Texas Tech and Kliff Kingsbury have their quarterback for the 2016 in Jett Duffey from Mansfield. If you haven’t seen the video, be prepared to be impressed and don’t blink.
| QUARTERBACK | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| JETT DUFFEY | QUARTERBACK | ||
| HT/WT: 6-1/175 | FORTY: 4.68 | ||
| HIGH SCHOOL: Lake Ridge (Mansfield, TX) | |||
| OFFERS: Air Force, McNeese State, Nevada, Southern Illinois, Stephen F. Austin, Texas Tech | |||
| RECRUITING SERVICE: | RANKING: | POSITION RANK: | STATE RANK: |
| Rivals |  5.3 |
N/A | N/A |
| Scout | |
43 | N/A |
| 24/7 Sports | 83 |
29 | 160 |
| ESPN | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| VIDEO: Hudl | |||
| CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8174 | |||
| PROFILE DATE: May 14, 2015 | |||
The Player Speaks: Most of the stuff that you’ll read is behind the paywall, but I did find a couple of things that I think you’ll enjoy. The first is from B/R’s Damon Sayles who watched Duffey in North Carolina and he talked about what he didn’t do in Dallas to win the Elite 11 and how he worked to improve. The best thing though was from Brian Stumpf of Student Sports, who had some excellent things to say about what Duffey is about:
RELATED: 2016 QB Jett Duffey Commits to Texas Tech
“Jett was really close to being MVP in Dallas, as well. He’s a Texas kid, and there’s a multitude of quarterbacks in the Lone Star State. Jett doesn’t fit in the cookie cutter of the measurables in terms of being 6’2″ and 210 pounds and running a 4.6 [40-yard dash], but he’s close on all those. He’s a hardworking kid. Nobody’s going to outwork Jett. He’s a guy we’re going to look at really closely going down to the final selections of the Elite 11 finals. We love his makeup and everything about him. We think he can throw with anybody in the country.”
If there’s anything that makes you feel good about Duffey as a football player, hopefully this is it. And the good thing is that this isn’t me making these statements, this is a guy that doesn’t have a horse in the race and if it weren’t for a inch and 20 pounds then he’d be among the elite. That’s a good feeling and the fact that he’s a hard worker makes this all so fitting in a way.
Scouting Report: Let’s get to the things that Duffey will have to overcome first. First, Duffey doesn’t have the ideal height. This isn’t something he can change unless he grows, so there will be times that he won’t be able to see over the offensive line. Yes. There are exceptions to the rule, like Drew Brees or a handful of other quarterbacks, but the best thing would be if Duffey grew an inch or two. Would it be debilitating? Of course not, but it is a flaw. And let’s also consider that Kingsbury has coached Johnny Manziel who wasn’t the biggest quarterback. The other thing is that quarterbacks have to be able to function while being injured. That’s just part of playing the position, being able to make plays when your head is rattled. At 175 or 180 pounds, that’s tough. So Duffey will need to add weight and that’s going to happen.
The other big aspect of the game is accuracy and Duffey only completed 56% of his passes, but he’s not throwing the short stuff. The good is that he appears to be throwing the ball in stride and appears to have really good timing in terms of the zone read and when a guy has one-on-one coverage. The other terrific thing is that I like the ball that he throws, these are highlights, but he’s dropping a really soft and catchable ball to the receiver.
But those legs are really spectacular. Duffey is slippery and fast and that’s a dangerous combination for a quarterback in Kingsbury’s system.