This is something I am struggling with, and curious what others think, as I initially thought there would be an easy answer but unfortunately don't think there is.
What should be the expectation of adding a blue shirt on the program?
To me, there is a hierarchy in terms of when to expect results from a guy. I would say I expect results from blue shirts over JUCOs and HS guys, with an exception being if the guy has 3 or more years left to play. So what does it mean to expect results then?
Initially, I thought the easy answer is that a blue shirt is considered successful if he plays a critical role in adding one or more wins to your team's total, as in without him we likely lose a game. So then I asked myself does Nigel King count as a successful blue shirt?
Initially I thought to myself he did because I felt by the end of the year he was the best WR on the team with a team that had moved the ball better than the previous year. But when looking at our wins, I am not sure he really helped us win any more games. Now having hindsight to our advantage, I do wonder if King was worth it since he only gave us one year. It also made me question whether looking at this in terms of wins was the right way.
Then I realized that this doesn't necessarily matter for this specific situation because we are taking multiple blue shirts. To me, this absolutely means these guys must impact the team in terms of win totals...but not necessarily next year. Looking at each guy individually...
Marquis Roberts - I expect him to have an impact this upcoming year and next year for him to be considered a successful blue shirt. I am a little bit worried about that with him missing two of his four seasons so far due to injury, but the opportunity is there.
LaQuvionte Gonzales - Since he is redshirting next year, no expectations this upcoming season, but I expect him to be one of the top 4 WRs on the team the two following years for him to be successful, which if he has the same starting QB for both of his years here, think by Year 3 the offense could be clicking.
Harneet Gill - some confusion on if he is a 3X3 or 4X3, but either way I am not expecting much from him this upcoming season, but am expecting him to be a major contributor the seasons following that (we need offensive tackles).
The common denominator for these three guys is expectations for them to be contributors in Year 2. Because of that, my expectations are going up for Year 2. Not at the level of being bowl eligible, but I think we have to be near a 4 win team next year (and think it is possible) for it to validate taking these guys. If not Year 2, it does make me lean towards Year 3 needing to be damn near bowl eligible for it to be considered a good idea to take this many blue shirts. My reasoning is that I would expect results from HS guys in Year 4 that could be taken in this upcoming class...so if we don't see results from these guys by Year 3 then it also takes away from Year 4 and I can't see it being justified...
What should be the expectation of adding a blue shirt on the program?
To me, there is a hierarchy in terms of when to expect results from a guy. I would say I expect results from blue shirts over JUCOs and HS guys, with an exception being if the guy has 3 or more years left to play. So what does it mean to expect results then?
Initially, I thought the easy answer is that a blue shirt is considered successful if he plays a critical role in adding one or more wins to your team's total, as in without him we likely lose a game. So then I asked myself does Nigel King count as a successful blue shirt?
Initially I thought to myself he did because I felt by the end of the year he was the best WR on the team with a team that had moved the ball better than the previous year. But when looking at our wins, I am not sure he really helped us win any more games. Now having hindsight to our advantage, I do wonder if King was worth it since he only gave us one year. It also made me question whether looking at this in terms of wins was the right way.
Then I realized that this doesn't necessarily matter for this specific situation because we are taking multiple blue shirts. To me, this absolutely means these guys must impact the team in terms of win totals...but not necessarily next year. Looking at each guy individually...
Marquis Roberts - I expect him to have an impact this upcoming year and next year for him to be considered a successful blue shirt. I am a little bit worried about that with him missing two of his four seasons so far due to injury, but the opportunity is there.
LaQuvionte Gonzales - Since he is redshirting next year, no expectations this upcoming season, but I expect him to be one of the top 4 WRs on the team the two following years for him to be successful, which if he has the same starting QB for both of his years here, think by Year 3 the offense could be clicking.
Harneet Gill - some confusion on if he is a 3X3 or 4X3, but either way I am not expecting much from him this upcoming season, but am expecting him to be a major contributor the seasons following that (we need offensive tackles).
The common denominator for these three guys is expectations for them to be contributors in Year 2. Because of that, my expectations are going up for Year 2. Not at the level of being bowl eligible, but I think we have to be near a 4 win team next year (and think it is possible) for it to validate taking these guys. If not Year 2, it does make me lean towards Year 3 needing to be damn near bowl eligible for it to be considered a good idea to take this many blue shirts. My reasoning is that I would expect results from HS guys in Year 4 that could be taken in this upcoming class...so if we don't see results from these guys by Year 3 then it also takes away from Year 4 and I can't see it being justified...
