Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Review of 2005 Recruiting: The Quarterbacks

Left to right: Tate Forcier, Jason Forcier, Some Guy, Chris Forcier
(image via MGoBlog)
The Offerees
Jason Forcier
High school: San Diego (CA) St. Augustine
Ratings: Rivals 3-star, #15 dual-threat QB; Scout 4-star, #8 QB
College: Michigan Stanford
Other notable offers: Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Wisconsin
Scoop: Jason Forcier became more famous for his younger brother Tate's starts at Michigan than anything the elder Forcier did in college.  Jason redshirted in 2005.  As a redshirt freshman in 2006, he appeared in mop-up duty and completed 3/3 passes for 30 yards and rushed for 14 yards.  However, prior to the 2007 season, he transferred to Stanford because Chad Henne had nailed down the starting job and Ryan Mallett, who had enrolled in January 2007, seemed to be the heir apparent.  Forcier sat out the 2007 season due to NCAA transfer rules.  As the #3 quarterback in 2008, he went 5/13 passing for 62 yards with 1 interception.  He transferred back to Michigan for graduate school in 2009 and tried to get a waiver to join the football program, but failed to do so.  He was not drafted.

Harrison Beck
High school: Clearwater (FL) Countryside
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #3 pro-style QB; Scout 4-star, #11 QB
College: Nebraska North Carolina State North Alabama
Other notable offers: Florida, Florida State, Miami
Scoop: As a true freshman in 2005, Beck played in two games and went 1/10 passing for 21 yards and 1 interception.  After the season he transferred to North Carolina State, where he was forced to sit out the 2006 season due to NCAA transfer rules.  In 2007 he started for half a season, finishing the year 85/160 (53.1%) for 903 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions.  He was demoted in 2009, when he completed just 34/80 passes (42.5%) for 592 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.  He transferred to North Alabama, an FCS school, for the 2009 season.  As the starting quarterback, he went 293/505 (58%) for 31 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.  He went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft and his football career appears to be finished.

Rob Schoenhoft
High school: Cincinnati (OH) Xavier
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #6 pro-style QB; Scout 4-star, #17 QB
College: Ohio State Delaware
Other notable offers: Florida, Michigan State, Notre Dame
Scoop: Schoenhoft redshirted as a true freshman in 2005.  As a redshirt freshman in 2006, Schoenhoft played in two games and went 1/1 for 5 yards.  In his 2007 redshirt sophomore season, he backed up Todd Boeckman and completed 17/25 passes (68%) for 129 yards.  He then transferred to Delaware of the Football Championship Subdivision, where he completed 83/160 passes (51.9%) for 6 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Conclusions
Biggest bust: None of these guys did anything of note. Forcier at least remained anonymous throughout his career, at least to the general population.  Schoenhoft couldn't get on the field at the FBS level, then proceeded to throw 10 picks and only 6 touchdowns for a solid FCS program.  All three guys were moderately ranked recruits, but none were high enough ranked to be monstrous disappointments.

Biggest miss: None.  Forcier was probably a decent enough backup who was never needed because of the presence of Chad Henne and Ryan Mallett.  Even if Michigan had pulled in Beck or Schoenhoft, neither one would have been able to run Rich Rodriguez's zone read option offense.  In fact, the biggest miss was losing Forcier to a transfer, because he was the most mobile of the three and would have had the best chance to succeed under Rodriguez.  He very well could have been Michigan's starter in 2008 and 2009.

Best in class: Mark Sanchez?  There weren't many great quarterbacks in the class of 2005, but Sanchez had a very solid college career.  It was good enough for him to leave USC early for the NFL and get picked by the New York Jets.  He's just a mediocre NFL quarterback, but NFL success is somewhat secondary to this blog's interest.

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