BYU Football Recruiting: Former Missouri QB Trent Hosick would be a big get for the Cougars

Last week news broke that Trent Hosick, a redshirt freshman quarterback at the University of Missouri who intends on transferring out of Columbia, would be visiting BYU this upcoming weekend. The 6-1, 225 pound Hosick was a three-star recruit out of Staley High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He had offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, and Tulsa. Hosick ultimately chose Missouri and enrolled early in January of 2013.

Hosick was a national finalist for the 2012 Wendy's High School Heisman award and a finalist for the Gatorade Player of the Year in Missouri. He passed for 1,882 yards and 14 touchdowns and ran for 1,609 yards and 18 touchdowns as a high school senior that year. Hosick was also a very accomplished high school wrestler.

Hosick redshirted at Missouri last season and will have to sit out his redshirt freshman year in 2014 due to NCAA transfer rules. He will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2015.

I had a chance to catch up with Hosick and talk with him about what he was looking for in the program he will transfer to. He told me that there were three things that he was ultimately looking for. First, he wants a program and coaching staff that completely believes and buys into him as a player. Second, he wants a program that can win a National Championship, and third he wants to be in a community of like-minded people.

In reference to the second item on his list, Hosick believes that he holds a lot of responsibility in achieving that level of success, "When [coaches] say we're going to invest time and money into you as a player, it's now your job to go make them successful... as a player it's my job to go help my team, help my school, help my teammates, help my coaches win a national championship."

And competing for a National Championship is something that Hosick believes the Cougars can do. " Is BYU capable of winning a National Championship? I think that's a no brainer, Absolutely", Hosick said. "They are very successful every year in football... with the schedule that they have, playing big times schools from several different conferences, if you take a team like BYU undefeated through that schedule you'll absolutely have an opportunity to play for a National Championship."

Some BYU fans are already drawing comparisons to the Cougars' current starting quarterback, Taysom Hill. If you watch Hosick's highlights below, you will quickly see why. At 6-1, 225 pounds, he has a very similar build to Hill (Hill is listed at 6-2, 221 pounds) and his ability to make plays with his feet and even his running style are very similar to Hill. Like Hill, Hosick is a very strong athlete that has an impressive ability to jump cut and change of direction. I asked Hosick about the comparison to Hill and he said, " I've watched a lot of film on Taysom and he is a phenomenal player, so if people put me in that comparison that is a very humbling thing."

On the passing side of things, Hosick does not show the pure arm strength that Hill has, but he does seem to have to have more touch on his passes than Hill. In his highlights he also does a decent job keeping his eyes downfield looking for a receiver when he is scrambling around outside the pocket. When I spoke with Hosick about his passing, he was very confident that he can make any throw that a collegiate quarterback needs to make.

SB Nation's Wescott Eberts had this to say about Hosick's passing ability back in 2012:

"As a passer, Hosick has the ability to get vertical in the passing game with a compact release and the touch to fit passes into small windows. At times, however, Hosick has something of a gunslinger mentality, throwing across his body on the move and into traffic. While his confidence is impressive, there are some throws on film that he'll have to learn not to make at the college level or risk a high interception rate."

Outside of his physical abilities, Hosick's leadership qualities and character seem to fit the mold for the kind of player Bronco Mendenhall wants in his program. Hosick has this listed as his philosophy on his Wendy's High School Heisman profile:

"When I decided to make football a large part of my life, it wasn't for the typical reasons of the possible glory and fame of becoming a pro. It was because of the platform of influence it gave to lead those around me."

Hosick seemed excited about his visit to Provo when I spoke with him. He told me, " I wouldn't be visiting [BYU] unless it was a big consideration for me... as I've continued to talk with the coaches they have made it clear that they really believe in me as a player, they believe in me as a person, and they think that I am someone that could help their program."

Hosick does not have a set time frame of when he wants to make his decision on where he will transfer by, but he did tell me he expects he will make it fairly soon.