Strangely, Georgia’s quarterback of the future has yet to start a high school game.
Brice Ramsey is a rising junior who is still waiting to make a name for himself at Camden County High School. But the tall, lanky kid with the high-powered arm already has the stamp of approval from college scouts.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Ramsey ended an intense recruiting battle when he committed to Georgia at “Dawg Night” camp last weekend. Ramsey, who had early scholarship offers from Florida, Florida State and Clemson, was expected to double or triple his stack of offers within the next few months if he hadn’t pledged.
Some are left to wonder how can a quarterback who has yet to start in high school be so highly regarded?
Even though Ramsey has been a backup at Camden County, he is well known in recruiting circles after attending college camps and combines for years.
“There are no real rankings out yet on prospects in his class. But when they are released, Brice will be highly rated,” said Chad Simmons, Scout.com’s southeast recruiting analyst. “Sure, he lacks experience, but he has the tools you look for in a quarterback. He throws with Mathew Stafford-like velocity, he has a quick release and he can make every throw needed at that level. ... He has unlimited potential.”
Camden County coach Jeff Herron admits that a heap of praise for an unproven quarterback is unusual but he’s also not surprised by it. Herron has been hearing the rave reviews all spring from college scouts stopping by the South Georgia school to get a look at his prized pupil.
“When you see Brice in person and watch that ball come out of his hand, it doesn’t take long to know he’s a special player,” Herron said. “I’m not a great evaluator of quarterback talent, I’m sure, but you can watch him for a second and see it. The colleges went crazy over him in the spring.
“Brice has that ‘it’ factor. I can’t put my finger on it. But whatever it is, he has got it. ... I can’t say enough about him. It’s like God looked down and said, ‘This is what a quarterback is supposed to have’ and gave it to him.”
Ramsey’s career is really not the rags-to-riches story it appears to be. Camden County is a regular in national rankings and has won two of the last three state AAAAA championships in Georgia’s largest classification.
As a freshman, Ramsey battled for the starting position before breaking his collarbone. Last year was more of a timing issue. Camden County was coming off a state championship and determined to stuck with returning starter Joel Ruiz.
“Brice was very good last season and could’ve started for us most every year but we felt like our senior was the guy,” said Herron.
Ramsey served as the backup for the last two seasons, while also handling the team’s punting chores.
“I just did whatever I could to help out the team,” Ramsey said.
In early May, the relationship with Georgia grew serious after offensive coordinator Mike Bobo spent an entire day at Camden County evaluating Ramsey on both film and at spring practice. The next morning, Georgia coach Mark Richt called with some news.
“Georgia was the first to offer and that was huge with Brice,” Herron said. “Georgia had more of a chance to evaluate Brice because he had gone to camps there. I’m not sure Georgia really wanted to offer him that early, a kid who hadn’t started and all that stuff. But they knew him and Coach Richt said that he wanted to be the first to offer him. When they did, he was just elated.
“It was probably over right then with his decision.”
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