Good article on Peterman in today's Jacksonville paper. He's a local kid here.
http://jacksonville.com/jaguars/spor...nding-road-nfl
Reminds me of Kirk Cousins. He's married w/an MBA. Ultimate character kid. I could see us taking him in the 3rd.
Jaguars/NFL Insider: Limited Pro Day shouldn’t change opinion of Fournette
“Extreme adversity,” says his mother, Dana.
Second picture: From last November, giving up a thumb’s up to God after he threw five touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s upset over eventual national champion Clemson.
“Extreme elation,” Dana says.
Adversity — injuries and coaching and playbook changes — marked the early part of Peterman’s college career.
Elation — a transfer, 24 starts and the win over Clemson — highlighted the latter part of his college career.
The weekend of April 27-29 will bring more extreme elation when Peterman will be the first player in Bartram Trail history to be selected in the NFL Draft. Most projections have him going in rounds 3-4.
Peterman threw 47 touchdowns and only 15 interceptions in two years for Pittsburgh and a strong offseason has resulted in a stock rise.
“Nate Peterman has the best chance to come in and play [early] from a mental standpoint and knowing the game and playing in a pro-style offense like Carson Wentz did [for Philadelphia],” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper says. “He gets an edge over the other quarterbacks.”
Peterman, who turns 23 on May 4, checks most of the right boxes for a draft-worthy quarterback: Experience (26 starts), high completion percentage (60.5 last year) and a 2-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio (47-15 at Pitt).
“He’s got the qualities you want in a quarterback,” says former Panthers tight end Scott Orndoff. “He’s got that kind of quarterback savvy about him. … I know for a fact he’s got what it takes to play at the next level.”
At the Scouting Combine in March, Peterman said: “Knowing I can learn an offense extremely quickly and master an offense quickly is just going to help me [in the NFL]. I’ve been in some pro-style systems, I’ve been under center, I’ve been in the huddle, I’ve been in the no huddle. I’ve done it all and I’m ready to do it at the next level.”
WINDING ROAD
Peterman’s road is certainly the most winding.
Two schools (Tennessee and Pittsburgh) and degrees (undergrad in communications and an MBA) apiece.
Three head coaches (Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and Pat Narduzzi), coordinators (Jim Chaney, Mike Bajakian and Matt Canada) and injuries (broken finger, fractured hand and concussion) apiece.
And one long wait (not a no-doubt starter until his fourth year of college).
“The whole time, I’ve just been really thankful that he has had all of these opportunities,” says his father, Chuck, a pastor at Creekside Christian.
Nathan’s play at Bartram Trail produced the opportunity to sign with Tennessee. As a senior in 2011, his team went 12-2 and he threw 36 touchdowns. He was a four-star recruit by Rivals and the nation’s No. 10 quarterback prospect.
“His older brothers came through Bartram before him, and Nate impressed me right from the beginning as such a tough competitor,” says Bartram Trail coach Darrell Sutherland, referring to Ryan (now 29) and Aaron (now 26). “Some of my earliest memories of him as a young player was how important it was for him to be on the same field as his brother [Aaron], and we pulled Nate up to the [varsity] and he threw a touchdown while his brother was blocking for him.”
Nathan signed with the Volunteers, intrigued by Chaney’s resume that included coaching Drew Brees at Purdue — Peterman grew up with a Brees poster in his bedroom. But a spring 2012 injury equaled a redshirt year and Dooley/Chaney were fired after that season, replaced by Jones and Bajakian.
Peterman started the aforementioned Tennessee-Florida game and struggled to play while injured before he was taken out of the game. He started only one game in 2014 as the Josh Dobbs Era began. The question was obvious then and now: Was there any doubt about Peterman getting a real chance?
“I wouldn’t say he never had his doubts,” Chuck says. “I’m sure there were times there were questions, but it’s been such a dream and passion for him since a young age. We just encouraged him to follow it until the door was definitely slammed in his face.”
A door opened two years ago. Because Peterman had earned his undergraduate degree, he could transfer without sitting out. Chaney recruited him to Pittsburgh.
“It’s kind of funny — he really wanted us to pray specifically about a team for him and it was ‘ACC’ and it would be pro-style and he wanted blue jerseys,” says Chuck, laughing at the memory. “It worked out that way. For him to land with a coach like [Chaney] again, it was a no brainer.”
Peterman started the final 11 games of 2015, throwing 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. But then Chaney left for Georgia, replaced by N.C. State’s Matt Canada. Chaney was not made available for an interview by Georgia’s program and an email requesting Canada was not returned by LSU, which hired him in December.
A new coordinator, yes, but also a new role for Peterman — unquestioned starter.
“I loved for him to have that opportunity to lead from the front as the incumbent,” Sutherland says.
The Panthers were unranked and 5-4 when they traveled to No. 2 Clemson as a 22-point underdog for what turned out to be the defining game of Peterman’s career … and definitely the most memorable.
THE CLEMSON GAME
Peterman’s line — 22-of-37 passing for 308 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions in a 43-42 win suggests it was steady sailing for the Panthers’ offense. But like his career, there were trying times. Peterman’s seven-yard touchdown pass (his fifth) to Orndoff cut the Tigers’ lead to 35-34 with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
But over his next seven attempts, Peterman was 1 of 7 for minus-1 yard.
On the game-winning drive, though, Peterman rose up. He scrambled for nine yards and hit Orndoff for gains of 21 and four yards, moving Pitt to the Clemson 30. Three plays later, the Panthers kicked a 48-yard field goal with six seconds remaining.
“Such a competitor,” Sutherland says. “He fully expects to go out there and have success.”
Says Nathan: “Looking back at it, it certainly meant a lot to me. Nobody believed in us except for us and we were coming off a tough loss at Miami [51-28]. To perform the way we did and come together was awesome.”
Chuck Peterman was watching on television, one of only two games he missed all season. But Dana, her two other sons and Nathan’s wife, Morgan, were in the stands.
“We were in the third row in the end zone and there was so much excitement, we just all jumped over the wall and onto the field,” says Dana, who is a realtor. “One of my sons was pulling me across the field and I was asking, ‘Can we do this?’”
Dana says it was only the second time in Nathan’s football career she had been on the field — the first during pregame Senior Night ceremonies at Bartram Trail.
Pittsburgh would beat Duke 56-14 and Syracuse 76-61 to close the regular season. In the bowl-game loss to Northwestern, Peterman was 13-of-18 passing for 253 yards and one touchdown before the game with a concussion.
Peterman spent the offseason training in Boca Raton and went through his Pro Day last month in Pittsburgh. But on draft weekend, the family will head to the beach — Chuck and Dana, their sons and their spouses and four grandchildren, among others. They will wait for an NFL team to call and start the next step in Nathan’s football journey.
“It may be awhile until we’re all together again and able to enjoy the Florida sunshine,” Dana says. “We’re all excited. Nate’s favorite verse is Romans 12:12, which is about being always joyful and patient. He’s really gotten a chance to live what he believes in how he’s responded to the adversity and let it make him better.”