No Jamarcus to kick around



Everyone ending a relationship loves to talk about how they're better off without you.

The long-distance dedications will be lighting up from Baton Rouge when Jamarcus Russell is selected in the first two or three picks in the NFL draft. He leaves after a career at LSU that many LSU fans would say was underwhelming.

The all-time Alabama prep passing leader was hailed as one of then-coach Nick Saban's greatest recruiting coups. He had everything, the 16-inch gun for an arm (like those mounted on the USS Alabama), the mobility, the ability to read defenses. According to all of the recruiting gurus, he was a "can't miss" prospect.

Then something happened. He didn't win a Heisman Trophy. He didn't win an SEC title. He was constantly carped and criticized by nattering nabobs of faceless negativity in the LSU message boards.

Yet all he did was lead LSU to a bowl game in every year he started. If he had decided to come back for his senior season, LSU would have been a legit national-title contender. Now the Tigers will be lucky to repeat this year's campaign.

And the hype machine moved on to the next 18-year-old savior in the form of Ryan Perriloux, a mobile QB who spurned the Longhorns for LSU and probably regrets it (as he'd probably could have been the Horns' starter in the opener last season). Matt Flynn made one incredible start and he added his name to the oft-running subject of whether Jamarcus should be pulled.

The same thing happened at Florida. Chris Leak was an all-world QB prospect and the gem of Ron Zook's recruiting haul that year out of North Carolina. He started as a freshman (a rarity at QB-rich Florida) and he enjoyed success.

However, he fell victim to the same hype machine that assigns stars to prospects and froths at the mouth with the hopes a "soft commit" turns into a signing-day bonanza. The lusting over Tim Tebow - who later became the closest thing to a legit power back in the Gator offense, had an ESPN special made about him and had former Bama coach Mike Shula camped out at his house - became nauseating. Fans wanted the old news - Chris Leak - replaced by a kid just a few months removed from his prom.

It wasn't until he hosted the SEC and national championship trophies that the Gator nation gave Chris Leak the accolades he richly deserved, especially since he rewrote much of the Gator passing record book with his initials. Sure, he was a square peg in a round hole in Urban Meyer's spread-option offense. Yes, his arm strength was not the best. He made some throws that made fans shake their heads.

But when the final accounting was complete, Chris Leak had something Rex Grossman, Brock Berlin and plenty of other great Gator signal callers never got: a pair of title trophies. Meyer's gameplan allowed Chris Leak to do what he does best and he responded by carving up the Buckeyes like fried turkey on Thanksgiving.

Next year, Tebow will take over and he will no longer be the most popular player on a team - the guy holding a clipboard. He'll make mistakes, throw crucial interceptions, fumble and do all of the bad things Chris Leak was accused of doing to lose games (never mind the fact he was undefeated against Florida's SEC archrival Georgia in his career).

Like 80s glam-rock outfit Cinderella sang, "you don't know what you got until it's gone."

Both QBs were hyped to the Nth degree by a system that appeals to rabid fans looking for the next savior who will lead their team to the promised land. And the next year, when their unrealistic expectations are not met, they look onward to a new savior.

One criticism of these recruiting analysts is not only do they set the bar far too high for guys like Chris Leak and Russell, but they seriously undervalue (via the "star" system) guys who turned into NFL prospects. AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year DeMeco Ryans was only lightly recruited, but he went to Alabama and turned into the class of this year's defensive rookies, which included Roman Harper, another player who was dissed. Just because your school is recruiting three-star guys vs. the five-stars doesn't mean your team is headed for a fall. For every Leak and Russell, there are a million Fred Rouses (kicked out of FSU despite being considered a can't-miss at wideout) who never amount to anything on campus. Besides, do these recruiting writers scout every single prospect as discriminatingly as the coaching staffs who pursue them? No. Plenty of talent slips through the cracks. Even though these sites (Scout and Rivals) have numerous combines modeled after the NFL one, the draft is proof a combine does not a football player make. No combine can measure heart, desire or that "it" factor that separates greatness from mere competence.

Besides, figuring out how good an 18-year-old kid may turn out to be on the gridiron is a no more a science that any practiced by the lamented Madame Cleo and her psychic (more like psycho) hotline. I'd believe Dionne Warwick and her psychic friends before I'd trust the utterances from some of these recruiting "experts." Youngsters do the most changing in their lives from 18 to 21 and sometimes that change can be for the better, as in the case of Leak and Russell, or for the worse, as in the case of literally dozens of kids you read about who get kicked off D-IA teams all the time.

Despite all of that, as judged by all of the subscribers to these recruiting sites, fans still are looking for a miracle in the form of the next 18-year-old who can lead their team to the top.

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