QB commit Gunner Cruz

[acgcoug]

I saw on brandx that Gunner's HS career concluded. With that said, I was curious to check out his high school stats, videos, or anything else related.

This is my assessment/takeaways:

First off, he's huge at 6'5" 220+ with a college body already. He's physically strong + a strong arm, and quite athletic/moves well for a big QB. Good pocket mobility and presence, and does a good job in knowing when to put zip on the ball, or when to take some off his passes.

Stats (3 years soph-senior) Analysis:

His senior year he had 277 yards rushing on 59 runs (4.7 ypc, 5.2 ypc career), with a whopping 14 rushing TD's that same senior year. I like the sound of that in goal line/red zone situations.

He was very consistent in his high school career. He's a very accurate passer, and never had a completion percentage lower than .717. His Soph and Senior season was .732 and .734. Very important for a Leach/Air Raid QB. He also averaged a whopping 15.6 yds per attempt in his HS career, which is fantastic when you factor in his high comp. percentage. Career, 100 TD passes to only 16 interceptions, and 22 rushing TDs.

He's a 3 Star recruit, and IMO he is definitely under-evaluated, especially if you look back at past 4 star qb's that we've seen coming out of high school. Even those that have joined the Cougs.

Again, what stands out the most is the 73% career completion percentage, all while averaging 15+ yards per attempt.

I really like this kid.

High School Stats: http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/gunner-cruz/MtBkw-C6EeW-8KA2nzwbTA/gendersport/football-stats.htm

Some camp highlights:

Senior Hudl highlights: Check out the first throw, 55 yards in the air hitting the WR in stride.

 

[taf88]

I saw on brandx that Gunner's HS career concluded. With that said, I was curious to check out his high school stats, videos, or anything else related.

This is my assessment/takeaways:

First off, he's huge at 6'5" 220+ with a college body already. He's physically strong + a strong arm, and quite athletic/moves well for a big QB. Good pocket mobility and presence, and does a good job in knowing when to put zip on the ball, or when to take some off his passes.

Stats (3 years soph-senior) Analysis:

His senior year he had 277 yards rushing on 59 runs (4.7 ypc, 5.2 ypc career), with a whopping 14 rushing TD's that same senior year. I like the sound of that in goal line/red zone situations.

He was very consistent in his high school career. He's a very accurate passer, and never had a completion percentage lower than .717. His Soph and Senior season was .732 and .734. Very important for a Leach/Air Raid QB. He also averaged a whopping 15.6 yds per attempt in his HS career, which is fantastic when you factor in his high comp. percentage. Career, 100 TD passes to only 16 interceptions, and 22 rushing TDs.

He's a 3 Star recruit, and IMO he is definitely under-evaluated, especially if you look back at past 4 star qb's that we've seen coming out of high school. Even those that have joined the Cougs.

Again, what stands out the most, is the 73% career completion percentage, all while averaging 15+ yards per attempt.

I really like this kid.

GPA is a bit troubling.

High School Stats: http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/gunner-cruz/MtBkw-C6EeW-8KA2nzwbTA/gendersport/football-stats.htm

Some camp highlights:

View embedded media

Senior Hudl highlights:

View embedded media

Check out the first throw, 55 yards in the air hitting the WR in stride.

 

[Loyal Coug]

I saw on brandx that Gunner's HS career concluded. With that said, I was curious to check out his high school stats, videos, or anything else related.

This is my assessment/takeaways:

First off, he's huge at 6'5" 220+ with a college body already. He's physically strong + a strong arm, and quite athletic/moves well for a big QB. Good pocket mobility and presence, and does a good job in knowing when to put zip on the ball, or when to take some off his passes.

Stats (3 years soph-senior) Analysis:

His senior year he had 277 yards rushing on 59 runs (4.7 ypc, 5.2 ypc career), with a whopping 14 rushing TD's that same senior year. I like the sound of that in goal line/red zone situations.

He was very consistent in his high school career. He's a very accurate passer, and never had a completion percentage lower than .717. His Soph and Senior season was .732 and .734. Very important for a Leach/Air Raid QB. He also averaged a whopping 15.6 yds per attempt in his HS career, which is fantastic when you factor in his high comp. percentage. Career, 100 TD passes to only 16 interceptions, and 22 rushing TDs.

He's a 3 Star recruit, and IMO he is definitely under-evaluated, especially if you look back at past 4 star qb's that we've seen coming out of high school. Even those that have joined the Cougs.

Again, what stands out the most, is the 73% career completion percentage, all while averaging 15+ yards per attempt.

I really like this kid.

Yeah, he will do. Is that a girlfriend or his Mom?

 

[ShockandAweWSU]

He throws a great deep ball with touch. I def agree he should be a 4star. I'd say he is one of our better qb recruits in the last 10 years.

 

[Coug90]

I saw on brandx that Gunner's HS career concluded. With that said, I was curious to check out his high school stats, videos, or anything else related.

This is my assessment/takeaways:

First off, he's huge at 6'5" 220+ with a college body already. He's physically strong + a strong arm, and quite athletic/moves well for a big QB. Good pocket mobility and presence, and does a good job in knowing when to put zip on the ball, or when to take some off his passes.

Stats (3 years soph-senior) Analysis:

His senior year he had 277 yards rushing on 59 runs (4.7 ypc, 5.2 ypc career), with a whopping 14 rushing TD's that same senior year. I like the sound of that in goal line/red zone situations.

He was very consistent in his high school career. He's a very accurate passer, and never had a completion percentage lower than .717. His Soph and Senior season was .732 and .734. Very important for a Leach/Air Raid QB. He also averaged a whopping 15.6 yds per attempt in his HS career, which is fantastic when you factor in his high comp. percentage. Career, 100 TD passes to only 16 interceptions, and 22 rushing TDs.

He's a 3 Star recruit, and IMO he is definitely under-evaluated, especially if you look back at past 4 star qb's that we've seen coming out of high school. Even those that have joined the Cougs.

Again, what stands out the most is the 73% career completion percentage, all while averaging 15+ yards per attempt.

I really like this kid.

High School Stats: http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/gunner-cruz/MtBkw-C6EeW-8KA2nzwbTA/gendersport/football-stats.htm

Some camp highlights:

View embedded media

Senior Hudl highlights:

View embedded media

Check out the first throw, 55 yards in the air hitting the WR in stride.

F It! Go Deep!

 

[Coug95man2]

4 verts, no holding back

 

[Cougatron]

He will be great. My only regret is he didn’t get to spend a year with Gardner.

 

[roses04]

Gardner will be a GA here if the Pro thing doesn't work out.

 

[Cougatron]

Gardner will be a GA here if the Pro thing doesn't work out.

I hope so and that is more than likely will be his route. Probably will go the Graham Harell route and be on rosters for a while.

 

[Coug90]

He will be great. My only regret is he didn’t get to spend a year with Gardner.

He will be great. My only regret is he didn’t get to spend a year with Gardner.

Maybe Gardner will be his coach...BTW some chump from ESPN listed top 10 QB prospects in the draft, no GM2. My ass.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Maybe Gardner will be his coach...BTW some chump from ESPN listed top 10 QB prospects in the draft, no GM2. My ass.

FWIW, I did a quick search after reading your post and NOBODY has Gardner in their Top 10. It's important to remember that he was not good at East Carolina....at least not NFL good. A lot of scouts probably think of him as just another "system QB" and disregarding his ability. If we continue to win, that should change, but we'll see.

EDIT: One site has him #15 and CBS calls him an "honorable mention".

 

[earldacoug]

Flat you hit on an important story idea that nobody in the media has been after. Someone needs to ask Gardner’s ECU coach why he couldn’t find a way to help Gardner succeed ? Leach sure knew how to use Gardner’s talents and is getting the most out of him. Kind of embarrassing for ECU if you ask me.

 

[GrayOnGray]

Flat you hit on an important story idea that nobody in the media has been after. Someone needs to ask Gardner’s ECU coach why he couldn’t find a way to help Gardner succeed ? Leach sure knew how to use Gardner’s talents and is getting the most out of him. Kind of embarrassing for ECU if you ask me.

I read somewhere that it was a pretty bad coaching situation that no one wanted to talk about, including GM2.

 

[roses04]

Gardner should get an invite to the Senior Bowl, at that point his draft stock take a big jump. As for his ECU coach, who hasn't played for a coach that missed the potential in someone. Leach finds a way to bring out the best most of his players, that's how a guy with mostly 3 and a few 2 and 4 star recruits finds a way to lead the league over teams with much higher ranked recruiting classes.

 

[Coug90]

FWIW, I did a quick search after reading your post and NOBODY has Gardner in their Top 10. It's important to remember that he was not good at East Carolina....at least not NFL good. A lot of scouts probably think of him as just another "system QB" and disregarding his ability. If we continue to win, that should change, but we'll see.

EDIT: One site has him #15 and CBS calls him an "honorable mention".

Said it before I’ll say it again. No disrespect to Falk but if GM2 isn’t drafted higher than he was I’ll be shocked. Sample size plenty big enough at this point and who gives a shit what he did at ECU

As for the system QB theory there are NFL teams running air raid concepts and air raid QBs that are thriving in Goff/Mahommes. That’s no longer a valid excuse to ignore a QB that’s a difference maker.

 

[Coug1990]

Flat you hit on an important story idea that nobody in the media has been after. Someone needs to ask Gardner’s ECU coach why he couldn’t find a way to help Gardner succeed ? Leach sure knew how to use Gardner’s talents and is getting the most out of him. Kind of embarrassing for ECU if you ask me.

WSU has a better offensive line and much better receivers. So, talent is a big thing. WSU does have much better coaching than ECU. Plus, ECU went to a Pro offense. I think those are the biggest reasons.

On a side note, ECU fired a coach from the Leach tree, Ruffin McNeill, because he didn't win enough. McNeill went to four bowl games in six years. Since they fired him, they have been horrible. They are currently 2-7 and 0-6 in conference.

 

[Loyal Coug]

Said it before I’ll say it again. No disrespect to Falk but if GM2 isn’t drafted higher than he was I’ll be shocked. Sample size plenty big enough at this point and who gives a shit what he did at ECU

As for the system QB theory there are NFL teams running air raid concepts and air raid QBs that are thriving in Goff/Mahommes. That’s no longer a valid excuse to ignore a QB that’s a difference maker.

Well, I have no real knowledge or insight to back this up, but I bet that any pro scout whose team is thinking about drafting a QB knows exactly who Gardner Minshew is and has/is/will be watching him live and/or on film.

And can you imagine the sponsorships for 'ol GM II? The Most Interesting Facial Hair in the World". "I don't always shave, but when I do I prefer Dos Blados brand razors. Stay fuzzy my friends"

 

[acgcoug]

Well, I have no real knowledge or insight to back this up, but I bet that any pro scout whose team is thinking about drafting a QB knows exactly who Gardner Minshew is and has/is/will be watching him live and/or on film.

And can you imagine the sponsorships for 'ol GM II? The Most Interesting Facial Hair in the World". "I don't always shave, but when I do I prefer Dos Blados brand razors. Stay fuzzy my friends"

I usually try to state a weakness or concern when making my player evaluations, and I forgot to do that in my evaluation of Gunner. Thanks for the reminder.

*Weakness: No mustache.

 

[OrangeGravy]

WSU has a better offensive line and much better receivers. So, talent is a big thing. WSU does have much better coaching than ECU. Plus, ECU went to a Pro offense. I think those are the biggest reasons.

On a side note, ECU fired a coach from the Leach tree, Ruffin McNeill, because he didn't win enough. McNeill went to four bowl games in six years. Since they fired him, they have been horrible. They are currently 2-7 and 0-6 in conference.

This^^. From what I've read, he got recruited under an Air Raid coach ( heard Lincoln Riley recruited him? He's now the DC at OK after they fired Stoops) and they changed coaches and the new coach didn't run the same system. Thus he had mixed results as a part time starter. He's been running some version of the air raid since high school so I could see getting put into a new system causing him problems.

He could be the perfect example of how getting drafted in late rounds as a QB is actually worse than signing on as an undrafted free agent. He'll be better off if he can pick the system he goes to in the NFL. He would have a great chance to be a back up or practice squad guy learning the ropes at a place like KC or LA Rams. Somewhere with younger attitudes running the offense. Thankfully the NFL is starting to turn over a bit and get rid of the risk averse old guard that plays boring field goal/punt offense.

 

[Coug1990]

This^^. From what I've read, he got recruited under an Air Raid coach ( heard Lincoln Riley recruited him? He's now the DC at OK after they fired Stoops) and they changed coaches and the new coach didn't run the same system. Thus he had mixed results as a part time starter. He's been running some version of the air raid since high school so I could see getting put into a new system causing him problems.

He could be the perfect example of how getting drafted in late rounds as a QB is actually worse than signing on as an undrafted free agent. He'll be better off if he can pick the system he goes to in the NFL. He would have a great chance to be a back up or practice squad guy learning the ropes at a place like KC or LA Rams. Somewhere with younger attitudes running the offense. Thankfully the NFL is starting to turn over a bit and get rid of the risk averse old guard that plays boring field goal/punt offense.

For most teams, it is better to be drafted. Drafted players generally will get more of a chance than an undrafted player.

I have heard anything from the 4th round to a UDFA for Minshew.

 

[random soul]

Minshew will get a shot somewhere. His improvisational skills and quick decision-making and smarts will at least get him a clipboard to hold. I don't think he has the measureables to get scouts and GMs tingly, but the right one or a coach with a suitable scheme will take a flyer. And I don't think they'll regret it