Blake
09-14-2009, 10:59 PM
QB factory cranks out another one.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
LUBBOCK — Mike Leach knows a good quarterback when he sees one.
And he's seen plenty.
Considering that his Texas Tech quarterbacks have led the nation in passing yardage for five of the last seven seasons — they were second and third the other two years — Leach's testimonials should be taken at face value.
So when the 48-year-old foremost quarterback guru says Taylor Potts can equal the accomplishments of his predecessor after Graham Harrell became the first Division I-A passer to throw for 5,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, it speaks to some serious talent.
The fourth-year junior might be the best quarterback Leach has ever had. Let that sink in.
Leach saw Potts perform in person, watched him at two Red Raider camps and examined 10 tapes before signing him.
"I saw him throw a lot of balls," Leach says, "and throw it a long ways."
At 6 feet, 5 inches and 218 pounds, Potts has size. He resembles a thicker Garrett Gilbert. His arm is so strong, he once threw a ball 80 yards at practice. He's a winner, having lost just two of 24 games with Abilene High, both in playoff games to Southlake Carroll.
And he's on the Davey O'Brien watch list marking the 33 best quarterbacks.
On Sept. 5, he'll finally get to start a college game.
Until then, the buildup will continue for one of only two quarterbacks on that O'Brien list who have yet to take the first snap of a game, joining USC's Aaron Corp.
Potts has a much more physical presence than Harrell, who was pushing 6 feet. Potts has such a great arm that Leach includes him in conversations about the three strongest arms he's ever seen, naming Sam Houston State's Phillip Daugherty (who was briefly a Red Raider), Illinois' Jeff George and Southern Cal's Sean Salisbury.
"Taylor's arm is strong, but can you protect long enough for a receiver to run downfield 80 yards?" Leach poses, munching on black-eyed peas and corn on the cob in his office. "We can protect for 31/2 seconds. In the NFL, it's 2.7 to 2.9 seconds. What's Taylor going to do, run circles back there till somebody gets that deep?"
He might have to because the Red Raiders are breaking in three new offensive linemen, two of whom are replacing players who received some form of All-America mention. Leach, however, likes the line depth, counting on nine that could play.
Leach might be without proven running Baron Batch, who may miss up to a month with an arm injury to make him questionable for the Texas game on Sept. 19. Tech might have to break in thick-calved, 5-foot-9 redshirt freshman Harrison Jeffers, a four-star recruit who turned down Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
There will be targets for Potts. The receiving corps could be even better than last year, even without first-round NFL draftee Michael Crabtree.
"I don't think there's going to be any dropoff," says junior wideout Detron Lewis, who snagged 76 passes for 913 yards last season. "We've got a better group of receivers than last year. Once Potts gets in a comfort zone, he'll sling it. He throws the ball harder than Graham. He hasn't broken any fingers, but he's jammed some."
A slight worry is a lack of touch, but he's worked at it ever since his high school quarterback coach had Potts lofting passes over the goalposts with a high trajectory. Former Tech quarterback Sonny Cumbie, a grad assistant, loves Potts' timing on his post routes and doesn't think it will take him long to get up to speed "because he has no choice."
Potts brings to the field a gunslinger mentality, an image enhanced by his new handlebar mustache he grew at Lewis' suggestion.
"The general consensus is for me to keep it," Potts says. "Somebody said something about it being a West Texas gunslinger deal."
It fits in a lot of ways. Potts threw for more than 6,000 yards and 53 touchdowns in two high school seasons and almost committed to Michigan because of all the Wolverines' history.
"There always is a fear of failure," he says. "Tiger Woods might have some, but you've got to squeeze that out."
Potts knows little fear. He's an avid hunter and has the head of a 350-pound wild hog, menacing tusks and all, on the wall of his Lubbock house.
If Potts doesn't succeed, Leach would look at savvy redshirt freshman Seth Doege, who tore ligaments in both knees in high school, and Pflugerville junior walk-on Steven "Sticks" Sheffield. But no one's betting against Potts.
"I think he has the makings of a complete quarterback," says college football analyst Craig James, whose son, Adam, is a Tech receiver. "He has it all, not bits and pieces. I think he could be (Leach's best ever). He has the leadership, arm, feet, head."
And finally a starting job.
[email protected]
if he doesn't get injured, I guarantee this kid gets drafted in the nfl at the end of next year in the one of the top 3 rounds
Sunday, August 16, 2009
LUBBOCK — Mike Leach knows a good quarterback when he sees one.
And he's seen plenty.
Considering that his Texas Tech quarterbacks have led the nation in passing yardage for five of the last seven seasons — they were second and third the other two years — Leach's testimonials should be taken at face value.
So when the 48-year-old foremost quarterback guru says Taylor Potts can equal the accomplishments of his predecessor after Graham Harrell became the first Division I-A passer to throw for 5,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, it speaks to some serious talent.
The fourth-year junior might be the best quarterback Leach has ever had. Let that sink in.
Leach saw Potts perform in person, watched him at two Red Raider camps and examined 10 tapes before signing him.
"I saw him throw a lot of balls," Leach says, "and throw it a long ways."
At 6 feet, 5 inches and 218 pounds, Potts has size. He resembles a thicker Garrett Gilbert. His arm is so strong, he once threw a ball 80 yards at practice. He's a winner, having lost just two of 24 games with Abilene High, both in playoff games to Southlake Carroll.
And he's on the Davey O'Brien watch list marking the 33 best quarterbacks.
On Sept. 5, he'll finally get to start a college game.
Until then, the buildup will continue for one of only two quarterbacks on that O'Brien list who have yet to take the first snap of a game, joining USC's Aaron Corp.
Potts has a much more physical presence than Harrell, who was pushing 6 feet. Potts has such a great arm that Leach includes him in conversations about the three strongest arms he's ever seen, naming Sam Houston State's Phillip Daugherty (who was briefly a Red Raider), Illinois' Jeff George and Southern Cal's Sean Salisbury.
"Taylor's arm is strong, but can you protect long enough for a receiver to run downfield 80 yards?" Leach poses, munching on black-eyed peas and corn on the cob in his office. "We can protect for 31/2 seconds. In the NFL, it's 2.7 to 2.9 seconds. What's Taylor going to do, run circles back there till somebody gets that deep?"
He might have to because the Red Raiders are breaking in three new offensive linemen, two of whom are replacing players who received some form of All-America mention. Leach, however, likes the line depth, counting on nine that could play.
Leach might be without proven running Baron Batch, who may miss up to a month with an arm injury to make him questionable for the Texas game on Sept. 19. Tech might have to break in thick-calved, 5-foot-9 redshirt freshman Harrison Jeffers, a four-star recruit who turned down Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
There will be targets for Potts. The receiving corps could be even better than last year, even without first-round NFL draftee Michael Crabtree.
"I don't think there's going to be any dropoff," says junior wideout Detron Lewis, who snagged 76 passes for 913 yards last season. "We've got a better group of receivers than last year. Once Potts gets in a comfort zone, he'll sling it. He throws the ball harder than Graham. He hasn't broken any fingers, but he's jammed some."
A slight worry is a lack of touch, but he's worked at it ever since his high school quarterback coach had Potts lofting passes over the goalposts with a high trajectory. Former Tech quarterback Sonny Cumbie, a grad assistant, loves Potts' timing on his post routes and doesn't think it will take him long to get up to speed "because he has no choice."
Potts brings to the field a gunslinger mentality, an image enhanced by his new handlebar mustache he grew at Lewis' suggestion.
"The general consensus is for me to keep it," Potts says. "Somebody said something about it being a West Texas gunslinger deal."
It fits in a lot of ways. Potts threw for more than 6,000 yards and 53 touchdowns in two high school seasons and almost committed to Michigan because of all the Wolverines' history.
"There always is a fear of failure," he says. "Tiger Woods might have some, but you've got to squeeze that out."
Potts knows little fear. He's an avid hunter and has the head of a 350-pound wild hog, menacing tusks and all, on the wall of his Lubbock house.
If Potts doesn't succeed, Leach would look at savvy redshirt freshman Seth Doege, who tore ligaments in both knees in high school, and Pflugerville junior walk-on Steven "Sticks" Sheffield. But no one's betting against Potts.
"I think he has the makings of a complete quarterback," says college football analyst Craig James, whose son, Adam, is a Tech receiver. "He has it all, not bits and pieces. I think he could be (Leach's best ever). He has the leadership, arm, feet, head."
And finally a starting job.
[email protected]
if he doesn't get injured, I guarantee this kid gets drafted in the nfl at the end of next year in the one of the top 3 rounds