Thoughts on LSU Quarterbacks

Many in Tiger Nation will miss Zach Lee and most of us wish him the best of luck in his baseball career with the La Dodgers.  I cannot see how any reasonable person would expect this young man to pass up the millions of dollars that the Dodgers will pay him for the next five years.  In fact, had he stayed at LSU, the first interception that Z.Lee threw at least one joker would have yelled something like "I knew it! Anyone who passed up millions of dollars to play college ball can't have that good of judgment!" as he threw his LSU baseball cap on the ground and spilling his beer in the process.


Zach Lee's decision to take the millions, play for the Dodgers and not play quarterback for LSU has focused attention more intently on LSU's quarterback situation.  Many LSU fans in forums and reader comment sections probably correctly pointed out that Lee should not have expected to play much at LSU this year considering how infrequently Russell Shepard played last year.  A person that read my LSU's Schedule article  expressed concern that LSU could not attract strong quarterbacks and asked "What's so bad about playing QB at LSU?"
That question has struck a chord with me.

What Might Have Been Had LSU Successfully Recruited and Developed LA Talent
My first thoughts were of three Louisiana quarterbacks from the Shreveport area and two from New Orleans that could have made LSU a contender for the title of "Quarterback U."  The the five quarterbacks were Terry Bradshaw, Stan Humphries, and Josh Booty from Shreveport and Peyton and Eli Manning from New Orleans.  Bradshaw and both Mannings are Super Bowl winning quarterbacks.  Humphries did not win a Super Bowl but he was one of the two starting QBs in a Super Bowl. (Thanks to the reader that caught the error in a previous version of this article.)


Josh Booty plays into this discussion from a couple of angles. For one, Peyton Manning decided to go to Tennessee only after Josh Booty's verbal commitment to LSU.  At the time Booty held the single season passing yardage record in Louisiana and had put Shreveport's Evangel Christian Academy on the map as a high school national powerhouse.  In hindsight there is not much argument but, when Peyton Manning and Josh Booty were both seniors in high school, Booty was arguably a better prospect.


The other way that Josh Booty plays into this discussion is that had Booty been more successful at LSU, or at least not booed by LSU fans in his senior year, it is likely that Brock Berlin, who also played for Evangel H.S., would have gone to LSU instead of ultimately playing for Miami and certainly Booty's younger brother, John David Booty would have chosen LSU over playing at USC.


Since these Evangel players have not developed as NFL QBs some would argue that LSU did not miss much.  But even the LSU fans that still flinch at the name "Josh Booty" ought to at least be honest an admit that Berlin and the younger Booty did OK in college and all three had some talent that could have been better developed in the right situation.


So if you are buying my thoughts so far, original five talented quarterbacks actually impact decisions by two other talented quarterbacks making the total seven.  Had LSU just manage to successfully recruit and develop the four Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks, that kind of success would have likely attracted great quarterbacks from across the country.


How has Les Miles Done at Recruiting and Developing Quarterbacks?
Before I got too lost in the "What might have been - tears in my beer thoughts," I had a second idea that I was compelled to pursue:  "What is LSU's record in recruiting and developing quarterbacks during the five years that Miles has been head coach?"  One thing I discovered is that judging high school quarterbacks' potential is a real hit and miss type of business.  However, I am still committed to giving you the facts and my thoughts on those facts.  ESPN, Rivals, and Scout are widely respected for their ranking of high school football players and you can check my facts from these services online and free of charge.


Les Miles first recruiting class included Rivals #1 dual threat quarterback, Ryan Perrilloux.  LSU sign no quarterbacks in 2006 but signed Rivals #7 pro style quarterback, Jarrett Lee and #8 pro style quarterback, Jordan Jefferson in 2007 and 2008 respectively.  In 2009 LSU signed Rivals #1 dual threat quarterback, Russell Shepard.  Zach Lee who just decided to play pro baseball instead of quarterback at LSU was Rivals 2010 #9 pro style QB and Stephen Rivers who recently verbally committed to LSU's 2011 class is currently Rivals #10 pro style quarterback.  When you look at Rivals quarterback rankings it is clear that Les Miles has consistently recruited top ten level quarterbacks each year with the exception of 2006.


Scout and ESPN do not distinguish between pro style and dual threat quarterbacks and ESPN only maintains online records as far back as 2007.  Also Scout throws in junior college quarterback prospects into their rankings.  As a result the rankings will vary.  Scout ranked Ryan Perrilloux as the #2 overall quarterback in 2005.  In 2007 Scout ranked Jarrett Lee #15 and ESPN ranked him #10.  Jordan Jefferson was ranked #16 by ESPN and #18 by Scout. Russell Shepard was ranked #2 by Scout.  ESPN classified Shepard as an "athlete" and not just a "quarterback" but still ranked him as the third best player at any position.  Like Rivals, ESPN ranked Zach Lee as the #9 QB but Scout only ranked Z.Lee #21.  Stephen Rivers, who is the younger brother of San Diego Chargers' QB Philip Rivers, was ranked as Scout's #29 QB and ESPN only ranks Stephen Rivers at #55.  Two reason Rivers' rankings should not upset LSU fans: 1. his older brother was not highly ranked either and has done really well, and 2. this is a ranking established before he has played the first game of his senior high school season.  Rivers ranking will be adjusted by all three ranking services.  However, adding in Scout and ESPN to the picture changes the picture altogether.  LSU is still successfully recruiting quality quarterbacks but based on these rankings, LSU could do a whole lot better.


The question of developing quarterbacks to their full potential is another important factor.  If you set aside the Ryan Perrilloux and Zach Lee situations as things that are reasonably beyond a college coaching staff's range of control, LSU still has not done very well so far at developing the talent that they have recruited.  I think the floundering that we have witnessed the last two years is not so much a Miles vs. Saban coaching argument as a Gary Crowton vs. Jimbo Fisher argument.  Jimbo Fisher made it his personal responsibility to develop quarterbacks while he was the offensive coordinator of LSU.  His QBs have not shined in the NFL but they did well as college QBs.  I think adding Billy Gonzales and Steve Ensminger to the staff this year ought to really pay dividends in terms of future quarterback development.  Let's hope Les Miles and/or Gary Crowton puts them on this task.  If we have not learned anything else since the departure abrupt departure of Ryan Perrilloux, surely we are clear that LSU must find solid quarterback play to compete for a national title.