Definitely a downer about Tuttle leaving the program; this kind of a “break-up” may have a silver-lining down the road and may eventually be fine, but certainly not a great look for the program.
That said, this reminds me a lot of a couple of Utah transfers with incredible pedigrees ala Tuttle who made limited contributions. If you look back at Tommy Grady’s profile (both production in HS and measurables) the guy was exactly what you’d want. Big body, big arm, impressive offer list. Went to Oklahoma, and transferred due to a lack of PT. For whatever reason, Tommy wasn’t ever able to put it together at Utah, much to the consternation of Utah fans (myself included). Instead we saw Brett Ratliff play (from Butte College) who went on to have a respectable NFL career.
Similar story with Darryl Poston (though to be fair, Poston struggled signficantly with injuries). All-American HS player, USC RB in the early 2000’s (when SC was on its roll with Pete). While Poston was productive, he was behind Mack, a 2 star RB with a sparse offer sheet.
It’s a bummer, but if there’s anything I’ve learned about Whit and this staff, it’s two things: 1) they find diamonds in the rough, and 2) their track record with QB recruits is more “misses” than “hits,” so there’s a good to fair chance we didn’t just lose the next Baker Mayfield.***
***I disavow this message if Tuttle becomes the next Baker Mayfield. Art of the Deal.