To say expectations are high for Jaden Rashada of Pittsburg would be a bit of an understatement.
Despite only passing for 129 yards and three TDs in very limited action last season at Liberty-Brentwood as a freshman backup quarterback to current Oregon freshman Jay Butterfield, Rashada made his mark on the recruiting analysts.
Although he was only a sophomore in a group of over 80 quarterbacks that competed at the National Preps Collegiate Showcase on November 21 at Vacaville Christian High, Rashada came into the Showcase as one of favorites for position top honors for signal callers.
After all was said and done, and the drills and competition complete, the National Preps coaches and staff evaluating the players made their decision after narrowing it down to eight finalists for the top award, and all the major analysts on hand, including 247Sports National Recruiting Editor Brandon Huffman, agreed with their selection of Rashada as the Quarterbacks MVP for the Showcase.
“It’s just a blessing,” was Jaden’s reaction to being named the QB MVP. “Also, it's notification to keep working hard and continuing to improve because when you’re named to the top a lot of people come looking for you.”
“I just went in there just trying to showcase myself, and just trying to prove why I want to be at the top one day,” continued Rashada, when asked what he felt separated him from the other quarterbacks.
What particularly distinguished Rashada at Vacaville were his footwork, lateral movement and excellent arm strength, and that obviously didn’t go unnoticed by the coaches and analysts.
When asked what he feels separates Rashada, the 247Sports top-rated dual-threat sophomore quarterback in the nation, from other sophomores, and why he thinks Rashada has so much college interest despite hardly playing in high school, Huffman had this to say.
“With Jaden, you see the arm, you see how he can move and run, you see the ability to make plays with his arm and his legs,” Huffman remarked. “He and Gabarri Johnson (from Lincoln of Tacoma, WA), our No. 2, have been backups, but have so much upside, just had to wait their turn behind D1 QBs, but may be even better than their predecessors because of their ability to make plays.”
The colleges would seem to agree as Rashada currently has warm offers from Arizona State, Auburn, Cal and Utah, cool offers from Oregon State, San Diego State and San Jose State, plus interest from several other major D1 programs.
Isn’t having so many offers and this much attention so early a little overwhelming?
“I wouldn’t say it’s overwhelming,” Rashada responded. “It’s such a blessing and I’m beyond thankful for every shot I get to continue my career, but it feels good to know my parents don’t have to stress about me going to college and I’m going for free.”
“It’s such a blessing to be in the position I’m in. So I just try to perfect my craft as much as I can so I can live up to it and be a great one day.”
He sees some of his attributes but to be “great one day” Rashada knows the areas where he needs to improve.
“I feel like my best attributes are being able to take charge in situations that are needed,” Rashada said. “Also, I feel like I’m very accurate and have a lot of velocity on my ball, but I can improve everywhere and I’m never satisfied and just need to continue to work and chase what I want every day.”
What’s a bit of a twist to the whole situation is although Jaden backed up Jay Butterfield at Liberty last year, he was not planning to return for his sophomore season at Liberty after announcing prior to the school year that he was transferring to IMG Academy in Florida.
The family’s transition with Jaden going to IMG Academy did not go as planned, so he changed his mind and upon returning it's Pittsburg where he has landed.
What’s an even bigger twist is despite his lofty status, Rashada is not the shoo-in for the starting position. According to Pittsburg head coach Vic Galli, Jaden will have to earn it in competition with fellow transfer and senior Eli Brickhandler, who starred last year at Whitney-Rocklin, and last year’s JV starter Khamani Blakney.
“My outlook on how I fit in at Pitt is that I feel like I’m an 'Air Raid' quarterback and that’s what they do,” Rashada remarked. “They always have great athletes there that work hard for their quarterback and I feel like I can come in there and work hard for them as well. I also feel like it can be harder to stop a team when they are able to do everything, and that’s where we can come in as a team and be dangerous.”
Will the top sophomore quarterback prospect in the nation win the Pirates job? Hopefully we’ll have a season and get an answer.
