Washington at one time had more QB's in the NFL than any other school. When Rick Neuheisel was hired the succesful string was supposed to continue because the former UCLA had a great reputation for developing and working with QB's.
Rick inherited Marques Tuiasosopo and Cody Pickett. Marques led the Dawgs to a Rose Bowl, and Pickett had a good junior season but injuries hurt him his final year.
What went wrong?
Casey Paus was a big swing and a miss. Taylor Barton was never healthy enough to make a move, and UW played QB roulette till Stanback emerged under Willingham. Bonnell was injury prone, and Durocher had a brain tumor.
Talking about Stanback his development was stunted when Gilby wasted his RS year playing him at WR. An extra year of a seasoned Stanback would have meant more victories.
In a perfect world Matt Tuiasosopo is leading UW to a Rose Bowl in 2008 just like his older brother Marques did. Jake Locker is backing him up with Ronnie Fouch behind him. You like to have four to five QB's on your roster and in 2008 UW has only three. Once Locker and Fouch graduate there is going to be a serious void to fill.
2001 Recruiting Year (Neuhesiel)
Neu's first recruit was Casey Paus who was supposed to be one of the best QB prospects in the country. Michigan, Notre Dame, and UCLA all offered but he chose UW. Paus wasn't very mobile and had a big hitch in his delivery which was never corrected. Taylor Barton transfered from Colorado setting off a firestorm between the two schools. Barton had a tough career which was marked by a gastrointestinal illness which almost killed him.
- Casey Paus (Blue Chip)
- Taylor Barton
2002 Recruiting Year (Neuhesiel)
Neu missed on some bigtime QB recruits getting beaten out by USC and UCLA but he stated the very green Stanback could be a great one. Slye started off at safety, moved to WR, and dropped out of school. Both of these guys were very good athletes but they were far from being polished QB's.
- Isaiah Stanback
- Jordan Slye
2003 Recruiting Year (Neuhesiel)
The two top QB's in Washington chose to go out of state. Johnny durocher chose Oregon, and Carl Bonnell chose WSU. both ironically ended up going to Washington. Bonnell greyshirted at WSU then decided to transfer. Durocher played a year at Oregon and decided to come to UW. One guy that UW missed out on was a kid named Dennis Dixon who desperately wanted to go to UW. The Huskies didn't offer because they figured he would choose baseball. He ended up at Oregon as a last minute addition to the class.
- Carl Bonnell
2004 Recruiting Year (Gilbertson)
The must get recruit in Washington that year was the youngest Tui brother. The Mariners botched those plans by offering him a lot of money. Tui is now getting his cup of coffee in the AL. Matt would be a senior this year.
- Matt Tuiasosopo (Blue Chip)
2005 Recruiting Year (Willingham)
Johnny came home and played here and there as UW tried to find a starting QB.
- Johnny Durocher
2006 Recruiting Season (Willingham)
Jake was the one player that Willingham had to get and he headlined a very average recruiting class. Jake redshirted his first year and has been starting ever since. Jake is probably the best running QB in the country but in year two he still needs to work on delivering the ball.
- Jake Locker (Blue Chip)
2007 Recruiting Season (Willingham)
It isn't easy recruiting a quality QB when you have Jake Locker but Ty found a good one in Ronnie Fouch who is playing for the first time this year.
- Ronnie Fouch
2008 Recruiting Season (Willingham)
Blackman never made it in and is trying to enroll in January. Leonard is a good athlete but at least a year away from contributing. I personally think that neither of these guys end up at QB before it is all said and done. I also think Blackman is a longshot to qualify in January.
- Luther Leonard
- Dominique Blackman
Position Outlook
Locker and Fouch are very solid but behind them UW has nothing in year four of Willingham. Keith Price ho is a 2009 verbal looks like an excellent QB and a good fit for the system. All eyes are focused on the recruitment of Jake Heaps in 2010.