College Football Recruiting: Top 10 QB Busts of the Decade
During the first decade of the new century, recruiting saw an epic rise to the national spotlight, and was revealed to be an industry in and of itself (aside from a crucial part of college football).
The Internet was the main tool that helped the recruiting world's rise, as websites and message boards became main staples for fans to visit. With the increased attention on players, so came increased pressure.
With the quarterback position, there is always pressure to perform up to expectations and the aforementioned decade saw some talented signal-callers live up to the hype and play well under pressure.
We also witnessed some of the biggest QB recruiting busts in college football history.
Some players never made it on the field; others just didn't play as well as we expected.
Here are the top 10 QB busts of the last decade.
10. Tommy Grady, Oklahoma/Utah
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Grady was a big, 6'6", 215-pound QB who could spin it with the best of them.
He had a cannon for an arm, a frame to add more bulk and was a solid athlete from inside the pocket. He rose to prominence as a junior in Southern California for Huntington Beach High School.
He committed to Oklahoma to continue honing his craft and was billed as the next great Sooner QB.
Yet Grady never could get on the field on a consistent basis. He was used in a backup role in 2004, appearing in five games.
He was to compete for the job in 2005 with Rhett Bomar and Paul Thompson, but academic requirements forced him to take a class in the intercession/spring portion of school, which put him behind in the QB race.
Grady, knowing starting from the outside looking in was detrimental to his aspiration, left Oklahoma for Utah, where he started but was not as good as advertised.
9. James Banks, Tennessee
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Banks was one of the biggest QB recruits in the country in 2002, as he was a signal-caller who could do it all.
Highlights of Banks displayed his incredible athleticism, speed, arm strength, savvy and instincts. He committed to Tennessee, where the Vols expected him to take Rocky Top by storm.
Well, Banks had other things in mind, including becoming a receiver.
He actually led the team in receiving his sophomore year in Knoxville with 42 grabs and 621 yards with six touchdowns.
The 6'2", 295-pounder also had reported attitude issues, clashed with coaches and fell behind in his academics. In the spring of 2004, former Vols coach Phil Fulmer suspended Banks for the rest of the spring and finally dismissed him from the squad in December of that year.
Banks transferred to small-school powerhouse Carson-Newman and caught 22 passes for more than 300 yards and six scores in his last season with the Eagles.
He decided to bolt for the NFL early and has not been able to land on a pro squad.
8. Xavier Lee, Florida State
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Lee chose Florida State over big powers like Ohio State, Florida, Miami, LSU and Texas. Hailed as the Seminoles' next Charlie Ward, he was a dual-threat QB expected to restore the Seminoles back to the national forefront.
6'4", 230 pounds, Lee was an excellent athlete and the FSU coaches whispered about moving him around to tight end and receiver.
Yet Lee felt he was a QB and a QB only.
He was repeatedly in competition with Drew Weatherford, as the two were constantly switched in and out for one another.
In his sophomore year, Lee threw for more than 800 yards and seven scores, and in his junior year, he took the job back from Weatherford, but played so poorly that then-OC Jimbo Fisher gave the job back to Weatherford.
Lee decided to leave FSU for the NFL, was not drafted and signed with the Ravens—interestingly enough, as a tight end.
He's now a receiver for the AFL's Arizona Rattlers.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Anthony Morrelli, Penn State
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Morelli was a 5-star QB headed to Penn State to finally give the Nittany Lions a dominant QB prospect that they had supposedly lacked for some time.
Morelli was 6'4", 225 pounds and had a laser arm. PSU fans were giddy over getting his signed LOI.
Yet Morelli could not hold on and firmly secure the starter's job until his junior season. He did not perform up to expectations and fought rumors of his football IQ and instincts being very poor. Fans grew tired of Morelli's inconsistent and subpar play, which only increased his on-field mistakes.
He's the only PSU signal-caller with two 2,000-yard seasons, but much more was expected from Morelli.
He's now a member of the AFL's Pittsburgh Power.
6. Rocky Hinds, USC/UNLV
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Hinds signed with USC as an uber-talented QB from Los Angeles, but was in the shadows of John David Booty.
At 6'4", 230 pounds, Hinds had all the tools to be the first true dual-threat QB starter at Southern California in a long time. The situation eerily had the same feeling of the Carson Palmer/Jason Thomas situation USC had a few years prior.
Hinds never fully grasped the Trojan playbook and rubbed teammates the wrong way with his constant trash talk. He left USC after his redshirt freshman season, and like Thomas, transferred from USC to UNLV.
Hinds did end up starting for the Rebels for a period of time in his tenure, but his production never equaled his hype in Las Vegas.
He was last heard from by signing with a team in the Indoor Football League.
5. Rhett Bomar, Oklahoma/Sam Houston
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Bomar was a top-notch, elite high school QB from Texas that Mack Brown wanted very, very badly.
Brown reportedly even stated to Bomar, "come on, Rhett, you even have a Texan name—you should be a Longhorn."
But Bomar had other plans, which included beating Texas in the "Red River Shootout" by joining Oklahoma.
He signed with the Sooners in 2004 and was viewed as the next great Sooner QB in recent times, alongside Jason White and Josh Heupel. Bomar started in 2005, but did not play as well as many expected.
In the summer of 2006, the college football world was shocked to learn Bomar had gotten thrown off the OU squad for violation of rules pertaining to being paid for work he did not do at a car dealership.
He transferred to Sam Houston State and played fairly well during his tenure for the Bearkats.
When I worked with the New York Giants scouting department in 2008-2009, we took Bomar in the fifth round, expecting him to develop into a solid backup option to Eli Manning.
Bomar was eventually signed off the practice quad by the Minnesota Vikings.
4. Kyle Wright, Miami
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Wright chose Miami over USC prior to his senior season and had Hurricane fans beaming.
Their claim was that Wright had the moxie and intangibles of Ken Dorsey, but had far superior arm strength, athleticism and overall physical tools.
At 6'4", 220 pounds, Wright was to be the next QB from Miami that took the world by storm. But Wright never did, and he never really flashed the skills that came with the hype surrounding him.
He was very inconsistent in his play, rattled in the pocket and he never got better as a player. Wright was also rumored to be distracted by off-the-field issues and issues surrounding his campus-partying lifestyle.
He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Minnesota Vikings, but is now out of football.
3. Ben Olson, UCLA/BYU
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Olson rose to the national spotlight in the spring before his senior year of high school, lighting up the camps-and-combines circuit with his amazing arm strength and accuracy. At 6'5" and 220 pounds, the lefty had coaches around the nation buzzing.
He chose to head to BYU, and was looked at as the Cougars' QB of the future and "the chosen one" to bring back the ol' BYU passing game from years past.
Olson decided to take his Mormon Mission, and by the time he came back to BYU, he felt he wanted to come closer to home and transferred to UCLA.
Bruin fans were buzzing like Miami fans were with Kyle Wright, and looked at Olson as a player to finally help them beat USC.
He never did.
Olson battled injuries to his knees, poor offensive line play and poor decision making, and never seemed to regain his form from his high school days.
He's looked at as a major bust.
2. Ryan Perrilloux, LSU
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Perrilloux initially committed to Texas in 2004 and was neck and neck with Mark Sanchez as the top QB prospect in the 2005 class. At 6'3", 225 pounds, he was compared to Donovan McNabb—he could throw with arm strength and accuracy, but also dazzle with his legs.
He switched his commitment to LSU and expected to start as a true freshman.
Perrilloux also had character and attitude issues, clashing with coaches, teammates and the law. He became part of an FBI investigation, brawled in a night club/casino, allegedly failed a drug test, skipped classes and eventually was kicked off the Tiger team by Les Miles.
He wound up at Jackonville State and went undrafted in the NFL Draft. He's since bounced back and forth between the UFL and New York Giants' reserve/futures list.
1. Mitch Mustain, USC/Arkansas
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Mustain takes the top honors on this list as the top bust.
His recruiting saga ended with him sticking with his commitment to Arkansas, after de-committing because he felt Houston Nutt's offense was too run-oriented. Nutt hired Mustain's high school coach, Gus Malzahn, to secure Mustain's pledge to the Hogs.
Mustain started eight games as a true freshman and went 8-0, but left the program because he still was not sold on Houston Nutt. He wound up at USC, and never won a starter's job in Los Angeles.
Mark Sanchez, Aaron Corp and Matt Barkley all kept Mustain on the bench. When Mustain did see time, he never truly flashed the skill set that made him the No. 1 QB recruit in the country in 2006.
Rumor also has it that Mustain actually wanted to go to Notre Dame, but Charlie Weis held off on offering Mustain to ensure he would get Jimmy Clausen in 2007.
Mustain was recently busted for alleged drug possession in Los Angeles and is not expected to be drafted in April.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
