Friday, June 26, 2009
Open season on quarterbacks
Tech and UVa both looking at two
Doug Doughty
Doug Doughty's College Notebook Plus is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Fridays.
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If you’re a Division I-A football fan and your favorite team hasn’t taken a commitment from a quarterback, you better hope it doesn’t need one.
I forget who it was (maybe John Shuman) who noted that all the best quarterbacks commit early for fear that their top choices won’t wait on them.
That may have been the case with Andrew Hendrix, a strong-armed quarterback from Moeller High in Cincinnati, whose commitment to Notre Dame was reported Friday.
Virginia fans may have been puzzled several weeks back when UVa took a commitment from quarterback Tyler Brosius from Waynesville, N.C., considering that Hendrix was still on their board, but the Cavaliers are looking pretty smart now.
With virtually every passing day, there comes news that another quarterback has made a commitment. Wake Forest got one this week from Tanner Price, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound signal-caller from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas.
Price completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,130 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior but apparently that wasn’t impressive enough to get an offer from the hometown University of Texas.
Price was the best quarterback at a one-day Wake Forest camp, according to rivals.com, and the Deacons were able to get him before his stock took off. His best offers to that point were from Stanford, Rice, Tulsa and Louisiana Tech.
A one-day camp was also the venue where Virginia decided to make an offer to another quarterback, 6-2, 190-pound Stephen Morris from Monsignor Pace in Miami Shores, Fla. UVa might have the edge over Purdue, but offers from Miami and Mississippi certainly would elevate those two programs.
You might wonder why Virginia, with plans to sign between 14 and 18 players, would devote two grants to quarterbacks. As opposed to Brosius, a 6-foot-3, 235-pounder who is said to have “all the throws,” Morris is more of a dual threat who could be a prospect at more than one position.
That’s what a lot of teams are doing – taking two quarterbacks, with one recruited as an “athlete.” Both of the quarterbacks who have committed to Virginia Tech are described as “dual threat” but Ricardo Young is faster (4.52 40) while Mark Leal (6-1, 190) is sturdier.
Look for both to get a long look as Tyrod Taylor’s eventual successor, but the possible range of positions is wider for Young (6-1, 170).
PRICE WASN’T THE only quarterback to commit to an ACC program this week. On Tuesday, Boston College took a commitment from 6-4, 185-pound Joshua Bordner, described by rivals.com as a “pro-style” quarterback out of Century High School in Eldersburg, Md.
(I lived in Maryland for 12-13 years, counting summers while I was in college, and I had never heard of Eldersburg until today. If I’m reading the map correctly, it’s northwest of Baltimore).
Other ACC teams and the quarterbacks from whom they have received commitments:
CLEMSON – No listed quarterbacks, although 6-foot-, 170-pound “athlete” Joe Craig from Gaffney (S.C.) High School attempted 55 passes last year. He committed May 17. The Tigers, Maryland and Florida State all have offers out to uncommitted Bethlehem, Pa., quarterback Anthony Gonzalez.
DUKE – The Blue Devils have commitments from Brandon Connette, a 6-2, 190-pounder from Corona, Calif., who also was offered by Stanford, and from fellow rivals.com three-star prospect Anthony Boone from Matthews, N.C. Boone is the dual threat.
FLORIDA STATE – No quarterbacks yet. The Seminoles are listed as having offered four-star Miami Central quarterback Jeffrey Godfrey, but Godfrey’s size (5-11, 167) would suggest that he might play another position. The Seminoles like the above-named Gonzalez, who passed for 1,580 yards and rushed for 1,697 as a junior.
GEORGIA TECH – No quarterbacks yet. The Yellow Jackets are only in the market for dual-threat quarterbacks, with the emphasis on running. Levi Barber from Edison High School in Alexandria is being listed with Tech; he’s the brother of Virginia Tech freshman Ben Barber.
MARYLAND – On May 11, the Terps took a commitment from Tyler Smith, a 6-4, 195-pounder from Easton, Pa., where he threw for 2,952 yards and 35 touchdowns last season. Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Syracuse also offered him, according to rivals.
MIAMI – No quarterbacks yet. Got to believe they’re looking in the wake of Robert Marve’s transfer to Purdue. Like the Seminoles, they have offered Godfrey.
NORTH CAROLINA – No quarterbacks yet. UNC has an offer out to 6-3, 190-pound pro-style quarterback Jesse Scroggins from Lakewood, Calif.
N.C. STATE – No quarterbacks yet and not much buzz surrounding a QB search.
BY THE WAY, rivals is showing Virginia, Virginia Tech and Duke with offers out to four-star Orchard Lake, Mich., quarterback Robert Bolden (6-4, 195) but I’ve got to believe that Bolden’s information has not been updated.
The rivals board doesn’t show it, but the Cavaliers are also involved with four-star New Orleans quarterback Munchie Legeaux, according to Jamie Oakes of cavscorner.com. Got to love that name.
Other quarterbacks with ACC offers include 6-5, 205-pound Sean Robinson from Rochester, Ill. (Boston College); 6-2, 205-pound Tarean Austin from Tampa, Fla. (Duke); 6-2, 172-pound Devin Burns from Columbus, Ga. (Maryland), and 6-2, 190-pound Tim Smith from Fort Pierce, Fla. (Boston College).
