Friday, July 2, 2010

Vanderbilt running out of options for future quarterbacks

We've been spending quite a bit of time and energy here debating the merits of Smith, Rodgers, Goro and Funk.

Plenty to worry about there. Who's ready? Is Bobby capable of choosing the right guy? Do you go with talent or experience? Do you try to win now or win later? Etc., etc.

But we should also be worried about our quarterback of the future. Nash Nance screwed us last year by committing to Vandy early, which forced Bobby to tell all the other quarterbacks he'd offered that they'd have to look elsewhere, and then Nash rode his adopted five-star brother's coattails to UT.

We won't dwell on that anymore, except to say that we must sign a quarterback in 2011, and we're coming off a 2-win season instead of a 7-win one. If we don't sign a QB, here's what we'll have at quarterback in the next three seasons:

2011: R-SR Smith, R-JR Rodgers, R-SO Goro
2012: R-SR Rodgers, R-JR Goro, true freshman TBA
2013: R-SR Goro, redshirt freshman TBA

It gets worse if we don't redshirt Rodgers:
2011: R-SR Smith, SR Rodgers, R-SO Goro
2012: R-JR Goro, true freshman TBA
2013: R-SR Goro, redshirt freshman TBA

That's assuming we can ever sign a quarterback that meets our standards. Some guys on chat boards right now are singing the praises of Will Indianos, who's coming to Vanderbilt. Indianos broke Tim Tebow's Florida high school TD record. Oh, and he's transferring... from Wartburg State... where he played on the JV team. Oh, and he's 5-foot-9. All of which means he'll be challenging Matt Casas for the title of top walk-on quarterback.

Give it a rest, people!

Here's a really quick breakdown of quarterbacks with Vandy offers, in order of their scout.com rankings:

• Jamal Turner (4 stars, No. 10 QB): Committed to Nebraska
• Kevin Hogan (3 stars, No. 21 QB): Committed to Stanford
• Gary Nova (3 stars, No. 30 QB): Committed to Pittsburgh
• Kevin Sousa (3 stars, No. 31 QB): Committed to Michigan
• Phillip Ely (3 stars, No. 44): Uncommitted. Also has offers from LSU, Ole Miss, UT, Clemson and many more
• Damien Fleming (2 stars, not rated): Uncommitted. Offer from Southern.

There was also Nick Marshall, a 4-star kid who was a top 10 QB but recently changed his position to safety and committed to Georgia.

And there's C.J. Uzomah from the Atlanta area, also a 4-star quarterback whose position recently changed to tight end. He's still uncommitted, but don't be surprised if he also chooses the Bulldogs.

Other kids who've shown an interest in Vandy but don't have offers include Zach Oliver, a 3-star, No. 35-rated prospect who recently committed to Northwestern, and Connor Bednarski, a 2-star California kid with no offers from anybody.

Oh, and Will Indianos.

In other words, the talented high school quarterbacks we'd have a shot at signing are getting snatched up fast, and the only ones left will soon be the mid-level kids who don't have any major conference offers and the five-star kids deciding between Texas and Ohio State.

Maybe we should go ahead and lock up a quarterback for 2012. This year's prospects are fading fast.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

9700 yds passing first player in fl.history to reach 100 tds holds or shares most st records

DIMON KENDRICK-HOLMES said...

are you talking about Will Indianos?

charles pevish said...

check out:

will@willindianos.com

Will Indianos would be a great option for Vanderbilt. Wartburg has a terrible football program which is probably why he left. Vanderbilt would be lucky to get to see what Will Indianos can do. We need to do something different,..and he would be a great option!

Chris Snyder said...

Yea, I agree!... Will Indianos was an outstanding quarterback in highschool...he can throw the ball as good as anyone I've seen. Vanderbilt would be wise to get Will on that team and see what he can do. Will is definately better than any option they have right now! Go Dores.

Mike Green said...

agreed. put Will Indianos in. he's gotta be better than what we have goin on now. Will has a great arm. he was recruited by a bunch of different schools...including many ivy league schools...so, we should be happy that hes at vandy now. so, let's get him on the team and see what he can do!