After picking up Perry Hills last weekend, Maryland has picked up another quarterback for their growing 2012 class – South Carolina signal caller Caleb Rowe. Rowe is the fifth player in Maryland’s 2012 class, joining Roman Braglio, Mike Madaras, Nick Brigham, and Hills.
Naturally, Rowe was not a part of our rather lengthy list of possible QB targets because why the hell would he be? Also, while the kid has scored some major positive reviews from analysts in recent weeks thanks to performing very, very well at camps at Clemson and Maryland, his ratings (and offers) don’t show it: he’s unranked by Rivals and Scout and is put at two stars (as the #109 quarterback) by ESPN.
Maryland was not only Rowe’s first BCS offer, it was his first FBS offer. The only other two schools to offer him were Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian. That’s not the whole story, though – he had received interest from Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and South Carolina, among others.
JC Shurburtt of 24/7 sports said he really likes Caleb Rowe , while Michael Burns of Tigersnow.com said he thought Rowe stole the show from Clemson commit Chad Kelly, the nephew of Hall-of-Famer Jim, at a recent camp.
Rowe, listed at 6’3″ and anywhere from 173 to 211 pounds (the 211 is Rivals and I trust them), is also the first commitment brought in by new running backs coach Andre Powell, formerly of, you guessed it, Clemson. Looks like that South Carolina connection helped out here.
In his junior season, Rowe threw for 2,689 yards with 27 touchdowns against four interceptions and was named to all-state, all-region and all-county teams, according to his highlight video. Let’s watch that tape after the jump:
There are things to like, and there are things not to like. First off, he has great mobility in the pocket. He’s not incredibly fast, but he makes up for that with great field vision and escapability (a la Ben Roethlisberger). He’s also got a pretty accurate arm, and throws a decent over-the-shoulder ball from about twenty yards out and a pretty good slant pattern, too.
However, he’s got an extremely long throwing motion, probably due to the fact that he doesn’t have a strong arm. I’ve always been an accuracy over power guy in the first place, but this kid can’t throw a 10-yard out route (it’s what killed Colt Brennan in the pros). Now, college coordinators can gameplan around this, but the main thing is he doesn’t really have an ACC-caliber throwing arm. From what I can see he has the mind of a good quarterback – he’s aware of what’s going on in and around the pocket, throws the ball where it needs to go (for the most part, within a certain distance), and makes the right call – but it’s the strength of his arm that is worrisome and that can get him in trouble.
Regardless, welcome to the Terrapin family, Caleb. Gary Crowton has a pretty good track record with quarterbacks, and we’re excited to see him work with you and Perry.