The first time I saw Alex Hornibrook drop back in the pocket was roughly 11 months ago.

The redshirt freshman got his first public showing in Wisconsin’s spring game. Fair or unfair, his performance that day would dictate the opinions of many in the Badger quarterback battle debate. Anything less than a stellar performance and public opinion would likely favor senior Bart Houston. Just being average probably wouldn’t be enough for Hornibrook to win the job from a fifth-year veteran.

In the first quarter of the spring game, Hornibrook faced third-and-11. From the shotgun, he took a three-step drop and stepped into the pocket. The southpaw sailed it 54 yards, perfectly in stride for George Rushing, who came down with it in the end zone.

Remember?

That’s when it hit me. This Hornibrook kid is NOT just another game manager.

He can sling it deep and make plays downfield in ways that we don’t usually see from Badger quarterbacks. A guy that can make that kind of play as a redshirt freshman — even in a spring game — cannot just be a handoff machine. He needs the freedom to attack one-on-one matchups deep, just like he did in the spring game.

It’s hard to say what exactly Hornibrook was in his redshirt freshman year. He didn’t kick off the season as the starter and even after he did take over the starting job, Houston relieved him at times. Hornibrook was also banged up at the end the season.

With spring camp kicking off, Hornibrook will enter 2017 as the unquestioned starter. Now, we should really get to see what he’s capable of.

The question many probably have about Hornibrook is his upside. As in, how much upside can a guy have if he plays in a run-first offense? There’s no definitive answer to that today with three years of eligibility left for Hornibrook.

We do know is that in the past decade, Russell Wilson was the only quarterback that starred in Madison. Scott Tolzien and Joel Stave had plenty of success, but the numbers clearly indicate that Wilson was the only quarterback that really got to let it loose for the Badgers.

You’ll notice that in Wilson’s one year in Madison (2011), even he dealt with a run-first offense. So no, you don’y need to throw the ball 60 times a game like Texas Tech to have a productive passing game.