John Elway's son commits to ASU

[Gaddabout]

Can his dad be a booster coming from Stanford? Or can former athletes not be boosters to their own school? I cant imagine Stanford would be thrilled if John helped out ASU...

Athletes are just like any other alumni of a school. They can be boosters to as many programs as they wish.

Having friends who have actually seen Jack Elway play (which I seriously doubt "scouts" from Rivals or Scouts have), this is their read:

- Strong arm, very poised, legit high D-1 caliber QB

He's not his father. He's not a freak of nature who can run like a receiver at 6-5 and throw 90 yard bombs. But he's plenty good and belongs to play at the next level. He plays more like a coach's son, but unlike coach's sons, he actually has plenty of physical ability to make it happen at the next level.

It was really strange seeing that on the ABC ticker all day. I thought it was a good commit from a kid who's gaining some attention for his own play this year and not just because he's John Elway's kid. Didn't think it was national news.

 

[HooverDam]

There are no restrictions on boosters like others have said, another example would be Ira Fullton. He donates a ton of money to ASU, but also a good amount to BYU because of his Mormon faith.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Just got a mention by madden on sunday night football

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

He's pretty highly regarded from other sites.


2008 Scout.com HS Football Rankings (full list):
Pos: QB Pos Rank: #56 Pos Rating:

Scout.com Player Evaluation:
STRENGTHS
Arm Strength
Intangibles
Touch

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Accuracy / Consistency
The son of NFL great, John Elway, has a big arm and looks like he can make every throw easily. He is effortless on deep balls and showed some touch on intermediate passes. He's still pretty raw and is inconsistent with his fundamentals, which affects his accuracy but there's nothing that won't improve with some work. He really has a good upside.

did you not see he was ranked as the 56th best qb? that's not great.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

did you not see he was ranked as the 56th best qb? that's not great.

Of course...Other sources like ESPN Scout.com have him rated as high as 24th. He does seem to have enough positives where he might compete for the starting job at some point. I don't think anyone is expecting him to be his dad, but he does seem to have potential. It will be interesting to see if Denny can do anything with him.

 

[HeavyB3]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...l=1&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

 

[Gaddabout]

did you not see he was ranked as the 56th best qb? that's not great.

If you it makes you feel any better, if Jack Elway were to beat out Samson Szakascy or Chasen Stangel for the starting job, I think it would be safe to say he's better than 56th in his class. Szakacsy looks especially good in Erickson's offense. Elway will have to earn whatever time get gets on the field.

Elway has one thing the other guys don't: A really big arm.

 

[Matt L]

Some people put way too much stock in the star rankings. Jimmy Claussen is one of the highest ranking QBs to come in as a frosh and we all see what he has done so far this year. Jack Elway was going to get a scholarship to a school for his name and from what everyone says he has a big time arm. Maybe not as good as his dad's but a strong arm none the less. If there is one thing that can't be taught, it is a strong throwing arm. Does this mean that he has the starting job next fall? I doubt it, but it sounds like he is a solid recruit and he might be able to contribute to the ASU program. If not, I am sure he will end up transferring to another school as the majority of college football players do when they aren't getting the minutes they think they deserve.

 

[Russ Smith]

Can I ask the obvious, how can the son of John elway, and grandson of ex coach Jack Elway be "extremely raw" at this point in his HS career?

I know John is busy with car dealerships and arena teams and has always said he won't push his kids but doesn't it surprise others his son is not a little further along?

 

[Matt L]

Now I may be wrong, but the description for John Elway when he was in college and his first couple years on the NFL was that he was very mobile, had a great arm, but was not very accurate. I wasn't around at the time to watch him play but maybe he is just the same as his dad where he could rely on his big arm and he just rifles everything. If John Elway's dad was a coach too, why wasn't he more polished?

 

[Gaddabout]

Your questions answered:

1. How can Jack Elway be considered "raw?"

Because, like his dad, he's a natural QB but relies too much on instinct for his footwork. It causes balls to be thrown errant. He also relies too much on his arm strength. He likes to drill the ball over the middle, and that will just turn him into an interception machine in college (see Walter, Andrew).

2. If his father is his coach, how can he be lacking in fundamentals?

His father has been his coach for all of 3 mos. John Elway has been the anti-Marinovich. He's let his son develop with local coaches and only jumped into the fray when his son's requested help. I think when Jack started to realize college was on the horizon and he had a rough junior year, he got his father involved.

3. But his father is John Elway?

Indeed, and John Elway's father was Jack Elway I, one of the most notable QB tutors on the West Coast and Jim Sweeney's A++ student. Erickson is also a Sweeney student. In fact, the offense ASU runs is about 30 years old -- it's the offense Erickson borrowed from Sweeney and personalized with his own ideas on the spread.

With all that lineage, John Elway was remarkably raw as a high school graduate, too. The biggest problem was growing into his 6-5 frame. He was all bones and fast-twitch muscle fiber. Footwork never game easy.

 

[Matt L]

You sure know alot about the Elway lineage.

 

[Russ Smith]

Now I may be wrong, but the description for John Elway when he was in college and his first couple years on the NFL was that he was very mobile, had a great arm, but was not very accurate. I wasn't around at the time to watch him play but maybe he is just the same as his dad where he could rely on his big arm and he just rifles everything. If John Elway's dad was a coach too, why wasn't he more polished?

John actually was quite polished that's why he was able to step in and play at Stanford. He might have been further along if he wasn't also playing baseball.

When Elway came into the NFL the rap on him was great talent, not the most intelligent guy. People didn't quite believe it, went to Stanford, son of a coach, but it took him years to catch on to NFL offenses. Once he did he was of course magnificent.

 

[Russ Smith]

Your questions answered:

1. How can Jack Elway be considered "raw?"

Because, like his dad, he's a natural QB but relies too much on instinct for his footwork. It causes balls to be thrown errant. He also relies too much on his arm strength. He likes to drill the ball over the middle, and that will just turn him into an interception machine in college (see Walter, Andrew).

2. If his father is his coach, how can he be lacking in fundamentals?

His father has been his coach for all of 3 mos. John Elway has been the anti-Marinovich. He's let his son develop with local coaches and only jumped into the fray when his son's requested help. I think when Jack started to realize college was on the horizon and he had a rough junior year, he got his father involved.

3. But his father is John Elway?

Indeed, and John Elway's father was Jack Elway I, one of the most notable QB tutors on the West Coast and Jim Sweeney's A++ student. Erickson is also a Sweeney student. In fact, the offense ASU runs is about 30 years old -- it's the offense Erickson borrowed from Sweeney and personalized with his own ideas on the spread.

With all that lineage, John Elway was remarkably raw as a high school graduate, too. The biggest problem was growing into his 6-5 frame. He was all bones and fast-twitch muscle fiber. Footwork never game easy.

Hmm I seem to recall Elway playing almost immediately at Stanford. He wasn't Peyton Manning polished but he was certainly better right away than say Clausen who's been groomed to be a QB since he was about 3.

It's been a while but I just don't remember John being that "raw"? I do remember him being overwhelmed when he got to the NFL but not so much in college.


I did a quick google I didn't see year to year stats but it did say when he graduated Stanford he set a new NCAA record for lowest interception % which sort of fits my recollection that he basically came in and played
well right away until he got to Denver and then he looked completely lost for a 2-3 year period.

I didn't realize he'd been working with his son for such a short time, surprised the grandfather wasn't involved more but I had also forgotten he died in 2001 so that explains that.

Think it's a great move for him not to go to Stanford so he doesn't have to live up to his dad's hype there. I wish him well at ASU.

 

[Gaddabout]

Hmm I seem to recall Elway playing almost immediately at Stanford. He wasn't Peyton Manning polished but he was certainly better right away than say Clausen who's been groomed to be a QB since he was about 3.

It's been a while but I just don't remember John being that "raw"? I do remember him being overwhelmed when he got to the NFL but not so much in college.

Clausen's playing in a much more sophisticated offense. Don't mean to reduce it to grade school, but the Sweeney/Elway/Erickson offense is very simple compared to offenses these days. And John Elway was given a lot of freedom to freelance.

 

[Mulli]

You sure know alot about the Elway lineage.

He knows a lot about everything. Don't fight it. He really does.

 

[Russ Smith]

Clausen's playing in a much more sophisticated offense. Don't mean to reduce it to grade school, but the Sweeney/Elway/Erickson offense is very simple compared to offenses these days. And John Elway was given a lot of freedom to freelance.

I kind of agree although it took what 3 games before Clausen threw a pass beyond the line of scrimmage(hyperbole but you get my point they were babying him because he clearly didn't grasp the offense yet).

I'll agree on Elway and freelancing but you're going to have to remind me who ran that offense I know the coach was Paul Wiggin, but Dowhower was already gone(he was the Cardinals OC ironically) so who was running the offense I can't remember?

Still think that play against USC was the best I've ever seen at any level by a QB rolling right and uncorking a perfect throw over Ronnie Lott.

That said, I always thought Elway was vastly overrated until very late in his career, he was a guy with great talent but he wasn't a very smart QB. Shanahan really made him a much better QB late in his career.

 

[Gaddabout]

I kind of agree although it took what 3 games before Clausen threw a pass beyond the line of scrimmage(hyperbole but you get my point they were babying him because he clearly didn't grasp the offense yet).

I'll agree on Elway and freelancing but you're going to have to remind me who ran that offense I know the coach was Paul Wiggin, but Dowhower was already gone(he was the Cardinals OC ironically) so who was running the offense I can't remember?

Wiggin was influenced by Dick Nolan who was influenced by Tom Landry. Fassell's first job was, ironically, on Bruce Snyder's Utah State staff (IIRC), but was heavily influenced by LaVell Edwards and BYU.

That said, I always thought Elway was vastly overrated until very late in his career, he was a guy with great talent but he wasn't a very smart QB. Shanahan really made him a much better QB late in his career.

There's a reason why Elway's name came after Joe Montana's and Dan Marino's for most of Elway's career. Elway didn't get cooking until the 4th quarter, when the offense was loosened up and he was allowed to freelance.

 

[AzCards21]

I did a quick google I didn't see year to year stats but it did say when he graduated Stanford he set a new NCAA record for lowest interception % which sort of fits my recollection that he basically came in and played well right away until he got to Denver and then he looked completely lost for a 2-3 year period.

I remember that as well as all of Denver thinking he was a bust. Sounds a lot like Matt's situation here so far.

 

[MastersofCombat]

I caught this kid on CHannel 7 Cox the other night.
He lit up this team for like 4 TDs after his team was trailing by 20.
He throws deep balls really well and has a strong arm.
Short throws didnt see enough to make an opinion
The one thing I will say is he has his father as a great mentor and coach.

 

[Skkorpion]

I trust Erickson to judge talent better than the recruiting services.

Back when, under Jimmy Johnson, Erickson and others, Miami never showed up among the schools getting rave reviews for recruiting. They just signed the kids they liked and proceeded to use those kids to beat the crap out of everybody else's overrated kids year after year.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I trust Erickson to judge talent better than the recruiting services.

Back when, under Jimmy Johnson, Erickson and others, Miami never showed up among the schools getting rave reviews for recruiting. They just signed the kids they liked and proceeded to use those kids to beat the crap out of everybody else's overrated kids year after year.

Awesome post. Loved the last line.

Go Devils!

 

[Gaddabout]

Back when, under Jimmy Johnson, Erickson and others, Miami never showed up among the schools getting rave reviews for recruiting. They just signed the kids they liked and proceeded to use those kids to beat the crap out of everybody else's overrated kids year after year.

Back when, no one realized the talent in Miami-Dade County.

 

[Russ Smith]

Back when, no one realized the talent in Miami-Dade County.

Plus recruiting services back then were often some 16 year old kid writing about players he'd seen locally there was very little national stuff that was reliable.

Those Miami teams all had tons of talent.

One question on Erickson, I read yesterday that something like 18 of the 21 players he signed for his one year at Idaho have now left the school either over grades, trouble, or just didn't want to be there when he left. Is that true? I knew his rep from Miami and Oregon State was bring in talented players with some off field questions, but if that's true that's pretty astounding that nearly 90% of the kids he brought in there have already left?

 

[Heucrazy]

Borderline illiteracy is what makes him unique- how cute!

I'd hope this is an adult message board, which means at least making casual attempts at good grammar. I'm not going to get on people for double negatives, hanging prepositions, or subject-verb agreement but "you're," versus "your" is 3rd grade material.

your dead.