the recruit: ross metheny

Will he start? Poor quarterback recruits; it gets asked every time they align themselves with a particular school, and often before. Nobody bothers to ask it when a defensive back commits, because they have a tendency to sneak onto the field undetected as part of a nickel package or something. Defensive backs put that whole butterfly effect chaos theory to rest, because when a cornerback flaps his arms in the air waving futilely at a pass destined to add six more points, it does not change the weather anywhere. Start a new quarterback, however, and Hurricane Butterfly bears down on the coast and headline writers stock up on ink.

Name: Ross Metheny
Position: QB
Hometown: Stephens City
School: Sherando
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 185
40: 4.64 (if he needs to put this skill to use though we're in trouble.)

ESPN: 73
Rivals: 5.6, three stars, #24 pro-style QB
Scout: hasn't bothered

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCRNF4SI16s
(The video is not all Metheny, all the time, it's a compilation of the pretty respectably good season Sherando had, but rest assured, whenever someone is throwing the ball to someone in the same jersey color, it's Ross.)

When Metheny committed in March it made it semi-official: We had more in-state recruits in less than two months for the class of '09 than we signed for '08.

So what to make of it? The evaluation numbers are sort of mid-grade, and the offer list is even less impressive; UConn was the only school to offer before UVA did. That probably doesn't tell the whole story though; Metheny got his offer from UVA, did a backflip or two (I don't have a link for that though), took a quick look around at a bunch of other places that had been showing interest, and committed. UGA and BC were a couple of the destinations, which counts for something.

More telling, though, is this. Metheny has been the starter since his freshman year, and Sherando has rolled to a 33-5 record in that time. What happens when they don't have Metheny? This. The obvious joke is that Metheny doesn't play defense and what, would they have lost 56-42 instead har har har. The wheels came off of that offense in spectacular fashion when Metheny left, and with them the ability to keep the defense off the field. Sherando has zero D-IA talent outside of Metheny; a few of his teammates from that season have gone on to various instate I-AA schools but powerhouse, Sherando is not. Not without Ross Metheny, anyway.

So, the unfair question: future signal-caller, or clipboard stand? Of the current QBs on the roster, only Scott Deke will be gone when Metheny arrives on Grounds. Lalich and Verica will be juniors. Metheny, despite the lukewarm reviews, comes in much more highly rated than did Verica, and more so too than Riko Smalls, our '08 QB recruit. Smalls may be destined for elsewhere on the field, however. Metheny will be a junior (or a redshirt sophomore) when Lalich departs. Barring a miracle commit from Tate Forcier, Metheny is the only 2009 QB recruit and thus should be considered to have, for now, the inside track on the starting job in 2011.