Word is that Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby is the No. 1 target of Mario to replace Carson Beck. However, chances of getting Sorsby are rather slim for two reasons: 1. his girlfriend just enrolled in Texas Tecsh, and 2. Texas Tech may offer Sorsby $10 million for his services. Sorsby is visiting Texas Tech at this writing. Subsequently, he will be visiting Lane Kiffin at LSU, another school with a huge NIL budget. He has not as yet set up a visit to Coral Gables.
Drew Mestemaker already has agreed to follow his QB coach to Oklahoma State.
In my own rankings, I had Sorsby first, followed by Mestemaker. However, I have moved Byrum Brown up to my second choice, but it is almost a certainty Brown follows Golesh to Auburn. Look for Auburn to make some noise next year.
At this juncture, my top replacement is Sam Leavitt from Arizona State followed by Nebraska’s Dillon Raiola. Both have been historically injury prone, however, we faced the same problem with Beck.
Perhaps Miami should look at a lower division QB that is completing over seventy percent of his passes, exhibits considerable poise, and has a QB rating of 174. The player is Brad Jackson of Texas State.
Another gamer is our Panhandle local kid Marcus Stokes who played for the University of West Florida. Stokes is a big kid 6’2” 210 lbs who lit up the scoreboard with 40 touchdowns this season. Stokes has a tremendous arm and threw DOZENS of successful deep passes this year. Arguably, he has the best arm of all QBs on this list. Stokes is very poised and never looked panicky under pressure. IMO, he could turn out to be the steal in this year’s portal. Watch the You Tube highlight reel of Marcus Stokes. It’s incredible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGp6xSu6NdA
From what I have been told about Raiola from husker fans here in Nebraska is that he is not at all missed. Sounds like he is a package deal with his younger brother. The father asked rhule for more money and was told no. So Dylan left. Sounds like a big drama. In my opinion from the few games I did see him play he wasn’t even worth what he was getting paid. Nothing special in my book.
I have no idea if Raiola is the answer. That being said the quarterback who replaced him this year at Nebraska is not good enough to play at a D2 level. Nebraska has done a very poor job under Ruhle. He is going to get fired next year if they dont win 8-9 games.
Leavitt was my top choice all along. No idea what’s going to happen here.
Hauser from ECU would be a nice senior to bring in…Make him and Nickel compete and winner gets the job. This is if we miss out on the top 2-3
I agree that Brad Jackson would be a nice sleeper option. Again that would be someone that would have to compete with Nickel, you don’t automatically hand Jackson the job.
Leavitt, Sorsby, etc…Those guys are you bonafide starters.
Raiola is just such a flake, I don’t know what to make of him. Can’t stand him, but talented.
Again, I’ve changed my mind about who Miami should pursue to replace Beck. The best fit for the Miami offense that is not named Leavitt or Sorsby is none other than West Florida’s Marcus Stokes. I have a feeling Marcus Stokes’s stock is going to soar in the near future when more coaches discover him hidden away in the Panhandle of Florida. Considering the negatives about Raiola, we need to pass on him.
West Florida is a football power in Division II, winning a national championship and in the quarter or semi-finals every year. West Florida is the ONLY team in Florida to win a NC in two decades. Their offense is centered around the passing game. What other QB in this nation passed for FORTY touchdowns last year? We need to go after Stokes.
Sam Leavitt’s most likely destination is reported, strangely I think, to be Kentucky, although there is considerable interest expressed by Oregon, LSU, Miami, and Texas Tech. Leavitt may wind up in his home state of Oregon inasmuch as Oregon has deep NIL pockets.
Maybe then it’s a matter of getting one of the lower division guys bikki228 mentions. Then, err, let a competition develop between that guy and the QBs we signed out of high school. Crazier things have happened.
This type of flurry of activity is predictable as teams adjust to just one portal. All things considered, having more money to throw at more players might make a “decent” QB look much better. A “game manager” type instead of Savior.
Use NIL, etc. to restock the interior lines and a few more holes (safety?). We seem to have plenty of skill players (who don’t get enough burn to know what they can really do, if they can be The Guy).
I sure as hell don’t want Lagway who btw may wind up at FSU. IMO, Marcus Stokes is the answer to our QB needs. He’s a dual threat QB and rushed for over ten TDs this year. Already Stokes has more deceptive moves than Beck and has twice the arm. To get some perspective, Stokes plays at the University of West Florida, which wins ten games every year, and plays against Ferris State, the school from which Trinidad Chambliss transferred to Ole Miss. Stokes is used to being a winner. If not Stokes, we need to go after Brad Jackson at Texas State.
Anyone thinking Mario has something up his sleeve. Everyone knows we need a qb next year but not much is being done about it from what I can tell. Past 2 years he has pulled off some stuff at the end from what seems like out of no where. Can he do the same again.
The QB from Washington signed but is now entering the portal. Similar situation to Lucas last year. It was rumored that he had a top tier deal in place. I wonder what will happen there.