A Dilemma For Recruits

Everyone knows UCLA might start a true freshman at quarterback next season. But so might Oregon State. Seth Collins was a two-star quarterback at Granite Hills High School. He enrolled early at Oregon State and had an impressive spring. And he is the frontrunner to start.

He chose wisely. That is the dilemma facing recruits. Could Ricky Town or Sam Darnold be the frontrunner at Oregon State today instead of Nos. 3-4 on the depth chart at USC? And would it be worth it?

22 thoughts on “A Dilemma For Recruits

  1. Wolfie. You seem to be is a state of constant confusion. Would it be worth it to USC fans to have an informed, hard-working blogger with actual sources? No confusion there. Yes. Give some good info for once and quit asking for us to do your job for you.

  2. Is this a new dilemma that players are facing today? ……I didn’t think so…

  3. Sure they (Ricky Town or Sam Darnold) could – then again the dice rolled the right way – Mike Riley left and Andersen came in-bound – a strong coaching chain – now whether or not OR St. would have been fortunate enough in getting Andersen instead of an also-ran that’s a whole other matter.

    If USC wins and does so over a long time then why wouldn’t Town or Darnold or whomever not be deemed as Matt Cassell was?

    • ORSTU is lucky that the Wisconsin legislature limits the amount of money you can pay assistants (plus the fact that Barry Alvarez will always be looking over your shoulder). Apparently, assistant salaries are what drove Bielema and Anderson away.

      • I agree about the hovering meddling of Alvarez – I often wonder if he’d welcome anyone who was more successful than he – I think Anersen’s leaving was tied more to that than the salaries – there is no limit on booster money just the base – win and the money appears from big donors.

        I also think Andersen missed the west – darn good coach – I remember that game he almost took down Auburn when he was @ UT St. some 4 years ago.

  4. Yes Wolf, no doubt they could probably start at Oregon State, but they also no doubt know that they could possibly not even start a College game and still get drafted by the NFL just by being on the USC Roster!

  5. Similar issue at Ohio State – and what do USC and Ohio State have in common? Traditional powers – top 5 programs.

  6. The difference is the chance to start for a team struggling to make a bowl game every year. Or waiting for the chance to lead a team with championship aspirations and an almost certain chance to be drafted by the NFL.

  7. STUDENT…EDUCATION… DEGREES….
    True NFL career is just a small handful of qb, yet alone players.. Maybe the players at USC on depth chart are smarter than you think, SW.

  8. Did he? Look, at USC, generally you are going to have better and deeper supporting players. Better wideouts, running backs, offensive line (whether a coaching staff can maximize all the talent is a separate issue).

    Matt Cassel fashioned the best NFL career for a Carroll era QB after Palmer, and Cassell never started a game. Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez rode the deeper talent base to becoming first round draft picks. JDB rode it to being drafted. Barkley rode it to being drafted. Leinart lasted four years (he played in what, three games in three years after he was cut by Arizona), Sanchez has fashioned a career as a back-up. Barkley may not even be in the league after this year.

    Without USC, Leinart and Sanchez are not first round picks, and it is very possible that Barkley may have not been picked, and Booty would never have been drafted.

    • Yeah then again Sanchez is the only qb in the entire history of the AFC Jets to have taken them to back-to-back AFC CG in fact they have never been in back-to-back before his arrival. His problem was Ryan’s impatience – 100% intent on using him immediately – save for Luck (remarkable quarterback) none of the ‘star’ qb’s was a full starter until 3+ years in.

      No argument about Leinart, Booty or Barkley but Sanchez? No his misfortune was doing too much too fast w.o. having the experience – that franchise has been a mess since their remarkable upset of the Colts in January 1969.

      • Yeah, playing for Ryan and the Jets didn’t exactly help.

        But he currently has a coach who all but tells him exactly every single progression on every single play and he still throws gut-wrenching INTs.

        Remember when Scott was all over Carroll for noting the fact the Sanchez wasn’t ready when he declared early. Carroll was right. Sanchez has never gotten over his gunslinger ways.

    • Matt Waldman, a pretty smart observer of NFL prospects, who spends his time dissecting game film, thought quite highly of Sanchez when he left, so I don’t know about Carroll’s opinion that another year would have made a big difference in the course of his career.

      Waldman did not think that Leinart or Barkley had NFL arms/accuracy, and thought they owed a lot to “the team.”

      One thing that happens at USC (or OSU, Alabama, UT, UF) is that QBs throw against A. Jackson-types in practice, and have to ward off L. Williams-types. That has got to hone a QB’s skills, and tell a QB whether he might be able to handle the NFL.

      A USC coach who isn’t attempting to run a meritocracy is a fool. Whether the coaches can teach IS a separate issue, but does the USC staff have consistently worse teachers than Oregon State, etc.? And if so, how does that happen?

      Bottom line: Starting at USC doesn’t mean you have an NFL skill set, so being a back-up at USC suggests you don’t (Cassel notwithstanding). And if you can’t even qualify for a lot practice reps at USC, you shouldn’t take yourself seriously as an NFL prospect. In that instance, you should be happy to get the local degree from a well-connected university, and if you lament anything, it should be that you declined Stanford. 🙂

  9. Mr Wolf:
    You always confuse me. Now in this scenario your painting are stars important?

    JW

    • Woody my man, your s/b you’re. Fairly simple enquish.

      Nellie, give Woody a dictionary with an enclosed gift certificate to ESL enquish classes.

      • You’ve never sounded more unintelligent there, SUCCer. Where have you been lately? ESL classes? LMAO!!!

        • Just finish your pearl diving shift at Norm’s. Scrap on!

          • Wow!!! You really have been attending ESL classes at SUCLA lately, haven’t ya? Your writing now reveals some incredible psychosis that can only be taught by those demented SUCLA instructors!!! Keep SUCCing!!! LMAO!!!

    • Stars are important or unimportant, depending on the point Wolfie is trying to make.

  10. So this is what happens when you don’t cut and paste from another writer’s article. I’m not so sure that an notion like the depth chart playing a vital role in recruiting merits rises to any level past blatantly obvious. Is the big insight that a position that doesn’t substitute, like QB, can exacerbate this problem?

  11. A college degree from USC or from Oregon State – if you have to ask which one is better then you shouldn’t be going to college.

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