Scouting Florida Gators QB Commitment Austin Simmons
Blue-chip quarterback recruit Austin Simmons has national attention heading into his junior season at Pahokee (Fla.) High School, but those in and around the state have known his name since the summer of 2021.
That's when in-state programs began hosting and offering the lefty as a potential future face of their program.
The rise hasn't slowed over the two years since, with more than two dozen programs joining the offer race, but the class of 2025 prospect's recruitment did come to an early close on Tuesday with a verbal commitment to Billy Napier and the Florida Gators.
The banner in-state win for UF comes with the cache of a national recruit, winning out for a premiere quarterback and of course the intriguing baseball upside Simmons presents. Just this week he reported his fastball north of 93 miles per hour, where of course there is added value on the diamond given the velocity coming off of his left arm.
But even from purely a football sense, this soon-to-be four-year varsity prep starter brings plenty of modern tools to the table that should help Florida faithful feel solidified in the future of its most important position group on the roster for years to come.
All Gators takes a closer look at Simmons as a prospect.
Strengths
Simmons brings a lot to the table from a front-facing optical sense, to the point he's an easy sell to even the casual football fan that may not have seen clips of him in action just yet. He's a legitimate 6-foot-3, 200 pounds with a lengthy, yet muscular frame and when he spins it — a football or baseball that is — there is no doubt he is passing the look test. It looks fluid, effortless and pretty all at once.
Of course, the intricacies of mechanics and release are only a part of the equation on the field. But make no mistake, the physical in most aspects lies on the positive end of the spectrum. Simmons is gifted and productive at the position, registering 3,253 yards and 27 touchdowns on a 67 percent completion rate as a sophomore in 2022. He has now upped the numbers from his eighth-grade and freshman-year tallies, across the board, as most blue-chip quarterbacks should.
Last fall, Simmons took considerable steps as a signal-caller. Already working in a modern, RPO and spread system at Pahokee, there was another layer of ease in his game evident. He let it rip, especially down the field, more without any hitch or hesitation. That smooth release and velocity also counter with touch and timing, essential in any offense. On the other end, when the ball needs to be pushed outside the numbers or in tight spaces, there is little fear from Simmons. Don't take the baseball background as a weakness in the pocket, either, as the footwork and toughness also shine through on tape.
Not much is made of Simmons' running game, but the elite decision-making and long stride do present the defense with plenty to consider given his immense arm talent — making him a headache in the RPO game. The decisions and trigger are quick and that stride keeps edge players at bay, allowing for the rising junior to gain yardage in chunks. Working off that, Simmons has three-level ability with enough juice to work any pocket of grass, sideline to sideline.
Beyond the physical, the numbers tell a good decision-making pedigree being formed — but spending time with Simmons and digging into his personal history tells that of a mature teenager. He has spent time home-schooled, playing multiple sports at a scholarship level while somehow wrapping up his high school academic requirements before becoming a traditional upperclassman.
Perspective, planning and execution are a banner part of Simmons' life, much less his quarterbacking.
Areas for Improvement
Time and development are paramount for any prep passer, and while it's hard to find holes, there are areas where Simmons can continue to progress.
As many physical gifts as he possesses, the fact that he is a lefty still brings in some form of doubt and/or unfamiliarity relative to the game. Some coaches just won't recruit lefty passers while others pursue with much caution. Pass-catchers have to adjust to the football coming out that way, especially with Simmons' velocity, before any chemistry can commence.
Like with most old-school footballisms, though, the modern game isn't as worried about going outside the box here.
If delving into the nit-picky elements of scouting is on the table, Simmons displays a confidence that could potentially straddle a polarizing line. Sometimes it enables him to release the football without proper footwork, though NFLers like Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes have led younger generations with unreal arms to be confident in doing the same. It also pushes Simmons, at times, into a gunslinger mentality, meaning he thinks he can win in tighter windows than optics would prefer.
That said, every college coach we come across would rather dial back confidence than have to create it — especially with their QB1.
Projection
Simmons will have some critical football and baseball decisions to make, no doubt, but assuming he opts to play both in the SEC come two springs from now, there will be an influx of talent in Napier's future quarterback room.
Following up the national get of DJ Lagway in 2024 with Simmons in the next cycle isn't easy to do for any program, and UF doing so after an up-and-down 2023 cycle speaks volumes of the future.
The pressure will be on Lagway well before Simmons theoretically arrives, though, so the ball may be in his court. We see this as an ideal scenario for Florida in that the lefty can ease his way not only into the collegiate game, but through the never-easy balance between two SEC sports that come with tremendous expectations. Perhaps in that time, a "final" decision between each sport can materialize, enabling him to actually focus on one for the bulk of his time — something Simmons has never been afforded.
Should football be the pick, especially after some back-and-forth as a collegiate underclassman, Simmons should be able to ease into becoming the face of Florida football as a second or third-year player, potentially with a redshirt mixed in, where his already head-turning physical and mental gifts should translate into a potential All-SEC type campaign right out of the starting gates.
With experience, Simmons has the type of modern talent to become a household name like his local moniker 'Muck Vick' before any professional aspiration.
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