Projecting the Future: Nathan Peterman

NATHAN PETERMAN, 6-2, 205 QB FRUIT COVE, FLA. [BARTRAM TRAIL HS]

Ratings: Rivals 4* No. 10 pro-style quarterback, Scout 3* No. 18 quarterback, ESPN 3* No. 39 quarterback, 247 3* No. 15 pro-style quarterback. Chose UT over UCONN, Cincinnati, Florida, Florida State, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Florida International [note: Scout has him with Florida and FSU offers. Miami, South Florida and Nebraska called to gauge his interest in the past month].

STRENGTHS: His mechanics are definitely drastically improved from his junior season. He camped at UT, and coaches loved the way he had re-tooled his dropback and throwing motion, which earned him an offer. From his film, I'm very impressed with him reading through his progressions and giving his receivers time to get open. His arm strength was raved about in the Offense-Defense All-Star game in which he recently participated, earning him "best arm strength" and coaches talked about how well he threw the deep ball and outs. Also, a lot like Tyler Bray, he weaves very well away from pressure. His mechanics are much better, too, than they were. He now holds the ball high and looks over defenses better. He is a mid-term enrollee, which greatly helped Bray and Justin Worley the past two years. Peterman was an academic All-American and is a student of the game, so he will be able to come in and learn the offense. Won Offense Defense Scholar Athlete of the Year Award.

NEEDS WORK: I'm still not in love with his release point, and that will need some work once he gets to practicing. Also, though 6-foot-2 is plenty tall enough, he's on the low end of that [looks like 6-1 to me] and still a bit wiry. He needs some time in the weight room to fill out. Though he isn't the most mobile quarterback, he does enough in the pocket where that's not a weakness. He appears a bit of a gunslinger, which is good in the sense that he's not timid. He just needs to harness it well.

CREDENTIALS: He earned a camp offer at UT, loved it and committed shortly thereafter. Though he wasn't necessarily well-known prior to that, he had a standout senior season, leading Bartram Trail to its first ever state championship game appearance, and he received a big boost in Rivals' rankings. Other services have discussed moving him up though he's still a three-star everywhere else. As a junior, he earned second Team All-First Coast by Florida Times-Union. He threw for 2,016 yards and 20 touchdowns, with only six picks. This past year, he threw for 36 touchdowns and 2,940 yards before losing to No. 2 Armwood. According to Rivals:

"Mauk and Peterman are both accurate passers who can sling the ball around," said Offense-Defense Director of Player Personnel Josh Buchanan, "Mauk compares to Chase Daniel while Peterman's accuracy will make him a hard player to keep off the field at UT."

OPTIMISTIC CEILING: I really like Peterman, and after his senior film came out, it's obvious to see why UT coaches loved him so much and offered him so early. He was a scouting gem and easily the best quarterback in the state of Florida this year. Peterman has two qualities I LOVE in young signal-callers -- No. 1 he's fearless and No. 2 he is very intelligent. That sounds a lot like Worley, but even though Worley has two inches on him, Peterman's skill set is probably better. I am very excited about him at UT, and I believe he'll battle Worley for the starting spot once Bray's playing days are done.