The tidewater area of Virginia is producing yet another top flight quarterback recruit. His name is Phillip Sims from Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, and he's likely one of the nation's top QB recruits in 2010. Virginia Tech has made a living recruiting this part of the state, and players from this region are the back bone of their team.
However this week he announced plans to attend Alabama. So the trend continues of top flight quarterback in the state of Virginia (and the surrounding states) chosing somewhere besides Virginia Tech to play their college football. And for those of us following the program, it doesn't feel like its bound to change anytime soon.
So if you are Phillip Sims, would you go to Virginia Tech? Sims is not a case of QB coming from pass happy drop back offense which bears no resemblance to Virginia Tech. He actually comes from an offense that is somewhat similar to the Hokies, play-action pass oriented, and Chris Coleman over at the Blogsburg does a comparison of the recent Alabama and Virginia Tech QB stats to show that if Sims was looking at offenses, Bama and VT would be pretty similar.
Sims made a big deal our of immediate playing time, and while he'd likely have to sit and watch Tyrod Taylor for 1 year, this would have been another attractive part of playing for the Hokies. Alabama also offered plenty of immediate playing time.
Besides that, there's little about the Virginia Tech situation that makes it an attractive situation for premier quarterback recruits. The offense is stale, its mostly run oriented, gives up too many sacks, and rarely puts a QB successfully into the NFL. I also think the Hokies lost a lot of QB recruiting power when Kevin Rogers left as QB coach. Rogers was a guy who had significant experience developing NFL quarterbacks.
So when will this change? The Hokies surely have to get a least a few decent recruits this year. But college football is about playmakers, and frankly, the Hokie offense (which isn't terribly sophisticated) relies on Tyrod Taylor-like playmakers at key positions like QB and RB to be successful. Surely next year, with Taylor graduating and the depth chart virtually wide-open, it shouldn't be impossible to attract at least one premier QB recruit. Or will it?
I found it interesting watching ESPNs College Football Live yesterday that USC has a 'problem' this spring trying to decide who will start at QB given they have talented 3rd year Aaron Corp, super-frosh Matt Barkley, and transfer Mitch Mustain. All are qualified, its a matter of one separating. Must be nice. (To be honest, I'm a bit tired of hearing about Mitch Mustain and his travails).
Anyway, enjoy Tyrod Taylor this year while he's here and healthy.
Go Hokies!
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