The Rich Get Richer (Or: And You Thought Tua's Last Name Was Hard to Spell)

I was busy doing my nautilus session at the gym a couple weeks ago and got caught in a common conundrum. The cardio machine I wanted to use had crap programs on the tellies in front of it, while the machines I didn't want to use had good stuff on in front of them.

(Aside: I refuse to try to change TV channels at my gym. An errant arm angle can change 6-9 TV channels at once, irritate many people and create a ruckus. I saw one guy verbally abuse another guy for absentmindedly changing all channels at once. I thought it might progress to fisticuffs. I don't want any part of that. I prefer to keep to myself, scowl and silently judge people. It's what I do.)  

Anyhoo, I decided to just do my stairmaster work and ignore the telly, where some high school football program was on. As I was banging out my steps, I noticed it was a show about five-star QB prospects. I slowly got drawn in. The program had a long feature on DJ Uiagalelei, the nation's #1 pro style QB prospect. And boy oh boy, I would be excited if I was a Clemson fan. Uiagalelei committed there and will be a true freshman this fall.



DJ is a 6'5", 240 lb monster who looks like the real deal. He comes from St. John Bosco High School in Cali. Unlike hefty QBs that size, like Big Ben, Byron Leftwich or JaMarcus Russell, this dude is all muscle. I know his highlights above are against high school kids, but he looks like a grown-ass man playing against these poor boys. He has speed, can throw on the run, and once (allegedly) won a long-throw contest by throwing a ball over 80 yards. The mythical narrative has already begun. And he's a very religious kid, so it's unlikely he pulls a Stephen Garcia and tries to set a South Carolina state record for most arrests while still a member of a college football program.

While it's way too premature to know how things will play out, some recent "can't miss" QB prospects that have come out (Tua and Lawrence, for example) did/may leave after three years to grab them dolla dolla bills in the NFL. It will be interesting to see how many reps Dabo gives DJ as the back-up to Lawrence this year. He may only have him on campus for three years.