Arizona’s 2015 signing day came and went, and the Wildcats didn’t land a quarterback.
It was a strange omission considering how often UA coach Rich Rodriguez has mentioned how he likes having as many quarterbacks as possible on his roster.
Seven or eight, he jokes, would be about right.
Come 2017, and quarterback shouldn’t be a position of need.
Four-star quarterback Braxton Burmeister verbally committed — well, re-committed — to Arizona on Friday. The La Jolla (California) Country Day School standout is the third four-star recruit in next year’s class and the ninth player overall to verbally commit.
When he arrives on campus, Burmeister — assuming nobody transfers — will be the third four-star quarterback on the roster.
The others: Anu Solomon, a top-rated player in the 2013 class; and Khalil Tate, who enrolled in January.
Brandon Dawkins, a three-star recruit coming out of high school, figures to be in the mix by then, too. Rodriguez’s son, Catalina Foothills standout Rhett Rodriguez, will also take snaps. He verbally committed to the UA in January.
Arizona didn’t feel the need to sign a quarterback in 2015 in part because Burmeister was thought to be on board. He verbally committed to the Wildcats as a sophomore in November 2014 and stayed committed until re-opening his recruitment in March.
Burmeister re-picked the Wildcats despite overtures from Washington, Utah, South Carolina, San Diego State and Indiana. He said in a Twitter message that the process “had its ups and downs, but has been such a blessing.”
Burmeister’s addition should give Rodriguez the best stable of quarterbacks he’s had since coming to Arizona in 2012.
Solomon is a redshirt junior and a two-year starter. Dawkins is a redshirt sophomore who flashed potential filling in against Arizona State last season. Tate, one of the most highly touted recruits to come to Arizona in years, is waiting in the wings.
Still, it’s possible that none of those three are Arizona’s future at the position. That might fall to Burmeister, arguably the most sought quarterback to commit to the UA since Willie Tuitama in 2005.
Tate was a more highly rated recruit overall, but most of the schools after him — including USC, Alabama and others — preferred him as an “athlete” capable of playing wide receiver or defensive back.
Burmeister is a quarterback through and through. Scout.com lists him as the 19th-best quarterback in the 2017 class, and the sixth-best signal-caller in the West. The 6-foot-1-inch, 195-pound Burmeister is considered a perfect fit for Arizona’s read-option offense.
As a junior at La Jolla Country Day, he passed for 2,771 yards and 31 touchdowns, and rushed for 868 yards and 20 scores.
Scout.com’s Greg Biggins wrote that Burmeister “is a dual-threat QB who can stress a team with his arm and his legs. When he breaks containment, he’s very explosive and runs like a running back in the open field. He has a strong arm and can get the ball down the field and make all the throws.”
By the time he arrives on campus, Solomon would be a redshirt senior, Dawkins a redshirt junior, and Tate will be either a sophomore or redshirt freshman.
That’s when Arizona’s quarterback competition will get interesting.
