Merrick On Board

AUSTIN — Occam’s razor played out in the case of Texas and Dallas Cistercian Prep quarterback, Matthew Merrick. The fewest assumptions of why Merrick wasn’t on campus yet, was, it wasn’t known if he was the best quarterback option for Texas to bring in late to the class. The agreement the two parties made was that he would be a grayshirt offer and arrive in January of 2016 at which point he would be on scholarship.

With the last trickle of sand passing through the hourglass for Texas landing a unicorn transfer quarterback ahead of the season, and there being room within the class, the brain trust made the logical decision to bring Merrick in a semester early and start preparing him to compete as soon as possible.

He joins Maryland’s Kai Locksley as quarterbacks in the class.

We’ve discussed the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Merrick quite a bit, but if you’ve forgotten his traits, we’ll re-hash.

In some ways he’s similar to 2016 and 2017 quarterback commits, Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger, namely, he has a good arm (the best of the three at this point) and sneaky athleticism. Where he differs is he’s much more of a freelancer and doesn’t much care for silly things like setting his feet and squaring his shoulders. This will have to change. He got away with it some at the previous level, but still put himself into too much trouble with his cavalier style. In each of his junior and senior years he threw 14 interceptions, a high number for an FBS quarterback recruit. Still, his ability to keep his eyes downfield while under duress and make impressive throws is soft clay worth taking a chance on.

You may notice his highlights have over 27,000 views. How can that be for an unheralded grayshirt offer from an unheralded high school? Easy, both Florida and Texas A&M had sincere interest in Merrick. In the end, Merrick stayed true to his word, as did Texas.

In the early going Merrick should provide great scout team looks as his arm makes you defend the entirety of the field and his athleticism must be at least accounted for as he does well buying time to throw. He has a long way to go, but there really is no rush with Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard effectively running 1A and 1B.

By January Texas will be looking at a depth chart of Tyrone Swoopes (SR), Jerrod Heard (SO), Kai Locksley (RS FR), Matthew Merrick (RS FR) and Shane Buechele (FR). Obviously I’m assuming both Locksley and Merrick redshirt, but we’re finally seeing bodies at the position as opposed to last year. Now, Texas just needs the law of averages to play out.

Excerpt from the Recruiting Notebook (8-7-14):

Matthew Merrick – QB (Cistercian Prep (Irving) (2015)
Hudl: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/521042/matthew-merrick

How does he fit at Texas: If you haven’t seen the HUDL, Merrick throws some insane, deep touch passes on the run that remind me of Teddy Bridgewater. His accuracy on the run alone makes him a great potential fit for Watson’s system and he has a great knack for keeping his eyes downfield when scrambling out of the pocket which is a nightmare for DC’s in an era of man coverage. Overall he shares a lot of traits with other creative Big 12 QBs like Jake Waters or Todd Reesing, except he’s 6-foot-3 rather than 6′ flat. – IB

Coach says: I’m often skeptical of private school players because of the level of competition, but this kid is growing on me a bit. The first throw on his tape is a BIG boy throw and for a guy who is just now focusing full time on football, he isn’t even close to scratching the surface of his potential. Being a former basketball player he is an above average athlete and it shows as he is often running for his life behind a crappy offensive line. Will be interesting to see how he develops.

How does this affect Texas: Merrick is a prep school kid with skills. I wonder about his competition but Watson loves him so he’s OK in my book. I get the feeling UT wants Merrick as a Plan B or C in case Gentry strangely changed his mind. He told me he’ll sign with UT if offered, hell he might take the walk-on spot the way he talks. Texas tells guys they aren’t taking two in 2015. I think they’re not taking just anybody. It would have to be a Kai Locksley type. Athletic enough to change positions but still good enough to succeed at signal-caller. Note: When Locksley committed to FSU, Watson called Merrick within the hour. There’s legitimate interest here. – JW