2003 Elite-11 QB Class mainly "busts"?

[Pokevette]

I haven't check on some of these guys lately, but off the top of my head:

1 Drew Weatherford - Starting for Florida State.
2 John David Booty - Starting for USC.
3 Anthony Morelli - Starting for Penn State
4 Nate Longshore - Starting for California

But after those four, pretty much the balance would I think be considered "busts"....

5 Rhett Bomar - Transferred from Oklahoma to Sam Houston State.
6 Bobbie Reid - Transferred from Okla St. to Texas Southern.
7 Kirby Freeman - Transferred from Miami to Baylor
8 Conelius Ingram - No impact at Florida.
9 Chase Patton - No impact at Missouri.
10 Brian Hildebrand - Transferred to Juco from Oregon State after 1 season.
11 Alonzo "AJ" Bryant - Moved from QB to Receiver.
12 Matt Tuiasosopo - Never played at Washington, signed Baseball contract out of High School

So a full 2/3rds of that coveted 2003 Elite-11 QB class turned out to be "busts" my most measures.

[Lewis the Pike]

In addition, Longshore and Morelli have been rather pedestrian at their schools.

I haven't followed Weatherford, but John David Booty is one hell of a QB.

[Roman Craig]

John David Booty is one hell of a QB.
Understatement of the year. I think he is the best one out of there over Carroll's tenure.

[CaliforniaCowboy]

I would not call Longshore pedestrian... he was injured one year.

[Lewis the Pike]

I would not call Longshore pedestrian... he was injured one year.

Longshore's Career Passing Stats
Year G-GS C-A Pct Yards TD INT Long Yds/G
2005 1-1 8-11 72.7 131 1 1 44 131.0
2006 13-13 227-377 60.2 3,021 24 13 62 232.4
2007 11-11 225-376 59.8 2,544 16 13 49 236.5
Career 25-25 460-764 60.2 5,696 41 27 62 227.8

On further review, he's been slightly above average, not pedestrian.

[topdaug]

In addition, Longshore and Morelli have been rather pedestrian at their schools.

I haven't followed Weatherford, but John David Booty is one hell of a QB.

Weatherford has done nothing of note at FSU and has played a part in a QB carousel between him and Xavier Lee (who declared for the draft after this season after basically being kicked off of the FSU team)...Weatherford's not horrible, but he hasn't done anything of note yet...

Longshore has been decent for Cal...

Morelli hasn't been very good at all, IMO...he seems uncomfortable at times and, even though he has some weapons at WR, can't seem to find them...the Penn State offense was pretty bad at times last year...

To me, the 2003 Elite 11 class looks pretty terrible overall...most of them seem to have been busts...

However, one thing that needs to be said...Cornelius Ingram at Florida changed to TE, where he's been pretty good...to say he's made no impact is not correct...his position switch seems to have worked out for him...

[SeaOfOrange]

I'll be honest, Rhett Bomar was a bust because of his off-field indiscretions. I have no doubt that had he not made a bad decision, or get caught taking money from a job he didn't do(which, it happens at every school), he would definitely be in the top 5. That kid could be a great Div. I player. I'm not terribly sure of his talent as far as the next level is concerned though.

I don't think that there are too many spooner fans that would trade Bomar for Bradford, but I think he'd be doing just as well. Where Bradford is a better passer, Bomar is the better runner. IMHO.

[CaliforniaCowboy]

I haven't check on some of these guys lately, but off the top of my head:

1 Drew Weatherford - Starting for Florida State.
2 John David Booty - Starting for USC.
3 Anthony Morelli - Starting for Penn State
4 Nate Longshore - Starting for California

But after those four, pretty much the balance would I think be considered "busts"....

5 Rhett Bomar - Transferred from Oklahoma to Sam Houston State.
6 Bobbie Reid - Transferred from Okla St. to Texas Southern.
7 Kirby Freeman - Transferred from Miami to Baylor
8 Conelius Ingram - No impact at Florida.
9 Chase Patton - No impact at Missouri.
10 Brian Hildebrand - Transferred to Juco from Oregon State after 1 season.
11 Alonzo "AJ" Bryant - Moved from QB to Receiver.
12 Matt Tuiasosopo - Never played at Washington, signed Baseball contract out of High School

So a full 2/3rds of that coveted 2003 Elite-11 QB class turned out to be "busts" my most measures.


After re-reading your post... I certainly do not consier Bobby Reid to be "a bust"... that's utter nonsense.

Getting beat out is one thing, but that does not make you "a bust".

He started one season and set OSU records, and he certainly would have been firmly entrenched in almost every OSU record if they had not give the job to Zac.

You know that Bobby Reid would have put up really good numbers in 2007 if he had remained the starter; I would not call that a bust.

I wish he was still on our team, because I have a sinking feeling that we're going to need him in 2008.

I would have no regrets and no qualms if Bobby were the starting QB, or if he were taking mopup snaps.

I just don't see how you can call Bobby Reid "a bust"... way to strong a label for my tastes.

[Pokevette]

After re-reading your post... I certainly do not consier Bobby Reid to be "a bust"... that's utter nonsense.

Well, I think you are in the minority with that viewpoint. Most of us would consider an Elite-11 QB getting beat out by a Rivals 3* underclassman guy and transferring before completing his eligibility to be a bust.

Was Bobbie a "good" QB at times? Sure. Did he live up to his Elite-11 QB status? Nope. So in those terms I would think he would be considered a bust.

And also, they did not "give" the job to Zac. Zac earned the job by being the more productive QB. For those of us who watched both QB's play in the home opener against Florida Atlantic, there was no debate. Zac was the better QB that day. That was when he "earned" the job in my opinion.

[CaliforniaCowboy]

Well, I think you are in the minority with that viewpoint. Most of us would consider an Elite-11 QB getting beat out by a Rivals 3* underclassman guy and transferring before completing his eligibility to be a bust.

Was Bobbie a "good" QB at times? Sure. Did he live up to his Elite-11 QB status? Nope. So in those terms I would think he would be considered a bust.

And also, they did not "give" the job to Zac. Zac earned the job by being the more productive QB. For those of us who watched both QB's play in the home opener against Florida Atlantic, there was no debate. Zac was the better QB that day. That was when he "earned" the job in my opinion.

Oh brother... did someone forget to wind the coo-coo clock?

Bobby Reid was having a great game against FAU when he got hurt and was doing EXACTLY what the coaches asked him to do... run the ball more.

He had 4 carries for 32 yards when he went out; ZR had 5 carries for 21 on the WHOLE GAME.

On the first OSU series, Bobby rushed for 9, then Toston fumbled the ball away on the next play.

the next series we went 3-n-out (Cox fumbled the KO, but we got it back)... two incomplete passes, then a stupid complete pass to Broadway on the flat for -2 yards.. thank you coach Fedora!! God I hate that play on 3rd and long.

The next drive Reid was kicking butt with two completions and two rushes for 4 and 6 yards... then we got a false start, then Zac rushes for -1 and we punt.

The next series Cox returns the punt 67 yards to the FAU 24... Reid opens with a 13 yard rush to the FAU 11; and get hurt (OSU about to go up 14-3 in the 1st).

"if" Zac "earned" it that day it was because the coaches "might" have thought that Reid's injure was not severe enough to come out of the game... but I don't know how severe the injury actually was, nor do I know what the coaches "thought"... it is mere speculation.

Zac did play well the rest of the game... but your statement is simply unfounded; especially against an opponent like FAU... Cate or Pena. Hunter was spactacular with at 33 yrd TD run and a 43 yrd catch and run... and Bowman had a 77 yard one-play TD grab (that's 21 points on top of the 14 when Reid was in or 35 of our 42 points!)

In the first half, Zac's two drive were a 3-n-out and a nice sustained drive for a TD. We opened the 2nd half with Hunter getting the big YAC on the first possession and Bowman going the distance on one play the next possession for a giant lead (sure Zac got them the ball, but most of it was the individual effort by those two players).

next drive 3-n-out.
next drive 3-n-out.
next drive Zac gets intercepted. (4th qtr now)
next drive Hunter busts the 33-yrd romp for a TD

at this point Offer is in for the last two series...

You only saw what you wanted to see; and IMO, not what acutally was.

in any event, he sure proved at Troy that he wasn't ready to take over the team. 18-37 with TWO picks and a fumble! Yuck!





I have nothing against Zac, I simply feel that the QB change at that time was one of the worst coaching decisions that I have ever seen at OSU (right along with benching Woods for Reid after 2 games).