Mark Leal - Atlantic HS Highlights

Since we've been talking so much about the 2014 QB battles, I thought I would refresh everyone about what Mark Leal looked like as a senior coming out of high school. He had offers from WVU, Oregon, Kansas, Rutgers and Pittsburg, among others...

I'm going to discount Mark's performance vs UCLA because I think he was unprepared. Logan had been the guy for every game the last 3 years, Mark knew that. Although I think he should have been more prepared, I don't think that game was indicative of what Mark will be like as a quarterback.

In my opinion, Mark looks similar to Andrew Ford as a high school quarterback, as both run a similar offense with all work coming out of the shotgun and both are above average pro-style passers.

Leal stands out in a few ways. First of all, out of all the competing QBs, he has the best rhythm. Meaning that he gets the ball out on time and fluidly from his 3-step and 5-step drops. This sounds like a simple thing, but we havn't had a VT quarteback do this well since Randall. Mark gets the ball out on time, and puts it to a spot out in front of his receiver on slants and post routes where only one guy can get it. He is also a better runner than Ford. I would describe his running style as "slippery" - he won't run through you, and he won't juke you out of your socks, but he has some wiggle about him.

My final $0.02...Mark is just as accurate as Andrew Ford and with a stronger arm. Mark is a better runner, and throws more consistently with good rhythm on his drops. Mark has a very compact, quick release on his intermediate stuff...but he winds up a little bit more on deep balls. They are both equally accurate and with very good footwork. Andrew looks like he throws better on the run. Both have very good touch.

What do you all think?