Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Adding another quarterback to the class

Last night Mark Myers announced that he will be attending the University of Pittsburgh. So far this season the 6'4 left handed quarterback has been able to maintain an impressive record by remaining undefeated and putting up good numbers along the way. He's also a teammate of Pitt commit Brandon Carozzoni.

This now creates some questions for the Panthers. With plans being discussed to move quarterback Kolby Gray to Safety next years quarterbacks will be the following:

Pat Bostick - Jr (rs)
Tino Sunseri - So (rs)
Anthony Gonzalez - (fr)
Mark Myers - (fr)

This is where I have to tread carefully. Myers is the standard Wannstedt style quarterback. A big pro-style guy who would be best suited for our style of offense. Despite this, he is only in his first full year of starting. He did gain some experience during his sophomore year, but last year was 2nd string behind a quarterback who is now playing at Penn.

A recruit such as Myers has a very high boom or bust potential. People on message boards have already started comparing him to Ben Roethlisberger. I am not ready to make that judgement just yet. For every under recruited player such as Roethlisberger or Flacco that we see, there is more of a chance he will end up as a Kevan Smith type player.

It will be interesting to see where we head once "Tino Time" passes. The logical thought is that both Myers and Gonzalez will redshirt and the senior Tino will start. If that is the case we will have both Myers and Gonzalez heading into their redshirt junior year when one is ready to take over. My question on the situation is this, will we stay with what Wanny prefers and use the big, pro-style quarterback, or do we switch things up and go with the smaller running type quarterback who is more likely to succeed in a spread style offense than a pro-style offense?

Gonzalez is a huge recruit, simply looking at his offer sheet proves that. He had offers from some of the nations top programs, and more often than not, when all those schools offer, the kid is usually pretty good. On the other hand, Myers has the potential to be a big sleeper. His only offers were from Pitt, Toledo, and Ball State. I don't want to discriminate against any recruit simply because his only 2 other offers were from MAC schools, but at the same time I don't want Gonzalez to be moved to wide receiver simply because he isn't a pro-style quarterback.

The best option is to give every player a FAIR chance to earn their spot and to let the best player play.

5 comments:

Long live the resistance said...

Myers was starting to get attention from bigger (as in Big 10 programs) and was described by one opposing coach as the best quarterback he's seen at St. Ignatius. Since that includes QBs like Brian Hoyer and Dave Ragone, the kid has apparently developed quite well, and now is taking over from graduated starter who led this team to a state championship.

Danny said...

Hoyer and Ragone? Holy F Batman, better move over Marino, you've already been passed over.

Maybe it's because I'm from Eastern Pa, but I will take Gonzalez over Myers.

Unless that is his coach had a Wannstedt complex and only played the senior qb last year because he was a senior instead of playing the more talented younger player.

There is a reason why Myers is only a 2 star and will max out as out as a 3. He doesn't have the experience and wasn't able to beat out a guy who isn't even playing real D1 football.

Bill Stull went to the same school as Dan Marino, Joe Flacco, and Alex Van Pelt, does that mean that Bill Stull is as good as those 3?

I don't mean to sound down, I just think too many of our fans are already proclaiming him to be the next big thing without much experience. His recruitment seems much like the Kevan Smith recruitment (although this kid can win and Kevan Smith only won 3 games as a starting qb at all levels).

For Pitt, I hope this kid grows and shines, but to me he will be best served backing up Gonzalez after we switch to a more open offense........wait, this is Pitt and I'm just dreaming.

Here's to our "play not to lose" mentality.

Genius3 said...

A quote from St.Ignatius rival Mentor, OH Coach Trivisonno, "Myers has the best arm I have ever seen at this level"

This Coach has been at it for 20 years in the top level of Ohio football.

Genius3 said...

The kid has great feet (basketball player) and can flat throw it a mile on a line. Also, at St.Ignatius, a successfull Jr starter will always start as a Sr even if Montana and Marino are a class behind. Dave Ragone was a one year starter and was MVP of his league at Louisville for 3 straight years.

Danny said...

Forgive me for not being sold on a guy with less than a full season under his belt at the high school level.