Texas Football: Signing Brandon Harris is Fine, Starting Him is Not

Texas Football wants to bring in Brandon Harris to add to their quarterback group, but he can’t be anything more than depth.

Earlier this month, we noted a report from the Baton Rouge Advocate of Texas Football wanting to bring in former LSU quarterback Brandon Harris for a visit. UT is among the four schools on his list, with North Carolina and Arizona being the known ones.

To follow up on this, Rivals reported Harris being set to visit campus next weekend, which 247Sports countered by saying nothing had been planned. However, Tom Herman did confirm with the Austin American-Statesman that they are “exploring recruiting him.” So the interest in Harris is real, but will it come to fruition?

While that questions remains unanswered, the prospect of the graduate transfer coming to Texas makes some sense. He can add quarterback depth behind Shane Buechele if the staff feels Sam Ehlinger isn’t ready to be a backup as a freshman. It would provide quality insurance for the incumbent starter, even if Harris had an up and down career in Baton Rouge. He has experience on the college football field, which could place him above Ehlinger, who may be given a clipboard of redshirt for 2017, if that’s the case.

It comes into play with a potential injury to Buechele too, if he wins the starting job. Texas may feel they have a better chance of winning with Harris at the helm then Ehlinger if something were to happen to the starter. They could be 4-0, 5-3, or 7-2 when Buechele goes down, so if they think the one who has started college football games gives them the best chance of winning, then it’s not the worst thing.

However, while there’s no harm in adding Harris, Herman can’t start him. In the second quote the Texas head coach gave to the Austin American-Statesman, he commented on Buechele and Ehlinger potentially having their growth stunted with Harris competing for the quarterback job (h/t 247Sports):

"“You’ve got to win,” Herman said. “We’ve lost seven games three straight years around here. [If] the grad transfer is better than those two and can beat them out then we’ll worry about their growth next spring.”"

Herman’s approach on winning isn’t the problem here, it’s worrying about Buechele and Ehlinger later. They’re the ones who have been around the Texas program, learning the ins and outs of the offense through the spring. To get usurped by someone from the outside could be crushing, especially if the staff feels Harris is better for Texas in 2017.

What the Longhorns can get away with doing is slapping the redshirt on Buechele or Ehlinger — maybe the latter since he’s the youngster of the group. However, do you risk having the sophomore getting unhappy as the backup and transferring? Ehlinger would still be left, but there’s the possibility of him being the lone quarterback in 2018, and he’d have no experience in live college football action.

While there is some familiarity with Harris and Herman (He was recruited to Ohio State when Herman was their offensive coordinator), the former struggled in his starting opportunities. He threw for a completion percentage of just 53.8 in 2015 and just 53.9 percent for his career. The ability is there to create plays with his legs, but in the wild west of passing in the Big 12, he may not be able to keep up with the high-powered offenses across the conference.

Next: Could Ehlinger Be the QB Favorite?

Does Brandon Harris signing with Texas Football make sense? Where could he fit in on the quarterback depth chart?