Wahooze on the Trail: QB Update

As previously stated in the Quarterbacks installment of Wahooze on the Trail, one of the big time Quarterbacks in the state of Virginia this season was Christian Hackenberg. At 6-4 215lbs. Hackenberg has all the tools to be a great pro-style QB. Which is why it stings a little to see that Hackenberg committed to Penn State yesterday.

While we did not predict Hackenberg to committ to UVA we did think that of the big 3 QB's in the state, we certainly had the best shot with him because his father is a UVA football alum. However upon further examination it becomes easy to see why Hackenberg would choose to go to Penn State. A player of his caliber playing for a coach who runs a pro-style offense and has a history of success developing quarterbacks for the NFL and having the oppurtunity to be the face of the revival of Penn State, the college that he and his father grew up rooting for due to his family's roots in western Pennsylvania, it's almost too good to pass up.

That being said this should not effect the recruiting approach too much. Bucky Hodges is still the number one target at QB for the Hoos. The one interesting ramification is what this means for Ryan Burns, who many thought to be a Penn State lean. Both Burns and Hackenberg were at the Penn State Junior Day this weekend and there are grumblings the both may end up committing. That would be quite the haul for the Penn State program, and it really comes down to the school vs. the desire for playing time. Burns has a long list of offers including Stanford, which given the success of Andrew Luck, might be the frontrunner at this point. UVA will need to turn up the heat on Burns to get him here, but this could be an oppurtunity.

The people this benefits the most are Brendan Marshall of Good Counsel, and Corwin Cutler of Ocean Lakes. Both those players are on the second tier of consideration behind the big 3. This also lets the coaches begin to focus on two new names, Shane Cockerille of the Gilman School (Baltimore, MD), and Kevin Olsen of Wayne Hills (Wayne, NJ). The Hoos will take a QB this class, but star power is very much up in the air. As more big time QB's come off the board the scope will start to narrow, but as of now we are still in hot pursuit of Burns and Hodges. We'll let you know if anything else happens!