Is NIL Ruining Quarterback Development?

A great philosopher once said, "mo' money, mo' problems."

That man's name was Christopher George Latore Wallace, but you may know him better as the Notorious B.I.G.

Unfortunately, Mr. Wallace didn't live long enough to see the advent of NIL in the college game, but his lyrics from the 1997 hit song feel just as prescient now when applied to the big-time deals being shelled out to mostly unproven college football quarterbacks.

Sure, there are some exceptions to the rule, but by and large, young quarterbacks making life-changing money right out of the starting gates rarely live up to the expectations or monetary value placed on them.

Quarterbacks like Arch Manning, DJ Lagway and Bryce Underwood seem to have fallen into seven-figure bank accounts all because they had a certain number of stars next to their names coming out of high school, yet when it came time to perform on the field, the results were varied.

Texas gunslinger Arch Manning has looked anything other than what his last name had suggested he would be when he was anointed the number one overall player coming out of high school a few years ago, and his play this season leaves much to be desired so far.

DJ Lagway was supposed to save Billy Napier's job at Florida, yet he's been one of the biggest reasons the Gators sit at 1-3 this season with very few winnable games left on the schedule.

Lagway was compensated handsomely to attend the University of Florida and has national endorsement deals with companies like Gatorade, Chipotle, and Jordan Brand.

I am sure those companies and boosters weren't expecting this level of performance when they cut those checks back in the spring and summer months.

Michigan's Bryce Underwood is perhaps the scariest cautionary tale of all the NIL horror stories, though he hasn't been as disastrous as someone like Lagway.

The problem with Underwood is his very public $10 million payday from billionaire Larry Ellison and Barstool founder Dave Portnoy, the latter of which posted this now infamous ultimatum on X.

This sets a frightening precedent that the boosters who are funding these NIL deals get to call the shots when it comes to what the players can and can't do, and that could be what's messing with the development of all these young quarterbacks.

If a booster is paying a freshman signal caller a couple million dollars a year, it wouldn't make sense for them to ride the bench, right?

So the kid gets thrust into action, more often than not before he is ready, and gets shell-shocked, which might permanently stunt his growth.

Even quarterbacks who were thrown into the deep end and thrived early on, like South Carolina's Lanorris Sellers, have taken major steps back in terms of development.

Big money is making it so that these kids don't have a choice when it comes to needing time to develop.

Tim Tebow benefited from sitting behind Chris Leak for a year, as did Deshaun Watson with Cole Stoudt at Clemson.

In today's day and age of NIL and instant gratification, boosters would have been clamoring to see their investments take the field as early as possible, and players like Tebow and Watson could have suffered as a result.

Look at some of the best QBs in college right now: John Mateer, Fernando Mendoza, Sawyer Robinson.

These are all veteran, multi-year starters who honed their craft without carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

You'll never see me crying the blues for a 19 or 20-year-old making millions of dollars, but if we are calling it like we see it, all these expectations as a result of the massive paychecks being wired their way are ruining quarterback development, which, in turn, is ruining a sport I have loved for nearly my entire life.

I don't know what the answer is, nor do I think there is one at this point, but something has to change.

Maybe the market corrects itself. Who's to say?

All I know is when those preseason Heisman odds come out next summer, I will be staying far away from any unproven freshmen.

Not acknowledging that would be the literal definition of insanity.