Under Armour HS All-Star Game

On a lazy Saturday I made a list of the things I needed to accomplish – go to the bank, go food shopping, go to Game Stop and spend the gift card I got for Christmas…

But when I looked outside I noticed about a foot of new-fallen snow. Clicking on the TV I noticed the Under Armour High School All-Star Game was on in just a few hours. Suddenly, my chores took a backseat. Time to watch some football. I was thrilled… my wife less so.


After getting myself all worked up over Peyton Manning the past few days, it was nice to go the other way and see some young kids out on the field having fun. A few years ago I watched the US Army High School All-American game and it turned out to be very memorable. A young kid named Greg Paulus was the most impressive QB on the field – more so than the cocky kid about to go to USC – Mark Sanchez.

It is probably not very fair to rank these kids based on one game, especially since there are three QB’s on each team and they must split playing time. But here are my final grades of the QB’s in this year’s game.

1) Nick Montana, Committed to Washington

Montana has a rough job in making a name for himself in college football. He will always be known as “The Son of Joe”. I wondered whether or not he truly deserved to be here or if he was just here because of who his dad is. But Montana looked sharper than any of the other QB’s out there. Then he made me eat my words a bit when late in the game he rolled right and then threw all the way back across the field to the left – it was an awful, awful decision. He laughed it off since his team was up by 25 points, but come on kid. Stop making me look bad here.

2) Devin Gardner, Committed to Michigan

Gardner is headed to Rich Rodriguez spread offense in Michigan. Fittingly, his first play from scrimmage was a zone-read that he kept. It looked as though he had some running room if he just ran straight, but Gardner did some dancing at the hole and only gained two yards. Though he started off slow, he did cap one drive off with an impressive TD pass. Gardner looked a little unpolished, but he looks like he could fit the Wolverine offensive style.

3) Chase Rettig, Committed to Boston College

Rettig looked very sharp at times and seemed to have a very strong arm. While he seemed comfortable in the pocket, he did have a pass batted down and was sacked twice, fumbling once. But he never seemed out of his element and seemed to make good decisions when the ball left his hand.

4) Philip Sims, Committed to Alabama

When Sims entered the game I expected to see great things from the way they were talking about him. While he did throw a TD pass, it was pretty much a hail-mary where his receiver made a great play. Sims threw a few deep balls and you could see that he had a very strong arm. However, he needs to learn how to put a little more touch on some of his passes – they can’t all be rifles.

5) Blake Bell, Committed to Oklahoma

Bell looked uncomfortable in the pocket and has a bit of a wind-up motion. He seemed accurate on his short passes, but his deep ball wasn’t impressive – especially on one play when he underthrew his receiver in double coverage and was intercepted.

6) Jesse Scroggins, Committed to USC

Scroggins started the game backed up in his own end zone and seemed nervous. He threw a pick that got returned for a TD and then threw another one later on. On both interceptions I felt he threw a very strong ball and the defenders made nice plays. But Scroggins was unable to find a rhythm – though playing only one-third of a game might be part of the reason.

In the end, these quarterbacks were all in a very difficult situation. They were working with offensive lines that had never played with each other before. They were working against a defense that had to be the fastest collection of players they had ever seen. So it’s understandable that they might struggle… and they did.

It will be interesting how these kids pan out over their careers. Montana and Sims will both have a shot to start after Jake Locker and Greg McElroy graduate next year. Bell and Rettig will get opportunities as well since Oklahoma and Boston College don’t seem very committed on their freshman QB’s from this year – Landry Jones and Dave Shinskie. Gardner and Scroggins will have a very different situation – since Michigan seems very committed to Tate Forcier and USC is committed to Matt Barkley. We may not see them again for years.

We’ll have to take another look at some point in the future. How much can you tell about a kid from 1/3 of an All-Star Game? I guess we’ll find out.