Spring football is on the horizon and football season will be back before we know it. For West Virginia, the Mountaineers will once again have an offseason where the quarterbacks will duke it out to see who will be under center in 2015.
Among the competitors theres recent commit, David Sills. Sills out of Eastern Christian Academy has the look of a quarterback and he’s backed his appearance up with excellent play while in high school.
According to Delaware Today, Sills hit the scene when he was just 13-years-old. He was offered a football scholarship by Lane Kiffin who at that time was the head coach at Southern California. Sills was the youngest prospect to ever commit to a major university football program.
He’s since revoked his commitment to Southern Cal as Kiffin has moved on and now Sills finds himself at West Virginia will he’ll be given the opportunity to compete for the starting job this spring and summer.
If you’re a “stars” kind of person when it comes to recruiting most rankings have Sills as a three-star recruit. He stands at 6-foot-4 and has been clocked at an unofficial 4.5 in the 40-yard dash, not too shabby for a sizable quarterback. Not to mention he has a tremendous arm — a pretty important attribute for a quarterback.
After National Signing day concluded, Sills was considered one of the Mountaineers’ significant signees. Another big arm to add to the mix. Sills will be up against William Crest, a highly touted prospect out of Baltimore, MD and Skyler Howard, a mobile quarterback who saw playing time last season.
Way too early predictions pitted Howard versus Crest, without the thought of Sills being in the running, but it’s hard not to believe he won’t give both men some kind of run for their money.
As mentioned, he’s built like a quarterback. He has a strong arm and has the ability to escape pressure. While he doesn’t posses the speed that Crest does, he can still wiggle around the pocket, shrug off hits and deliver a strike.
On occasion he’ll take the ball himself, but for the most part he’s a pocket passer. One critique may be that he’s not that patient while dropping back and locating a receiver. He almost seems anxious to throw. He knows he has the ability to escape and doesn’t quite give the play time to fully develop before he begins to scramble in the backfield.
This can also be chalked up to poor blocking and the pocket collapsing fast, but patience is a virtue for a quarterback and if Sills can stay calm and collected while in the pocket, he has the ability to throw darts, rockets, lasers or whatever you want to call a precise throw.
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Unlike Howard and Crest, Sills is new to the system and with head coach Dana Holgorsen being the offensive guy that he is, getting to know the offense in time for the start of the season could hinder Sills’ chances of being the go-to-guy. The offense, much like any Division-I football program, is complicated, and takes time to understand.
Howard’s got the experience after playing a few games last season and Crest’s been with the team for a season as well. Both have knowledge of Holgorsen’s offense, giving them an advantage this spring.
Just like season’s past the quarterback battle will be a focal point this offseason. Sills, Crest and Howard will all be in the limelight, but perhaps Sills is the wildcard who shocks us all.
Cody Wells contributed to this article.