Not about Clausen, he was an excellent QB in college. But about the need for a top QB. A decade ago Bama was winning NC's with not a lot of passing, game manager type QB's. Now anyone who wins the national championship has a top level QB. I do agree that a top level QB doesn't necessarily mean a top 5 rated QB in the recruiting rankings, but you do find a greater percentage of them there. I don't think we've had a QB ranked in the top 10 of overall recruits since Clausen. It would be interesting to see how well or poorly one would be developed. I think Wimbush was Kelly's highest rated QB by the recruiting rankings, but I think he was 'only' around #40.
Always thought Clausen got a tough deal in the NFL having Newton drafted to replace him after a year.