Impact Early Enrollees: Quarterbacks

Kyle Pollock Posted On March 28, 2015

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The trend of incoming college freshmen enrolling early is gaining more and more popularity among top recruits. A recruit can enroll early at a school for the spring semester if he meets the requirements to graduate high school early. This obviously gives these recruits a leg up on players that don’t enroll early. Freshmen can get a feel for what life in college is like, learn the playbook, enter into a college strength and conditioning program (which allows for them to put on weight if need be), and participate in spring practice. Many players enrolled early this year, including Blake Barnett, Josh Rosen, Jacques Patrick, Jo’von Robinson, George Campbell, Christian Kirk, and Will Gragg. All of these players have the potential to make an impact this season. In this edition, I will take a look at three quarterbacks who could make a big impact on their teams.

Three top flight quarterbacks enrolled early this season: Barnett, Rosen, and Jarret Stidham. All three have the potential to step in and start immediately for elite power five schools. Barnett and Rosen are more prototypical pocket passers, while Stidham is a dual threat quarterback. Barnett will have to contend with Jacob Coker and a host of others at Alabama, Rosen with Asiantii Wourlard and Jerry Neuheisel at UCLA, and Stidham with Seth Russell at Baylor.

Josh Rosen, UCLA

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Rosen is fundamentally sound. He has a great arm and good footwork and shows the ability to step up in the pocket to avoid pressure, which few prospects at the high school level can do. His accuracy is slightly above average, but it can definitely use some work. He is also mobile enough to get a few rushing yards per game. He’s a bit on the lighter side for his height (6’4”, 204 pounds) and may need to put on some weight.

One concern about Rosen was demonstrated at the Elite 11 Camp. He didn’t respond well to coaching, and seemed to feel like he was smarter and better than everyone else. If he isn’t listening to a former NFL quarterback, I’m not sure how well he’ll adjust to college coaching. Coaches won’t stand for any of this in college, and this could hinder his ability to get on the field early. I do believe that Rosen should easily pass Wourlard in the competition. Neuheisel appears to be Rosen’s primary competition. He stepped up last year and led UCLA to a victory against Texas. Even though Neuheisel performed admirably last season, Rosen should be starting at some point this season, as he is UCLA’s quarterback of the future. I tend to not draft many quarterbacks in devy drafts, but if you’re looking to draft one with a ton of upside then Rosen is your man.

Blake Barnett, Alabama

Barnett has enrolled early at Alabama and should be in a fierce competition for the starting job. Although he may not be as physically talented as Rosen, Barnett is no slouch. He was crowned the MVP of the Elite 11 Camp this summer, annually awarded to the nation’s top quarterback. Barnett has a great stable of running backs around him, which will help to ease his transition from high school to college. Oh and don’t forget he has arguably the nation’s best coach in Nick Saban.

Barnett does have some concerns though. Some have criticized his throwing motion, and while some of the concerns are overblown, it is an area where he can improve. Barnett also never topped six wins in high school. An elite quarterback should be able to dominate in high school and carry his team to more than six wins. To compare, Rosen had eight, 16, and 12 wins as a starter, including an undefeated season. Barnett also never achieved a completion percentage of 60% or higher in a season, and didn’t have a passer rating over 100 in two seasons as a starter. I seriously question if Barnett will ever have success at Alabama.

This season, he is competing with former Florida State quarterback Jacob Coker, Cooper Bateman, David Cornwell, and Alec Morris for the starting job. Coker was the favorite to win the job last season before ultimately losing the competition with Blake Sims. Both Bateman (redshirt sophomore) and Cornwell (redshirt freshman) were consensus top five quarterback’s in their respective recruiting classes, meaning that they are at least on par with Barnett from a recruiting standpoint. Also, even though both players were four-star recruits, both redshirted their freshman year. I expect Barnett to follow the same pattern and redshirt his freshman year. It could be difficult for Barnett to see the field at Alabama because of how deep they are at the position, and no one would be surprised if they land another highly touted quarterback in the 2016 recruiting class. I would tend to stay away from Barnett in devy drafts because of all the concerns surrounding him.

Jarrett Stidham, Baylor

Finally, Stidham is the best quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class. He is a dual threat quarterback who is a perfect fit for Art Briles’ offense at Baylor. Don’t expect Stidham to start this year, as Seth Russell is slotted to take over the job in Waco, but Stidham could easily play well enough to earn the job even though he isn’t currently favored to, similar to Anu Soloman a year ago.

Stidham has pinpoint accuracy, allowing him to put up a 72% completion percentage last season. He also posted a ridiculous 28:1 TD to INT ratio (the lone interception came in the last game of his season), showing that he is a smart player who can make the proper reads. He also obtained a 148.2 passer rating for the season which would be the highest ever in the NFL by nearly 42 points. To put the number in college terms, he would have achieved a passer efficiency rating (the college version of passer rating) of 212.6. Russell Wilson currently owns the single season record with a 191.78 rating. Simply put, Stidham’s gaudy high school numbers are amazing.

He also flashes advanced mechanics on film that help to back up these stats. He has excellent footwork and pocket presence, which allows for him to extend the play and use his laser accuracy to find receivers. Recently, Bleacher Report put together a short video documenting Stidham’s final season at Stephenville High School. In it, former Stephenville quarterback and seven year NFL veteran Kevin Kolb praises Stidham, saying that Stidham can currently do things that he didn’t learn until his second year in the NFL. Finally, Stidham is an excellent runner. He runs a 4.66 in the forty yard dash, which would have been the sixth fastest time among quarterbacks at this year’s NFL combine. He also ran for 753 yards and 11 touchdowns on 95 carries (7.9 yards per carry) this season. At Baylor’s recent Friday Night Lights scrimmage, Stidham broke off a 44 yard touchdown run while also completing seven of eighteen passes for 52 yards. I believe Stidham is the top quarterback in this year’s class. If you’re willing to wait for him to get his shot, he’s definitely worthy of one of your devy picks and is a top ten devy quarterback.

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