OT - Warning for Utah vs. Michigan 2014: QB Connor Manning, the Next Matt Barkley?

Submitted by markusr2007 on

In 2014, when Michigan next plays Utah, the Utes might have a sophomore or RS Freshman QB named Connor Manning from Lake Forest, CA (Orange County) at the helm.  

Manning currently plays for El Toro High School (Lake Forest, CA). As a junior QB last year, Manning broke Matt Barkley's single season passing record with 4,219 yards and 41 TDs.

Last night El Toro destroyed Huntington Beach 47-24 for their season opener:

Manning's game stats: 454 yards passing, 44 of 66 for 6 TDs.

http://lakeforest-ca.patch.com/articles/football-el-toro-47-huntington-beach-24

That's one hell of a start to the season.

Manning is only 6-2, and "only a 3-star" at Scout, but he's probably one of those local SoCal kids Hoke and Borges would have recruited at SD State. See his offer list.

http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=6118696

Candyman

August 24th, 2012 at 8:58 PM ^

Exactly.

Look beyond the raw number of yards and touchdowns. The 66% completion is good but not great, but 10.3 yards per completion? That's neither good nor great, or even average. And the fact that they're throwing so many short passes makes the 66% completion even less impressive. Without actually seeing him play, that's about the stat line I'd expect from a three star QB.

ChiBlueBoy

August 24th, 2012 at 2:38 PM ^

Avg completion is about 10 yards. Sounds like a lot of slants and screens and may not speak much to arm strength. There's usually a reason that a player isn't recruited by many major schools. May be a real diamond, but I'm not sweating yet.

NateVolk

August 24th, 2012 at 2:38 PM ^

Very productive in an area with lots of great players competing. My guess is the size and he might not have the sick hose like the 4 or 5 star guys.  Not sure.  

Some of those same criticisms were used with Barkley too.

FreddieMercuryHayes

August 24th, 2012 at 2:41 PM ^

Meh.  Maybe he'll be great, maybe not.  But there are 21 other starting players that will also determine who wins that game.  By the time 2014 rolls around, I'm thinkin' I'm gonna like our chances with the type of players we seem to be developing.

Monocle Smile

August 24th, 2012 at 2:44 PM ^

Tommy Grady was a QB for the aforementioned Huntington Beach early in the 2000s. A 6'6" 215-pound stud in high school, he was supposed to light it up at Oklahoma, but could never be more than half a backup. He transferred to...you guessed it...UTAH. He started but was meh.

The list of high school QBs who put up wild numbers only to bust in college goes on and on. Anthony Morelli, Ryan Perrilloux, Mitch Mustain...

Safe to say, this worries me about as much as Lawrence Thomas at MSU. Maybe less.

Wolverine Devotee

August 24th, 2012 at 2:45 PM ^

There are 10 other players on the field with the QB last time I checked.

Bring their ass on. The home and home gives Michigan an opportunity to get break the 1-1 record and make it a winning record. Also gives them a chance with them and oregon state in 2016 to beat their first PAC-12 in regular season since utah in 2002.

Wolverine Incognito

August 24th, 2012 at 2:48 PM ^

Michigan's 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes, both top 5ish, will comprise at least half the roster by that point.  

Oh, and we'll have a talented QB of our own.

Shane Morris, come on down!

markusr2007

August 24th, 2012 at 2:59 PM ^

I'm not the kid's agent. He happens to QB at a local H.S. where I live.

I'm a Michigan fan who noticed something interesting in the local press where I live, and the responses here are so negative. Why?

Happy Friday to you too.

 

thisisme08

August 24th, 2012 at 3:10 PM ^

1. Dont talk about negging as well, it gets you negged more.

2. Your post was pretty needless as others have pointed out.  HS success does not equate college success and those numbers are guady because all they do is throw the ball. 

PS Thank you and you also have a nice Friday, I'm outta work in T-Minus 50 minutes. 

WolvinLA2

August 24th, 2012 at 3:23 PM ^

I think it was how your post was framed. Had you said, "Utah is getting a QB who might be better than we think" you probably wouldn't get negged and it would just be an informative post. But saying that he might be the next Matt Barkley is a little nuts. Barkley was the national POY as a junior, and had offers from everyone, obviously including USC. If this kid was all that good, he would probably be going to one of the many big time schools that recruit southern California so heavily.

But just to play along, they may have Matt Barkley 2.0, but we'll have Countess, Jourdan Lewis, Dymonte Thomas and Jarrod Wilson in our secondary, plus Beyer, Ojemudia, Wormley and Jake MFing Ryan looking to take his head off. I like our chances still.

JHendo

August 24th, 2012 at 3:30 PM ^

Well, if he was the next Matt Barkely, he'd be going to USC or somewhere equivalent.  Also, numbers like that (especially when they're accompanied by just a 3 star rating) means the guy is a product of a system.  Colt Brennan could chuck the hell out of a football and had staggering stats, but he was/is absolutely nothing outside of June Jones' pass first (and then pass some more) offense at Hawaii. 

To put it simply, I'm not concerned and wouldn't be surprised if this 3 star "stud" is not the starter or even the backup for Utah come 2014.

tdcarl

August 24th, 2012 at 3:51 PM ^

Holy hell what kind of high school offense throws the ball 66 times in one game? I'm pretty sure we maybe threw it 66 times in a season when I was in school.

Ventilator

August 24th, 2012 at 4:05 PM ^

They'll still need 10 other guys on offense, will have to play defense, and this kid will be extremely inexperienced even if he is really good. The only warning is that we may win 42-3 as oppose to 42-0. Really doesn't matter.

Roachgoblue

August 24th, 2012 at 4:23 PM ^

He played a shitty team and should have won by more. For the love of god please come soon September 1st.