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Mario on joe rose 7/15 on Qb Room - NO portal

The U is back to work said:
Believe it when I see it lol we have no clue if Nickel or Judd or Coleman are any good. He won’t pass up on a major QB if one shakes loose.
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It would be in all the young QBs interest, as well as my heart, if we can have multiple blow outs where backups get substantial playing time.

Then we can all get some meaningful looks at guys in real games.
 
ben said:
What did you guys want Mario to say? “Yea we keep recruiting 4-star high school QBs but we’re just gonna keep going to the portal for a starter because I don’t think the guys on our roster are good enough”?
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This is the right answer. Do you think with the quarterback room that we have, that Mario is going to publicly say we’re still open to grabbing QB starters from the portal? In the first place, the room is better than it has been for the last several years, but even if it wasn’t, I imagine he’d say the same thing. Otherwise you’re sending the wrong message to the people in that room.

If Mensah moves on to the NFL, which he most likely will, and a quarterback of similar qualities is available, you don’t think Mario will strongly consider it? He has to, he just doesn’t need to advertise it right now.

The statement is the only statement he could make at this time. Any portal friendly statement right now would be foolish and counterproductive.
 
Ironmanfootball said:
I'm sure they do, for IL. But they aren't playing St. Frances, they're playing St. Francis.
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I saw something on social media the other day listing the top 5 teams in IL and it went Mt Carmel, Montini, East St Louis, St Francis, and Brother Rice. Obviously IL isn't as good as states like TX, FL, GA, CA but it's been getting a lot better over the last few years.
 
dycane said:
This QB draft class is stacked. Good chance Mensah returns if we’re willing to pay him the same number
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I heard the same thing last year, and look how the 2026 class turned out. Also, if we have the season we all expect to have, Mensah is going to put up huge numbers and will be in the Heisman discussion. That will likely put him in the first round. As cool as it would be to get him to return, Mensah returning would be a little bit of a disappointment. I'm far from a draft expect or scout so I could be wrong

I'm not buying the Arch and Moore hype either. CJ Carr is very good, but he's still got quite a bit to prove. Who else really is there?
 
Shooter McGavin said:
I saw something on social media the other day listing the top 5 teams in IL and it went Mt Carmel, Montini, East St Louis, St Francis, and Brother Rice. Obviously IL isn't as good as states like TX, FL, GA, CA but it's been getting a lot better over the last few years.
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So they get 1 in St Francis. Would be fun tape to get ahold of
 
I think the reality is that, with liquidation damages and buyout clauses becoming more common, a school has to pay above-market to pull a quarterback out of the portal. By some accounts, Mensah is THE highest-paid QB in the country despite not necessarily being the best QB in the county, because that's what it took to get him to come here.

From a roster-building standpoint, it's cheaper to develop and retain guys already in your program. Taking Mensah as an example, he's reportedly making around $6.5 million. If he were a homegrown player and we didn't have to pay a premium to lure him away from another school or deal with buyout costs / litigation, we're probably spending something like $4.5-5 million instead. That's an extra $1.5–2 million you could spend elsewhere on the roster, like an elite offensive lineman or TE.

That's where developing your own talent can create a huge advantage. My guess is that's the basic math behind Mario's decision to start focusing more on HS QBs.
 
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Coleman is redshirting this year, If Mensah returns next year then Abrams would redshirt and likely take over in 2028 as a redshirt fresh.
 
Shooter McGavin said:
Yea and also sucks because they are in different classes than Mt Carmel, Rice, and ESTL so they won't be playing either of these schools in playoffs.
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So back to point 1: he ain't playing the ACC talent in the Catholic League of Chicago. And this is why an IMG does exist (same for STA, Heritage, St Frances, etc) to get them against great opponents in practice and games
 
The U is back to work said:
Believe it when I see it lol we have no clue if Nickel or Judd or Coleman are any good. He won’t pass up on a major QB if one shakes loose.
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It's an insane corner to paint yourself into really. If a top, game changing Cam Ward type Qb enters the portal and his agent makes it known he has interest, you test those waters. idgaf if you have back to back to back 5 Star Qb recruits.
 
ben said:
What did you guys want Mario to say? “Yea we keep recruiting 4-star high school QBs but we’re just gonna keep going to the portal for a starter because I don’t think the guys on our roster are good enough”?
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Yeah, go with his actions. Like D said, I think they're expecting some modifications to portal rules that are going to make portal spamming more difficult for QB
 
we aren't paying and recruiting highly rated hs QB's for a possible back up game or two. I get injuries happen and we'd need a good back up, but signing a legit transfer QB hasn't been the simplest process starting with Cam. He was thought to enter the draft, who was our option B? Beck was coming off an injury. Etc.
 
The U is back to work said:
He won’t start at 180 pound true freshman at QB with a $40m roster. Just won’t happen. Now if he battles for backup with Coleman or Nickel if they keep them around sure.
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I dont even think he is 180 pounds as is right now, some might not realize he is legit 6'4 ish.. He is thin but funny you have him backing up Coleman for being 180 but Coleman like 165 lol..
 
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