With the bye week in progress and the coaches out on the recruiting trail, the Longhorns received a bit of a surprise commitment from Dallas (TX) Cistercian Prep quarterback Matthew Merrick. Merrick has been on the Texas recruiting radar for some time, but was being recruited as a preferred walk on candidate. On Friday the Horns upped their offer to make it a full scholarship greyshirt offer and Merrick jumped all over it. The offer has the potential to become a regular scholarship offer if the Horns have the numbers at the end of this recruiting cycle.
As a greyshirt, Merrick will enroll in the Spring of 2016 and will count against the next recruiting class numbers. The use of this rule allows the Longhorns to stay flexible in their class numbers and add some separation in a two quarterback class that also features Zach Gentry. Merrick is a developmental quarterback who is new to the position. As a prospect with a good deal of tools to work with, Merrick will spend time early in his career trying to fine tune the parts of his game that other players learn by experience. Since moving to the position Merrick has been very productive and it’s obvious the Longhorns have been keeping tabs on that. A two quarterback class is probably the maximum number the staff will take at the position, so this commitment should close the book on quarterback recruiting for the year. Merrick chose the Longhorns over offers from Colorado State and Nevada.
Film Analysis:
Merrick has good size (6’2, 182) with the ability to add more weight. The first thing that is noticeable on film is his arm strength and surprising deep touch. Merrick’s accuracy down the field looks to be right on the mark and his throws show good timing and loft. While not a plus athlete, Merrick shows the ability to move in and out of the pocket to extend plays with his feet. Even though he is not quick in small spaces, Merrick shows good coordination and long strides with sneaky elusiveness when he decides to run it.
His lack of experience at the position shows as he struggles a bit with squaring his shoulders while throwing on the run, and has issues getting his feet set in the pocket. Merrick also tends to release off of his back foot every once in a while which leads to reduced arm strength and accuracy.
Merrick plays in a multi-read spread offense but will probably have a lot of work to do at the next level to be able to recognize coverages and make multiple reads at a quicker rate. Most of his film is of him throwing downfield, so I’d like to see him live to assess how he makes the short and intermediate throws. A comparison of last year’s film has shown massive improvement in just one season.
Final Verdict:
This pickup won’t make any waves nationally but seems like a shrewd move from the Texas coaching staff. The quarterback position has lacked depth for the past few seasons and Merrick provides a developmental prospect who could potentially turn out to be a solid player. Quarterback may be the most difficult position in sports to play so it’s almost impossible to predict his future, especially considering that he is new to the position. If forced to project him, I would say his ceiling is probably that of a quality starter at the college football level who could play in the pro’s as a late round or undrafted player.
