Tomorrow night, Bucky Hodges (Salem High School, Virginia Beach) starts his last season before officially becoming a Hokie. As a Virginia Beach Hokie, I will be attending as many Bucky games as possible (I hope to go to every one except the gt and cincy game weekends as I will be traveling Friday nights for those). I'll be 'scouting' Bucky at all of the games I'm able to attend.
Kind of like French did for the first scrimmage, just wanted to hit up TKP community and see if there are any particulars you guys would like me to focus on?
I plan on focusing on the following:
Intelligence
1) Does he make pre-play calls at the line of scrimmage (obviously if the coaches/offensive style allow it)?
2) Does he make the right reads on a play by play basis, based on coverage and situations?
Strength
1) How's his long ball?
2) Does he have zip on his passes when necessary?
Mobility
1) Does he trust his legs more than his arm? Does he bail at the first sign of pressure?
2) I'm going to focus on his quickness more than speed. I think just from looking at the tape on youtube, he's pretty fast (at 6'5 his strides automatically make him fast) but I want to see what kind of "in the box" quickness he has as such a tall kid.
Presence
1) Pocket presence - kind of goes back to question 1 under mobility.
2) Does he have a sense of poise?
3) What kind of leader does he seem to be when a) he's not on the field or b) when the team needs a big play from their stud qb.
I'll be watching his all around game to try to get a good feel for what he's good at and what he needs work on. I've never scouted a hs QB before, so any suggestions or questions are highly recommended!
...
We also have a 3* LB commit from Bucky's HS named Andrew Motuapuaka. I'll pay attention to him too but I'm there for Bucky mostly. I'll take note of any questions you guys have on Motuapuaka too.
High School Football is back in the 757! It's a pretty big deal around here. And sorry for such a late notice, I thought the HS season wasn't starting until next week, but like I said, I'll be going to the majority of his games so you guys can keep up the questions/comments as the season goes. Thanks in advance. Go Hokies!
Comments
Mechanics
I think he's got a little ways to go there, so maybe you can see if you notice improvement in his mechanics over the times you see him?
As for Motuapuaka, I'd like to know how his size looks. He seems small to me but a good tackler, if he looks big enough to you that would put me at ease.
Thanks, look forward to it!
+1 on the size of Bucky. Would like to know if he is looking like a tall jacory right now and if you can picture him with another 30 pounds on. also, how is his arm strength. from his videos it looks decent but right now im spoiled watching LT3s cannon.
Will do!
Thanks for the comment/help. I'll give an update here after the game tomorrow night and continue to update as the season progresses.
I think it is subjective for all of us, but the question I always ask, is he a great athlete playing quarterback, or is he a quarterback? For me, I'd look for the following:
1) Does he throw in rhythm? Snap, one, two, three throw. Or snap 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 throw? Ultimately this was Tyrod's greatest weakness as a QB.
2) Does he set his feet when he throws and have good mechanics? I am not an expert on QB mechanics, but one trick I learned: on a slant route, a QB has to get his front foot pointed correctly. If he throws behind the receiver or lead him too much, it is because his stance is wrong. If he short-arms the pass (bounces it), his front foot is pointed at the sidelines or he has opened his stance too much and his back knee is pointed at the receiver (like a Jim Courier forehand.)
3) Does he throw tough intermediate routes? Especially an 10-15 yard out to the wide side of the field? Is there enough zip on the pass to beat a starting ACC corner's recovery time?
4) General body language and field demeanor? Is he the boss? Do the other players follow his lead? Is he getting them in the right play on the line?
Agreed
I don't think you will find much as far as reading coverages and presnap reads, that'll come with experience and coaching. Rhythm, timing, mechanics, arm strength, Accuracy, pocket presence, and leadership is what I'd focus on
Agreed
Mobility in the pocket as well, not necessarily speed as you pointed out
Bucky - game 1
Bucky Hodges finished the game with six touchdowns (five rushing & one passing) as Salem HS beat Cox HS by multiple touchdowns scoring 40+ points. The lone passing touchdown came on a perfect strike on a 15 yard post. Bucky threw the ball right to the receivers facemask, he caught it in stride and ran an extra 10 yards with the defender on his back.
I got there a little late and may have missed the first series, but of what I saw, he went 6/8 for about 100 yards passing on the day (unofficial stats, I will provide the officials tomorrow after I check out the paper). The two incompletions were both mistargets on deep lob passes; the first was a poor decision, thrown to a covered wr, and he barely overthrew the second to an open receiver. Of the six completions, three were screen passes to wide receivers. Nothing much to it, he probably could have had more zip on the screens but it's a screen, whatever. The other three completions are what I judged him on when it came to his passing performance.
The first completion was a well-thrown pass on a 10 yard out route for a first down. It wasn’t a pass thrown with “ACC zip”, but he got it there fast enough and on the outside where only his receiver could catch it. He didn't get to pass downfield much, but when he did he looked poised and comfortable. He stood in the pocket tall and looked downfield and delivered for the most part (like I said, only five passes really went down field aka not screen passes). The second completion came when Salem needed it most. It was 3rd and long, Bucky stood in the pocket until the very last second letting the pressure get to him, then threw a nice pass to his rb just past the line of scrimmage on a swing route. It was an easy pass, but I really liked how he had control of things and let the defense get so close that they thought they had him, then it was out and in the running back's hands for a first down. A play or two later, he broke to the outside and as the linebacker closed in on him and the sideline, he squared up, planted his foot then spun back to the sideline leaving the defender grabbing air! His final (and best) completion was the well-thrown touchdown to his receiver running a post.
I think the biggest take away from what I saw was how fluid and agile he was for a 6’5 kid (and the beautiful TD pass). We definitely have to bulk him up but I hope he doesn’t get too big and lose that quickness (BillDozer – I think 30ish pounds would be too much, seems like it would slow him down, but there’s no denying some weight is necessary). LT3 is fast enough but his size/strength allows him to impose his will on defenders, which makes him such an effective runner. Bucky is going to be more of a cut and get upfield type of mobile quarterback. He ran a lot, some on designed runs, some on keeps, and some on scrambles. He didn’t look downfield as he scrambled as I wish he had, but that will come with coaching and a better understanding of the game. Most of his runs looked really good; They were mostly big gains, where he made people miss and showed off some of his speed, quickness, and vision.
The competition tonight wasn't the best, so Salem wasn't forced to open their playbook. Next week, Salem takes on Bayside, ranked first and second respectively in Virginia Beach, so I'm sure he'll be pressured more and be forced to show off his arm a bit more (also Bayside is where Mizzell, the new uva commit plays). Unfortunately, I will be on the road getting the weekend’s festivities #beatgt under way when this game is going on, but my dad/friends will give me quick, less detailed run down and I’ll spread the word here.
I loved what I saw out of him running; fast and quick with good moves for a tall kid. And I liked what I saw out of him passing; didn’t have a lot of opportunities but made some nice passes when the situation called for it. Any intermediate pass was a good one, on target allowing the receivers to run after the catch while the incompletions were long, jumpballs. He has a nice arm that with coaching, will make him a good qb for us. I think Bucky will be able to run whatever offense we design around LT3. I’ll focus more on mechanics and the small things as I watch him more this season and get a better understanding of how he plays.
Six touchdowns and some highlight reel jukes, I’ll take it. Cheers to the future!
Andrew Motu'apuaka
Don't have too much on him. Sorry for writing so much on Bucky, think I'm just excited to watch meaningful football again. I recorded four solo tackles and two assists (none for loss). He's short but he is a STOCKY mf; His build reminds me of Lyndell Gibson (same high school too... hopefully his VT career turns out better than Gibson's). He has the long, bushy hair we've grown accustomed to seeing out of Somoan football players haha, thought that was cool.
He was active and around the ball a lot. I saw him use his hands well a couple times to fight off blockers and he brought the wood when he could! One play really showed his potential in my opinion - it was a pass play and he dropped in coverage and blanketed the receiver across the middle forcing the qb to scramble, he closed in on the qb and forced him out of bounds. Unfortunately, he was flagged with a late hit, out of bounds on the same play, but you could see the skill set on that play. Lacks speed, but has great size and is physical. I like what I see, and I'll continue to critique him as the season progresses.
Oh, he plays fullback in short yardage situations too, and it was really cool as a Hokie fan to see Bucky, then Andrew right behind him. I could picture them both wearing the o&m, it was a pretty sight haha.
Soon we'll be playing "Bucky Ball!"