Let me bury the lead and just say - I don't believe our fortunes will rise or fall with a stud QB transfer. I think if we rock into this coming season with the QB's that we already have, we will be fine and "should" win 10 games.
Would I love to get a stud from the portal who can help us ascend and rise again like the Phoenix this coming season? Who wouldn't, right???
I do think this coming season should be a 10-win game minimum (9 wins is on the razor's edge of whether or not Mario is gonna succeed here), and we will hopefully, be building for the future.
All indications are that we will own the trenches in all 12 games coming up in 24'. If we own the LOS in all 12 games, unless we have a spectacular meltdown or another Guinness Book of World Records on injuries in a season, and we retain Guidry for at least this coming season, we should win 5/6 of those games. Couple that with next season being the easiest we've seen in a long time and there you go.
Emory or JB11? I believe either of them should be able to win 10 games here in 24'. Additionally, this will be Dawson's make it or break it year. Many on CIS have already given up on Dawson and in a Lee Corso way, I must say, "Not so fast, my friend!" Mario will have a lot of developing to do himself this offseason and if he allows Dawson to really dial things up for the whole season, and have a QB that doesn't go into a shell (ex. TVD), he should be fine here.
JB, showed me enough in the Pinstripe to make me think that he could take us to 10 wins, especially given that we will own the LOS in all 12 games (or at least do that on paper).
Although it seems many have discounted Emory's results, the dude led us to a victory against Clemson and brought us almost to victory against a fully loaded undefeated FSU team, playing in Doak. Again, I don't see why, if we own the trenches, he couldn't take us to 10 wins.
If we do get a stud QB in the portal, then I would say the playoffs are likely and the sky is the limit.
Another portal thought: if Malachi didn't make it at USC for acceptable reasons, and not because he actually sucks, then bring him in, bring him along and let him compete with the QB's on the roster.
Final thought: the big picture this year is not the playoffs, it's winning 10 games. We will have more talent and own the trenches (on paper) against all 12 regular season teams AND we play the Noles at home. Whoever is QBing this year will not make or break this team, and Mario needs to win 10 in the worst way, so get there by hook or crook. If Mario gets to 10 wins this year, especially if he does it without a stud QB, then I think he's actually gonna make it here for a while longer. If he underperforms again, regardless of who's taking snaps, then the death spiral will have started and he won't last past one more season.
