Some heads turned on Sunday night when a Rivals reporter posted this tweet: “Will UGA take a QB in this class? A Cali QB schedules visit for next weekend.”
Naturally, it sparked a lot of curiosity among UGA fans because the Bulldogs already have a commitment from the nation's No. 1 pro-style QB prospect for 2016, Jacob Eason of Lake Stevens, Wash.
What was going on? Did UGA change its mind and decide to take a QB in this class? Maybe the new offensive coordinator wanted to bring in a QB that had a better skillset to fit his scheme? (That actually is pretty is pretty common when there’s a change in offensive coordinators) Or was something going on behind the scenes with Eason?
As it turns out, a decorated quarterback from California is indeed taking a four-day visit to UGA this weekend, beginning on Thursday. But it’s to discuss a spot as a preferred walk-on QB at UGA.
Nick Robinson is a 3-star quarterback from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and he had a monster senior season, throwing for 1,743 yards and 16 touchdowns with only two interceptions. He won co-MVP honors of his district with Josh Rosen, the 5-star quarterback who is headed to UCLA.
The 6-foot-2, 197-pound Robinson has scholarship offers from some smaller schools (Florida International, the University of San Diego and Lafayette) but his dream is throw spirals for a Power Five conference school. He found out about the walk-on spot at UGA via a family member.
“At first, I was speaking with Coach Bobo when he was there, and then Coach Letson,” Robinson told the AJC. “But now they’re both at Colorado State, and I am going to visit Colorado State after Georgia. But Coach Richt had been speaking to me through them as a potential preferred walk-on. “
And the family member? “It’s funny,” he said. “My cousin’s husband is Jack Bauerle, the UGA swimming coach. So he told me about UGA, and then I spoke with Coach Bobo and Coach Letson. (Bauerle) only has great things to say about UGA, so I’m coming down this weekend.”
What is UGA’s sales pitch to Robinson? “I know they’re only taking one kid in this class. They have a kid committed for 2016 (Eason). So they’re not taking a scholarship guy this year. They told me that they’re only taking one quarterback in 2015, and they’d like me to be the guy (as a walk-on).”
Robinson said he also plans to take unofficial visits to Colorado State and Notre Dame before making a decision. And yes, in case you’re wondering, he would consider turning down a football scholarship to a smaller school in order to take advantage of an opportunity to play at the highest level.
“The high school league I play in here in California, it has been voted ‘Toughest in the Country’ by USA Today,” he said. “I’ve gone against quarterbacks going to Oregon and USC. I feel like I can compete with them every step of the way, and I proved it this year. And I feel like UGA is a place I could show that at.”
At this point, even though Richt has talked about his preference (like many college coaches) to sign one quarterback in each class, it still doesn’t appear likely that UGA will sign one this year.
But anything is possible. It certainly did not appear like the Bulldogs would sign one in 2010 until Hutson Mason got a last-minute offer. It was about the same situation with with Faton Bauta in 2012.
UGA has three scholarship QBs on roster: Bauta (junior), Ramsey (sophomore) and Jacob Park (freshman).
Mark Richt (AJC file)
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