I have a unique advantage over most regarding recruiting information. Some of my closest friends work the camp circuits and I’m able to glean knowledge and perspectives about the top talent in the nation from people I trust who have not only seen these prospects first hand, but worked closely with them.
I don’t always have inside info about where they are going – although sometimes I do –my connections provide me with details on how good a prospect truly is, whether he’s worthy of his ranking, how he compares to other prospects and how he might fit into different systems based on strengths and weaknesses. When it comes to most positions, I can also lean on my personal knowledge having played the game and being a developer of talent at Boost Sports Performance.
Where I don’t try to be an expert is at the QB position. I just pick up the phone and call my radio show co-host Denny Thompson. Thompson has coached quarterbacks for years, including many top FBS prospects such as Auburn’s Joey Gatewood out of the 2018 class. He has worked Elite 11 camps and knows the position frontwards and backwards.
If he tells me a kid is good or has a good skill set, it is to me the recruiting equivalent of red letters in the King James Bible. He sees all the top QBs in the nation or knows who they work with.
When FSU picked up a commitment from quarterback Sam Howell, I was mostly indifferent because I thought more of Jayden Daniels or Taisun Phommachanh.
Denny Thompson saw Howell in action and on film and changed my mind. Thompson was impressed, and since then, so have I been.
Howell has shined at every event he has attended. He’s putting in that work. It is one of the more impressive things that new FSU offensive coordinator and quarterbacks’ coach Walt Bell has been able to do in his short time in Tallahassee – getting Howell to become interested in FSU.
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I believe FSU needs two QBs in this cycle, but what I’m seeing and reading about the young man from North Carolina is making me wonder if FSU should just make him feel secure in his place and go all in at other positions.
That Willie Taggart missed on a QB in the 2018 class makes it imperative that #Tribe19 lands a good one, or two, the problem there being this class doesn’t appear to have a big volume of top guys worth taking a shot on.
Howell also seems to have the demeanor that would fit in well in Tallahassee. He’s one of those guys who others are willing to play with and for. He doesn’t seem afraid of competition.
I’m all for making him “the” quarterback of the 2019 class, giving him the confidence to go out and help aid in recruiting as a peer, and a peer at the most important position on the field. With the early signing period in its second year, it’s probably best to have at least 10-15 kids sewn up and ready to go influence others to become future Doak Boyz.
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Article Originally Appeared on Gridiron Now: http://gridironnow.com/changing-my-opinion-on-florida-state-qb-commit-sam-howell
