Does Tennessee need a portal QB?

[swampfoxfan]

*Kids that are really good don't........

Gaston Moore did exactly that. Serviceable QB, not going to win games for you, but going to manage the game to the best of his talent if he gets in the game.

There's a market for Josh Dobbs in the NFL.
There's a market for Gaston Moore in college.

Confused, are you saying we lose games he plays in/starts?

 

[secking]

I'd say yes to that. Going to be hard to find someone willing to come in and sit behind Nico.. Most those guys want to play. Need a backup plan if he goes down though. Throwing a true freshman to the wolves doesn't sound like a good plan in the SEC.

106 QBs in the portal, they all know there isn’t 106 open QB positions. Plenty that would like to step up to a powerhouse SEC program as qb2.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Confused, are you saying we lose games he plays in/starts?

I'm not insulting Dobbs or Moore like that.

In the portal you find mostly guys who want to start SOMEWHERE and are looking for that role. There's a much smaller market for guys like Moore who came from UCF knowing he'd never start and rarely play for UT. He knew he'd be a role player/scout QB who might be used in case of injury but would never be QB1 and maybe even not QB2. That's a tough portal guy to find, but there's probably a few.

As an example, Maalik Murphy was QB2 at TX this year. He's in the portal because he's going to be QB3. He saw his future following Ewers melt away as Arch got better. He's not coming to UT to be the next Gaston Moore.

I mentioned Harrison Bailey earlier in the thread. Highly touted, but either didn't pan out or didn't want it or whatever, he walked on at Louisville last year. Would he want to come back as a scout QB now? Is he good enough? I've no idea but you're looking for someone like that: skilled, smart, but not quite talented enough and ego filled enough to screw up your locker room.

 

[volstudent26]

I’d say probably not the only reason you’d want one is if Nico got injured in which case you have some deserving backups and young talent in merklinger. To get someone of high enough caliber and experience out of the portal would cost too much NIL money and they would not likely want to sit.

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

Depends on the roster crunch to an extent but I would like to see then bring in a seasoned player/game manager grad student type.

Someone who could start in a pinch but more important to help the young guys understand what they are seeing on game days and be a mentor type off the field.

 

[Smokey7]

Gaston is a good second option

 

[rocytop2624]

How many schools are going to have 3 real options at qb in this transfer environment? The portal is there so players can find immediate playing time. Going to a program with 2 highly ranked, young qb's seems like a path to the bench. Need to find an older serviceable qb who wants to learn and eventually coach. That's why I was confused when Gaston Moore left

Gaston left?

 

[rocytop2624]

Depends on the roster crunch to an extent but I would like to see then bring in a seasoned player/game manager grad student type.

Someone who could start in a pinch but more important to help the young guys understand what they are seeing on game days and be a mentor type off the field.

I heard are punter has a good arm and is athletic. He could be a emergency QB.

 

[jarhead]

Always.

 

[cgrish]

Gaston is a good second option

I agree, he looked good enough to win games the times I have seen him play. I actually think he is better than Milton, just my opinion.

 

[UTFranklinVol]

Sounds to me from Heupels interview on signing day that they are trying to get a QB with experience from the portal as an insurance policy but Nico is making it very hard.

Heupel knows he's in a very precarious position right now. Hopefully they get a grad player willing to be the experienced backup.

 

[pimo1]

Kids in the portal don’t change schools to be a 3 year backup

If Nico is what we think he is it's 2 years but your point stands. I think Merklinger might be able to be that guy but depends on him he has the tools but can he learn the offense? I see a lot of pundits saying this is a gimmick offense but from what I've seen it takes a QB a while to learn it and control it. You can't just put a raw talented guy back there and get results like some offenses where QB's can succeed on raw talent.

 

[SGMVols]

Sounds to me from Heupels interview on signing day that they are trying to get a QB with experience from the portal as an insurance policy but Nico is making it very hard.

Heupel knows he's in a very precarious position right now. Hopefully they get a grad player willing to be the experienced backup.

Guys don’t transfer to sit the bench unless they have no other options.