The mess that is 2020 QB recruiting

Domicillo said:

Looking to next year’s recruiting cycle, the most interesting situation to follow and likely the least fruitful result will be attributed to what happens at QB position. UW’s glut of QBs we’ve been drooling over has created one of the more competitive QB rooms in the country, and in doing so has also made it much more difficult to add another QB of quality next year.

Right now this the epitome of ‘a good problem to have’, but with possible attrition in a year (Eason to 2020 draft) and the possibility of transfers (those left from the post-Browning competition), that room could look a lot different a year from now when it actually comes time to sign the 2020 class.

Making all of this even more difficult is the fact that the depth of the west coast QB class next year is already limited. The clear top two, DJ Uiagalelei (Clemson, Oregon or MLB Draft) and Bryce Young (USC) are also the only 2020 QBs UW has offered. My next tier of guys; Aiden Atkinson, Jay Butterfield, Shane Illingworth, Jack Miller and DJ Johnson, are all either committed or heavily assumed to go elsewhere. These are also guys who are too good to realistically expect to choose to walk into a QB situation like ours with Huard being right on their tail too.

As I mentioned on the board a month ago, Biggins was saying that Bush is still heavily recruiting Bryce Young and that there is some mutual interest there despite his commitment to USC. To me, this says a lot more to me about Bush’s opinion on the rest of the 2020 QB options than the fact that we haven’t offered any other QBs. If Bush is going to spend time on a kid who has been committed elsewhere for six months, how bad must the next best options be? Also, when factoring this in along with the decision to offer Huard last month, it likely suggests that UW is strongly considering not taking a 2020 QB at all and/or at the minimum will slow-play QB recruiting over the next year.

However for the sake of argument, if we do end up taking a 2020 QB, who could some of the targets be? While it’s really hard to evaluate QBs just off a hudl, you'd learn a lot more by just watching one half of game tape on these guys; where you can actually see how they read a defense, instincts, pocket presence, etc. Here are five to keep an eye on...

1. Jaden Casey: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/6247589/5bfb4f4cd226010d5c0193f1
Current commit to Fresno State, which is funny cause he looks a lot like a Derek Carr to me. At Calabasas and a good example of tough to evaluate QBs when they have receivers this elite, but naturally he would also help in UW’s quest for Johnny Wilson. Throws a good deep ball and shows both above average arm strength, good mobility and varying touch on his throws in his hudl.

2. Sol-Jay Maiava: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/7860076/5c112197b023540b58c866e0
Thanks @Dennis_DeYoung for bringing to my attention that this kid transferred to DC this year, he was a big time QB as an underclassmen at Kahuku. Kid just screams playmaker, which is great to still see here because he’s playing against much better competition out in the Baltimore/DC area. He’s got a bit of a wide slinging throwing motion, mechanically I don’t think it’s bad enough that it couldn’t be fixed but one would be fair question his arm strength. He’d camped at UW in the past, wonder if the transfer to the east coast took him off UW’s board like they’ve done in the past with kids, i.e Josh Delgado.

3. Carl Richardson: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/5652836/5b81df213863570cec1854f9
Bit of a long throwing motion but he’s a tall kid at 6’4 with decent mobility, and looks athletic throwing while on the run. Has camped at UW twice, was co-MVP this past year. His hudl looks a lot like Brownings did, a ton of one read, short/intermediate routes in a system that requires/produces good accuracy/efficiency.

4. Carter Freedland: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/7740081/5b943713f55fb90c303550e7
Always hard to trust a hudl that's 75% read-option lol, but kid’s an athlete. Transferred from Mater Dei to Centennial this year to be the full time starter for the first time his high school career. In the few actual throwing highlights, you see a good sized arm, despite often times being outside of his base in his lower half. Bigger project than the other guys so far, but could be someone to continue to watch.

5. Ethan Garbers: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/4646820/5bfb50d8bd6abd0d14375f1e
Another kid whose been up to UW multiple times. To be honest, I thought I’d hate his tape more but was pleasantly surprised. Good arm with touch on his down the field throws, also shows good awareness and ability to roll-out. Main concern is this is the type that feels like he maxes out his talent in high school, and with how his brother’s performed you’d wonder if there is a similar trajectory there.

It’s possible all of these guys would rather take a spot at another school with a more direct path to starting, but I think these five are towards the baseline level of what Pete and Bush would consider worth a scholarship offer. And you could be right @LaMichael_Corleone, and instead we should be looking at someone like Jared Heywood out of Cathedral as a more realistic option, but I just can't see Bush using a scholarship on a kid who'd look eye to eye with Myles Bryant.

With all this said, my choice would be to continue to recruit Bryce Young and only stop recruiting him if I can get a commitment from a Jaden Casey or Sol-Jay Maiava. Those two bring a dynamic of having both a higher upside and unique skill-set to the QB room in addition to the connections they’d bring off the field (Johnny Wilson/Calabasas and Hawaii/Poly). Considering the likelihood that the 2020 QB may never play at UW, I’m fearful we take someone like Ethan Garbers who just clogs a roster spot as the newest Jake Haener, low ceiling kid who is already maxed out by his junior year in high school, when they could've taken a more high upside/dual threat type option.

What do you all think? Who sticks out and who am I missing? What would you do for 2020 QB recruiting?

TLDR: Few high quality 2020 options along with a really packed UW QB room makes it really tricky going into next year. You could argue we shouldn’t take a QB, continue to try to flip Bryce Young in case USC goes wonky early next season, or that we should focus on just getting a lower value guy to make sure we have a QB in the class. For sake of argument, if we do decide to take a QB, a few realistic options with hudls are above. Suck my peen and fucking read the post bitches.