Recruiting strategies change as colleges look for quarterbacks from the transfer portal instead of from the high schools.
High School quarterbacks from around the country are going through their pre-season reps preparing for their senior year. Many have national accolades and hope to play at the college level. More often than not, the highly acclaimed stars will land a spot with the college of their choice. It is not a foregone conclusion though. Most college coaches turn to the transfer portal to pick up a quarterback who has experience, overlooking a future potential star.
The quarterback position is unique in that most programs will only sign one for their roster in any given season. Rather, they are looking at experienced quarterbacks from other programs across the country. According to a recent ESPN article about trends, nearly 200 FBS quarterbacks entered the transfer portal and 40% of those were repeat transfers. This is showing how the importance of recruiting high school quarterbacks has dropped. Pro Football Focus determined that half of the Power Four conferences are projected to start transfer quarterbacks this upcoming season. This includes San Jose State transfer Walker Eget, who entered the portal and signed with Duke and is their expected starter.
Quarterback recruiting is like a game of musical chairs as players compete for a finite number of spots on any given team’s roster. What winds up happening is that a star talent previously would have any number of schools offering him. Today, those numbers are dwindling and more likely include offers from lower level tier programs. Players are having to realize their dream school might not be in the equation for the foreseeable future. High School coaches are having to work harder to manage expectations of both the player and their parents. As parents, we think our children are among the best and it’s a hard blow to understand how the game has changed. FCS, Division II or Division III levels come into play more often now, despite not being the ultimate spot. Players are forced to be extra patient while evaluating their options. Some may decide to take a lower position with the hope of getting playing time. This might set them up for a transfer at a later date. With the free and flexible transfer rules in place, high school players and specifically quarterbacks are finding themselves on the short end of the stick.
The Aztecs are set this year with returning transfer quarterback Jayden Denegal. Waiting in the wings is Kentucky sophomore transfer Stone Saunders. The Aztecs did hit the high schools the past two seasons as they have picked up Freshman Brady Campbell and redshirt Freshman Draiden Trudeau.They seem to be content with four players in the rotation after having chosen to move backup quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. to wide receiver. Next season, expect the Aztecs to once again hit the transfer portal to replace Denegal. Schools at the Group of Six level have always needed to look beyond the obvious and take a chance on player development. This takes time and with players able to leave a school each year, it creates an ongoing issue of recruiting and retaining talent. If enforceable guidelines are enacted to restrict unlimited transfers one could expect to see a return to more of the traditional high school recruiting.Many people yearn for that, but in a time in which normality and common sense has flown away, it could be some time before that happens.