Got the following detailed overview of Bolden from a diehard PSU fan earlier today. I recognize its long, read if you wish.

"This is what I've heard today with regards to the logic of the move. Bolden has tried to transfer out of the program a couple of times; one time Joe actually told Bolden and his father that he wouldn't grant his release. So when Spring ball ended just a few months ago and he was listed as #3 on the depth chart, Bolden once again asked for his release and apparently O'Brien granted it at that time. I guess it didn't come out until now because obviously his options were limited due to having to sit out a year, etc., and he was likely to stay at PSU. But now with the transfer rules in place around the NCAA sanctions he was free to go anywhere. Makes perfect sense and if there was anyone to take advantage of the rules in place, he was probably going to be one of the first to jump.

As for Bolden as a player. He has a lot of physical ability. Real strong arm, and moves pretty well although by no means would anyone refer to him as a "dual threat". I was really pulling for him and I thought he was making pretty solid progress through the first half of his freshman year. At that point I think he suffered a concussion or something and that's when McGloin was given the nod. The second half of the 2010 season was essentially just one giant argument between people that felt like Bolden should have been put back in as the starter and people who felt that McGloin should keep playing. McGloin played pretty well and the team won against sub-par competition, but he was absolutely horrendous against the better defenses that we played (Ohio State, Florida, etc.) and Bolden was pissed that he was never given another shot when McGloin was throwing 3-6 INTs in those games. It was hard to blame Bolden for being pissed. It was at the end of that season that Joe refused to release RB. Then in 2011 the staff rotated between Bolden and McGloin for the first half of the season before finally settling on McGloin as the full-time guy about half way through the year. The reason I explain all of that is because it was blatantly obvious that between not being given another shot after the concussion and then rotating back and forth the first half of last year he was just completely mentally lost and had no confidence whatsoever. He was consistently underthrowing receivers on short routes, throwing into double coverage on deep routes, making awful decisions when he did throw the ball, held onto the ball too long and took way too many unneseccary sacks. To be fair, Jay Paterno was horrendous at developing QBs. It would have been interesting to see if O'Brien could have helped develop him, although sitting third on the depth chart wasn't very appealing to him and I can't blame him for wanting to get out.

Long story short. Unless you guys have an insanely good QB coach who is also able to help him out psychologically, I wouldn't expect much out of him. I'm really happy for the kid for finding a new opportunity, but I wouldn't expect him to contribute anywhere, let alone LSU."