Flathead High School’s Brock Osweiler has been named the Gatorade Montana Football Player of the Year. My lack of surprise doesn’t take anything away from the significance of the award. But really, was the award going to go to anybody else? Osweiler, who is the greatest high school quarterback I have ever seen in person, wrapped up his senior season by breaking the school records for touchdown passes in a year (29), total yards (3,463) and total touchdowns (42).
Osweiler, 6 feet 8 and 235 pounds, is graduating high school early to head down to Arizona State University in January. Osweiler has a verbal commitment to play quarterback for the Sun Devils and will be battling for the starting position with a couple of other talented QBs, including Jack Elway. Click on this link for a profile I recently wrote on Osweiler.
Many people, including his own coaches and opposing coaches, believe Osweiler could play in the NFL. Of course, this conversation is premature, but fun nonetheless. He is as athletic as any 18-year-old quarterback you’ll find, not to mention he’s huge. There’s no quarterback as tall as him in the NFL.
With the Gatorade award, Osweiler now qualifies for the Gatorade National Player of the Year.
There’s certainly plenty of power in Osweiler’s arm, but what makes him a truly gifted passer is his uncanny accurateness, along with his innate ability to see the entire field. For shorter receivers, Osweiler seamlessly adjusts the trajectory on his throws. For taller receivers, he knows how to put the ball where only they can catch it.
I wish Osweiler the best at ASU, but I do so with a tinge of melancholy. I love football, but basketball has always been my sport and Osweiler is the best high school basketball player I’ve seen in the state of Montana. But after he dropped his verbal commitment to play at Gonzaga, he made it clear that his basketball career appears to be over. He won’t play for Flathead this winter either, since he is graduating early.
But football is his chosen sport, so I’ll gladly jump on the bandwagon. I look forward to watching Osweiler at ASU over these upcoming years. He’s a special athlete and we’ll likely never see one like him again around here.