TJ Green will return for sixth season at Northwestern

Massive news out of Evanston on a Wednesday evening in the middle of January.

Northwestern quarterback TJ Green officially announced via Twitter that he has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and will stay in Evanston for one final ride. The former walk-on received a medical redshirt after missing virtually the entire 2019 season due to a foot injury suffered in the third quarter of Northwestern’s season opener at Stanford.

Green’s name became a popular one this past offseason as he emerged as a legitimate challenger to five-star transfer Hunter Johnson for the starting job after the graduation of Clayton Thorson. He had seen some action before due to Thorson’s ACL rehab, but it seemed as if he had a real shot at the starting job last season before going down with an injury.

He was 6-for-10 with 62 yards against Stanford before going down with an injury. Green could only sit on the sidelines and watch as Northwestern cycled between three starting quarterbacks for the rest of the season, stumbling to a 3-9 overall record and its worst season in quite some time.

We’ll have plenty of analysis later about what this means for Northwestern’s quarterback situation moving forward, but for now, we should appreciate how awesome this announcement is.

Green has been a staple and leader on this roster for the past five seasons, and last year should have been his shot to finally crack into the starting job but a horribly unfortunate injury derailed any hope of that. Now, after a long road to rehab, he’s getting one final shot to don the NU uniform and create a legacy for himself.

Brace yourselves for another juicy quarterback competition this offseason.