Fact or Fiction: Baylor, Miss. State signees should be allowed to transfer
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. The Baylor and Mississippi State signees should be allowed out of their National Letters of Intent.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Joe Moorhead got fired and Matt Rhule is leaving for the NFL, but numerous players are signed and locked into binding letters of intent to Mississippi State and Baylor respectively. And they should be let out of those agreements immediately.
This is one of the drawbacks to the early signing period. There should be a stipulation that if the head coach of the program a prospect signs with leaves (for whatever reason) then the prospects should be given a second chance to sign. I’m all about choosing a school for more reasons than a coach, but with the loss of a head coach comes new assistants, different offensive and defensive strategies and so on. C’mon NCAA, let’s get this right.
Gorney’s take: FACT. I completely agree with Farrell on this one. Rhule and Moorhead could leave with no penalty - actually, Moorhead will get paid millions of dollars to get out of town as soon as possible - and the kids are stuck, being sold a bill of goods, and now they have no recourse? That’s absolutely ridiculous and should not be allowed.
The early signing period has a lot of positive aspects to it, but this is not one. The coach who recruited you is gone, the assistants who sat in your living room describing your future are gone and you’re left holding the bag? No way. Change the rule and get this right.
2. Darnell Washington should keep his fifth star.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. Almost everyone on our staff has seen Darnell Washington in person. I don’t think he’s a five-star after scouting him for a week at Under Armour. He’s a massive player and a superior physical specimen, but as a tight end he turns a bit too slow and he’s heavy-footed.
Some of that is expected from a 6-foot-7, 260 pounder and the same could have been said about Rob Gronkowski coming out of high school as well. But there is too high of a boom-or-bust factor with Washington to keep him as a five-star. We will see what everyone else thinks as we finalize our 2020 rankings.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Sometimes, we overthink these things and get things wrong that are blatantly obvious right in front of us. And this is a perfect example of that. Turns too slowly? Heavy-footed? He’s a teenager who is one of the best physical specimens to come through our rankings in many years and he should have a major impact on the college level.
If Georgia throws to the tight end for once, Washington should be the No. 1 target all the way down the field and especially in the red zone. We can talk about slow feet and turning like a battleship, but what about excellent hands, catch radius and freakish size? In my book, kids like Washington don’t come around often and if he can get a little more athletic, then he could be really special. He’s a five-star.
3. Mike Norvell has a staff that will upgrade recruiting at Florida State.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Norvell made a smart recruiting move first off by keeping Odell Haggins. Now adding coaches like David Johnson from Tennessee and Chris Marve from Mississippi State as well as some of his guys at Memphis and you have a young, hungry group of guys who can recruit and sell the program. Recruiting isn’t the issue at Florida State, but this is still a good staff and they will get after it. Now can they win big games? That’s the question.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. This is not an indictment on Norvell and his staff as they will do an excellent job recruiting, but Willie Taggart and his guys did a fantastic job recruiting as well and look what happened. The Seminoles need to keep kids in-state and at least slow down the poaching of five- and four-stars from going to Clemson, Alabama and elsewhere. They need to fix the quarterback situation and the offensive line situation and they need to bring back law and order to a team that had little discipline last season. There is a ton of talent on the roster and coming in, now it just needs to be developed. Florida State is still a huge destination for a lot of elite players.