- Joined
- Apr 28, 2014
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I'd just say It also does make sense to go for an elite 5 star QB out of HS IF and really only IF you 100% expect them to start immediately. It is certainly riskier than going with a known commodity out of the portal, but the benefits are pretty good as well because you have your guy for 3 years.Fans think that high end QBs grow on trees, they don't. Evaluations are key, and from what I've seen of Nickel, the dude can play. Judd has some solid physical tools, but he's raw as a passer. There's a good chance he transfers out after a year or two, unless he develops into the starter. Nickel has the potential to be a legit star. Give me a guy with the physical tools and the IT factor, and I'll show you someone that can be **** good, very quickly.
It's obvious that Mario understands that NIL money isn't some bottomless pit, he has to prioritize positions and whatnot. Mario is building inside out, with extremely strong line play the bedrock of the program. Miami will never hurt for playmakers on the outside and at tailback. If Miami can consistently churn out solid to good QBs, the wins will come. Yes, I'd love it if someone stepped up and told Mario "Hey, I will personally guarantee any NIL money for whatever top end QB you want", but that likely isn't happening. We've all heard the rumors of what Bell is going to get from Texas and if it is anywhere near true, it's insanity. I wouldn't spend that money on a guy that likely won't play year one.
It's not like Mario hasn't tried or come extremely close to landing a high end QB, but things happen. In today's NIL landscape, it may make more sense to take some fliers(and top end guys you lock down early) from the HS ranks and then throw the bulk of your money at proven commodities in the transfer portal, if what you land in traditional recruiting doesn't work out.
But yeah **** paying a 5star qb to sit the bench. Darnold and Minshew are making $10M/yr and $12.5M/yr respectively as fringe starter/backups. With an NFL salary cap of $255.4M this year that is equivalent to 3.9-4.9% of the salary cap. If our NIL was $20M this year, that means if we were trying to spend NIL the way the NFL does which is pretty much tried and true and has a **** load of money working to make the correct investments, that a backup QB should get no more than $780k-980K per year. How much do 5 star Qbs cost? Well Rashada had like a 4yr $13M deal with UF lol. Nico Iamaleava had a reported $8M/4yr deal with UTenn. Arch probably almost definitely could have gotten >$2m/yr with how big his NIL value is. Idk about what the rumors wwere for 2024 guys.... But we can see a pattern here with 5star Qbs, easily being > $1m/yr. So we can see why that is a terrible allocation of NIL funds to spend on a backup.
That's really all there is to it for me. Either we get a Qb for <$150k out of HS and go for THE TOP portal Qb (assuming the starter isn't already on the roster) OR we go all out for either the #1 or #2 Qb in HS and he starts immediately. That's the options for me. Maybe you can be okay with the 5star ridiing the bench for a year if you had a 3 star who became a senior and earned the starting job like an Emory Williams or something. That wouldn't be a complete waste of money cause in that scenario the starter is pretty cheap...