[OutsiderFan]

There's an awful lot of speculation in this post. Remind me why we're already moving past Costello and on to Mills?

Over 50% of what we talk about on these boards is speculation, if not more.  And I never said we're moving past Costello to Mills.  I'm just throwing out some possible scenarios.  That said, Mills is a special talent.  He's a better athlete than Costello, and his numbers in high school were Jake Browning-like, though one could argue Costello faced better competition.  No, this doesn't guarantee he's a future #1 overall draft pick, but there are evidence-based reasons to believe Mills will be better than Costello, so my post did entertain that possibility.

But Costello may end up being great, and Mills may just have to wait his turn.  I accounted for that possibility in my post as well.

After thinking about it further, not only does it make sense to have an open competition for the starting QB job in August, but it may also be possible to take advantage of the medical redshirt rules.  This means if Costello and Mills both played in the first couple games, and Mills was dinged up, Mills could redshirt without losing a year of eligibility, and Costello could be the starter.  If Costello went down, and Chryst or a walk-on isn't the answer, Mills could then play, having already had a bit of experience earlier in the year.

The real complication comes if Mills were to end up beating out Costello.  Then the risk is Costello transferring.  But this situation can unfold several different ways.  How Chryst recovers and how fast he does, combined with how much Shaw and co. want to see if they can rely on walk-ons, is going to factor in to the QB situation, regardless of what happens with Costello and Mills.

When I posted in another thread that the signing day presser could be one of the more revealing Shaw has had, this is why I said it.  Shaw is going to be peppered with Mills/Costello/Chryst questions, and these scenarios will be posed to him.  His answers will be revealing, even if he doesn't answer.  But Shaw has established - at least for me - a track record for if not giving a direct answer, at least the factors that go into how decisions are made.  For instance, he may have some insight into Chryst's projected recovery time that he might share.  He might talk about how he'd like to see a walk-on step up.  He might say Mills is talented enough to be put in the competition in August.  He may say the decision has already been made to redshirt Mills.  We have no idea.  All we can do is speculate  :)

[OutsiderFan]

There's an awful lot of speculation in this post. Remind me why we're already moving past Costello and on to Mills?

Over 50% of what we talk about on these boards is speculation, if not more.  And I never said we're moving past Costello to Mills.  I'm just throwing out some possible scenarios.  That said, Mills is a special talent.  He's a better athlete than Costello, and his numbers in high school were Jake Browning-like, though one could argue Costello faced better competition.  No, this doesn't guarantee he's a future #1 overall draft pick, but there are evidence-based reasons to believe Mills will be better than Costello, so my post did entertain that possibility.

But Costello may end up being great, and Mills may just have to wait his turn.  I accounted for that possibility in my post as well.

After thinking about it further, not only does it make sense to have an open competition for the starting QB job in August, but it may also be possible to take advantage of the medical redshirt rules.  This means if Costello and Mills both played in the first couple games, and Mills was dinged up, Mills could redshirt without losing a year of eligibility, and Costello could be the starter.  If Costello went down, and Chryst or a walk-on isn't the answer, Mills could then play, having already had a bit of experience earlier in the year.

The real complication comes if Mills were to end up beating out Costello.  Then the risk is Costello transferring.  But this situation can unfold several different ways.  How Chryst recovers and how fast he does, combined with how much Shaw and co. want to see if they can rely on walk-ons, is going to factor in to the QB situation, regardless of what happens with Costello and Mills.

When I posted in another thread that the signing day presser could be one of the more revealing Shaw has had, this is why I said it.  Shaw is going to be peppered with Mills/Costello/Chryst questions, and these scenarios will be posed to him.  His answers will be revealing, even if he doesn't answer.  But Shaw has established - at least for me - a track record for if not giving a direct answer, at least the factors that go into how decisions are made.  For instance, he may have some insight into Chryst's projected recovery time that he might share.  He might talk about how he'd like to see a walk-on step up.  He might say Mills is talented enough to be put in the competition in August.  He may say the decision has already been made to redshirt Mills.  We have no idea.  All we can do is speculate  :)