AP: Barkley, Forcier no ordinary freshmen QBs

[Tribal Warfare]

Barkley, Forcier no ordinary freshmen QBs

By RALPH D. RUSSO (AP)

NEW YORK — Matt Barkley and Tate Forcier are freshmen standouts but in college football today, you can hardly call them precocious.

A couple of cool, California teenagers leading two of college football's most prestigious programs, Michigan's Forcier and USC's Barkley are part of a generation of polished passers who are arriving on campus better prepared than ever to play.

Between private tutors, passing camps, more advanced high-school offenses (and defenses) and early college enrollment, Barkley, Forcier and other elite quarterback prospects are practically being engineered to play the position.

Make no mistake, while there are plenty of well-schooled quarterbacks being pumped into college football these days, what Barkley and Forcier have done is exceptional. It's just that after two straight sophomore Heisman Trophy winners, Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford, the idea of a freshman quarterback hauling off the big bronze statue one day doesn't seem so farfetched anymore.

The 19-year-old, blonde-haired Barkley has led No. 3 Southern California to a 2-0 start, including an 18-15 victory at Ohio State on Saturday in which he directed a brilliant game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter.

The recruiting experts pegged him as the top quarterback in his high school class and he has the look of a future high NFL draft pick: 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, strong and accurate arm — a great match for the Trojans' prostyle offense.

Forcier, also 19, has lifted spirits at Michigan following a miserable 2008 season. He engineered his own memorable comeback victory Saturday, throwing a touchdown pass with 11 seconds left to beat Notre Dame 38-34, and has the 25th-ranked Wolverines (2-0) looking like Big Ten contenders again.

Forcier was a blue-chip recruit coming out of high school, too, but is different model than Barkley. Undersized (6-1, 188) but multidimensional, his quickness and speed make him a perfect fit for the Wolverines' spread offense.

Their physical differences aside, both play with confidence that belies their youth.

"He was in it, talking, communicating," USC coach Pete Carroll said of Barkley's performance in hostile territory. "I've said that a number of times, but a lot of times kids don't communicate real well. He was fine. He's just like he always was, and is."

Forcier plays with a smile on his face and doesn't get down when he makes mistakes.

"His make up is suited perfectly for that position," Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said.

Talent helps, but both have been raised to be exactly where they are.

Barkley went to Mater Dei High School, in Santa Ana, Calif., the powerhouse football school that produced USC Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart. He also studied under Steve Clarkson, one of the first and most famous personal quarterback tutors in the country.

Clarkson, a three-year starting quarterback at San Jose State in the early 1980s, has worked with Leinart, Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen.

Forcier is from San Diego and playing quarterback is a family tradition — one older brother was a backup for Michigan, the other for UCLA.

He has been training with Marv Marinovich, father of former USC quarterback Todd Marinovich, since before he reached his teens. Home-schooled, he played at Scripps Ranch High School, running a spread offense.

Like most young talented quarterback prospects, Barkley and Forcier have spent their youths constantly honing their skills.

"These guys are playing quarterback year-round, they're clearly further along then they were in my day," UCLA coach and former quarterback Rick Neuheisel said.

Still, it's rare for teams to rely on freshmen quarterbacks. Only four other teams have given freshmen QBs significant playing times this season, and that counts Boston College's Dave Shinskie, a 25-year-old former minor league baseball player.

That number could go up this week, with Neuheisel considering playing freshman Richard Brehaut to replace an injured starter.

"To play a freshman quarterback, if you're going to have a good team or a chance to be successful, you're going to have to have a lot of good players around him," said former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, who started Peyton Manning, Casey Clausen and Erik Ainge as freshmen and had winning seasons with all of them. "He can't be expected to carry the load. His job is to not lose the ball game."

So far so good for Barkley and Forcier, but that's not quite enough for Forcier. He wants to shoot down college football's conventional wisdom about freshmen QBs, the line that says the newbie is bound to screw up in a big spot and cost his team a game.

"I've been hearing that from everybody," he said. "That's motivation to push me and has made me want to prove everybody else wrong."

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Valiant

It is not their job to prepare them for the next level.. Their job is to win games, conferences and titles..


My prediction is the NFL starts getting more gimmicky which you will hate..

Like I said the spread is a formation at the next level it won't be the basis of an entire offense. All teams have gimmick plays and even sets, the wildcat for example but no team is going to base an entire offense on it.

It may not be their job to prepare players for the next level but the kids will become aware of it, and there will be some that choose schools that prepare them for the next level.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Like I said the spread is a formation at the next level it won't be the basis of an entire offense. All teams have gimmick plays and even sets, the wildcat for example but no team is going to base an entire offense on it.

It may not be their job to prepare players for the next level but the kids will become aware of it, and there will be some that choose schools that prepare them for the next level.

I will not argue with that on kids choosing schools over their chance at the NFL.. More of the point was that these schools have to be different because they will never win the recruiting battle against certain schools.. If they want to win their conference, BCS games and the like they have to employ the spread or option of the past..

The marquee schools are always going to get the bigger/faster/stronger players that will transition into the NFL easier then other schools..

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Valiant

I will not argue with that on kids choosing schools over their chance at the NFL.. More of the point was that these schools have to be different because they will never win the recruiting battle against certain schools.. If they want to win their conference, BCS games and the like they have to employ the spread or option of the past..

The marquee schools are always going to get the bigger/faster/stronger players that will transition into the NFL easier then other schools..

What you just said is why I think it's dumb for teams like Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and Michigan to run the spread, they got top notch recruiting classes to begin with.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by Mecca

What you just said is why I think it's dumb for teams like Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and Michigan to run the spread, they got top notch recruiting classes to begin with.

Them Championship trophies ain't dumb.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Eventually QBs will realize that they are being dropped down boards due to the increased learning curve, the fact that they lack proper mechanics and footwork, and the fact that most of them put up big stats but have weak arm strength, and not a goddamned one of them can read a defense for shit.

What you've essentially said here is that eventually QB's will realize that playing in the college spread is costing them MONEY and they'll start going only to schools that play drop-back offenses. Over time, COLLEGES will be forced to move away from the spread and back to traditional offenses as the talent pool for QB continues to dry up.

It's essentially the inverse of my argument, and I like it. I'm listening.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Eh the spread has really screwed up alot of stuff, now we have all these midget QB's or guys not getting proper coaching for the next level.

Of course frankly how many top notch QB's are there? There are never going to be enough for every NFL team to have one that's just how it works. The spread fixation I think will mean less so the NFL teams will pine even more for one.

There's a dearth of NFL-ready QB's now, that's true. What I'm talking about is what might happen if there were NONE. There's a big difference between endangered and EXTINCT.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

If you look at the QB class for next year:

Jevan Snead is the only legit QB prospect from a pro system. He's a lot like Jay Cutler, with a little less arm strength. I have no idea as to his mental makeup.

Bradford is a spread monkey with lots of question marks about his ability to read a defense, play from under center, footwork, and arm strength.

McCoy has all the same questions as Bradford, with a checkered injury history and a smaller frame. He's built a lot like Brodie Croyle.

Tebow is a future NFL special teams player. He has an awful throwing motion with all the questions of Bradford. He's basically a white Charlie Ward. Great college player who has no position in the NFL

There are a couple of MAC QBs in Hiller and LeFevour, and Tony Pike who are interesting specimens, but have a lot of concerns with scheme, injury, etc.

It's a bad, bad class. The lack of depth of last year with the lack of a top end prospect.

And what I'm saying is that there's going to be more classes like this years. It's not gonna happen overnight, but if we got classes like this, say, every year over 6-7 years, there would HAVE to be a paradigm shift in the NFL.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Mecca

What you just said is why I think it's dumb for teams like Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and Michigan to run the spread, they got top notch recruiting classes to begin with.

They run it because it gives them that little bit extra of an edge.