LAWRENCE | One of the things that Kansas coach Mark Mangino has enjoyed about senior quarterback Todd Reesing is his love for economics.“He’s telling me about the dollar deflating and the market going up,” Mangino said. “I said, ‘I don’t care what’s deflating. I just want the market to go up.’ ”Mangino doesn’t care how things get better; he just wants them to get better. Looking at the future of the quarterback position at KU through that prism, hey, maybe the Jayhawks can keep on trucking without Reesing. They’ve got two young players — redshirt freshman Kale Pick, the current backup, and true freshman Jordan Webb, who is redshirting — who were more highly rated than Reesing as high school prospects.Still, it appears that Mangino and offensive coordinator Ed Warinner are far from satisfied with Pick and Webb as the lone competitors for the starting job entering next season. The Jayhawks are actively recruiting two junior-college quarterbacks — Jordan Rodgers from Butte (Calif.) Community College and Quinn Mecham from Snow (Utah) College — that they hope will give them a more experienced option to consider.“They just said they’re young right now,” said Rodgers, the younger brother of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. “They feel like they’ve got a lot of good talent around their team at the skill positions. I have over 20 games of experience and will have a little more experience than the freshmen they have now.”Rodgers is 13-3 as a starter and led Butte to the No. 1 spot in the final 2008 JC Grid-Wire rankings as a freshman after a grayshirt year. Kansas started recruiting him within the last two months, he said, and is now at the top of his list. Despite the athletic department investigation into Mangino’s treatment of players, Rodgers is hoping to take his planned visit on Dec. 4. “I don’t think it’s going to affect my decision,” Rodgers said. “I’m gonna meet with the coaches, and how I feel about them is going to affect my decision, not things I hear from other players.”Rodgers said he would have to reevaluate if Mangino is fired.“That would definitely affect my process,” Rodgers said. While the investigation of Mangino has not affected Rodgers’ interest, the same cannot be said for prep quarterback Jacoby Walker, who has already given an oral commitment to KU. Jon Kirby, who covers KU football recruiting for Rivals.com, said that Walker, a dual-threat quarterback from Spring, Texas, has started to hear from other schools in the last week. Kirby said that Walker will graduate in December and will need to enroll at his college of choice within six weeks. With Mangino’s future in doubt, the Jayhawks could lose him, which would leave them with only Pick and Webb in the fold after former quarterback Christian Matthews moved to wide receiver this fall. “Juco signing day is in three weeks,” Kirby said. “If you don’t get a juco quarterback or Jacoby Walker, you’re looking at starting next spring with two quarterbacks on scholarship, which is not good.”Rodgers is hoping to follow the same path as his older brother. Aaron Rodgers played two years at Butte before finishing his career at California and becoming a first-round draft pick. Jordan said he was only 5 feet 10 and weighed just 160 pounds when he graduated high school. After three years at Butte, he is 6-2 and 210 pounds.

Posted on Wed, Nov. 25, 2009 10:31 PM

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Reesing era is nearly over, so who’ll be KU’s next QB?

By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH

The Kansas City Star

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LAWRENCE | One of the things that Kansas coach Mark Mangino has enjoyed about senior quarterback Todd Reesing is his love for economics.

“He’s telling me about the dollar deflating and the market going up,” Mangino said. “I said, ‘I don’t care what’s deflating. I just want the market to go up.’ ”

Mangino doesn’t care how things get better; he just wants them to get better. Looking at the future of the quarterback position at KU through that prism, hey, maybe the Jayhawks can keep on trucking without Reesing. They’ve got two young players — redshirt freshman Kale Pick, the current backup, and true freshman Jordan Webb, who is redshirting — who were more highly rated than Reesing as high school prospects.

Still, it appears that Mangino and offensive coordinator Ed Warinner are far from satisfied with Pick and Webb as the lone competitors for the starting job entering next season. The Jayhawks are actively recruiting two junior-college quarterbacks — Jordan Rodgers from Butte (Calif.) Community College and Quinn Mecham from Snow (Utah) College — that they hope will give them a more experienced option to consider.

“They just said they’re young right now,” said Rodgers, the younger brother of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. “They feel like they’ve got a lot of good talent around their team at the skill positions. I have over 20 games of experience and will have a little more experience than the freshmen they have now.”

Rodgers is 13-3 as a starter and led Butte to the No. 1 spot in the final 2008 JC Grid-Wire rankings as a freshman after a grayshirt year.

Kansas started recruiting him within the last two months, he said, and is now at the top of his list. Despite the athletic department investigation into Mangino’s treatment of players, Rodgers is hoping to take his planned visit on Dec. 4.

“I don’t think it’s going to affect my decision,” Rodgers said. “I’m gonna meet with the coaches, and how I feel about them is going to affect my decision, not things I hear from other players.”

Rodgers said he would have to reevaluate if Mangino is fired.

“That would definitely affect my process,” Rodgers said.

While the investigation of Mangino has not affected Rodgers’ interest, the same cannot be said for prep quarterback Jacoby Walker, who has already given an oral commitment to KU. Jon Kirby, who covers KU football recruiting for Rivals.com, said that Walker, a dual-threat quarterback from Spring, Texas, has started to hear from other schools in the last week.

Kirby said that Walker will graduate in December and will need to enroll at his college of choice within six weeks. With Mangino’s future in doubt, the Jayhawks could lose him, which would leave them with only Pick and Webb in the fold after former quarterback Christian Matthews moved to wide receiver this fall.

“Juco signing day is in three weeks,” Kirby said. “If you don’t get a juco quarterback or Jacoby Walker, you’re looking at starting next spring with two quarterbacks on scholarship, which is not good.”

Rodgers is hoping to follow the same path as his older brother. Aaron Rodgers played two years at Butte before finishing his career at California and becoming a first-round draft pick. Jordan said he was only 5 feet 10 and weighed just 160 pounds when he graduated high school. After three years at Butte, he is 6-2 and 210 pounds.

To reach J. Brady McCollough, call 816-234-4363, send e-mail to jmccollough@kcstar.com or follow him at twitter.com/BradyMcCollough

Posted on Wed, Nov. 25, 2009 10:31 PM

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