Happy Wednesday afternoon Cougar Fans, I hope your day is going well. Many of you are probably wondering where the always funny and ever handsome Huddy is with Hump Day today. Well, a little thing called work happened to get in the way. Yes, all of us here hold-down full-time careers, and only do this for a “hobby”. So when you see a lack of content from us, you can generally assume the real world got in the way.
Don’t fret, I promise you, Huddy will be here in this spot tomorrow morning! Oh, and in-case you missed Longball’s final Road Warrior installment yesterday, give it a go.
Now, if you want to know what’s been on my mind lately, please click the old jumparoo.
The last three years, our recruiting classes have contained a Quarterback. Those three QBs – Halliday, Clements and Apodaca – have verbally committed to Wazzu in the months of June and July. However, as the month of May winds down, it seems as though people are starting to worry because Leach hasn’t landed his signal caller for the 2013 Class.
Not only are fans worried there isn’t a QB on-board, other fans are saying, “Well we are pretty stacked at the position, and we really don’t even need one.”
Not that I would ever consider myself a recruting expert, but given my decade-plus of following it religiously, I think there are some trends to take a look at.
About four years ago, a trend developed in college football recruiting. The trend was that QBs were being offered earlier in the cycle than ever before (generally midway through and up to the end of the Junior seasons). As such, Quarterbacks began committing earlier than ever before.
Does the story centered around this woman’s husband ring a bell?
Stop worrying. According to the Scout.com database, there are currently five prep QBs with offers from WSU. This morning, one of those five made his pledge to LSU, which leaves only two uncommitted QBs out there, which WSU has offered. If I remember correctly, Taylor Bruggman has been on-campus for an unofficial visit and stayed for a long time (like maybe a week, and maybe took in the Crimson & Gray Game?).
While I think we have a good shot at landing Bruggman, don’t be surprised to see a few more QBs offered over the next few months after all the Summer Camps are completed. Keep an eye on Kolney Cassel from Eisenhower HS in Yakima and Sefo Liufau from Tacoma. While Laifau has verballed to Colorado, I have a feeling he hasn’t shut down the recruiting process and Leach & Co. may make a run at him. And what do you know, the first story listed on his page even quote Jake Worthen from Scout as saying,
“Colorado is getting a pure competitor and a quarterback that is off the charts in many of the intangible aspects of the game. Liufau is one of the most underrated prospects in the West and as a result, Colorado will likely have to play some defense to hold onto this three-star.”
Good things comes to those who wait.
Now moving on, this is going to be my soapbox for the day.
As an avid follower of college football recruiting, there are a few things that I use as guidelines to My Sanity. The first thing I have always been good about is never getting too high or low on a kid who doesn’t commit to WSU. Or, when somebody pulls a Bishop Sankey (committing just to commit, then bails out late in the process). Lots of people seem to get all bent out of shape about it, but I don’t. I have never lost a wink of sleep over an 18 year old and their biggest life decision up to that point!
My other guiding principle is that YOU MUST TAKE A SCHOLARSHIP QUARTTERBACK IN EVERY CLASS. As I mentioned above, I’ve seen comments from people in other forums who believe we do not need to take a QB in the 2013 class. Reasons given have ranged from “Well if Apodaca is as good as Leach says he is” to the foolish “Man, we might get a medical redshirt out of Tuel” to the even more foolish “Don’t forget we’re getting that walk-on from Spokane!”
Which, by the way, leads me to my third and final guiding princlple, which is NEVER COUNT ON A WALK ON TO DO ANYTHING UNTIL THEY ARE SEEING THE FIELD ON A REGULAR BASIS.
I am here to tell you, not taking a scholarship QB is bad idea. Let’s just take a look at the last decade of WSU QB commits and see if we have room to not take one in 2013. Also, I am doing this from memory, so don’t get bent if I missed a minor detail:
2002, Carl Bonnell & Josh Swogger: Both transferred out after less than two years in the system.
2003, Alex Brink: Holds virtually all career passing records at WSU, one of the best passers in school history.
2004, Gary Rogers: Never passed Alex Brink on the depth chart and had a Senior Campaign to forget. A very quick stint with the Buffalo Bills and now lives a few blocks from LucasCoug.
2005, Cole Morgan & Arkelon Hall: Morgan wound up at WWU and CWU and currently heads the NW Elite Football Camps that were founded by Jason Gesser. Hall left Wazzu after not doing a whole lot in his time in Pullman, and wound up being a starter at Memphis for a couple of seasons.
2006, No QB Taken: Thanks Bill Doba/Assistant Coaches!
2007, Marshall Lobbestael & Kevin Lopina & JT Levenseller: You all know Lobster’s story and Lopina started here and there over a couple of years. Levenseller transferred after one season to EWU and I believe is now coaching at Pullman HS.
2008, Calvin Schmidtke: Signed with Wazzu, but released from his scholie before ever stepping foot on campus. Wound up at Indiana State where he was kicked off the team after his first season.
That is a depressing list folks, just read through it one more time please…
Aside from Brink and Lobster, how many of those kids amounted to anything at Wazzu? I see a lot of guys who got hurt, transferred in search of PT and others who just flat out weren’t good enough.
Seriously, before you say we don’t need a QB in this class, think twice, and watch the clip embedded below! We are one or two transfers, a graduation and an injury away from not having QB depth.
Have a great afternoon.
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