Woody Barrett Transferring

[lionheartkc 6,150]

1 minute ago, AUDevil said:

Huge miss despite what he was ranked.  AU pays Gus a bunch of money to recruit the best QBs to AU.  He should be able to identify the best ones better than recruiting sites.  We don't pay him to work his way down the 247 list of 5 stars...anybody can do that.

Seriously? Even the best recruiters miss on QBs all of the time. QB is the hardest position to translate from high school to college. And, as has been stated, he had all of the tools... attitude can be the hardest thing to eval, because it's the easiest thing to fake.

Also, we don't pay Gus to recruit QBs.  We have 3 coaches with the title recruiting coordinator, none of which are Gus and all of which are usually nationally ranked. We also have a QB coach.

[TitanTiger 20,472]

2 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Huge miss despite what he was ranked.  AU pays Gus a bunch of money to recruit the best QBs to AU.  He should be able to identify the best ones better than recruiting sites.  We don't pay him to work his way down the 247 list of 5 stars...anybody can do that.

That isn't what happened.  Woody had offers from several other big schools.  It's not like we were beating out South Dakota State and UT Chattanooga for him.  A lot of folks saw a ton of potential in him and thought they could fix technique and such.  

[thaitopher 807]

8 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Huge miss despite what he was ranked.  AU pays Gus a bunch of money to recruit the best QBs to AU.  He should be able to identify the best ones better than recruiting sites.  We don't pay him to work his way down the 247 list of 5 stars...anybody can do that.

School	Status	Offer	Visit
Auburn	Signed
Alabama
Kentucky
Louisville
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Well then I Guess Gus is in good company of not being able to evaluate talent.

[AUApostle 7,651]

4 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

That isn't what happened.  Woody had offers from several other big schools.  It's not like we were beating out South Dakota State and UT Chattanooga for him.  A lot of folks saw a ton of potential in him and thought they could fix technique and such.  

I'm sure he did...a highly rated QB will get lots of big school offers.  However, an offensive guru shouldn't be so misled time and time again.  Looks like the problem is fixed with the hiring of Chip, though.

 

I remember Spurrier (and sure he had some misses, but the position was always in good shape) didn't offer many top rated QBs who wanted to play for him b/c they didn't have what it takes between the ears.

[DAG 33,977]

26 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

FWIW so take this as you will, but Chip has now idea why Gus signed Woody. Said the kid would never see the field as a QB at AU. Looks like Chip was right. Not trying to bash the kid, just is what it is. This was after Chip's first week on the job. 

That's called being a QB coach. My gosh. Let's start recruiting actually QBs from now on.  I am even skeptical about joey gatewood as a QB. But that is neither here nor there. Also, did those other schools recruit WB as a QB or athlete ?

[TitanTiger 20,472]

Just now, AUDevil said:

I'm sure he did...a highly rated QB will get lots of big school offers.  However, an offensive guru shouldn't be so misled time and time again.  Looks like the problem is fixed with the hiring of Chip, though.

You acted as if Gus were just reading recruiting sites to decide on who to recruit at QB.  If that's true, then Oklahoma, Ohio State, Clemson, et al, but have been doing the same thing on Woody.  Just reading stars over at 24/7.

And frankly 80-90% of Woody's problem is not ability.  It's leadership, attitude and drive.

[AUApostle 7,651]

Just now, TitanTiger said:

You acted as if Gus were just reading recruiting sites to decide on who to recruit at QB.  If that's true, then Oklahoma, Ohio State, Clemson, et al, but have been doing the same thing on Woody.  Just reading stars over at 24/7.

And frankly 80-90% of Woody's problem is not ability.  It's leadership, attitude and drive.

Those are important factors.  One could say that those other schools could afford to take a guy like Barrett b/c they already have the QB position in a solid place.

[ToomersStreet 795]

13 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Huge miss despite what he was ranked.  AU pays Gus a bunch of money to recruit the best QBs to AU.  He should be able to identify the best ones better than recruiting sites.  We don't pay him to work his way down the 247 list of 5 stars...anybody can do that.

Well said

[TitanTiger 20,472]

2 minutes ago, DAG said:

That's called be a QB coach. My gosh. Let's start recruiting actually QBs from now on.  I am even skeptical about joey gate wood as a QB. But that is neither here nor there. Also, did those other schools recruit WB as a QB or athlete ?

Woody was a QB in high school.  Completed 61% of his passes as a junior in fact (86 of 139 for 1,558 yards and 24 touchdowns) while adding another 813 yds and 9 TDs on the ground and did so in a HUNH system.  Woody has the built, the height, the arm strength that you want.  What he hasn't shown is the attitude, the willingness to work as hard as it takes to get better and so on.  

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

41 minutes ago, ToomersStreet said:

Was Barrett another poor eval by Gus and Rhett?

Personally i always saw Woody as good athlete we would have to mold into a QB. Hoping he'd improve on his passing. Considering we had no coaches on staff that can develop a QB worth a darn Woody was fighting an uphill battle. 

[TitanTiger 20,472]

1 minute ago, AUDevil said:

Those are important factors.  One could say that those other schools could afford to take a guy like Barrett b/c they already have the QB position in a solid place.

Some did, some didn't.  OU had to get a graduate transfer to have a viable option at QB.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

5 minutes ago, WarEagle1983 said:

Very athletic but i think he really needs to get with a QB coach to help his game. 

And honestly, that might not help until he decides to put int he work. Chip is a solid QB coach and word is that he didn't see a lot of potential, and it wasn't because of a lack of athleticism. It can be really hard to transition from a situation where your natural abilities carry you to one where you have to put in a lot of hard work to even be competitive. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

14 minutes ago, thaitopher said:

Even if we had more than 3 QB depth chart, it seems like a good policy to take 2 QBs every year, regardless of depth at the position. If there is ever one position you can't have too many players at, I would say it would be QB. Just look at Alabama last year - they had a plethora of great QBs, but then 2 five stars transferred elsewhere and now they don't have near the depth they used to.

I remember when people were arguing over whether or not to recruit Davis Webb to Auburn. "But we have Jeremy Johnson, Sean White, Tyler Queen, Woody Barrett and John Franklin!"

Hey, at least there was one serviceable QB on that list. 

[ToomersStreet 795]

8 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

I'm sure he did...a highly rated QB will get lots of big school offers.  However, an offensive guru shouldn't be so misled time and time again.  Looks like the problem is fixed with the hiring of Chip, though.

 

I remember Spurrier (and sure he had some misses, but the position was always in good shape) didn't offer many top rated QBs who wanted to play for him b/c they didn't have what it takes between the ears.

I'll say that I am happy we have Chip on staff.  I hope it is not too late for Chip to make the necessary corrections in both recruiting evaluation and the development of our QBs to be successful  over the next two to three years.

[ToomersStreet 795]

3 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

And honestly, that might not help until he decides to put int he work. Chip is a solid QB coach and word is that he didn't see a lot of potential, and it wasn't because of a lack of athleticism. It can be really hard to transition from a situation where your natural abilities carry you to one where you have to put in a lot of hard work to even be competitive. 

I think that can be said about a lot of five star talent

 

[DAG 33,977]

5 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Woody was a QB in high school.  Completed 61% of his passes as a junior in fact (86 of 139 for 1,558 yards and 24 touchdowns) while adding another 813 yds and 9 TDs on the ground and did so in a HUNH system.  Woody has the built, the height, the arm strength that you want.  What he hasn't shown is the attitude, the willingness to work as hard as it takes to get better and so on.  

Now that is a wasted scholly. People hated hard on JF3 but at least the kid put in work .

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Just now, ToomersStreet said:

I think that can be said about a lot of five star talent

 

Sad but true. 

[thaitopher 807]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I remember when people were arguing over whether or not to recruit Davis Webb to Auburn. "But we have Jeremy Johnson, Sean White, Tyler Queen, Woody Barrett and John Franklin!"

Hey, at least there was one serviceable QB on that list. 

To this day, I am still unsure why Gus didn't go all in on Davis Webb, just like I am confused why no coaches were around when Justin Fields wanted to visit us a couple of weekends ago.

[lutzcammed 469]

I read several good posts  above and a few that were almost laughable. 

 

I'll just say I feel 1000% better about our qb situation this year as compared to last.

[DAG 33,977]

1 minute ago, thaitopher said:

To this day, I am still unsure why Gus didn't go all in on Davis Webb, just like I am confused why no coaches were around when Justin Fields wanted to visit us a couple of weekends ago.

Screw Davis Webb. I really started questioning the evaluation when we didn't go after  Jerod Evans. That was insane.

[DAG 33,977]

I will say I am glad we got CCL. He doesn't seem to defer to stars or 40 times. I am looking forward to seeing how he works with the QB depth we have. Good luck to WB...

[TitanTiger 20,472]

Just for comparison's sake, let's look at how many top rated QBs Alabama has recruited since Saban got there (24/7 Composite ratings):

Star Jackson (4-star)
AJ McCarron (4-star)
Philip Sims (5-star)
Cooper Bateman (4-star)
David Cornwell (4-star)
Blake Barnett (5-star)
Jalen Hurts (4-star)

He also signed four 3-star kids who never played.  He got by after AJ left because Blake Sims (who was really recruited as an athlete) managed to play above expectations as a senior, and they got a graduate transfer in Jake Coker from FSU.

Good coaches, good QB developers who have eyes for talent, miss on HS quarterbacks All. The. Time.  Alabama was able to weather some of that because they had a tremendously talented surrounding cast, especially on defense.  And they luckily inherited a decent starter in McElroy who allowed AJ to develop, and then AJ was a very good QB who stayed through his senior year.  And most knowledgeable Bama fans will tell you Hurts was nothing special at QB this year, he just made some plays with his feet and they had an outstanding defense again.  Some think he might not hold on to the starting job this year if he doesn't make significant strides in the passing game.

I get the the frustration with Gus/Rhett sometimes, but some of the criticism doesn't hold water to me.  It's measuring them by a criteria that you apparently apply ONLY to them and no one else in college football.

[TitanTiger 20,472]

8 minutes ago, DAG said:

Screw Davis Webb. I really started questioning the evaluation when we didn't go after  Jerod Evans. That was insane.

I will agree Jerod Evans would have been better than JF3 last year.  But Jerod Evans wasn't all-world either, as evidenced by the fact that he went undrafted.  You can't tell me 32 clubs in a QB-driven league all missed something special about Jerod.  They see issues there too.

[McLoofus 35,182]

7 minutes ago, thaitopher said:

To this day, I am still unsure why Gus didn't go all in on Davis Webb, just like I am confused why no coaches were around when Justin Fields wanted to visit us a couple of weekends ago.

Did we not go after Webb pretty hard? I don't remember, really. 

Have to agree with DAG about Evans. That we went after Franklin instead... nobody understands it.

But that decision had already been made when we were going after Webb, who just got drafted in the 3rd round. He made the right decision for himself, no doubt about that. 

Really curious about that bit about Fields, too. 

[Tiger 8,819]

Didn't Davis Webb get drafted? Uh, yeah we should've brought him in. Any kid that is good enough to get drafted in the NFL is good enough for our program IMO

 

Word around here was the staff cooled on Webb but who knows whether that was ego-driven damage control or what.