FanHouse's lead-up to college football's signing day makes like Charles Dickens and looks at the Ghosts of Recruiting -- past, present and future. In the Ghosts of Recruiting Present, we document prominent recruiting makes and misses that changed programsPart of the fun of recruiting is looking at what could have been. And so it seems we wonder what could have been for Texas this year if they had brought in the Smurfish home-state Rodgers brothers out of Richmond/Lamar Consolidated -- James and Jacquizz. You know, those two guys up at Oregon State of all places. One ushered in a revival of the "fly sweep" in college football and the other won Pac-10 Freshman and Offensive Player of the Year honors after single-handedly making mincemeat of the otherwise impenetrable USC defense.
Texas had a player like that once. Texas dearly loved that player. And in retrospect I'm sure they would have welcomed someone like him who could do such brutal carving of a defense like that.
Maybe Texas thought they had brought in such a guy, in the equally small Foswhitt Whittaker. Except Whittaker spent most of this year on the sideline unable to create a better running game than several so-so peers or his starting quarterback.
One of the critiques of Texas this year as to why they didn't overcome Oklahoma in the polls and make the BCS Championship Game was their lack of a true physical ground game, that their offense was the Colt McCoy show -- a hell of a show mind you -- and little else. Whether you buy that or not, there's no denying Texas was without a single center-of-gravity, all is well in football when you can run the ball type back.
Jacquizz Rodgers would have been that guy and elusive older brother James likely could have found a role similar to Longhorn receiver Quan Cosby in the quick-hitting Texas passing game.
But we'll never know.
Be sure to check out the entire Ghosts of Recruiting series leading up to college football's national letter of intent day
Previously in Ghosts of Recruiting
Ghosts of Recruiting Past: Pac-10 Also-Rans Washington and UCLA
Ghosts of Recruiting Past: Big 12 Slumpers Colorado and Texas A&M
Ghosts of Recruiting Past: Former Masters Miami and Florida State
Ghosts of Recruiting Past: Aging, Embattled Warriors Pitt and Syracuse
Ghosts of Recruiting Past: Virginia and Michigan State Rounds Things Out
Ghosts of Recruiting Present: Steve Slaton, Maryland Terrapin?
Ghosts of Recruiting Present: Ryan Perilloux is Drama for All
Ghosts of Recruiting Present: Houston Nutt, Reality Show
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