Jeff Monken has signed one of the top Army recruiting classes in years. Armysports.com will now review the class, position atby position. In this segment we discuss the quarterbacks.
Armysports.com reviews the projected offensive players from the Black Knights’ 2015 recruiting class. While national signing day tends to be the be-all and end-all for BCS programs, the service academies will continue to fill their 2014 direct and prep rosters. This isn’t the final commitment list and Jeff Monken will look to sign more players.
The Army spread option offense is quarterback driven and the Black Knights need to upgrade the talent and improve its play at the position if it hopes to turn the program around. Army landed Scout three star recruit Kelvin Hopkins (5-9″, 187) from Independence high school in North Carolina. Hopkins is a confident dual threat quarterback who threw 60 touchdowns passes during his high school career. He completed 129-of-240 passes (53.8%) for 1,941 passing yards with 23 touchdown passes against seven interceptions. Hopkins ran 93 times for 640 rushing yards, a 6.9 average and 11 touchdowns. Kelvin had an even better junior season. He threw for 2,724 passing yards (60.7) with 29 touchdowns and while running for 579 yards and nine touchdowns. Hopkins displays a strong arm and can drive the ball deep. Hopkins has quick feet but has average at best speed. He ran a disappointing 5.05 forty yard time at an ESPN high school combine.
Quarterback Troy Smith is an exciting two-star 6-foot, 185 pound quarterback from Harker Heights, Texas. As a senior he completed 13-of-242 (54.2%) for 2,108 passing yards and 21 touchdowns against seven interceptions. Smith ran for 543 yards on 117 carries with seven rushing touchdowns. Smith is a terrific athlete who posted a impressive 96.54 SPARQ Rating at an ESPN combine. Smith showed excellent arm strength, a legit 4.64 forty yard dash and a good 4.28 20- yard shuttle. Smith’s father served 16 years in the Army before he retired and his mom works as a registered nurse for the VA. Smith also served as his team’s punter and excelled at basketball and track.
William James from Morgan Park high school in Illinois is the biggest of the quarterback recruits at 6-2″ and 206 pounds. James played for three different high schools. He played on both sides of the ball as a senior. James completed 144 of his 269 passes (53.5%) for 947 yards. He ran for 1,008 rushing yards while on defense he posted 21 tackles, eight for loss and picked off one pass. James is a big and athletic but is raw quarterback. He demonstrated his natural ability when he was named quarterback MVP last spring at the NUC high school combine. He’s expected to start his career at the United States Military Academy Prep school.
Malik McGue (5-8″, 170) was a four-year quarterback starter at Science Hill high school in Tennessee. McGue was named his Conference Player of the Year in 2014. He threw for 2,320 yards and ran for 1,171 yards with 47 combined touchdowns. He was a Tennessee Mr. Football Award finalist last year. McGue told Armysports.com’s Richard Stover that “Army would like me to play slotback but they said they’ll give me a chance at quarterback.” McGue selected Army over offers from Austin Peay, Murray State, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State and Tennessee State.