In addition to signing QB Manny Wilkins, a highly rated dual-threat QB, ASU also inked Coltin Gerhart as a quarterback.
Gerhart is the younger brother of Garth Gerhart (ASU alum) and Toby Gerhart (Stanford alum) and hails from Norco, CA. Gerhart is an athlete in every sense of the word. He was recruited as a dual threat quarterback as well as a safety. Gerhart turned down scholarship offers from Nebraska, Oklahoma, Duke and Iowa State, among others.
The recruiting services list Gerhart’s intelligence and decision-making as one of his many assets. He’s also a physical specimen at 6’0″, 200 pounds. Coaches and scouts that are familiar with ASU compare him to current QB Taylor Kelly. Some say he may even be a better passer.
No doubt, Gerhart is an impressive athlete. There was still some talk about having Gerhart play defense. That option is always on the table. But ASU head coach seems settled at having him play quarterback. This will make things interesting down the road. He and Wilkins are signing together as quarterbacks. Both may be content to take a back seat this year, but one or two years down the road, one of them will be playing and one will be on the bench. For coaches, that may be a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem. Undoubtedly, coach Graham, along with the players will have to cross that bridge when they get to it.
In the meantime, after having gone through two recruiting cycles without signing a quarterback, ASU’s ability to land two highly rated dual threat signal callers is a huge boost and a big relief for everyone in the program. With the transfer of Michael Eubank, the quarterback position was getting pretty thin, especially for the future.
Watching the competition between Gerhart and Wilkins will probably develop into a sport of it’s own in years to come.