Bulldogs have another big day recruiting, including a commitment from a quarterback
Fresno State has an interesting history recruiting prep quarterbacks going back more than a few years now, under coaches Jeff Tedford, Tim DeRuyter and to the latter Pat Hill years.
Since Derek Carr departed after the 2013 season with a long list of school and conference records in tow, the Bulldogs have had to rely mostly on transfer quarterbacks from FBS programs or junior colleges.
They hit a home run with Marcus McMaryion, a graduate transfer from Oregon State, who led them to 21 wins including two in bowl games and a 2018 Mountain West championship.
Their high school quarterbacks, though, have not advanced much. Starting in 2011, six in a row left the program before their eligibility expired, ending their careers elsewhere.
But coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff might have hit the target in 2021, landing a commitment from Jaylen Henderson from Chaminade High in West Hills on what was a big Saturday for recruiting.
“He has a lot of upside, for sure,” said Greg Biggins, a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports. “He’s not even close to tapping his full potential.”
Fresno State also on Saturday received a commitment from 3-star offensive tackle Braylen Nelson (6-5, 310) from Vista Peak High in Aurora, Colo., who like Henderson had a long list of scholarship offers including one from Colorado in the Pac-12, and is regarded as one of the top prospects in that state.
Henderson, the Bulldogs’ 2021 quarterback, had more than 25 FBS offers with many from Power Five programs, and chose Fresno State over Vanderbilt.
“I’ve seen him a lot,” Biggins said. “He’s a classic late bloomer. He was at Narbonne. They had Jake Garcia, who is a USC commit, so he transferred after his sophomore season to Chaminade, which is a really good school.
“So, last year was really his first year playing. He’s athletic. He has a strong arm. You can move the pocket with him. You can run zone read with him. He’s really good at extending a play, making a couple of guys miss, and he doesn’t seem to panic. He’s a pretty mature kid for only starting for one year. He has a nice feel for the position.”
The Bulldogs did on Friday lose defensive tackle David Gusta from Cajon High in San Bernardino, who is now committed to Washington State. But Henderson and Nelson, Biggins said, are two strong additions to a 2021 recruiting class that has picked up considerably over the past week.
Fresno State on Thursday received commitments from offensive lineman Rolan Fullwood (6-5, 305) and running back Johnathan Arceneaux from Lawndale High in Southern California. It also received commitments over the past week from tight end Tre Watson (6-5, 222) from Cleveland High in Rio Rancho High, N.M. and San Joaquin Memorial High running back Jordan Hornbeak (6-0, 195).
The Bulldogs earlier had received commitments from safety Julian Neal (6-4, 195) from San Francisco-Mission High, defensive tackle Julius Lewis (6-6, 290) from Modesto-Central Catholic and running back Malik Brooks (6-1, 200) from Las Vegas-Desert Pines.
“They’re doing really well,” Biggins said. “The staff as a whole has done a really good job of being super-aggressive and recruiting kids hard, having multiple coaches involved.”
This story was originally published July 18, 2020 at 5:05 PM.