By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
When MaxPreps National Football Editor Steve Spiewak watched Garrett Gilbert this summer in a Texas 7-on-7 Tournament, he like everyone else, had one impression.
What an arm.
But it might just have been Gilbert’s legs that catapulted him to one of the country’s top high school honor — The Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) senior quarterback has rushed for a remarkable 18 touchdowns thus far in just 84 attempts – a score every 4.4 carries — to go with 557 yards, which includes sacks.
Oh yes, and he’s thrown for 4,231 yards and 48 more touchdowns while completing 256 of 372 passes.
He’s thrown just five interceptions.
It’s no wonder that the Cavaliers, the defending Texas 4A-I champions, are 14-0 heading into Saturday’s semifinal game against Friendswood.
And frankly, it’s really of little surprise that Gilbert, the son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert, was picked Tuesday over the 49 other state Players of the Year selected by Gatorade.
“I think we were all expecting a big season,” Spiewak said. “But definitely what has stood out to me is not only what he’s done with his arm but his legs. No one can pigeon hole him strictly as a dropback quarterback.”
Make no mistake, he’s done a real good job chucking it around throughout his career.
Thus far, he ranks second in Texas state history to former Ennis High and current Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, with 129 touchdown passes. He also ranks second all-time in passing attempts and completions (he’s completed 849 of 1,304 for 11,918 yards) behind former Baytown Lee High and current Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Drew Tate.
“I don’t know what to say about the kid but he just absolutely dominated,” said MaxPreps Texas Territory Manager Sam Ritter, who writes an extensive weekly Texas football column, The Ritter Report. “He’s just a phenomenal athlete, a difference maker.”
Ritter said the 2009 Texas football class of blue chip recruits is filled with quarterbacks, but Gilbert “clearly is at the head of the class.”
He’s literally the head of most classrooms with a 3.78 grade point average and last spring he committed to the University of Texas, which currently sports a pretty fair dual quarterback Colt McCoy, who announced on Tuesday he’s going to stay for his senior season in 2009.
McCoy may be the perfect mentor for Gilbert, though Cedar Park coach Chris Ross thinks that the incoming freshman could help push any college quarterback..
“(Gilbert is) on another level,” Ross said. “I’ve coached 14 years and I’ve coached kids who’ve gone on to play in the NFL and against kids who’ve gone on to play in the NFL and I’ve never been on a football field with a player like him before. I’ve met him personally and got to talk to him a number of times and you can tell immediately that he’s unique. He’s unbelievably impressive as a person and as a quarterback.”
Gilbert joins an illustrious group of quarterbacks among those who have won the Gatorade national award over the last three decades: among others, Peyton Manning, Tim Couch, Joe Mauer, Chris Walsh and Jeff George.
Last year, current Mater Dei (Anaheim, Calif.) senior Matt Barkley won the honor, the first junior ever to do so.
This is the first of many awards Gilbert is expected to win, especially if Lake Travis goes on to win its second straight state crown.
“Right now he looks like the best candidate,” said Spiewak, who leads the MaxPreps team to pick the National Player of the Year award. “At this point it would be hard to deny him.”
Look for the MaxPreps All-American football team in early Jan.
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
See previous Gatorade national football winners. Click here.
Youtube video on Gilbert. Click here.
