Not that common we see an FCS player make the jump up, but is the case with EWU star QB Vernon Adams Jr. Would be a tough decision, but I get it. If he stayed, he would be the front runner for the Walter Payton (2 second place finishes) and would be leading a team primed for an FCS Championship. He chose to go and will compete for the starters job at Oregon and if won, would have a chance at a Heisman in that offense and a team primed for an FBS Championship. If he does win the job and is considered the front runner at this point, he will have to face his old team in week one!!!!!
http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... egon-ducks
Makes you wonder. I'm banking on it, but lets say Norvell has a huge year in 2015? If he's on track to graduate, would he make the move if a bigger school came calling? We'll worry about that next year......after our first ever FCS National Championsip!!!!!
Here's a recent success story of FCS to FBS transfer: Shaquille Riddick transferred as an All American DE at Gardner-Webb and had a good year at West Virginia. Had 27 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss and a team leading 7 sacks (3 sacks in the upset win over Baylor). Still snubbed by the combine though.
Vernon Adams Jr - Transfers to Oregon
Apparently this has now become the trend. Top FCS players are taking their talents to FBS teams for their final year of eligibility. Last year (as mentioned in the previous post) EWU QB Vernon Adams Jr. went to Oregon. And now, Dakota Prokup, star QB at Montana State has committed to play at Oregon next year: http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... egon-ducks
This was made possible by a NCAA rule that allows players who have already graduated/finished their undergrad degrees but still have a year of eligibility remaining are able to transfer to another school for their final year. I'm pretty sure that the reason for this was so that you didn't have players sticking around at a school for an extra semester just to play football when they're already essentially done with school. This would allow them to get a year of grad school also taken care of by scholarships, as well as play the full four years. I'm pretty sure that's what happened with Pat Smith (for those that don't remember, great kicker for us, transferred to Nebraska and played there his last year)...transfer so that he can start working on a Masters degree.
A lot of players, however, are starting to treat this as a way to get more "big time" experience and showcase their talents against better opposition so that they can impress NFL scouts.
Prokup had visited both Oregon and Alabama (and had been essentially "offered" by both).
There's already rumors that a couple of PAC12 schools are seriously looking at Northern Arizona QB Case Cookus. Case was a freshman QB this year, so it wouldn't happen for a few more years, but in his first year, he passed for 276.1 yards per game (with a 71.1% completion rate), 33 TDs and 3 INTs. He's likely to be one of the top FCS QBs for the next two years, at which point, he could end up somewhere else.
This was made possible by a NCAA rule that allows players who have already graduated/finished their undergrad degrees but still have a year of eligibility remaining are able to transfer to another school for their final year. I'm pretty sure that the reason for this was so that you didn't have players sticking around at a school for an extra semester just to play football when they're already essentially done with school. This would allow them to get a year of grad school also taken care of by scholarships, as well as play the full four years. I'm pretty sure that's what happened with Pat Smith (for those that don't remember, great kicker for us, transferred to Nebraska and played there his last year)...transfer so that he can start working on a Masters degree.
A lot of players, however, are starting to treat this as a way to get more "big time" experience and showcase their talents against better opposition so that they can impress NFL scouts.
Prokup had visited both Oregon and Alabama (and had been essentially "offered" by both).
There's already rumors that a couple of PAC12 schools are seriously looking at Northern Arizona QB Case Cookus. Case was a freshman QB this year, so it wouldn't happen for a few more years, but in his first year, he passed for 276.1 yards per game (with a 71.1% completion rate), 33 TDs and 3 INTs. He's likely to be one of the top FCS QBs for the next two years, at which point, he could end up somewhere else.
Scott Lawson - Board AdminWestern Illinois University Alum/Fan/Employee
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letsgonecks
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Yeah, Coastal's De'Angelo Henderson was looking into that or entering the draft, but staying.
Slight chance we could see that after the spring. There's a chance and especially with the likelihood of a new staff that McGuire could win the starting QB job. Believe Norvell will have graduated and probably wouldn't stick around his last year to play backup. Though it wouldn't look the best losing your 3 year job to a younger player, their could still be a mid-major FBS programs that would take him. A school running a pocket passer friendly offense needing a 1 year fill and they would get a guy with plenty of experience and good numbers.
Norvell will likely be our starting QB next year, but something that could happen. I guess with all the crap going on now, we're pretty lucky to have 2 good QB's, the top program WR and another that will finish as a top 5 and more studs behind him, all but 1 OL returning and plenty of size and depth.
Slight chance we could see that after the spring. There's a chance and especially with the likelihood of a new staff that McGuire could win the starting QB job. Believe Norvell will have graduated and probably wouldn't stick around his last year to play backup. Though it wouldn't look the best losing your 3 year job to a younger player, their could still be a mid-major FBS programs that would take him. A school running a pocket passer friendly offense needing a 1 year fill and they would get a guy with plenty of experience and good numbers.
Norvell will likely be our starting QB next year, but something that could happen. I guess with all the crap going on now, we're pretty lucky to have 2 good QB's, the top program WR and another that will finish as a top 5 and more studs behind him, all but 1 OL returning and plenty of size and depth.