You had to know I was going to write about the commitment of Quinn Ewers a little more.
Are you kidding me? I'll shoot from the lay-up line almost every damn day of the week, except on days when I get frisky and want to transform myself into Vernon Maxwell.
As it relates to the discussion of Ewers, I'm going to ask that everyone do something incredibly difficult, but I'm going to ask, nonetheless. Please, if you can for just a moment ... just pretend that I don't know anything.
I know, I know. I'm really reaching here, but just pretend like I wouldn't know my elbow from my ... well ... you get it. Just pretend.
Why?
Well, despite my obvious general narcissism, I don't want this to be about me. I want this to be about the potential history of the moment and a full understanding of the proper context that I believe needs to exist.
From 1999-2002, the Longhorns collected the single best four-year cycle of quarterbacks in recruiting in the history of the school. Look at how this went down using nothing but the historically archived Rivals.com rankings:
1999 - Chris Simms (No. 1-ranked quarterback in the country, No. 1 overall prospect in the country)
2000 - Chance Mock (No. 3-ranked quarterback in the country, No. 17 overall prospect in the country)
2001 - Matt Nordgren (No. 1-ranked quarterback in Texas, not ranked in the National Top 100)
2002 - Vince Young (No. 1-ranked quarterback in the country, No. 1 overall prospect in the country)
I truly don't think Texas fans understand what Mack Brown was cooking in his prime as a recruiter, but he could make The Rock blush in embarrassment. This four-year cycle of quarterback recruiting is the thing that set the stage for the entire 2000s of Texas football to occur. All of those 10 wins seasons. Those Rose Bowls. That national championship.
There were a lot of bad dudes on those teams, but the spine of the greatest decade of Texas football in the modern era of the sport was built on the backs of quarterback play and recruiting the position at perhaps the highest level in the history of college football during that four-year cycle was the secret sauce of it all. Eventual all-time great quarterback play didn't just happen by accident.
Texas MADE it happen with brunt force recruiting drama to the position's head.
For the last decade, Texas football has floundered at the quarterback position and one of the reasons why is that the school hasn't quite seen anything like that four-year cycle in a long-time. Oh, the recruiting was good, but it wasn't close to great.
Check out the commitment list from 2010-2019, which is a 10-year window following the disaster of the investment into five-star Garrett Gilbert in the Class of 2009, which followed what turned out to be an empty three-year recruiting cycle from 2006-08.
2010 - Connor Wood (No. 3 quarterback in the country, No. 112 overall prospect in the country)
2010 - Case McCoy (No. 24 quarterback in the country)
2011 - David Ash (No. 20 quarterback in the country)
2012 - Connor Brewer (No. 17 quarterback in the country)
2013 - Tyrone Swoopes (No. 26 quarterback in the country)
2014: Jerrod Heard (No. 6 quarterback in the country, No. 85 overall prospect in the country)
2015 - Kai Locksley (No. 13 athlete in the country)
2015 - Matthew Merrick (low three-star)
2016 - Shane Buechele (No. 10 quarterback in the country, No. 116 overall prospect in the country)
2017 - Sam Ehlinger (No. 10 quarterback in the country, No. 115 overall prospect in the country)
2018 - Cameron Rising (No. 16 quarterback in the country, No. 149 overall prospect in the country)
2018 - Casey Thompson (No. 23 quarterback in the country)
2019 - Roschon Johnson (No. 30 quarterback in the country)
In those nine different cycles, Texas signed only five national top 150 prospects at the position and three of those occurred in the last four recruiting cycles, which partially explains why Texas has bounced back and had a moderate amount of success since Tom Herman arrived three seasons ago. Only Heard was a national top 100 prospect.
Texas didn't sign a five-star in that entire 10-year stretch. Or even a national top-75 prospect.
Now, let's take a look at the 2020-2022 three-year cycle that is about to become the foundation of the program.
2020 - Hudson card (No. 8 quarterback in the country, No. 107 overall prospect in the country)
2020 - Ja'Quendin Jackson No. 12 quarterback in the country, No. 179 overall prospect in the country)
2021 - Jalen Milroe (No. 9 quarterback in the country, No. 78 overall prospect in the country)
2022 - Quinn Ewers (No. 1 quarterback in the country)
Of course, Ewers' official ranking won't be known until it is revealed on Monday, but the cat was let out of the bag on Friday that he will be a five-star and ranked as the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country.
So, what does all of this mean?
Two things
a. This recent quarterback run in recruiting doesn't deserve to be spoken in the same breath as the 1999-2002 cycle.
b. The addition of Ewers gives the Texas quarterback room three national top-10 quarterback prospects to build around in a three-year cycle, which means that the quarterback room is easily stocked with more high end talent than the school has seen in almost 20 years.
Full stop.
Let me just say that again, when Ewers arrives on campus, the Texas quarterback room will be stocked with more high end talent than it has seen in 20 years. And that's with the departure of Sam Ehlinger being taken into consideration.
Personally, I think Card and Milroe are both five-star prospects in their own right and rated them as such, marking the first-time since 2009 that I've graded a Texas quarterback recruit with that high of a ranking and only the second time since 2002. By my count, Texas has done in the last three recruiting cycles what it couldn't do in the last 17 cycles before it combined.
That's going to matter a lot, folks.
No. 2 - Just for giggles ...
Ok, back to my narcissism.
I kicked around the idea of the five best and worst in-state quarterback evaluations I've made since 1997.
Note: This isn't a list of the best quarterbacks I've graded, which is why there's no Vince Young, Matt Stafford and a host of others. This is a list of the guys that I pegged to be mega-stars when no one else was saying it at quite the same levels.
Worst
5. Gilbert Moye - Do you even remember him? He was a three-star prospect that I loved back in 2007 and ranked No. 13 in the state. He signed with Missouri and was never heard from. Oops.
4. John Chiles - He was a baby version of Vince Young like Harold Minor was a baby-version of Michael Jordan. The kid had a ton of talent, but it was raw and developed to the point that it felt stupid to have gambled on it to the degree that I did when I ranked him No. 4 in 2007.
3. Andrew Luck - People who talk about the importance of in-person evaluations often fail to realize the confirmation bias that can develop based off of an in person opinion you've formed and clung to because ... well ... you formed it in person, which means that it must be important! I saw Luck throw on a day when he was off and ignored everything else I ever saw of him based on that opinion. Understand, I still had him rated very highly, but he should have been a hell of a lot higher than No. 17 in the state on my list.
2. Robert Griffin - See Luck. I watched Griffin in person at a state playoff game that was so cold I left at halftime. Well, Griffin played poorly in the first half and I judged him as a non-War Daddy. I saw that freaking kid in the flesh and brushed it off because it was cold and windy ... and I had an opinion in person that mattered more than all my non in-person opinions.
1. Garrett Gilbert - I rated him with Vince Young and Drew Brees. No matter that he made the NFL ... I had him on Mount Rushmore as a prospect.
Best
T5. Todd Reesing and Kliff Kingsbury - Both were Central Texas area kids that I saw up-close quite a bit and both were players that I rated much higher than anyone, ranking Reesing as a borderline four-star prospect and Kingsbury as a state top 40 prospect when he had virtually zero offers.
4. Chance Mock - I remember standing next to Mike Mock at a playoff baseball game at Austin Westlake and telling him that I had watched his son on film that day and believed he was going to have offers from everyone in the nation. He joked that I was full of crap. I was not.
3. Hudson Card - I've been calling him a five-star level prospect with special arm talent before anyone else was calling him a national top 250 prospect.
2. Sam Ehlinger - Labeled him as a top-10 prospect in the state and the best quarterback in his class at a time when he had zero scholarship offers.
1. Drew Brees - I'll brag on it with minimal words, but publicly projecting him as a future Heisman finalist when he had offers from only Kentucky and Purdue is the greatest call of my career, which means I peaked at 20.
No. 3 - NFL advantage for Big 12, SEC and ACC players ...
One of the interesting dynamics about the upcoming 2020 college football season is the reality that players inside of programs in those conferences will have a massive advantage over those playing in programs that won't be playing football when it comes to turning around and preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Yes, there might be a spring season. Yes, the Big 10 and Pac-12 players might still find a way to play games before the NFL evaluation process takes place. However, as it stands, the possibility of that happening is just an idea, while there's an actual plan for play with the Big 12, ACC and SEC.
For someone that already has the NFL's attention like Sam Cosmi, it's huge. That's obvious. What I would contend is being lost at this stage of the process but will eventually become very obvious is what it might mean for players that might be on the fence.
Consider a senior like Devin Duvernay, who went in the third round in a very deep draft for receivers in 2020 after having a historic season on the field in 2019. Duvernay was the 17th wide receiver selected in his class, despite his stats as a senior and was drafted behind prospects like Antonio Gibson of Memphis, K.J. Hamler of Penn State, Laviska Shenault of Colorado and Michael Pittman of USC. All four of those players went considerably higher in the second and third round than Duvernay, but if the same group of players went pro following the 2020 season instead of the 2019 season, I think we can make a case that Duvernay would have gone in the second round ahead of players that through no fault of their own would be without 2020 game film for the NFL to evaluate.
I don't care how well someone tests at the combine ... you have to have SOME recent game film or you're going to be at a disadvantage.
Where this could prove to be really impactful at a school like Texas is that all of your borderline early declaration candidates are going to look at a landscape that could mean that a normal second or third day evaluation might be viewed through the prisms of players who believe that they might get a full round bump over players that don't have a season for the NFL to judge them within 17 months of their last game.
Of the 32 players that went in the second round of this year's 2020 NFL Draft, 14 total players and six of the top 10 picks played at schools that aren't scheduled to play football in 2020. In all, 33 of 64 players drafted on day two of the draft were from schools not scheduled to play football this season. Of course, I'm not saying that all 33 slots will suddenly open up and no players from these schools that won't play football this season will be taken, but the numbers will certainly decline. A guy like Jeremy Chinn of Southern Illinois simply might not get drafted over a player like Brandon Jones if Jones has recent film against major competition and Chinn has only 17-month old film against non-major competition.
For players like Caden Sterns, Joseph Ossai or any other draft eligible player, the window being opened might never look wider.
No. 4 - Gut-punch ...
The news of true freshman wide receiver Troy Omeire tearing it up in practice last week, only to turn around and tear up one of the ACLs in his knee on Saturday was easily the worst news of the weekend on the 40 Acres.
If he needs to draw any inspiration, he should have a talk with Texas legend and current LHN commentator Jordan Shipley.
Back in 2004, Shipley was being called the best receiver on the roster as a true freshman when he injured an ACL of his own. The very next season, he appeared destined for a major role on the 2005 team when a hamstring injury wrecked the season. By the time year three rolled around, he was considered a bit of a running joke on Orangebloods.com as the ghost of a supposed great player that no one had ever seen actually play.
Well, I hate to ruin the movie for those that never saw it, but Shipley eventually made it onto the field at Texas, developed into the best receiver in school history and might have had the single-most dominant individual big-game performances in the history of the program in the 2010 national championship game with a back-up freshman quarterback throwing him the ball and the SEC player of the Year (Javier Arenas) trying to keep it from him.
Stay on the path, young man. Learn to grind like you've never grinded before. If he can do that and he has the type of NFL upside people were whispering about this week, he'll be just fine.
Just ask Jordan.
No. 5 - Quote of the Weekend ...
“I think it's been said by many people, but I'll say it again, the most mature, level-headed, rule-following team are going to be the ones that have the best opportunity to win at a very high level this season. Our guys are completely bought into that fact. There isn't a whole lot of motivating."
Tom Herman nailed it.
Talent might not matter this year as much as discipline. The team that has the most might just be the one holding a trophy in December.
No. 6 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I know I've gone against the grain somewhat, but it's my authentic opinion. If I compromise that part of me as a contributor to the site, I feel like that would be way worse than a potential messy opening grade for a kid.
(Sell) I might change my mind next week.
(Buy) You know I said this about the 2021 class at this time last year, right? Of course, it wasn't just me, but I'd be a buster not to mention such a detail.
(Buy) **** the idea of Halloween night in Lubbock.
(Sell) If watching a quarterback throw the ball as far as he can was the best way to judge a quarterback's arm strength, they'd do it at the combine. As it is, throwing the ball for distance is more carnival trick than critical football skill. I'd rather just see the person throwing the ball 80 yards throw it 20 yards down the seam on a rope, if I'm being completely honest. I think the NFL would agree.
(Sell) In 2 fewer games?
(Sell) Don't confuse getting it right once this week with being proactive and ahead of the game.
(Sell) Top 2 offense.
(Sell) I might have bought 2023. Elite OCs that can recruit at an elite level don't stay OCs for long. Let's just keep it a buck.
(Sell) Optimism, baby!
(Sell) Ok, not that much optimism.
No. 7 - Scattershooting on the world of sports ...
... OU losing Kennedy Brooks is a big deal. That's 7.7 yards per carry in his career going right out the door, perhaps to never be seen again.
... I dig the Washington NFL club's new unis.
... Alex Smith is a boss.
... I kind of feel like someone needs to tell the Boston Red Sox to stop playing the New York Yankees.
... Did Daniel Cormier fall in love with throwing power shots to such a degree that he lost the thing that made him a dominant fighter or was he just never going to get Stipe Miocic on the ground because of his length? Cormier is a freaking world-class wrestler in every sense of the phrasing and you would have never guessed in this trilogy with Miocic. Did he even try a takedown on Saturday night? How did this part of his game get completely rooted out? On another note, I sure love watching Cormier fight when he's less dominant and not just laying on top of guys.
... Stipe Miocic is the man.
... I kind of feel like the world jinxed Sean O'Malley.
... Soccer randomness: How did Raheem Sterling miss that shot? How is it possible that Man City can't get out of the Champions League quarterfinals? Manchester United got Sevilla-ed. Bayern Munich is playing like a team that's going to smash a couple more teams on the way to a Champions league title. Leo Messi to the Premier League? KDB deserved player of the year. I didn't watch any MLS this weekend. What happened?
No. 8 - GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!
Nothing has ever made me feel like I'm out of touch quite like watching these two kids watch Outkast for the first time.
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 TV Bad Ass Tough Guys ...
In honor of my growing love for the character "Rip" in the TV show "Yellowstone," I thought I would come up with a list of my all-time top-10 bad ass, tough guys/gals.
This doesn't automatically mean that they would automatically win a royal rumble battle royal to the death, but it does mean that you probably would not want to battle them in such an event. I considered charisma, fight skills, raw toughness and all kinds of subjective arbitrary factors.
Enjoy.
10. Colt Seavers (The Fall Guy)
If we're talking theme songs, no else is better.
9. Richard Harrow (Boardwalk Empire)
He's not beating The Mountain from Game of Thrones in a stadium, but if The Mountain or any of his boys messed with anything he's attached to, none of them are making it to the stadium.
8. Fonzie (Happy Days)
Has to be on the list, right?
7. Angela Abar (Watchmen)
I will stand on a table for this woman and her performance in this show any day of the week. Come at me, bro.
6. Ron Swanson (Parks and Rec)
American icon.
5. Walter White (Breaking Bad)
Perhaps too low on the list...
4. Al Swearengen (Deadwood)
Kidney stones. That's all I'm going to say.
3. Omar Little (The Wire)
The man whistled and the streets of Baltimore scrambled.
2. Jack Bauer (24)
The no-doubt-about-it-No.1 for me until the end of Game of Thrones.
1. Arya Stark (Game of Thrones)
"I know Death. He's got many faces. I look forward to seeing this one."
No.10 - And finally...
Of course, something called a fire tornado happened in 2020. Of course.
