The Rich Get Richer: Jesse Scroggins to USC (At Least For Now)

To hardly anyone's surprise, Jesse Scroggins announced today he would attend USC in 2010.

For Florida and Tennessee, it is back to the drawing board and their attention will either turn to what is left out there, or perhaps hold a scholarship for a 2010 quarterback recruit.

In 2009, the most highly regarded quarterbacks had already given schools their verbal commitments for their signatures on national signing day in February.

Jesse Scroggins, in addition to being the fastest rising quarterback in the nation, was also the last of the the "elite eleven" quarterbacks to give a verbal commitment.

However, there is a possibility that things might change for the quarterbacks who have given verbal commitments in general, and this may occur for Jesse Scroggins in particular.

Let me lay it out for you.

Scroggins had been quoted in the recent past as saying he wasn't afraid of the competition at USC.

Of course, "competition" is code for Matt Barkley, the mega recruit from Mater Dei, High School in Santa Ana who is a freshman for USC this year.

Now here is where it will get interesting. Scroggins articulated the basis for his possible signing with USC this way:

Jesse Scroggins would redshirt in 2010 and by the time he was ready to play in 2011, he would back up Matt Barkley, after Barkley had wowed the college football world in 2011, Barkley would announce that he was leaving for the NFL and Scroggins would take over in 2012.

Sounds good, but here is the rub.

This plan is predicated on a whole bunch of "ifs." If Matt Barkley redshirts in 2009, the whole Scroggins plan goes to hell. This would mean that Scroggins wouldn't see the field for USC until 2013 at the earliest.

I have reservations about the super talented Mr. Scroggins accepting that scenario.

What does this all mean?

Well, if Matt Barkley doesn't redshirt this year (I, for one, think he should redshirt) then chances are Jesse Scroggins will honor his verbal commitment to the Trojans, who are obviously his first choice.

However, if Matt Barkley does redshirt, all bets are off. There is a good chance that Jesse Scroggins signs with either Tennessee or Florida come February.

Considering the lack of prep quarterback talent not already committed, look for both the Vol's and the Gator's to monitor the quarterback situation at USC very closely.

So will Jesse Scroggins.