Dennis Dodd reports former Jayhawks' quarterback Ryan Willis transferred to the Hokies.
Kansas qb Ryan Willis has transferred to Virginia Tech per a source.— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) January 12, 2017
Evan Watkins reported he is a walk-on, eligible for spring, and has three years to play two.
A former three-star quarterback out of Mission, KS (Bishop Miege) in 2015, Willis started eight games as a true freshman in 2015, throwing for 1,719 yards and nine touchdowns, with a 52.7 completion percentage. He replaced Montell Cozart after a season ending shoulder injury in 2015.
Following his freshman season, Willis suffered a broken wrist while playing pickup basketball, missing the majority of spring workouts, and falling down the depth chart.
As a sophomore, Cozart started the season atop the depth chart but Willis was named the starter after four games, though the duty was short lived. Willis started just two games as a sophomore, losses to TCU and Baylor in which he threw three interceptions in each outing.
Comments
Here is what comes up when "Ryan Willis Kansas highlights" is googled
2015 stats:
163 / 315 (52%)
for 1,719 yards (5.46 YPA)
9 TD and 10 INT
2016 stats:
72 / 117 (61.5%)
for 811 yards (6.9 YPA)
3 TD and 9 INT
TOTAL:
235 / 432 (54.3%)
2,530 (5.85 YPA)
12 TD and 19 INT
...those are very...not impressive.
Agreed, but it looks like those INTs might be mostly decision making. It looks like he has a good arm and accurate pass, but even on some of those TDs I question whether he should have thrown those, as a few were almost picked. Either way he will have to compete with Joshua Jackson and Hendon Hooker if he wants the starting job. I trust CJF will make the right choice when the time comes whoever it may be.
Looking at the scores in those highlights is depressing. I can see why he'd rather play for VT than KU.
2015 record: 0-12
2016 record: 2-10
Highlights are meh but dat song is fire.
Heard that he's transferring as a walk on. Not certain though.
Yeppers
Fuente's milkshake brings all the QB's to the yard.
For some reason, Dodgeball came to mind? :-)
Competition for Jack Click? NOOOOOOOOOO!
Maybe Jack Click Click Boom earns a scholarship this year.
My money is on Click to earn the walk-on QB support job.
Mine is on Lawson.
Obligatory...
Hopefully they give him the scholarship b/c he might transfer otherwise....
Pocket passer. Made some quick releases.
He should make an outstanding tight end.
Yea, as soon as I saw 6'4" I said to myself, the next Bucky Hodges?!? Hmmmm
I heard somewhere that Bucky is 6'7".
FTFY
Actual height or media guide height? I'm an athletic trainer and we do height and weight every year as part of preseason physicals. At every school I've worked at I'd say the media guide height is a solid 2-3 inches over their actual height.
You just need to brush up your TKPing a bit.
For now just know that Bucky Hodges is really, really, really, really tall, tight ends make great QBs, and Drew Harris is a mythical, magical creature on par with a unicorn.
Since we kind of diverged onto a side conversation about converting QBs to TEs, does anyone know the status of Durkin? Thanks.
He was recruited as a QB, then was moved to tight end where he is currently practicing at.
Hope that's what you meant
Based on his passing numbers, I am sure I don't want him as a QB...
Have you seen Bush's passing #'s?
Anyone know why he transferred?
Kansas sucks
Have you seen Kansas play football?
Has anyone recently?
....other than Texas. zing!!
only once.... against VT
#allofthesads
Was at that Orange Bowl. Was cold in Miami too. Double sads
y u do dis?
Hell, have you been to Kansas?
I have, but I can't knock Lawrence too much though, pretty awesome college town. My wife's sister went to Law School there. It definitely ranks as my second favorite college town. Don't go further west though.
I'll take Kansas has gone 2-22 the last two seasons and he's no longer the starter for $500, Alex.
So do we just need someone to stand on the sideline and help with hand signals? I don't see this kid doing much more than that.
I for one welcome our new Kansas overlord. Seriously though, someone's gotta run the scout team.
One name I don't think I've seen once during this whole thing:
Chase Mummau?
Not saying he's the answer (or even an answer) but anyone know what his status is? All of a sudden we have a lot of quarterbacks again - I know we'll have attrition to sort through but do we see any of them being quarterbacks?
(ASIDE from Dwayne Lawson, guys)
Walkon. #sauces say he's not quite up to Jack Click's abilities.
If he throws it to the defense less than Bush, he will be the backup.
Based on the potential of our defense next year, no one is going be throwing on our defense; not even at the spring game
O.O
So a QB from Nebraska and Kansas? They are going to walk into Blacksburg like...
Leg. I just chuckled out loud.
If they call them "moutnains" they may not qualify academically.
I've seen it asked and I even asked it late on another thread...
Has Evans signed with an agent? I know Ford has. Wasn't sure if he was testing the waters or not. Probably just wishful thinking on my part.
Either way I'm thankful we had him for this season. Best of luck to him and his family. I'd never blame somebody for chasing a dream or a dollar. I'm guilty of both myself.
He's officially off to the NFL. Not sure if he has an agent yet, but he's definitely signed the papers declaring for the draft.
Thanks for the reply.
He has an agent. Released a statement to AB earlier.
Football isn't the same as basketball. Once you declare and put your name on the draft-eligible list you're gone regardless of whether you sign with an agent.
Technically, unless they perform some action that torpedoes their eligibility (like hiring an agent, which he's done), they have until some date (January 15, maybe?) to rescind their draft paperwork.
Doesn't matter, since he's hired an agent. He gone.
I don't think it's fair to judge based on previous stats alone. It's not like Kansas is recruiting world beaters for a supporting cast. Hopefully Fuente can mold this young man into a contributor.
No doubt competition will bring greatness out of someone. Comparing HS highlights of JJ, HH, and this kid kind of have me wondering where Willis fits in.
Eh, i still think we'd be looking at mediocrity.
Like...LSU and Florida taking Purdue transfers, ...they weren't out there losing games, but had they of had a halfway decent quarterback their seasons would be a bit better. My guess is he would be a game manager at best.
This had better not be the biiiiig news, BAG.
Curious to know how these sort of transfers go down. Do the players ready to leave start looking for schools without a definitive starter and just pick up the phone?
I do know dude had Fu and Thomas follow him on Twitter and next day, boom. He has Melina Trump too, so who knows.
I think if they're looking to transfer they definitely take a look at the QB situations on other teams. If you see a top 25 school in a power 5 conference just had their QB declare early and they don't have an experienced backup, you definitely make a call to the coach.
Trustin' in Justin
Since Kansas has tornados and some gnarly thunderstorms, I'm sure he could easily go down to Chapel Hill and whoop up on the Heels in a hurricane game.
I'm really curious what Fuente has planned for these QB transfers, neither of them really stand out as home run hits but are feasibly D1 starters under the right conditions. Is Fuente bringing in unheralded guys he sees potential in to compete for the starting job, or is this a ploy to build needed depth? I could see it either way. We already have Jack Click so with this transfer we'd have 4 Qbs we could play without burning Hooker's redshirt.
I'd really like to think that it's strictly to create an open competition for the next three years. Hooker needs the redshirt, so you bring in Bush to back up Jackson in 2017. By 2018, you have four QBs to choose from, and can still allow another year for Hooker to develop.
This is all of course hinging on Jackson being a solid starter for 2+ years
Well I imagine part of is that we are losing both Evans and Motley this year, leaving our qb group pretty barren outside Jackson. We do bring in Hooker, but I think ideally we would want to redshirt him next season. Bush I imagine is there to add depth/push Jackson, and this guy is walking on so it can't hurt to see if maybe a change of scenery and being surrounded by a good program can help this kid figure it out at the D1 level. I think if nothing else it adds competition and additional options for Fuente.
That being said I'm really pulling for Jackson to impress and win the job next season over either of these transfer qbs. Neither seem like ideal options, and I see both as being a clear downgrade from Evans.
keep in mind that Willis has to sit out a year.
our QB lineup will look something like this:
2017:
Jackson, rFR
Bush, rJR
Willis, JR (redshirting - mandatory)
Hooker, FR (redshirting - optional)
2018:
Jackson, rSO
Bush, rSR
Willis, rJR
Hooker, rFR
Why no Click? He might be a servicable spot-sub if Jackson is out for the year and Bush gets banged up *very* temporarily (or vice-versa), but if both Jackson and Bush get knocked out for the season, I just don't see Click running the offense for multiple games, so the shirt would come off Hooker.
Have we seen it confirmed that he is sitting out? He could be a grad transfer.
Willis is eligible to play right away.
http://virginiatech.247sports.com/Bolt/Hokies-add-Kansas-QB-Transfer-Rya...
Walk-ons can use a one-time transfer exception as long as the destination school did not recruit the athlete.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but that link provides no evidence that he can play in the 2017 season.
The shirt would come off Hooker...
I see what you did there
Here's what all of this means to me: Jackson is the real deal. Fu knows he will be our QB next year and wants to make sure he molds him properly. This requires learning from veteran players (both of which we just lost). Both of these transfers fill that void of in game knowledge and experience that we would have been lacking.
It also wouldn't totally shock me if Jackson impressed so much so that it helped Evans make his NFL decision easier. How much have we seen from Jackson? Not very much. The coaches aren't going to tip their hand this early and they're not going to hand it to him early.
These transfers are a quick way to get Jackson surrounded by experienced players. Josh Jackson will be our starter for this next season and he may even be an upgrade from Evans.
See, I keep hearing this talk about JJ being the real deal, but do we really know that? We're basing this off an okay spring performance and talk that he was close to winning the job last fall.
Keeping in mind Evans didn't seem to get into his groove until week 3 or so, so summertime Evans != the Evans that played like a monster down the stretch. Also we're talking about a redshirt freshman who was borderline 3/4 stars coming out of high school. There are some examples of guys like that who end up being amazing, but it's not a given like if he were some Tyrod Taylor consensus 5* prospect.
It's not that I'm not hopeful, it's that I can't help but feel this is wishful thinking on the fanbase. We NEED him to be good to have a season next year, so suddenly everyone is clinging on to that idea.
No I agree, I think I may have contributed slightly to this.
What I heard from ex-players in the fall was that there wasnt much separation between the quarterbacks but Josh was making the right reads and has a good arm. He impressed for being a true freshman for sure.
I think Evans really improved, but I could see some of his tendency to force throws, especially in the Syracuse game. Another year in the system and I think Evans is a legitimate Heisman candidate, candidate being the key word.
I'll take their word for it that Josh is going to be a good quarterback, but I didnt get the sense that they think hell come in and light people up on day one. I think thats a lot of pressure to put on a redshirt freshman. Plus, nobody has seen him perform in a real game. I think that will take some maturation, it wont always be pretty next year.
My take is that MVHokie is making the case that Fuente would be bringing in more proven alternatives if he didn't think JJ was ready. By that reasoning, Fuente thinks JJ will be QB1 and the others are there for depth.
But at the same time elite QB transfers don't grow on trees. I'm not sure it's a given that better options are out there (assuming JJ isn't the real deal, I don't know that). If a quarterback is already doing awesome, why would they transfer? Jerod Evans and Cam Newton are your rare JUCO transfers ready to play with the big boys. Russel Wilson's situation was pretty unique as well.
Obviously there's Malik Zhaire, but he had other suitors and it's possible he wasn't a fit for whatever reason.
Wow. You hit the nail on the head. It just took me 300 words to say what you said in one sentence.
Don't see this as anything more than a depth stash. Wouldn't expect him to push for the starting gig even after a redshirt year.
1) He's walking on.
2) Could hardly get snaps at Kansas
3) A pocket passer
This was certainly unexpected....
But hey if the coaches want him, so do I
Last Transfer from KU worked out pretty well:
I have always been big on stars but coaches like Fu dont care about them all the time
Ht: 6-6 Wt: 230 Class: 2012 Recruiting Buzz: An early-season knee injury slowed down Paxton Lynch for most of his senior season, keeping him off the radar. The strong-armed quarterback then went from no-name recruit to one of the hottest commodities in the state during his dominant performance in the Central Florida All-Star Game. Florida, UCF and Indiana all displayed strong interest, but they filled up their quarterback spots. Memphis stepped up with an offer in the final weekend leading up to National Signing Day and Lynch committed there during his official visit. Rankings Orlando Sentinel: No. 9 Central Florida Super60; No. 52 Florida Top 100 Rivals.com: NR. Scout.com: NR. ESPN: NR.
This is what hits me the most. Commits out of no where. It seems like the Fu Man Special.
11 QB offense coming?
we've been pretty close to being able to have all our skill players as QBs:
FB - Sam Rogers
TB - Travon McMillian
WR - Joel Caleb
WR - Bucky Hodges
TE - Chris Durkin
QB - Jerod Evans (duh)
I'm not sure you can find a lot of linemen who played QB in HS so that's gonna be a tough 5 spots to fill.
Looking at his statistics from Kansas:
Then finding out he's going to be a walk-on:
100% how I felt too haha. We got a guy with P5 starting experience, albeit at the UVA of the Big 12, for free.
Do they call their freshmen 1st years? Still better than UVa.
.....did he ever get the chance to complete a pass to Yoshi?
His true Fr. stats weren't too bad and considering he was playing under center at KU, we can draw a plausible conclusion that there was likely a significant lack of weapons and he was running for his life during most of his time there.
FWIW, Lynch's numbers as a true Fr. at Memphis were only slightly better on a UofM team that went 3-9.
---FR stats: PL: 58.2% 2056yds 9td 10 int. / RW: 52.1 1719yds 8td/10int.
Lynch wasn't that much of a runner, but did put up 687 total on the ground in his 3 yrs. Lynch made huge strides in the passing game over the next 2 seasons, left early, and ended up a 1st round draft pick. (Not saying this is the path for RW, just showing what CJF is capable of)
Based on limited film, Willis is a HUGE upgrade over Bush in the pocket, the only advantage Bush has over Willis is as a runner. With better athletes, more weapons, and a spring with CJF, I expect this QB race to be between RW and JJ, unless HH comes in and completely blows the doors off (expecting a RS for HH).
I see both Willis and Bush as raw materials. I mean, it would be great if what's coming in the door had the statistical makeup from JUCO like Evans did. But at the same time, I have faith in Fuente and Co to sculpt these guys into something usable for next year's team.
That's the issue as a whole from the QB position now. CJF now has a handful of raw, unproven talent to mold into his own. Excited to see what unfolds and which guy(s) rise to the surface this spring.
Im surprised more people aren't thinking this way. Where are all those overly optimistic TKPers that used to annoy me when I first found this site?? Wasn't Lynch technically lower rated out of highshcool? Trusting the Fuente machine, this COULD be techs next huge star!! Why not? And no I DONT want to hear any logical responses. Haha.
Here's an article on the transfer from the local paper here in Lawrence, with some quotes from Willis.
Thank you for sharing this article. I enjoyed reading it. Also found this nugget that pertains to his plans at VT:
Thanks again for sharing with the community.
So he is sitting out a year? I have seen it "confirmed" both that he is redshirting and that he is eligible to play right away.
He is officially eligible to play in fall of 2017, but he has 3 years in which he can play 2, so it probably makes the most sense for him to ride the pine and develop for a year before truly competing for a spot on the depth chart in 2018.
Some interesting comments from the KU fans. Seems like they thought he was the best on the roster, but didn't get a fair shake this past year.
Also a lot of comments of about the offensive coaching staff, none of them positive.
I see a lot written about Fuente's development of QBs and for all the success we experienced this year on offense, Fuente is given pretty much full credit. What about Cornelson? It seems like for as long as I remember fans have talked about the position coaches and coordinators as being responsible for our lack of success on offense but this year I haven't heard much of anything about coach Corn. We put up close to 500 yards of offense and it's all about how great coach Fu's scheme is. Does Cornelson get any credit for what he's doing? Is he actually coaching and calling plays? This may be a bit off topic but even in talking about us bringing in transfer QBs it's all about coach Fuente and what "HE" can do with them. I also think it's funny how the running game has still not done much and no one is talking about the job coach Burden is doing as the RB coach. I'm not so sure Shane would have fared this well with the same results from the fan base. I'm not saying Burden has done a bad job and I personally think he's probably a pretty good coach and one hell of a recruiter but my point is Juente is getting all the credit for the success of this team especially on O. JMTC.
I think our RB coach should carry the Burden of the blame for the poor performance. While I believe our DC has Fostered a great culture for excellence, especially in view of the Wiles shown by our DL coach, the offense has not gelled to be a complete package. QBs and WR did great this past year, but I worry the Vices of our OL really hindered our overall offensive success. Also, I want Shibest from our special teams.
Head coach gets all the cred when things go well, and shoulders most of the blame when things don't. Par for the course.
Re the run game: the running backs were a problem in only one sense (two if "ball security" is a thing you emphasize): the guys we had back there this season aren't CJF's/CBC's guys. The most FuCorn back on the roster is probably McClease (missed all year w injury); our best short-yardage back is Marshawn (slow to come back, early to exit - becoming a theme with Juice which suuuucks because I really like him). T-Mac can be a home run threat but shies away from contact/doesn't hit holes well - when they're there. I seriously doubt CJF looked at Sam Rogers and thought "I want him be a major run game contributor this season". Who in the fuuuuck knows what's up with Shai. As an unabashed fan of DJ Reid, I'd have liked to see him get some run.
However. The coach we should be asking about is Vance Vice. Dude inherited MAJOR experience and... the majority of our big running plays were by Jerod Evans. Our inability to consistently run (hell, or pass!) block is the problem. Maybe VV didn't have his guys either, though. OL recruiting/devo, IMO, is the really fascinating thing to watch moving forward under this staff.
Hokie07 take your leg.... but I'm not happy about it.
I agree with the fact that our current coaches haven't had time to get their guys in the system and I'm not really being critical of any coach. My point is simply, I don't hear much of anything about any of the assistant coaches or offensive coordinator. We used to hear from Lefty or Stinespring in post game interviews but now it's just Bud and Coach Ju. Seems odd, but I guess that's just the new norm.
I think the difference with Lefty/Stinespring vs. Cornelsen is that Fuente is much more involved in offensive game planning than Beamer ever was. I think Fuente and Cornelsen have both made comments in the past about how Fuente tried to be hands off while at Memphis and both realized it wasn't in the best interested for the team. Because Fuente is the head coach and involved in the offense he is the one who will likely get more credit or blame for the offense.
Fuente gets more credit as a QB developer because he was behind Dalton as well. Cornelsen was not there for that.
It's Fuente's system and Cornelsen is his protg.
That being said, Cornelsen is the QB coach and does call the plays. He is no slouch.
replied to sub-thread above.
maybe you should try one more time in hopes of getting it right... :-P
My opinion on this is that it is all part of Fuente's diabolical plan to corner the market on available QBs so that he can mold them and shape them into NFL QBs. That way in the next few years he can tell recruits that we have a QB on every pro team. And then who wouldn't want to come play for Fuente and be transformed into an NFL QB and make tons of money.