Analyzing Arizona QB commit Clay Millen

Photo via Hudl

Let’s take a look at the PNW-based gunslinger

Overview

• Height/Weight: 6-foot-3, 190-pounds
• School/Hometown: Mount Si High School (Snoqualmie, WA)
• Class: 2021
• Offers: Arizona, Colorado, Florida Atlantic, Indiana, Oregon, Oregon State, UNLV
• 2019 Stats: 256-for-360, 3,145 yds, 34 TD, 1 INT; 132 car, 273 yds, 5 TD
• Career Stats: 259-for-365, 3,176 yds, 34 TD, 1 INT; 137 car, 292 yds, 7 TD
• 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (420th nationally, 19th Pro-QB, 11th in Washington)
• 247Sports Ranking: 4-star (198th nationally, 10th Pro-QB, 6th in Washington)
• Original Commitment Story

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Analysis

Brandon Combs: This one’s got me juiced. Gabe and I talked about Millen for about 3 months or so, wondering if and when he’d commit.

Millen has all the tools needed to be a successful QB in the Pac-12. His arm talent is undeniable, able the make any and all throws. You name it: threading the needle, deep fades, in traffic, etc. But his arm talent is the only attribute that allows him to make those throws. His accuracy and intelligence play huge factors as well.

Millen completed over 71% of his throws on 360 attempts during his first year as a starter, in a competitive and talent saturated class of high school football in Washington. Just for good measure, we’ll throw in his 34 touchdowns to only one, ONE, interception in 360 pass attempts.

His arm isn’t his only weapon, his legs are dangerous as well. Millen can run and he doesn’t seem afraid to do so. He is deceptively quick and can gain chunks of yards at a time. To me though, it’s his ability to create time in the pocket with his legs and avoid pressure that is more impressive.

One mark that goes against Millen is lack of experience. He has only one year of starting varsity football under his belt after he sat behind his brother Cale. Millen will also need to add some more muscle to his frame, but I don’t foresee that as a problem once he gets to Tucson.

Overall, Millen is a phenomenal pick up for Arizona and continues to add to a strong quarterback room. Grant Gunnell, Will Plummer, and Clay Millen make for a formidable, three-headed monster.

Gabe Encinas: This recruitment process an absolute roller coaster to follow despite only holding four Power Five offers throughout the majority of his commitment. Slowly those Power Five schools started filling up their spots at quarterback, but LSU was lingering and Colorado suddenly jumped into the offer pool.

Arizona ends up getting a big time win at quarterback, a position that is pretty much barren in terms of uncommitted prospects. While he’s a high-end three-star prospect in the composite rankings, 247 is even more bullish on him, ranked No. 198 overall regardless of position, making him a four-star.

As a quarterback he is a special talent. His numbers are through the rough in terms of completion percentage, passer rating, touchdown to interception ratio, total yards. He is one of the best passers in the country.

He looks great in the pocket, has great feet and can gently place a ball where he wants or rip it in a tight window. His eyes stay downfield while under pressure and he is able to fight off defenders to get the ball downfield.

There are some balls that sail beautifully and you just have to do that little laugh when something is so impressive. His mobility allows him to create some Patrick Mahomes types plays where he makes some incredible throws. You can’t even say it’s reckless as he only threw one interception the entire year.

You can tell he is incredibly smart. He understands the passing concepts and he knows what the defense is trying to do and how to manipulate them. He has several audibles on film which is something I really only saw when I watched Rhett Rodriguez.

Overall it’s hard to tell what else he could really do to increase his rankings. I think this is a complete quarterback prospect and one of the top in the nation. Maybe it’s a bit of his throwing motion, perhaps his unconventional scrambling that needs to be tightened up, maybe he benefits from having elite receivers because some of those grabs are unreal as well.

He’s the perfect mix of Grant Gunnell and Will Plummer it’s unreal. To me this is Grant Gunnell heir apparent. Gunnell will be entering his junior year by the time Millen arrives on campus which would give him a year or two to sit and learn. Hopefully that is the understanding and he takes advantage of that time.

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Junior Highlights

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