Billy Edwards Jr. has entered the transfer portal. He was at Wake Forest for one season and didn't get on the field; he's got 4 years of eligibility left.
What it means: Wake Forest's QB room was crowded entering the spring and now it's two QBs thinner, having dropped both of the Class of 2021 QBs. Santino Marucci transitioned to running back in the first half of spring ball and also got reps at linebacker and safety. Edwards was fourth in the pecking order behind Sam Hartman, Mitch Griffis and Michael Kern -- and most days, it was in that order. This is a move that makes sense if Edwards doesn't want to wait another year or two before even getting an outside shot at being a starting D1 QB.
So Wake's QB room is down to four scholarship QBs -- the three mentioned above plus Brett Griffis -- and walk-on Leo Kelly. That's a good number. With Hartman's expected departure after this season, Wake Forest might need to recalibrate in the Class of '23 and look at QBs -- they were thinking they weren't going to take one.
My Take: Look, I know Edwards had a decent showing in the spring game. And I'm ... how to put this ... aware of what's been said about him *elsewhere*.
But to my eye, which included watching spring practices and not just the spring game, he never looked like he was going to be the long-term answer as Wake's QB. I realize that's easy to say now, but if you look back through the practice reports, the doubt is there. And the doubt was there from the staff, if not explicitly spoken, in the order with which they gave QBs reps. Edwards had a nice showing in the spring game; but one spring game doesn't outweigh the rest of the spring. I think Wake's QB future still rests in the hands of the Griffis Bros.
I also think, and maybe this deserved to be fleshed out down the line, that Wake Forest is not going to be able to plug and play a transfer QB, if comes down to that. The Warren Ruggiero offense isn't complex in number of plays; its complexity comes in the reads. Wake Forest has had one QB -- Hartman -- come in and pick it up well enough to start right away, and we can drudge up some 2018 game film and compare the speed of the offense then to the speed he's been able to operate for the last two years.
As always, I'm interested to see where Edwards lands. Wake's last QB to transfer was Jamie Newman going to Georgia ... I don't think Edwards is going to land at a blue blood.
What it means: Wake Forest's QB room was crowded entering the spring and now it's two QBs thinner, having dropped both of the Class of 2021 QBs. Santino Marucci transitioned to running back in the first half of spring ball and also got reps at linebacker and safety. Edwards was fourth in the pecking order behind Sam Hartman, Mitch Griffis and Michael Kern -- and most days, it was in that order. This is a move that makes sense if Edwards doesn't want to wait another year or two before even getting an outside shot at being a starting D1 QB.
So Wake's QB room is down to four scholarship QBs -- the three mentioned above plus Brett Griffis -- and walk-on Leo Kelly. That's a good number. With Hartman's expected departure after this season, Wake Forest might need to recalibrate in the Class of '23 and look at QBs -- they were thinking they weren't going to take one.
My Take: Look, I know Edwards had a decent showing in the spring game. And I'm ... how to put this ... aware of what's been said about him *elsewhere*.
But to my eye, which included watching spring practices and not just the spring game, he never looked like he was going to be the long-term answer as Wake's QB. I realize that's easy to say now, but if you look back through the practice reports, the doubt is there. And the doubt was there from the staff, if not explicitly spoken, in the order with which they gave QBs reps. Edwards had a nice showing in the spring game; but one spring game doesn't outweigh the rest of the spring. I think Wake's QB future still rests in the hands of the Griffis Bros.
I also think, and maybe this deserved to be fleshed out down the line, that Wake Forest is not going to be able to plug and play a transfer QB, if comes down to that. The Warren Ruggiero offense isn't complex in number of plays; its complexity comes in the reads. Wake Forest has had one QB -- Hartman -- come in and pick it up well enough to start right away, and we can drudge up some 2018 game film and compare the speed of the offense then to the speed he's been able to operate for the last two years.
As always, I'm interested to see where Edwards lands. Wake's last QB to transfer was Jamie Newman going to Georgia ... I don't think Edwards is going to land at a blue blood.
