Great post. Fran should only be looking for qbs in the portal that have playing time even from smaller programs. No more project qbs in the portal because some recruiting service thought they would be good. Their evaluations is no better than informed posters on this board looking at high school game tape.
And that's exactly what they did with Odom. To the letter.
Now, they need another quarterback. With Angeli, and now Odom, chances are you are not going to land another starting caliber player from a smaller program.
We brought in multiple -- Odom [who we landed], Atknison [Oregon State], Dickens, and Stokes [Memphis]. Several if not all of those prospects could be starters at a higher level program. It is hard to know who the staff prioritized of those four, or whether it was a "first to commit" situation, but Odom was the one we landed.
Once we did, it made it virtually impossible to land any of those other players. Why? Because they also want to play, and make the most of their opportunity to potentially start on a bigger stage. Its a pipe dream to think otherwise. Sure, it would be great to have landed a combo of say Odom and Dickens [or Atkinson], but that isn't realistic.
Atkinson might have been an option to come here [it sounds like we were close to landing him], but he wasn't going to come along WITH Odom, to vie for 2nd / 3rd place in the pecking order behind Steve Angeli.
So, now that they executed the strategy that you are looking for -- landing an experienced player from a smaller program -- they still have a hole to fill. Maybe there is a D2 player out there somewhere [if the staff gets creative] who warrants a look.
Or maybe the cupboard is generally bare at this point, and they are pivoting to less experienced players, but rolling the dice on potential / system fit with this kid [Novosad]. Have to fill the 3rd string QB position somehow.
Also important to keep in mind that the staff likes Lott. Hopefully, he won't be rushed onto the field next year. But maybe HE'S capable of being the #3 QB on the depth chart, or even the backup. Which means that anyone else you add is gravy.
Three years in, being a four-star recruit doesn't matter much. But most things being equal, I'd rather take a higher rated recruit from a bigger program when I'm not counting on that guy to necessarily be a starter. Maybe he's got the tools to be a system fit -- time will tell. We haven't even secured a commitment from this guy, and that article was vague about us being a "team to watch," so maybe this is all pointless discussion anyway.
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