Vols get 11th Committment

[Freak]

Erik Ainge out of Oregon announced today that he would sign with the Vols. Ainge is considered to be a top 10 to top 20 rated QB in the nation. This guy is 6' 6" and weighs in a little over 200 lbs. And in case you didn't know, his uncle is Danny Ainge.

 

[73volgrad]

Danny is his uncle, not his father.

 

[Freak]

My mind was thinking uncle and my fingers typed dad for some reason. :blink:

Anyway, thanks for catching that 73volgrad. I corrected the above post.

 

[samanderson]

Would anyone happen to know if Fulmer and crew placed Ainge higher, lower or as an equal to Patton on their recruiting wish list? How about any other Blue Chippers they have been wooing?

Based on his height and weight, I assume Ainge is considered the "pure passer, stay in the pocket" type of quarterback and perfectly suited for the pro set type of offense charateristic of the Vols. Has anyone read or heard anything about his mobility and instincts during those times when the pocket collapses way to fast to allow setting up and passing in the normal mode?

For me, a quarterback's ability to improvise instinctively with good mobility when under duress in the pocket is what makes the difference between a good quarterback and a GREAT quarterback. The presence of good instincts can't be fully realized without the accompanying mobility; and, good mobility is usually disastorous without the presence of good instincts. (I love, admire, respect, and greatly appreciate Clausen, but always did feel he was about one-eighth of a step away from being truly great. He did, though, have excellent instincts but their full potential could never be exhibited.)

Lastly, 200 to 205 pounds on a 6'6" frame isn't lot of weight. (That is exactly my height and weight, and I am called slim, slender, and even skinny at times by just about everyone.) Can anyone think of an existing quarterback similar to Ainge in height and weight for comparison purposes? I'm trying to visualize him, and just can't seem to do it.

Have a great day, all.

 

[Freak]

Originally posted by samanderson@Dec 17 2003, 08:59 AM
Would anyone happen to know if Fulmer and crew placed Ainge higher, lower or as an equal to Patton on their recruiting wish list? How about any other Blue Chippers they have been wooing?

Based on his height and weight, I assume Ainge is considered the "pure passer, stay in the pocket" type of quarterback and perfectly suited for the pro set type of offense charateristic of the Vols.  Has anyone read or heard anything about his mobility and instincts during those times when the pocket collapses way to fast to allow setting up and passing in the normal mode? 

For me, a quarterback's ability to improvise instinctively with good mobility when under duress in the pocket is what makes the difference between a good quarterback and a GREAT quarterback. The presence of good instincts can't be fully realized without the accompanying mobility; and, good mobility is usually disastorous without the presence of good instincts. (I love, admire, respect, and greatly appreciate Clausen, but always did feel he was about  one-eighth of a step away from being truly great.  He did, though, have excellent instincts but their full potential could never be exhibited.)

Lastly, 200 to 205 pounds on a 6'6" frame isn't lot of weight.  (That is exactly my height and weight, and I am called slim, slender, and even skinny at times by just about everyone.)  Can anyone think of an existing quarterback similar to Ainge in height and weight  for comparison purposes?  I'm trying to visualize him, and just can't seem to do it.

Have a great day, all.

Good post samanderson!

It's hard to say exactly where the staff ranks the QB propects they are considering. I can tell you that in my opinion they must rank Ainge pretty high. In my own findings I think Ainge is probably the 4th best out of the 4 that we are trying hard to get at this point. However, I think he has a lot of ability and I think he has a great work ethic from what I am hearing. Schaeffer, Brohm, and Lee are probably more highly rated.

Ainge is definitely considered a pocket passer. The only thing I can tell you about his other abilites is that he runs a 4.6 40 and he plays basketball as well.

I am not very good with remembering heights/weights of players but I think Peyton was around 6'5" and 210lbs when he got here (I could be off on this).

 

[Old School Vol]

Those stats and measurments reminded me of Tim Couch when he came through. This guy is obviously an athlete. An article in the KNS or somewhere said that his fastball is in the 90s and he avg. 16 ppg running the point for his BB team. Only thing that concerns me is that he played on a team that averaged about 7 wins a season. Could mean we have a stud here that despite being surronded by average players was able to throw for nearly 3K yards.

Does anyone know if he has spiked hair?

 

[GAVol]

Anybody know if he's going to enroll early and go through Spring practice?

 

[samanderson]

I surfed around the net and found out some pretty good positives on this recruit. On KNS I saw a photo of him from the waist up. He strikingly resembled Chris Simms when he reported to Texas. :angry: Let's just hope there is no resemblance between the two of them as far as giving your word is concerned!!!

The best article I could find on him was in the Tennessean. His high school coach and a former NFL player who worked with him in a camp raved over him. According to them, he is destined to "play on Sundays." Moreover, they say he is by far the best talent ever to come out of Oregon at the quarterback position. That puts him above Cade McNown!!!! The NFL camp fella said he had the strongest arm of any potential recruit he had ever seen, and that what was really scary is that he is deadly accurate.

Nothing addressed my questions about mobiliy in the pocket. What was especially encouraging, though, is that as a high school player he always went to the line after calling a set number of plays and would audible to which was to be run after he sized up the defensive set. I have never known of a high school player that a coach trusted that much. And, that should mean his learning curve with the Vol offense won't be too horribly difficult. Ainge was even quoted as saying he had a head start on that phase of the UT offensive system. This guy is also smart. He carried a 3.90 plus average through his high school graduation. I'll take this anytime over a more highly touted recruit who is sweating out the SAT.

His high school coach addresed his height as a quarterback and the experience he gained as a point guard in basketball. (I'm 6'6" and played center when I was in high school!!!!!!&#33 The coach said he sees the whole field so unusally well and at all times because of the point guard experience and because he is so tall.

With all of that said, I am now taking the wait and see posture. I am pleased he chose, so far, the Vols. BUT, I remember all too many highly touted recruits that just didn't pan out if as verbal commitments they did sign on the dotted line on letter of intent day. Ainge, though, I believe has a better than average shot at making an impact for the Vols as a recruit. (He has also promised he won't go back on the verbal. Am I wrong, or did Simms :angry: make pretty much the same promise????)

Here I will meekly admit that I get almost as much of a thrill out of the recruiting wars as I do a season of real football. The former always determines the pleasure scale of the latter.

By the way, I haven't seen a recruiting publication yet that has UT in the top 10 presently. LSU is a run away leader at his point. And, that is nationaly, not simply SEC.

Post on VOL compadres!! This is fun and I love to hear about what you have on your minds.

 

[Freak]

I agree, recruiting is a fun time of year. Good post. :thumbsup:

 

[patrick]

It is my understanding that Ainge will not be here for spring practice. He is a smart kid though and will get his playbook after he signs his letter of intent.

 

[Freak]

I haven't heard anything either about him being here in the spring. I am sure that when he does get here he will catch on quick.