Virginia Tech gained a verbal commitment from 2016 quarterback Joshua Jackson on Thursday. Until recently, the Saline, Michigan product had flown under the radar of Power Five programs. ESPN national recruiting analyst Gerry Hamilton listed Jackson among quarterbacks in the 2016 cycle that could go from under-recruited to eventual first team all-conference players, or even become a Heisman winner, like Marcus Mariota.
Both Jackson and Hamilton believe Joshua's recruitment didn't pick up until this spring because the 6-2, 200 pound signal-caller had to sit out his sophomore year due to transfer rules.
"I transferred schools, so I didn't play sophomore year," Jackson told The Key Play's Alex Koma in June. "Now I think they're seeing that I have a lot of upside."
"He's a functional athlete at the quarterback position that can move the chains," Hamilton said. "He throws really well on the run. He's an accurate passer down the field. He has got a lot of skill."
Along with the Hokies, West Virginia, Utah, Minnesota, Boston College and Oregon State all offered Joshua in 2015.
247Sports and Rivals rank Jackson as a 3-star prospect, but Jackson is a 4-star recruit according to ESPN, and is No. 150 on the ESPN 300. ESPN Insider's evaluation is bullish. As a passer, it notes Jackson is accurate, with a quick release, good, but not elite, arm strength and someone who can make all the throws.
Possesses an athletic frame with a wiry, late bloomers frame. Has some muscle structure that will continue to fill out. Shows above average height. Is very athletic in similar fashion to Ohio State's JT Barrett. Can be a runner, but doesn't need to be the runner. Is a passer that happens to be a dual-threat when he needs to be. pocket movement and awareness is excellent. Can run the zone read effectively.
It's possible Virginia Tech found its latest diamond in the rough prospect.
Comments
He can play in cold weather!
dang joe. Way to have an article out 5 minutes after the announcement
Had to have it teed up and ready to go, I imagine he sat waiting for the announcement like this.
Great, one for the good guys!
With that being said, who tries to steal him first, Oregon, LSU, Bama, etc? We've identified him now as a talent, let the flippers try to flip.
Bama should be set, Oregon could flip depending on how good their transfer qb is. However I think he stays considering the relationship he and his family have with lefty. Lefty & Searels trying to get VT back in the Title talks
Luckily he's gotta have a lot of OSU hate infused in him, because he looks like a prototypical Meyer QB.
"Haters gon hate, and flippers gon (try to) flip"
"Haters gon hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate and flippers gon (try to) flip, flip, flip, flip, flip, flip"
FTFY.
Interesting, his dad, Fred Jackson coached at Michigan from 1992 to 2014 (the only coaching holdover during the RichRod era) and his brother Jeremy played WR at Michigan (17 career catches, 4 starts).
Now go tell Harbaugh to back the f**k off, you know he will be sniffing around.
He would go to Michigan if offered.
.....how do you know??
ERMAHGERD! It's Josh Jackson!
word on the street
lifelong dream to qb at michigan
don't think they will offer though
Funny thing about lifelong dreams when you are 17. Mine was to go to the Air Force Academy but I didn't get in. Tech was my fall back and I'm glad it worked out that way. I had the best 4.5 years of college possible, met wife and will always consider Blacksburg home. I'm hoping his story is very similar.
i wanted to be a marine sniper. war started and my parents said "nope". I met my (future) wife at VT so I'm in pretty good shape. Not mad that I didn't try for the marines.
Why do I feel we have a little destiny with Harbaugh and Michigan both? He can help us get a little payback.
He would go where his father was recently not retained by the current leadership after being there for 23 years?
Found!
haha... great gif
Though there's an off chance that's me. Spent some time there working on some of those things pictured there.
That doesn't suck.
I guess Tennessee just found their next future QB.
r/CFB has this article up.. thank god they didn't copy and paste. /s
Anyone else look at his jersey and think "we may have just found the solution to our QB problems?"
problem being a successor/competitor for Lawson.
but will he be happy sitting behind Lawson for 2 years before he sees the field? Nice problem to have imho if the commitment holds...
He very well could see himself in a position similar to Logan Thomas. Redshirt, backup a stud for a year, then take over as the next stud before going to the NFL. The main difference, of course, being that his offensive supporting cast talent likely won't fall off a cliff after a solid debut season.
and that neither of them were as highly regarded coming out of HS as tyrod and logan.
You can't control what others do, or how the next few years turn out.
Expecting him to sit behind Lawson for two years assumes a lot; A few assumptions: Lawson doesn't play this year (remember injuries almost forced Ford to play last year.) Lefty doesn't play several QBs during the season (there's the possibility that he could share time with Lawson.) Mr. Jackson has an injury that requires him to seek a medical redshirt at some point. Mr. Jackson beats Lawson outright (which is always a possibility.)
Also some combination of the above could mean we see plenty of Mr. Jackson instead of or in addition to Lawson.
And now I need a cigarette.
I know we have grown a little cynical to some of these commitments, as other teams tend to take an extra hard look after our talent evaluators have done their due diligence and found some of these under the radar guys, but from everything I have read on this guy, I think this will be a solid commitment.
Welcome to Hokie Nation
Thanks for the insightful analysis, ESPN.
Also, his dad was a coach at that school up north for 23 years and we got him? Eat it, school up north.
They didn't offer, but could get interesting if they did. They have QB Brandon Peters (who Tech offered way back when) committed for 2016.
I don't see Harbaugh pursuing mobile types.
Why? Kapernick wasn't exactly a statue and Harbaugh went after him pretty hard on Draft Day.
In the NFL sure, but it seems as if Harbaugh wants to go the pro style route in college much like he did at Stanford.
didn't he recruit Hogan to Stanford as well? he was a DT qb if I recall. 247 lists him as a pro style, but I thought I recalled him being a DT guy similar to logan.
http://247sports.com/Player/Kevin-Hogan-388?Institution=1057
Pretty sure he did and then Shaw continued after he left. But based off of what I have seen from him at Stanford, I would describe him as pro style QB that only runs when he has too.
As for at Michigan, Harbaugh already has a commit from 4 star QB Brandon Peters in this class who is classified by the recruiting services as pro style like Joe said.
I thought the same thing about the "Shows above average height" line.
It was as if he reached in his pocket, pulled out a little bit of height, and scouts said, Wow, its above average.
There are so many teenage boy jokes my inner child wants to make here.
Tried to find a gif of someone pulling an upvote out of their pocket but failed, this turkey leg will have to do?
I like him. But I hate the comparing thing. Didn't several espn analysts try to compare Logan to Newton for a while?
Yep. Although he runs nor throws no where near as well as Newton.
Top 150...diamond in the rough...bullish...Marcus Mariota...
daaaaahhhh...
I cant stop laughing!!
welcome to Hokie Nation
"Can run the zone read effectively."
There it is. With a nice frame for more weight coupled with good accuracy on the run, Jackson will be an exciting QB for Lefty (and us).
Very accurate passer and reminds me of Manziel running more than Mariota but either one will do. Definitely a legit QB prospect. It will be interesting to see how the athleticism of Lawson and the skills of Jackson pan out. May not be able to keep both off the field.
He looked really good in the Spring Game, for what it's worth.
This will get interesting....