LUBBOCK, TX-- The Texas Tech Red Raiders will likely be looking a little bit harder in San Angelo after losing their top quarterback prospect on Thursday.
San Antonio John Jay High School star Jacob Zeno made his verbal pledge to the Baylor Bears on Thursday. Zeno had been pursued by Texas Tech for a little over eight months before committing to Baylor.
Matt Clare and Aaron Dickens of RedRaiderSports.com think that means Central’s Maverick McIvor is the only viable quarterback option for head coach Kliff Kingsbury and the Red Raiders in the 2019 recruiting class.
They’re right.
It’s no secret that Kingsbury and his staff love players from Texas. For example, all five quarterbacks listed on Texas Tech’s 2018 roster are from the Lone Star State. Those five also have another thing in common: they can sling the rock around the yard.
Junior quarterback McClane Carter, the heir apparent to Nic Shimonek, threw for over 3,000 yards at Tyler Junior College before making the move to Lubbock. Carter is also one of two quarterbacks listed on the Tech roster who fits their mold for a signal caller at 6-foot-3, the same height at McIvor. The Gilmer product is also the only upperclassman listed on the 2018 roster.
The Red Raiders have also picked up young Texas high school legend Nick Gerber from TJC. Gerber snapped the single season record for most passing yards in a season with 5,617 passing yards in his senior season at Levelland.
But Gerber, along with fellow sophomores Jett Duffey and Colt Garrett, don’t fit the typical mold for Kingsbury’s quarterbacks at 6-foot-1.
None of Tech’s other four quarterbacks have shown signs they could be the one to step up after Carter, simply due to limited reps in meaningful situations.
McIvor accounted for 4,300 total yards with 3,415 of them coming through the air for the Bobcats in 2018, showing that he fits the Tech’s Air-it-Out offense.
But it’s not just the 2017 District 2-6A MVP’s ability that makes him the only viable option for Tech. In his first season as the Bobcat’s starting quarterback McIvor showed poise that even some Division I starting quarterbacks don’t have. Central’s gunslinger also showed great technique with a tight release and great accuracy, completing 62% of his 422 passes last season. It also helps to have the west Texas roots in play, too.
McIvor will weigh his options throughout the summer with trips to Lubbock, Duke and the University of North Carolina planned ahead of the 2018 season.
Recruiting is a finnecky business and McIvor, a true student-athlete, could decide to pledge to a school with renowned academics like former Central stars Adam West and Henry Teeter, who chose Harvard and Holy Cross respectively.
The Texas Tech coaching staff, including head coach Kliff Kingsbury, are set to conduct a Q&A session at the Angelo Football Clinic on June 13.
The Bobcats open fall practices in August before hosting Killeen Shoemaker at home Friday, Aug. 31.
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that how tall your QB is matters at all. There isn't a QB in the world who can see over his line when you consider the fact that your eyes are roughly 6" below the top of your head, therefore, Kingsbury's preferred 6' 3" tall QB's eyes are at 5' 9". Unless he plans on recruiting midgets for his OL he (and a whole bunch of other coaches) would be better off worrying about what is going on between his QB's ears rather than how far they are from the ground. I guess continuing ed isn't required for coaches or he'd probably have seen some of the studies showing that shorter QB's perform just as well if not better than the tall ones. https://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2017/02/stats_show_shorter_nfl_quarter.html
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