Quarterback Max Browne impresses at Stanford
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Despite flashes of rain and hail, numerous prospects from the West, and beyond, took part in the Stanford Nike Football Training Camp. Scout.com was on hand to breakdown the top prospects at each position. QUARTERBACKS
Snubbed a year ago for the Quarterback MVP at the Stanford NFTC, Danville (Calif.) San Ramon Valley's Zach Kline left no doubt this year, earning MVP honors and standing out as arguably the top skill prospect across the board on Sunday. Kline has really blossomed into one of the elite quarterbacks nationally, already holding a strong and accurate arm, but really improving in the other facets of the position- footwork, decision making and touch. Kline also has a pretty magnetic personality and was overheard recruiting guys to Cal, where he's commited. Receivers were cutting line and letting others go ahead, so they could do 1-on-1's with Kline. The debate for California's top quarterback could boil down to the debate for the East Bay Athletic League's top passer, with Kline and fellow EBAL quarterback Bart Houston from Concord (Calif.) De La Salle, both the clear top two quarterbacks in the Golden State. While Kline had a better weekend with the Nike Camp and Elite 11, Houston wasn't that much farther behind him. For Houston, he plays in a run-oriented offense, so in a camp setting, he gets to throw the ball a lot more than he normally does for the Spartans, and you get to see a very good, strong and accurate arm. Houston is a little more reserved than Kline, but he too was making recruiting pitches for Wisconsin, where he verbaled to earlier this month. Rocklin (Calif.) Whitney quarterback Jake Rodrigues has catapulted himself into the discussion for the top quarterback in California, and gives NorCal three stellar prospects in this class. We saw Rodrigues a year ago at the Elite 11 in Berkeley, and since then, he's gotten in better shape while keeping the arm strength and has really improved his accuracy. Sammamish (Wash.) Skyline quarterback Max Browne Sammamish (Wash.) Skyline quarterback Max Browne will be one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2013 class nationally, and like Kline and Houston a year ago, he shined at Stanford as a sophomore. Browne's got very good touch and accuracy and a good downfield arm. He's a little bit stiff when he runs, and he's used to playing in the spread out of the shotgun, so his footwork could use some more polish, but as far as making all the throws, Browne can make them all, and is very technically sound. Bakersfield (Calif.) Ridgeview quarterback Tyler Ferguson followed up a strong showing at the Nike Camp on Friday with another solid showing on Sunday. His arm is good, but his strengths are in the touch and consistency in which he throws with. He's a good sized quarterback with good footwork, and has a release and motion similar to fellow Bakersfield native Cody Kessler, just not quite the arm strength as Kessler. Few quarterbacks have a stronger arm than Temecula (Calif.) Chaparral's Matt Morin. The lefty can sling it downfield with the best of them and unloaded several passes. The downside was that he tended to be erratic and a little too confident in his throws and had a few more incompletions than would have been liked. Still, the arm strength is rarely rivaled. Ventura (Calif.) St. Bonaventure's Marc Evans is very similar to Houston, a good arm with good accuracy, but having all the other key attributes in a quarterback. His arm strength is good, but his accuracy and touch were what stood out to us. He's also got very good footwork and a smooth, unrobotic delivery. Another underclassmen who caught our eye was Fresno (Calif.) Central's Khari McGee, who we liked a lot at the Badger Elite 7on7. He's got great downfield arm strength, just needs to work on his consistency in the short and intermediate routes. Other quarterbacks that stood out were Pittsburg (Calif.) Malik Watson, Granite Bay (Calif.) Brendan Keeney, Canyon Country (Calif.) Canyon's Jonathan Jerozal and Los Angeles (Calif.) Salesian 2013 passer Jihad Vercher. |
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