Class 3A Underclassman Stats and Analysis: QB

The Iowa High School season is underway and a majority of teams are three weeks in, whereas some teams have had to take a week or two off because of COVID-19 concerns. I am taking a look at the statistics provided by ia.varsitybound.com and watched film on the highest producing underclassman signal callers, running backs, and receivers and broken them down. Here are the QB’s that have impressed so far this season:   Sophomore QB, Tyler Smith, Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School - 5’9, 175 lbs. Stat line: 617 passing yards, 5:2 TD/INT Ratio, 68.6% completion percentage, 142.6 passer rating, 15 rushing attempts, 75 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 5 yards per carry Breakdown: For most of the early part of this season Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s offense has been firing on all cylinders. That all starts with the signal-caller Tyler Smith. Only a sophomore starting QB, Smith is a smart QB proven by his low TD to INT ratio and knows where to go with the football. Smith has good pocket presence knowing when to step up, move side-to-side, or get out of the pocket because of pressure and this is developing as well. He’s athletic in the sense that he can escape pressure with quick moves, and he has a good rushing total on the season so far as well so he’s capable of running the football. One thing I liked is his ability to throw his receivers open with his throws. Sometimes receivers get covered up and the QB has to deliver a ball into space and Smith does that at times which is impressive for a young QB. Will be looking for growth in Smith’s game going forward, but he has a good starting point so far this season. Sophomore QB, [player_tooltip player_id="24026" first="Dallas" last="Sauser"], Grinnell High School - 6’1, 140 lbs. Stat line: 587 passing yards, 6:0 TD/INT Ratio, 54.3% completion percentage, 124.7 passer rating, 3 rushing attempts, 10 rushing yards, 3.3 yards per carry Breakdown: Grinnell’s [player_tooltip player_id="24026" first="Dallas" last="Sauser"] started at QB as a freshman, and is looking to continue success going in his sophomore season and he hasn’t disappointed so far. Posting good numbers so far for the Tigers, Sauser has a nice, quick release. The lefty is good on the go, and can deliver an accurate pass to his receivers. Sauser understands routes well and throws a timely ball to his receivers that will catch them right as they break. That shows good maturity in knowing where the ball should go pre-snap. The class of 2023 has several notable signal-callers in the state of Iowa, and Sauser will be on those lists going forward the more he can develop his body and arm strength, though he has arm strength already to build on. Sophomore QB, Teagon Kasperbauer, Harlan High School - 6’0, 170 lbs. Stat line: 705 passing yards, 7:8 TD/INT Ratio, 51.4% completion percentage, 133.7 passer rating Breakdown: Kasperbauer and Harlan have squared off with another QB already on this list in Sauser from Grinnell, and got the better of them. Teagon Kasperbauer is an intriguing prospect because he likes to shoot the ball downfield and picks up good yardage totals, but also needs to improve on his accuracy and taking care of the ball. He’s a young, starting QB on a good class 3A team so with time those things will improve with more time and attention to detail. What I do like his willingness to go down field with the arm strength he possesses. He does show a nice touch on lofted passes for the most part, and has the qualities to build upon it. Another thing about being a QB is the speed of the game, and Kasperbauer seems to be up to it. He shows good timing on his passes to his receivers and gets it to them when they’re open. All things considered, Kasperbauer is another 2023 QB who could make noise in this state before his time is over, with some work and attention to detail he has the ability to take his team deep into the season. Junior QB, Colin Buch, Benton Community High School - 6’1, 185 lbs. Stat line: 286 passing yards, 1:6 TD/INT Ratio, 61.7% completion percentage, 112.8 passer rating, 45 rushing attempts, 195 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD’s, 4.3 yards per carry Breakdown: When you look at the passing statistics, they are kind of an anomaly. Buch is an efficient passer, exemplified by his completion percentage, and positive passing yards shown by his passing yards total, but the TD/INT ratio is a little confusing. I would consider some of that to be bad luck on tipped passes, etc. but that will obviously be a component to work on and improve the rest of the year as keeping the ball is an important stat in football. That being said, Buch is obviously important to his team’s rushing attack. He is the second leading rusher in attempts on his team, only 6 behind the first place player. He is an athletic, dual-threat type QB. A lot of his throws come on the run as he is sprinting out to either side and delivering a pass and he does a nice job getting his shoulders square to his target. Buch and his ability to run or throw will be a tool to be used for Benton. Junior QB, Brock Sell, Glenwood High School - 6’2, 185 lbs. Stat line: 454 passing yards, 7:0 TD/INT Ratio, 44.6% completion percentage, 103.3 passer rating, 33 rushing attempts, 152 rushing yards, 5 rushing TD’s, 4.6 yards per carry Breakdown: Brock Sell is a positive QB. Whether he’s running or passing the football he makes positive plays for his team to put them in a winning position. Though I would like to see his completion percentage improve overall, I believe that takes a hit with Sell’s willingness to push the ball downfield to his big WR’s like [player_tooltip player_id="23889" first="Ryan" last="Blum"]. When going through his reads Sell is good at getting the ball out on time to his receivers who can catch in stride to gain positive yardage. The important thing in Sell’s game is that he is patient with it, he is willing to go through his progressions and wait for an open receiver even if it’s not his #1 read on the play. He is mobile in the pocket and understands where pressure is coming from in the pocket to move away from it. Sell adds a dimension on the ground who will punch it through on short yardage situations and gives defenses another player to plan for. Sell has good groundwork to build upon the next 2 years. Junior QB, Caleb Kats, Boyden-Hull Rock Valley High School - 5’11, 150 lbs. Stat line: 538 passing yards, 5:6 TD/INT Ratio, 41.8% completion percentage, 91.5 passer rating, 34 rushing attempts, 82 rushing yards, 2 rushing TD’s, 2.4 yards per carry, 2 receptions, 68 receiving yards, 34 yards per catch Breakdown: As you can see by Caleb Kats’ stat line, he is a do-it-all type player for the Nighthawks. I like him in the QB category for now, as that’s where he takes most snaps during a game. The junior QB has a good baseline of attributes to play the position moving forward, and where he excels the best at is on the move. He is able to get outside the pocket and buy time for his receivers to get open, or he is able to find space and make a play by tucking the ball. Kats will need to work on his accuracy and ball security, but that can come with experience at the position and fine tuning some techniques. He’s obviously a dual-threat, even a triple-threat, type QB who is a willing, and positive runner. The more he can pass from the pocket or find positive plays on the drop-back the better and more dangerous he will be on the ground. Kats is an interesting prospect on a good team and will be one to keep an eye on going forward this year. Junior QB, Caden Matson, Humboldt High School - 6’0, 180 lbs. Stat line: 417 passing yards, 5:0 TD/INT Ratio, 68.3% completion percentage, 153.7 passer rating, 40 rushing attempts, 349 rushing yards, 7 rushing TD’s, 8.7 yards per carry Breakdown: The numbers that Matson is putting up so far this season only 3 weeks into play are pretty good to say the least. As is shown by the data, Matson is a dual-threat QB who is able to hurt you with his feet or with his arm and doesn’t make mistakes doing either. He’s an efficient passer and runner and that puts a lot of pressure on the defense to try to stop him. As a QB throwing the ball, Matson has a short, compact delivery that is accurate to his receivers. His best passing attribute is being able to pass on the move whether that be in play-action, designed roll-out, or a scramble situation. He is good about getting downhill on his throws and getting his shoulders square with his target. Humboldt, as a team, have been good and there’s a large part that falls on Matson and should continue as long as he stays consistent. Sophomore QB, Isaac Harris, Fairfield High School - 6’0, 160 lbs. Stat line: 296 passing yards, 4:1 TD/INT Ratio, 31.1% completion percentage, 86.4 passer rating, 17 rushing attempts, 32 rushing yards, 1.9 yards per carry Breakdown: The Fairfield offense has struggled for times during the early ongoing season, but Isaac Harris is someone who is a highlight. Only a sophomore currently, Harris has a lot to develop and grow in, but he has some tools to like already as well. Harris is a good deep ball thrower, and uses touch nicely when pushing the ball downfield. He has athleticism and speed in order to handle pressure in the pocket, and allow himself to get outside of the pocket when needed. He can spread the ball around well on the run with his lanky frame as he ups the percentage with the angles he’s able to give himself. Look for Harris to step up over the course of the year, and next 3 years to be the go-to on the field. Once he develops more accuracy and some other technique things that come with time he could be a nice prospect at the end. Sophomore QB, Justin Thomas, Waterloo East High School - 5’9, 175 lbs. Stat line: 269 passing yards, 1:3 TD/INT Ratio, 27.7% completion percentage, 75.8 passer rating Breakdown: Now sometimes statistics don’t tell the whole story for a young QB. I believe that is the case here with Justin Thomas out of Waterloo East High School. Thomas has tools that he can build on to have a good, long-term high school career if/when he fine tunes some attributes. Things I like so far about Thomas’ game are that he has good baseline footwork that will help him the pocket as he goes, he has an accurate throwing motion, and he has a good throwing motion to work on. No doubt, there’s things to work on for Thomas, but the tools are there and I’ll be excited to check back in 3 years to see how his senior year went. Sophomore QB, Colby Collison, Bondurant-Farrar High School - 6’3, 185 lbs. Stat line: 259 passing yards, 3:3 TD/INT Ratio, 59% completion percentage, 114.8 passer rating, 18 rushing attempts, 30 rushing yards, 1.7 yards per carry Breakdown: Colby Collison is what I would call a pocket QB who has the ability to extend plays with his feet when needed. Colby as an overall QB prospect is an intriguing one as he has a nice frame to start with as a young, sophomore. He is tall, and already starting to fill out his frame as well. Collison anticipates the pass well on routes, and understands where the ball needs to go in most cases. When he is scrambling or on a roll-out Collison did something a little different than the others on this list, where he likes to get setup and deliver a pass. He does so effectively as well, which allows him to throw more power behind his throws and ups his accuracy. Though I’ve seen Collison play basketball, and he has a future there, he could also do the same on the football field.