The Oregon Ducks snag another California QB Prospect
If you believe in recruiting rankings, you may not see future Oregon Ducks quarterback Jeff Lockie as a viable threat to win a starting job. Lockie played at Monte Vista high school (Danville, CA) in the East Bay Athletic League. He happened to be in the league with two other highly ranked 2012 quarterback recruits, Zach Kline and Bart Houston. Zach Kline is a 4 star pro-style recruit, according to rivals.com, who committed to California and reminds the staff at rivals.com of former Marshall and NFL quarterback Chad Pennington. Bart Houston is a 3 star recruit who reminds the evaluators at rivals.com of former USC quarterback and current Kansas City Chief, Matt Cassel.
How did the future Oregon Duck Lockie rank among the scouting services? Rivals.com had him as a 3 star recruit and the 91st ranked prospect in California. Scout.com had him as a 3 star recruit as well and the 49th best quarterback in the 2012 class. Lastly, 247sports.com has him as the 19th best dual-threat quarterback and the 87th best prospect in California.
As we know recruiting is not an exact science and regardless of the number of stars you earn from a recruiting service, you have to prove yourself on the playing field. If I’m an Oregon Duck fan the only thing I need to know about Jeff Lockie is that Chip Kelly wanted this young man to come in and compete for playing time. Lockie chose Oregon over schools like San Diego State, Arizona, California and rival Oregon State. He has an older brother that is enrolled at Oregon currently and he knows former Oregon Duck receiver and current Houston Texan Jeff Maehl from working out at the California Strength Academy.
Lockie is a good fit with the Ducks because he ran the spread offense in high school which should allow him to adapt quickly to the playbook. He is a right handed thrower standing 6’2” and weighs 175 lbs. He’s known as a smart quarterback who makes quick decisions with the ball and is very accurate. In his junior and senior years at Monte Vista, Lockie threw for 5,727 yards with 57 touchdowns. He also ran for 341 yards and 13 touchdowns in that same timeframe showing he is a threat running and passing which has been a trait of Duck quarterbacks under Kelly. When he arrives at Oregon he will battle fellow 2012 quarterback commit Jake Rodrigues for the 3rd string position.
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