Texas QB Commit Zach Gentry visiting this weekend

It sounds like revisionist history now, but I've been a fan of Gentry's since we first began recruiting him when Nussmeier arrived.  I'm thrilled to see that he's a possibility to enter the fold now.  He would be a stellar second lottery ticket with Malzone, especially since the skillset between those two kids is entirely distinct.

Gentry has an unusual skillset - he's a monstrous kid who can really run and he's shockingly elusive.  His arm strength is also very good although he does the Michael Vick thing ("I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO SO I WILL THROW THIS AS HARD AS I CAN") too often.  I don't know anything about his leadership abilities but that's sort of intangible anyway.  It also must be noted that NM football is seriously backwater, so the competition he played is likely very bad.

Overall, you want this kid in the class.  I'll be the first to admit that there's a particularly strong chance he's buried on the depth chart in four years no matter where he goes.  But I can also imagine a world where he's a Drew Tate level guy, and you want that as a lottery ticket this late in the game.

Ace has Crystal Ball'd him to Michigan. *pandemonium*

He has a big arm and the size like Ryan Mallett and the mobilty of Ryan Tannehill from MGoFish. He also said hes sneaky fast. More Qb's the better.

Apparently Gentry has removed "Texas commit" from his Twitter bio. Commence (further) speculation.

try Harbaugh's Snake oil.

...6'6 with a big arm AND can run. 

He is composite pro qb rank is 8 and Malzone is 13, one of them should emerge. Perhaps a second qb will make Chris Clark more comfortable too.

This is an upside recruit, but he has a long ways to go before he gets there.

He has a naturally strong arm (can throw it a mile), but doesn't yet have a whole lot of zip on his throws from a consistent standpoint. I think this is because he fails to transfer his weight a lot of the time, for how far he throws it he just isn't getting a ton of power from his core and legs. This allows him to lean back and fling it a country mile, but not really put the zip on the throws yet. It's a good sign for his arm strength, but a nasty habit he'll need to break if he wants to throw over the middle or intermediate/short routes to the outside at the next level. There were two or three throws he made were he looked to step into it a bit more, and you saw the ball come off his hands much better and get on receivers much quicker, but that needs to be a consistent thing at the next level, even with some of the types of throws he made on his tape.

I really don't see him making reads or progressions yet; it looks like he's looking at receivers and if they are open he throws it to them. With the athletes he's going against, I really think it'll take him some time to adjust to reading coverages and how fast windows go away at the next level (it appears a coach from NM is saying/hearing the same things).

I think his athleticism is a bit overstated. He's not a terrible athlete, but he's not going up against great compitition and frankly, he just has really long strides at his size. He won't be a significant run threat other than maybe in the "keep them honest" way at the college level (I think both Morris and Malzone are better athletes in the run to keep them honest model), though he may be able to eat up yards if off of scrambles because of his long stride. He just doesn't get up to speed quickly at all, and it's hard to run in college football if you can't get up to speed quickly.

I think he has upside like JaMarcus Russell had upside (comparing a white QB to a black QB? not possible). I don't think his arm is quite as strong (Russell might have the strongest pure arm strength I've ever seen), and I think Russell was a bit of a better athlete (this is why Russell was a top 100 recruit though, while Gentry is a 3/4-star type), but both were pretty raw coming into college and if Gentry can improve his mechanics he can be in the same type of mold (preferably without the love of food aspects Russell had).

Harbaughs first commit.........And it happens this weekend

 

There seems to be a little smoke building with this situation. Do they redshirt both Malzone and Gentry if he flips to UM?

After watching his film I am very excited about the prospect. Everything you need from a QB in terms of measurables, Gentry has. Big, strong, nice arm strength, solid speed, with a deceptive quickness. The more QB's the better. Competition alone will make all of them work harder every day. I still like Wilton Speight to be our starter opening day. A lot of what. See from Gentry, I seen from Speight.

That would be an amazing pull with so little time - this guy was Longhorn thru and thru.

Harbaugh's entire system revolves around winning individual competitions and getting ones name put at the top of the list. If recruits/players can't handle it, then they should not be looking at UM

This would make an interesting picture if the two stood next to each other.

I watched Murray play about a dozen times and the dude is legit.   Murray is a total game changer, fantastic athlete with lethal accuracy.   Only knock on the kid is his height but I guarantee Texas will take him over Gentry if Murray wants to commit. Murray is that good.

 

4 star recruit from TX + Jim Harbaugh...where have I seen this before????

Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Analyst for Rivals:

"I can't imagine him taking a visit to Ann Arbor, meeting with a fired up Jim Harbaugh this late in the game and not flipping. Harbaugh wants him and I have to assume he gets him after this weekend if all goes well."

He had a nice touchdown run that showed how athletic he is. He could be a difference maker as soon as he makes it on campus. 

thought his film was a little underwhelming. 3/4 angle and long throwing motion, all snaps from shot gun, lots of roll outs and usually leaves the pocket. but hey, it's better than nothing and he's a big boy with great coaching ahead!

NM - I see its posted earlier in thread.

 

5 QB's on campus. Very interesting.