It’s amazing that Alabama and Clemson will have no drop off at QB again. This is why they keep winning consistently. Alabama has the number 1 guy out of HS and Clemson has the number 2 which we already saw. Imagine having no drop off after Lawrence.
You need to keep throwing it against the wall with your best estimate of the top QB's that are a reasonable fit and hope some stick. They fail so often at both levels that you can't just get one you think will be the answer and think you are done. Until they have proven it, you keep loading up. In the pro's it's a little easier as you can keep that QB once you find him for next to forever if you are willing to pay. In college you need to keep trying to get the best every year because even if you find 'that guy' he'll be gone in a few years.
And yes, it sucks, but it's also going to cause havoc because you'll get more transfers out if you are doing it right, but that's the model for having a consistent contender. No complaints about Book. He was a 3 star that has well outperformed his rating, and is one of the best college QB's in the last few years. He's helped get ND where they are now and he and Kelly should get credit for his development. But....although he's one of the better QB's in the last few years, he's not a Lawrence, Fields, Burrow, Murray level talent.
Maybe Buchner will be the start of a consistent progression of top level QB's. I hope so, but they can't stop and think they have answered the question with him. Sometimes guys don't develop. Sometimes they get hurt. Sometimes they transfer out or get suspended. Regardless, they have to keep pushing for top level QB's every year.
Regarding the O, we do great at recruiting all but the flashy skill positions. We've consistently have top level talent on the OL and TE. WR's is a little more hit or miss. We gotten or developed some top talent, but just not a group all at the same time. Recent recruiting indicates we may have turned a corner on this, but again, you have to keep after it each year. RB is weird. Kyren wasn't an all world recruit, but I'm more than happy with him and Tyree was a big time get, but given the OL and TE's and our success with lower rating RB's you'd think that the top RB's would be banging down our doors to get in. But it seems even when we get a good one, it's a harder sell than it should be and we don't have that pipeline of talent that the elite teams seem to get.
I'm not sold on Bryce Young. Remind more of a Jalen Hurts. However with the wide receiver and running back talent he doesn't need to be a TL type talent.
He would have had a really good line protecting him in 2013, since Golson was off the team.
I know he did decently in Cincy, but that line wasn't exactly that good, and he was getting hammered left and right every time he dropped back to pass. It's not surprising that he got hooked on painkillers during his time there.
Had he stayed at ND, who knows? Maybe he doesn't develop a pill habit, and becomes the QB we all thought he could be.
Asking Tommy Rees to throw the ball 30 yards downfield reliably was akin to asking the kid with the broken leg to win a footrace against Rocket Ismail.
Then look who he’s recruited, there are just a few outliers, Gunner Keil, Brendon Clark, and Deshone Kizer and these three were plan B. the rest were known for being mobile and half of them had arm issues (accuracy, low release, weak arm, etc). Also, have you seen how small Pyne is?
Everett Golson
Malik Zaire
Brandon Wimbush
Avery Davis
Ian Book
Phil Jurkovec
Drew Pyne
Tyler Buchner
look who the best ones are. No more tall, immobile statues, or guys that can throw but turn the ball over like crazy. I think we have a chance against the Alabama QB unless his timing is so precise in combination with those speedy receivers.
