SI All-American Candidate Ari Patu Highlights and Evaluation

Ari Patu is a quarterback prospect from Folsom High School in Folsom, Calif. Patu is an SI All-American candidate.

Prospect: Ari Patu
Status: SI All-American Candidate
Vitals: 6-foot-4, 185 pounds
Position: Quarterback
School: Folsom (CA) 
Committed to: Stanford
Projected Position: Quarterback

Frame: Long neck with fairly wide shoulders. Tightly-wound body with good definition that offers a good amount of growth. 

Athleticism: Long-limbed and right-handed passer with smooth movement skills in the pocket and as a runner. Solid foot quickness in drops. Good knee bend in setup at his marks and transfers weight well when throwing. Pitches a catchable ball with a consistent whip-like release with excellent spin out of his hand. Manipulates ball speeds with good touch to all levels. Comes from an athletic family, as his father and brother played college football, and his mother played college softball. 

Instincts: Very good accuracy in intermediate passing game. Comfortable attacking interior coverage from inside the pocket. Has eyes and mobility to understand when to run. Reads blocks well on second and third level as a runner. Long and even open-field stride allows him to surprise defenders. 

Polish: Works almost exclusively from shotgun in a spread offense that relies on timing and rhythm in the passing game. Flashes ability to work through his progressions across the field and look off defenders. Will need to refine his footwork from under center and settle his feet at the top of his drops more consistently. Needs a year of physical development before being ready to contribute. 

Bottom Line: Patu is a tall field general with smooth athleticism. He is a natural distributor of the football who excels in the intermediate passing game. While he possesses enough mobility to make plays with his legs, he is at his best operating from the pocket. He needs to add more bulk to his frame and improve his overall strength, as well as smooth out some footwork kinks at the top of the midline in his drops. However, Patu has a chance to fit well in an offense with a well-structured intermediate passing game predicated on rhythm and timing.