Mississippi State QB announces transfer via Twitter
Mississippi State quarterback Elijah Staley has announced he is transferring via his Twitter account.
— Elijah Staley (@ES14_) August 12, 2016
Staley was battling Nick Fitzgerald, Nick Tiano and Damian Williams during fall camp, and the competition is now down to three.
The 6-foot-6 redshirt sophomore Staley certainly looks like an athletic quarterback, the most athletic of the four, but it’s unlikely he would have won the starting quarterback job. He was pretty rough around the edges as a passer.
Staley finished with 36 completions for 428 yards during Mississippi State’s first two scrimmages and the spring game, which were the most by any State quarterback.
“I think I’ve improved a lot,” Staley said this spring. “I got better every day. I’ve just been working on being the best I can be each and every day. I felt like I’ve had a very good spring.”
Staley is a former three-star prospect at Marietta High in Georgia, and he played both football and basketball.
Most figure Fitzgerald will be the starter.
Yeah, Mullen basically said that somebody was gonna transfer. I expected it to be Williams but this isn’t a huge surprise.
Well, now we know who the qb won’t be at least. Its a shame, staley would have been a fantastic option for the dogs the early part of mullen’s tenure and for most of the twenty years before that. Or thirty. Or fifty. But now, while the starter isn’t clear, there is quality depth. With tiano being a rs freshman and a promising dual threat in the 2017 class, if he didn’t win the starting role this year he likely wouldn’t ever.
Someone will be getting a solid qb on transfer. I liked what I saw of him in limited action.
I honestly am not familiar with Staley. State fans, what about him is “rough around the edges?” The article says that he had the most completions during the first scrimmages and spring game. I know that doesn’t necessarily equate to winning the starting job, but Mullen has a proven track record of developing quarterbacks. Seems to me that he could have learned from one of the best qb coaches around (but I know a transfer mean means he could start somewhere else). Based on the article’s description, he seems like he ought to be someone who could be brought along. What is it that was holding Staley back? Just honest curiosity, and I wish him well wherever he goes!
I think the main thing holding him back from winning the starting job (other than having really stiff competition) is a surgery that took him out of practice for a while. I think he also had some mentality stuff they had to work through when he first got on campus (he was kicked off his HS team halfway through his senior season for arguing with the coach).
It didn’t help that Fitzgerald was an early enrollee, about the same size, and about as good is not a better runner.
I think Staley worked everything out attitude and health wise but he was just too far behind in the system to win it. He will make a hell of a transfer for someone to pick up.
Well, the future of the qb position seems to be the two nicks…this will be the biggest question mark of the season now:who will start and will we be able to protect him?