Remember Matt Barkley

I know it is always fashionable to try and say the newest players need to play right away, but it is unfair to ask for freshman QB Jalen Grenew to play next season. Remember how Matt Barkley struggled as a true freshman? Or how quickly Lane Kiffin dumped Max Browne from the QB derby last year?

Maybe Greene can play in special situations but don’t get your hopes up. It’s unfair to him.

28 thoughts on “Remember Matt Barkley

  1. I don’t think anyone expects Grenew to play next season, since no one by that name will be on the roster.

    Even still, Gargamel stumbled upon a fascinating find – true freshmen tend to not be as good as an experienced upperclassmen. I’m guessing that no one has posited this theorem before today.

  2. I think it’s unfair we must endure posts like these. I would suggest not hoping that the quality of reporting will get better, that would be unfair to Wolfy.

  3. The difference is Barkley had to play as a Freshman as we had no real talent at QB, whereas next year we have an established starter plus a very good redshirt. If Greene does play, it will surely not be QB.

    Now one could argue that Carroll put himself in the position that Barkley was the starter by default as he seemed to under-recruit at QB for the previous years knowing the Barkley was likely coming. Sark will not make that mistake.

    • Me thinks the fact Mark Sanchez surprisingly decided to jump to the NFL after only starting one year had a little something to do with PC playing Barks as a freshman instead as a Sophomore. Sanchez tore PC up with his decision.

    • Didn’t PC have Corp, Mustain, and Barkley as reserves for who he thought was going to be his starter…Sanchez? He also went hard after Clausen in 2007 w/Sark his chief recruiter.

      • Clausen was a waste, as evidenced. I have always thought they screwed Barkley up putting him out as a freshman. Funny thing was, Mustain had a track record, he didn’t do bad before coming to USC. I thought he could have carried them.

      • Corp and Mustain were no-shows and these evaluations ultimately proved correct with the nonsuccess of both. I thought Mustain would come to USC and step right in but he never saw the light of day.

        • You stated that PC “under recruited at QB the previous years”. I stand corrected but didn’t USC have four 5* QB’s (per Scout) eligible to play the 2009 season? Sanchez, Corp, Mustain, Barkley plus 3* dual-threat QB Green? Whether they turned out successful or not is a different discussion. And who knows if Browne turns out to be a “very good” CFB QB?

  4. A 5 year old story, Lane Kiffin and a glaring type-o, this is a horrible nickname away from hitting for the Wolf cycle.

    That aside, Greene is stepping into a situation where there is a young returning starter and the prior #1 QB in the country ahead of him, then one of the top 3 or so QB’s behind him. I think the unfair pressure of somehow being groomed for immediate success is the least of his worries. Also, when did it become fashionable to want true freshman QB’s to start right out of the gate?

  5. Steve Sarkisian is going to over recruit at the Quarterback position just as Pete Carroll did with his running backs . And there will be some unhappy campers in the next few years with a exodus of transfers , Max Browne has not played a down of College Football and now he has the #1 Quarterback prospect coming in next year ? I can’t wait to see how that plays out .

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