Listening to Ludwig last night sure made it seem like his mind is already made up regarding a starting QB. Just about everything he had to say about a starting QB was about Bentley. Just a brief mention of Rising. I don’t consider Lisk a serious candidate so am not interested in what he has to say about him.
This sounds good to me.
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I’m fine with whoever the coaches decide upon.
So Bentley is a SR but with Covid does he get to play another year after this? And likewise Rising would still get 2 more years? That seems like a good place to be to me if this is the case.
Except, if that is the case then I believe we can kiss Costelli goodbye.
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I was under the assumption that Costelli was enrolling early at the U.
I’m a nameless noboy, so in the end, who cares…but from my vantage point…
There is a certain paid site that tends to evaluate QB’s really, really, really poorly. Like, really poorly. I don’t know if they form relationships with guys, or can’t evaluate QB’s, or see just enough of one guy in a 20 min viewing session and not the whole picture…but your best bet is to take whatever they say and expect the opposite.
Here is what we know:
Rising was third on the depth chart at Texas and transferred here. He spent a whole year learning the offense and then was eligible to play in the bowl game vs Texas. Huntley played that game but had nothing to play for other than pride. You’d think it would be a great opportunity to get some live reps for Rising. Not saying you guaranteed him playing time, but at least throw him out for a series or two.
And we know what Lisk looks like as a QB…I love everything he brings but his talent level is not there. We have tried to have him play time and again and each time we went back to Shelley.
What concerns me about Rising is when the bowl game came around, Ludwig said that Rising wasn’t ready and would be the third QB.
Then you have Bentley. He was a three year starter at South Carolina. He had his ups and downs, but his his ups eclispe anything that any Utah QB has done in the P12. His JR year he tossed for over 3,000 yards and 28 TD’s.
You watch his film and JR Bentley looks a TON like JR Huntley, but with a better arm.
So, you have a proven quantity in Bentley vs an unproven quantity in Rising. You don’t have spring ball to practice. You have limited summer and fall camps to get ready. You don’t have an OOC schedule full of patsies to get ready for conference play.
Everything points to Bentley getting the start.
And I don’t think this is a Huntley vs Troy Williams scenario. Troy had some serious limitations in his game and Utah had some serious holes in their OL (Asiata, Bolles and Dielman all graduated). Watching Huntley in the spring game you could see him do things no QB was able to do since Smith. You knew then Huntley was going to compete to start and when Whitt didn’t name a starter in early fall camp, you knew that Huntley was the guy.
Utah has an offense that is ready for someone to come in, take the keys and excel.
Bentley is a proven commodity.
And no one loses any eligibility.
Bentley had top three round draft potential before his injury. The dream scenario is Bentley comes in, excels at Utah with the offense around him and is drafted.
Then Rising takes over in fall of 2021 and everyone wins.
I’d bet on Bentley.
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I think Costelli announced that he was not going to enroll early, but play his season in the spring for his high school. This is better for Utah IF they can keep him committed. Ha ha.
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Works for me. That would be my ideal scenario. They were saying a lot of good things about Rising at the limited Spring practice.
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Maybe already been answered, but yeah Bentley gets to play another year as far as the NCAA is concerned… this year doesn’t count against anyone’s eligibility. Schools still have to manage their scholarship limits, so the question is whether he’ll be among the ‘super seniors’ that the Utes keep on scholly in 2021.
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Ludwig saw Bentley in the SEC. I watched South Carolina’s game yesterday, their QB is a grad transfer from Colorado State.
Now Bentley has 2 years at Utah. The notoriety we got last year played a role in him coming west.
The calculus on selecting the QB may have changed a bit because we still have a lot of NFL-gone talent to replace on defense, but we get 6+ games this year, which don’t impact eligibility.
I think Whitt & Ludwig may be looking at a special season, next year.
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How is the offensive line going to look next season?
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The O-line may benefit the most by the freebie 2020 campaign. All the seniors… they’ll be back.
(And the 2s will get experience & more time lifting, the freshman get basically a short season & an extra spring - no impact on eligibility.)
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Do you think Bamadeli Olaseni could turn into an NFL Olineman by next season?
For reasons that are unreasonable and beyond what can be explained logically, I somehow think that this coaching staff will have this team more focused than any other in the conference. I’ve watched a number of games and it seems like D1 college Football light, even in the vaunted SEC.
I just don’t believe the Utes will come out that way. I think they will be intense and aggressive, ready to play at a high level and wanting to redeem for last season’s late collapse. Sooooooo…color me a believer in 2020. 
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There has been a lot of talk about how Bentley has experience, but I think that one thing gets minimized:
Bentley has a better arm. Like a legit first round talent arm. No, not a “look I play against bad G5 teams and can put up gaudy numbers” arm, but an arm where NFL scouts look at and dream big dreams.
He has to get his timing down, but if you want a QB with real NFL potential, from a body standpoint, Bentley is that guy.
Now Bentley isn’t perfect and has his flaws but you watch some of his throws and Utah QB’s can’t do those things.
If Ludwig can simplify the game for Bentley like he did for Huntley, if the RB’s can be effective enough for the PA to work…
There is so much potential there. A dangerous word, but potential Utah hasn’t had since…Mitchell? Ever?
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Huzzah!
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Tommy Grady had a pretty big arm.
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You aren’t disparaging two time AFL MVP Tommy Grady, right!?!?!
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