Larry Dell was six-six, 209 pounds, and ran a 4.78 forty. He ranked as the number two quarterback and the number two overall recruit in the nation. He hadn’t committed anywhere yet.
Dell has the prototypical size, big arm, and all the intangibles you are looking for in a quarterback. He’s demonstrated his throwing ability. He can put some heat on a ball when needed and then show great touch when called for. Right now, Dell is too thin, but once he’s in a training program in college, he has the frame to carry more weight. He is a natural leader, he reads his progressions well, and he is humble. Dell has all the traits you look for in an elite signal-caller.
Jaylen Kent was six-three, 221 pounds, and ran a 4.51 forty. The scouting services ranked him as the number three quarterback and the nation’s fifth overall recruit. He had committed to the University of Maryland.
Kent is an electrifying player on the field. He’s big, athletic, and fits into the Cameron Newton playing style. He has a big arm and the ball comes out hot. Kent needs to work on having some touch on the ball. He is the perfect college quarterback who can beat you with both his arm and his feet. He is very much a work in progress but has a huge ceiling. Kent just needs to work on his fundamentals as a passer to make it to the NFL.
Matt Long was six-two, 196 pounds, and ran a 4.8 forty. He was ranked as the number four quarterback, the tenth overall recruit in the country, and had committed to USC.
Long is a gifted signal-caller and will be an elite quarterback at the next level. He shows poise in the pocket and never seems to get rattled. Long is also one of the toughest kids around and doesn’t shy away from contact. He throws with touch and accuracy. He is the best pure pocket passer in the class. Long is very good at his read progressions, making him extremely hard to defend against.
It sounded like I had my hands full this afternoon.
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They called out that quarterbacks, receivers, and cornerbacks were to go to the main football field. There were sixteen quarterbacks. I was surprised when I wasn’t put with the three Elite 11 quarterbacks, and Mike was. They put me into a group that included my backup, Trent Buchannan; Washington’s starter, Gabe Verity; and St. Joe’s starter, Hack Eaton.
They divided the field up into four sections of twenty yards each. Michigan had us line up on a hash mark and begin throwing easy down-and-outs to the near sideline. I think they wanted everyone to gain a little confidence. They then moved us to the middle of the field to make the throws longer. Finally, we moved to the far hash and had to throw the ball three-quarters of the field to the sideline.
I could tell I had a little rust and was floating the ball. To be honest, I was still more accurate than the other three. The down-and-out to the far side of the field can be a difficult throw; you need to get a little heat on the ball to get it there. Throwing intermediate passes downfield is easier. You had to put some heat on it because the defensive backs were playing the receiver tight. That meant you were at risk of throwing an interception that’s run back for a touchdown.
Coach Title, the offensive coordinator for Michigan, was running our drill. He was just watching, not saying much. I soon forgot about him.
Hack struggled the most, and it was apparent he had a problem with his throwing motion. Between turns, I took him aside.
“Do you mind if I give you a couple of pointers?” I asked.
“Are you kidding? Of course I want help.”
“Throwing a football is an individualized skill, and no two quarterbacks do it exactly the same. With that said, there are a few things we all have to do to throw the ball accurately. The first is grip the ball correctly; you’re doing it wrong,” I said.
I held a ball up as if I were going to throw and slid my index finger between the ball and the palm of my hand.
“You need to have some separation from the ball,” I said, and took the ball out of my hand and held it back up. “You want a comfortable grip with the ball between your thumb and index finger. When you throw, keep the tip up. As you release it, the last part of your hand you want touching the ball is your index finger to give it rotation. If you leave it in your palm, you get the wobble.”
Hack skipped his turn so he could watch me throw. I’d warmed up now and was putting some zip on the ball. Mine were no longer floating out there because I was now throwing with a purpose. Hack said throwing it that way felt weird, but he couldn’t argue with the results. His next three balls were all better than what he’d been throwing earlier.
Over the next hour, I spent time with each of the other quarterbacks, helping them improve. I was happy to see that Trent had gotten over his attitude and accepted my coaching. As I worked with them, I found I was also throwing better because I was focused on setting a good example.
I realized during practice that I missed football. I loved baseball, but it simply wasn’t as fast-paced. In football, as the quarterback, you always had a job on each play. In baseball, you might not even get a ball hit to you all game. What I liked the best in baseball was batting and base running. They were both physical and, if you were going to do them well, you had to use your brain. Quarterbacks had to engage both body and mind on every play.
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The quarterbacks rotated through each of the four stations, but the receivers and defensive backs stayed where they were. It gave us a chance to play with all of them. I grinned when we reached the last station and found Wolf, Roc, and Damion Roth, the Odell Beckham Jr. clone who I’d helped get into Wesleyan. If we had Damion on Lincoln’s team, we would be unstoppable.
I’d heard cheers at this station earlier and saw why: it was set up for end-zone plays. I could see the players at this station were sweating up a storm. The grins told me they were having fun, and I wanted in on the game.
The ball was placed on the 10 yard line, and you got three throws before the next quarterback got a turn. I gathered my receivers together, along with the other three quarterbacks so they could listen, and told them what I wanted them to do.
“Wolf, I want you in the center of the field, and do a buttonhook at the two. Roc, go straight up the field and cut across the back of the end zone. Damion, charge hard and cross the goal line, then cut to the sideline.”
To make it hard on us, the defense had five defensive backs. Three lined up in man-to-man while the other two stood three yards in the end zone and split the field between them. On the snap, the extra defensive back on Damion’s side rushed forward to double-team him. He must have burned them to get that kind of attention.
Roc cut right to where that defensive back would have been if he’d stayed home. It was an easy pitch and catch as two defenders chased him. When he caught the ball, he held it up high to show he scored.
“What do you do when you catch a ball in the end zone?” I barked.
Roc gave me a confused look.
“Get on the ground. I don’t want to count on a back judge making the call when you get the ball knocked out of your hands showing off. Good job, but do it like you were taught,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Damion asked.
“The first lesson you’re taught as a defensive back is if you don’t prevent the reception, punch the ball loose. That’s doubly true in the end zone. If they can punch the ball loose, then one of the referees has to determine if you had possession. Coach Mason taught me at the Elite camp in Houston to have your receivers protect the ball and get on the ground. This prevents the defensive backs from getting a chance to steal a score from you,” I coached.
On the next play, I threw to Wolf, who caught the ball, then just turned and fell forward for the score. Damion was next. It wasn’t really fair that they only had two defending him. He simply outleapt them. I was happy to see he covered up and got on the ground before they could try to strip the ball.