Tennessee has been a little quiet in their 2019 class when it comes to recruiting quarterbacks. The Vols’ coaching staff have offered a decent amount of quarterback prospects, but they’ve not really been pursuing many signal callers with fervor. And they haven’t put out any new offers lately either.
But the Vols just offered a new quarterback in the class, and that could change UT’s approach to the position in this cycle.
Brendon Clark is a pro-style quarterback from Midlothian, Virginia, and he picked up two big offers on the same day. According to Rivals.com, both the Vols and Clemson sent out offers to him on the same day. He’s been committed to Wake Forest since July of 2017, but other schools are starting to pursue him. He adds those offers from Tennessee and Clemson to offers from Maryland and noted quarterback expert David Cutcliffe at Duke.
Clark participated in the Elite 11 Charlotte Regional in April, and he impressed the scouts there. According to Barton Simmons of 247Sports, Clark was the MVP of the quarterbacks who participated there.
“On a windy day, Clark showcased good consistency and also was one of the most athletic among an athletic group of passers,” Simmons said of Clark. He outperformed players like four-star Florida commit Jalon Jones and four-star Mississippi State commit Garrett Shrader according to Simmons.
Right now, Clark is rated as just a three-star by recruiting services. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Clark is the No. 610 overall player and No. 19 pro-style quarterback in the 2019 class.
But Clark’s film shows off a quarterback who could end up being rated higher by the end of the 2019 cycle than he is right now.
The 6-foot-2, 209 pound quarterback has an impressive arm, and he has a lot of confidence in his throwing ability. Clark is very accurate on his throws, and he’s extremely athletic too. He’s a very mobile quarterback who can escape pressure in the pocket and is very dangerous as a runner too. He’ll need to work on his mechanics as he has a tendency to push his throws, but those are generally issues that can be worked out.
As a junior for Manchester High School, Clark completed 60.7 percent of his 272 passes for 2,006 yards, 28 touchdowns, and just four interceptions according to MaxPreps. He also ran for 688 yards and 12 touchdowns on 130 carries. In 30 games in his high school career, Clark has 4,821 passing yards and 1,293 rushing yards as well as 67 total touchdowns and just 19 total turnovers.
The Vols don’t currently have a quarterback committed in their 2019 class, and they’re also not heavily pursuing many players at the position. But Clark figures to be someone Tennessee’s coaches start making a priority, and Wake Forest will be hard pressed to hold on to him in this class.
