Could we end up with no QB in 2011 Class?
I understand that we are slow playing Sousa due to the fact that we are trying to land Marquise Williams, but is it possible that Sousa ends up choosing somewhere else due to the treatment? Or are we Sousa's complete #1 choice, so if he has the chance to come here, he will, regardless?
I would just hate to effectively lose Sousa and not grab Williams at the same time. Although (and correct me if I'm wrong), it seems that QB is not really of much need to begin with -> so we are recruiting with the Go Big or Go Home mentality.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:19 AM ^
This should end the thread.
October 27th, 2010 at 12:43 PM ^
And this is a discussion board is it not? This question is interesting and nuanced enough to deserve more than a one word response.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^
Sounds like Sousa is still committed -- he's just seeing what happens with Williams first...IME.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
Yes, I would say it is possible, but it is highly unlikely, IME. I understand the coaches going after Williams, but I think Sousa could be a diamond in the rough kind of guy. Sousa is just seeing what else is out there and once the coaches have a better hold on whether Williams is a possibility or not I'm sure Sousa will know. It's not like the coaches said, Sousa we are done with you and moving on to better recruits, but they are seeing what other options are available. I would start to worry if Sousa de-commits or something.
October 27th, 2010 at 12:50 PM ^
He may be a diamond in the rough, but his attitude recently raises red flags to me. He's raw, only played football for 2-3 years, and all of a sudden he thinks he can go somewhere and get immediate playing time (Albeit, Middle Tennessee State)? I think getting the Michigan offer may have inflated his ego a little making him think he is a hot commodity, when in reality he is a work in progress.
Furthermore, us recruiting another QB seems to have pissed him off. Is that indicative of willingness to compete? At the end of the day, recruiting is cut throat. If a school can get someone better they will. If a recruit wants a school to "show him the love" and jump through hoops to secure him, then he better be the best damn athlete out there, otherwise they'll say screw you.
October 27th, 2010 at 1:04 PM ^
what the real situation is.
He is taking visits because the COACHES are slow playing him. The playing time is just a way to save face and exit stage left.
If anything, Kevin is being super classy about it. I don't like how this coaching staff is treating this young man, but that is the norm in this business so I guess it will have to do.
October 27th, 2010 at 1:44 PM ^
Kevin has acted very mature about the situation in every way so far.
I posted the question in the first place, because I am very much a believer that with the right coaching, Sousa could be a stud. All reports of him in camps over the past summer were raving... it just seems that he is currently on a team that gives him ZERO help whatsoever.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^
It is possible, but I think we land either Sousa or Williams. Whoever it is, it will be very nice to finally be able to redshirt a QB his freshman year.
October 27th, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^
we can sneak him in some plays and get him a medical? jk... yes it will be nice
October 27th, 2010 at 11:31 AM ^
seems unlikely that we lose sousa unless we get williams.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^
Would it really be the worst thing if we didn't end up with a QB in this class, assuming we take 1-2 next year/?
QB is a position of strength, maybe with the strongest future of any position on the team at this point.
Do we really need to take a 3 star project....and both Sousa and Williams are 3 stars.....when we have so many other positions of glaring need? (OL, the entire defense)
October 27th, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^
Say Tate transfers next year you would have 2 scholarship QB's on the roster. Not a great scenario. In todays world with 85 scholarship limits, you can never have enough depth. Considering the value of our qb position you should have a guy on hand. Williams may be a 3 star as you say, but is he really a 3 star in our offense? Guy seems to have some pretty good hype?
October 27th, 2010 at 11:46 AM ^
Good point you raise. At this point though I don't think Tate is going anywhere. He seems to have turned his attitude around and I think realizes he's gonna get snaps. I'm nowhere near as concerned as I was in, say, week 1, about him transferring.
At the end of the day this is something I'll trust the coaches on.
You have a good point though. Hedging your bets with QB is probly a good idea. Were Tate to transfer next year, we'd be 2 injuries away from seeing Jack Kennedy on the field. Scary.
October 27th, 2010 at 12:05 PM ^
Jack Kennedy was en fuego in the 2009 spring game!
October 27th, 2010 at 11:49 AM ^
You would think everyone at this point should know that rivals projects its stars onto player's pro potential, not how they fit into unique systems. We are not the pro style team of old where stars probably project our team more accurately. We run a spread option offense and a 3-4/3-3-5 base front defense. Get over it. I agree with you Ziff72.
October 27th, 2010 at 8:39 PM ^
That's not true at all. They rank players amongst both their peers and previous classes in terms of talent and potential at their designated position. For instance, Dee Hart is this year's #1 all-purpose back - this has nothing to do with a pro-style system, its just saying that he is literally their highest evaluated recruit at that position(/position style). However, he's a 4 star, despite being the #1 all-purpose back; this means they feel that he's the best for that position, yet not one of the top-20ish recruits in the nation. (He's actually just outside that.)
Kevin Sousa is evaluated as a dual-threat quarterback, not as a Henne-type quarterback (pro-style). He's evaluated as the 19th best dual-threat quarterback in the nation, meaning he's a pretty solid player for that position. He's also a 3 star, but a fairly high one (he's on the edge of 4 star territory).
My point here is you don't know what you're talking about.
Edit: After rereading your comment, you might also be saying that they're evaluating the players based on their potential for being a professional player rather than a college. This is also blatantly wrong. They project players to the college game - not the pro game.
October 27th, 2010 at 12:23 PM ^
1.) I don't really think Tate will transfer, but that's just a "gut feeling."
2.) In today's world of 85 you CAN have too much depth at a position. If you have 5 players backing up every defensive guy that's 55 players, well over half the 85 schollies, for half the team. If anything, in today's world, there is now a depth problem.
3.) Would a 3* commit really add depth for next year if Tate left? another body=/=depth.
4.) I'm meh about getting a QB backup for this year because of all the above reasons. I think we will still get one, tho. However, if it comes down a LB/S or Sousa, we all know which one we'd pick.
5.) Whomever we choose most likely won't play anyways because I think that we'll end up getting a 4/5* Dual threat next year, who would start as a RS Soph after Gardner leaves.
October 27th, 2010 at 1:41 PM ^
1. agree
2. You are right, though QB is our #1 spot and depth should be solidified there 1st above all else.
3. It's not about next year. We never want a Freshmen true or REdshirt leading this offense ever again. Denard/Tate leave in 2012. We have seen how injuries to the QB can hinder our offense. We need back ups ready to go that have at least 2 years of clip board exp.
4. If it is a star safety then yeah, but as I've said several times before just beacuse we are currently crappy does not mean pt is available. Next year it is assumed 4th yr Jr Demens and 3rd year Soph Jones are expected to lock down the lb spots. They will be in place thru 2012 with Ryan, Jones, Bell, Hawthorne, Frost etc...waiting in line or beating them out. We don't need depth there either. We need stars, not depth.
5. Awesome....but we still need experienced guys ready to go.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:49 AM ^
It definitely is a position of strength, but I think that three scholarship QBs is too few on a team that relies so heavily on the quarterback. That being said, I doubt we take two QBs in this class.
October 28th, 2010 at 8:51 AM ^
RR has said repeatedly, even within the past week or so, that he would like 5 qbs on scholarship at all times. We have 3 now, so picking up another one or two this year seems important to him.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^
instead of if they can pull a QB in the class.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:40 AM ^
this morning. If I am Sousa, I am looking around. He will start dating again and someone will sweep him off his feet. I am skeptical about Williams' interest, it looks like NC will have a decent season despite all the problems and that is where he wants to go. On the flip side a QB in this class is not as cruicial this year, especially if Gardner gets his medical redshirt.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:47 AM ^
I am going to have to trust the coaches on this one. Rodriguez has said over and over that landing at least one quality quarterback in a class is a top priority. I think he is slow playing Sousa because he feels they have a really good shot at Marquise. Don't think he would leave Sousa like that without "knowing" what is going to happen to Marquise. Also, it sounds like Crawford is a heck of a quarterback. Maybe he is thinking if we absolutely need someone in the future, they could turn to him.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:59 AM ^
If DG gets his medical redshirt, do we really NEED a QB in this class?
October 27th, 2010 at 12:16 PM ^
I don't think this is a case of them slow-playing Sousa.. they've been recruiting Marquise Williams since he was a sophomore. Marquise is not happy about the the UNC situation and even though Virginia Tech fans seem to think he's theirs all the sudden, Michigan still has an excellent chance.
October 27th, 2010 at 12:30 PM ^
Sousa seems like a great athlete with questionable QB numbers (I know, I know...the rest of his team is turrible). If we land Sousa and Tate sticks around (which I think he will), is there any chance Sousa moves to a different position? There are lots of examples of this happening. I think Adrian Arrington was a high school QB and then we moved him to wide receiver, TJ Duckett of course was a dual threat QB in high school before becoming a very productive running back for MSU, and Nichol currently plays WR for them after switching from QB. Anyway, just a hypothetical to float out there.
October 27th, 2010 at 1:09 PM ^
Well, those stories are great examples, except I don't think we want to do that when those are the kind of guys that have exactly what we want (Idk about Duckett, but his recruitment was before my days). I'd rather have the depth, kind of like how Notre Dame has it now. On our current team, it could be a disaster if #1 and #2 go down (I say moreso than in a pro style team, because they can generally still run the ball and kill the clock, and run simple route packages. This may very well happen and we look the same as any other team down to the third string, but that's not how i see it playing out right now). So if we can look 2 years down the road and be able to say we have four QB's that don't look out of place and uncomfortable back there when needed, I'd be feeling pretty safe.
October 27th, 2010 at 4:35 PM ^
October 27th, 2010 at 1:41 PM ^
I know a lot of people have said this, but I'm pretty sure we get either Sousa or Williams. I think Sousa only bails if he gets replaced. He's not going to pick MTSU if Michigan doesn't have a QB in this class.
Just like anyone would be, he's bummed that he was "the guy" a couple months ago, and now we're going after someone else. Think of it this way, let's say you need a job, and a great company told you that you were their second choice and you got the job if option #1 didn't work out. You don't have a comparable job offer anywhere else, and then you get a call saying option #1 bailed and you get the job. Sure, maybe you wish you weren't the second choice, but you take the job by all means.
I'm pretty sure that's what Sousa would do.
October 27th, 2010 at 2:50 PM ^
We can only speculate as to what the coaches are up to. Conventional wisdom seems to feel that Sousa is not getting as much love from the coaches because they are trying to pull in Williams. On the other hand, it might just be the case that the coaches are losing interest because of his mediocre numbers so far this season.
If the coaches feel confident that we won't be seeing any departures from the 3 main quarterbacks (plus keep in mind we have a few walkons), they may not feel a dire need to take a scholarship quarterback if they dont see him as a future contributor.
It seems conceivable, although perhaps not likely, that the coaches may not take a QB in this class, even if Sousa doesn't lose interest.
October 27th, 2010 at 4:21 PM ^
Apparently both schools and players can "decommit". Both need to look out for their own interests in case the other bails on them. Besides, if I were a hs senior I might want to take other visits just to have some fun. Look at what Dee Hart did with Alabama and Auburn.
October 27th, 2010 at 8:45 PM ^
Not schools. Just players. Once a kid commits to a school, a school can't just say "haha joke's on you sucker we got a 4 star, we're retracting your scholarship offer!". Maybe they technically could before signing day, but if they ever did, they'd be shooting themselves in the head and no recruit in their right mind would trust them. They can stop recruiting a player that's committed, which often leads to decommits, but that's at the player's behest, not the school's.
Then again, you can always get your ass medical scholarship'd at Bama.
October 27th, 2010 at 9:03 PM ^
Schools can and do pull scholarship offers. Usually it doesn't have to come to that, though, because the recruit normally gets the message when the school stops contacting him, and "changes his mind" to go elsewhere.
October 27th, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^
I understand that we are slow playing Sousa due to the fact that we are trying to land Marquise Williams, but is it possible that Sousa ends up choosing somewhere else due to the treatment?
That's the point. You don't stop recruiting a player after he's committed. You keep on giving him letters and calls to say how much you can't wait for him to arrive . . . unless he's having a poor season and you realize that he's not as good as you thought. Then you conveniently "lose his number" and he ends up elsewhere.
October 28th, 2010 at 6:49 AM ^
I understand Sousa's frustration.
However, he waited on an offer from Michigan for a while before receiving one. Who was one of the guys that received an offer long before Sousa? Marquise Williams. So while I'm sure that Sousa thought he was going to be "Michigan's Guy", he might have seen this coming.