either a current underclassmen (like Labas or Carson May), an incoming recruit (Marco Lainez), or (gasp) a new face from the transfer portal. The QB situation will definitely be one of the top offseason storylines for Iowa entering 2023.
We wish Padilla the best as he seeks a new football home and thank him for his efforts over the last three seasons. Good luck and godspeed, Alex.
