Penn State commit Marcus Stokes: T-Frank's Film Room

This week, Penn State offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach Mike Yurcich added to his stockpile of quarterbacks with a three-star passer from Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Marcus Stokes. The tenacious passer chose the Nittany Lions over 13 other schools but ended his recruitment just as teams like Miami, Florida, and Florida State were joining in the fray. 

So what are the Nittany Lions getting in the follow-up to passers Drew Allar and Beau Pribula? First, we’ll get into what makes Stokes tick in his film evaluation. 

Marcus Stokes Strengths

Accuracy: If there’s one thing that stands out above all else for Stokes, he’s an incredibly accurate passer in any situation. Whether he’s delivering from a clean pocket, on the run, or with pressure in his face, Stokes can put the ball exactly where he wants it. This uncanny accuracy isn’t affected by his throwing platform either. While his arm strength may sometimes suffer, he still keeps consistency in his ball placement, which is not typical for quarterbacks. 

One special area of skill for Stokes is his deep ball accuracy. He throws an incredibly catchable pass with a high arc that drops into the bucket beautifully. He’s almost Aaron Rodgers-esque in his ability to do this from any platform. While he might not have the raw power of some other passers, he’s viciously effective in tight windows downfield. 

Delivery Mechanics/Positional aptitude: One ingredient in Stokes’ secret sauce for accuracy is his delivery. He has a lightning-quick motion with a compact movement and a quick flick at the end to generate good velocity. This delivery motion helps him make quick decisions with the football and fit it into tighter windows than most quarterbacks with his profile can. 

Penn State QB Marcus Stokes opens up about his commitment

Yet, beyond that, Stokes is just good at the position. He operates a college-level offense that has multiple passing elements. The Nease passer shows good RPO footwork, quick-passing game skills and can perform a bootleg or rolling pocket with proficiency. On top of all of that, he’s seemingly fearless with the football. He will throw the ball over the deep intermediate middle of the field and challenge single coverage if he feels he has an advantage. He also exhibits a good back-shoulder game and will throw the ball to spots in a zone to beat coverages and save hits on his receivers. So, as much as I despise the “it” factor label, it fits for Stokes.

Mobility: Whether it’s escapability in the pocket, or the ability to break off long runs for touchdowns, Stokes moves very well on the football field. He’s agile, fluid, and can evade hits in short windows. His pocket mobility is excellent, and when he’s given an open lane, he can burst into the open field and outrun high school safeties. 

Areas of Development

Size/Arm strength: There’s nothing wrong with 6-1.5, 190 pounds for a quarterback as long as he has the physical tools to deliver the ball to all parts of the field. Despite that, Stokes is undersized for the position. He’ll likely never be the classically-sized passer with a tall profile and thick stature. Instead, Stokes is lithe, agile, and mobile. One area that will have to improve is the size he presents on his current frame. Suppose the rising senior can get to 210 pounds at the end of his development. In that case, I think that is enough mass and muscle density to break the occasional tackle and improve his overall passing abilities. His ball velocity suffers because of his off-platform mechanics, so making sure he has enough arm strength to play the way he wants is critical to his long-term success. 

Consistent footwork: I’m old-school in my approach to quarterback evaluation. I prefer players to set up and deliver with their feet in the ground more than they throw off-platform. There’s no doubt that Stokes is more accurate than most quarterbacks in this area, but there are times that he throws low-velocity balls into traffic that make me uncomfortable. There’s no guarantee that it will work for him against bigger, faster, more competent defenders. 

Where Penn State football’s Class of 2023 ranks following Marcus Stokes’ commitment

In fairness, the Nease offense is built around his mobility and accuracy on the run. These issues are thanks to a bevy of screens, short RPO’s and rollouts into pressure. There’s a chance that this issue of relying on Kobe Bryant-style fade-away passes may be a product of that more than anything. In a different environment, he may not do this as frequently.

Risk Management: I love that Stokes is willing to throw the ball over the middle of the field and into tight coverage. If push came to shove, I would leave his temperament as it is. His confidence and clarity of objective are not bogged down by second-guessing, which will ultimately make him great. If I could tweak his decision-making, I’d make him more judicious when he throws off-balance into a crowd 15 yards downfield. Fixing his footwork consistency will likely help with this area anyway. 

Projection at Penn State

Starter: After watching Allar, Pribula, and Stokes, it’s clear that offensive coordinator Mike Yurich values players that can throw a good deep ball. Each of them also possesses next-level processing abilities at the position and are not toolsy projects that need to learn the game first. Stokes’ physical abilities fall somewhere on the spectrum between the two’22 QBs, but his mental aptitude rivals the best of each. 

The bottom line? Get quarterbacks that can start and win football games. You don’t know which player’s intangible spark will be the right one for your team. Penn State now has a room full of those players and one on the way with Marcus Stokes.