If I remember right, Taquon was never supposed to play QB at all. He was recruited as an AB, but after Jaylend Ratliffe got injured (in HS), and Matthew Jordan got hurt, he was basically all we had left. A lot of people bring up the downward trend at the end of CPJ's time here, but a lot forget 2019 would have been the first year we had a true QB recruit start and 1 or more starting BB returning in the same year since 2016.
A quick rundown:
- QB Jaylend Ratliffe (class of 2015) was expected to have been the next QB after JT, but was injured in a tragic ATV accident that ended his football career.
- QB Ty Griffin (class of 2013) transferred out in spring 2014.
- QB Jay Jones (class of 2016) could have been an option at QB, but transferred after 2017.
- QB Matthew Jordan (class of 2014) passed on his last year of eligibility after the 2017 season.
- BB Dedrick Mills (class of 2016) dismissed after 1 year of playing.
- BB Marcus Marshall (class of 2015) transferred after sharing time with Mills.
- BB Kirvonte Benson (class of 2015) injured in second game of 2018, never played again.
I think 2017 and 2018 reflected these losses/misses in recruiting, and 2019 would have seen us back on track somewhat with Tobias Oliver at QB, Mason and Howard at BB, Dontae Smith and Omahri Jarrett at AB.
