Skip to main content

Stanford's Myles Jackson highlighted as a QB who can start as a freshman

The path to being a college starter may be very direct for Stanford's Myles Jackson

Even though David Shaw stepping down as Stanford's head coach came as a surprise to some, there was one departure that everyone around the program and country were expecting. That being quarterback Tanner McKee declaring for the NFL Draft. 

Now with McKee out of the quarterback room, new head coach Troy Taylor will be holding a position battle among three inexperienced signal callers to determine who will be running his offense next season. Ari Patu and Ashton Daniels both have a handful of passes under their belt, but Stanford's quarterback room is as green as they come. Stanford will also be one or at most two of the Pac-12 schools not starting a transfer quarterback, meaning the job will be won from within the Farm. 

There was a concern that they wouldn't even have three scholarship passers on the roster, but four-star Myles Jackson changed that when he not only committed but reclassified from the class of 2024. The Long Beach native will be joining Patu and Daniels in battling for the starting spot, during what should be his senior year of high school. Jackson was featured by Bleacher Report as one of the 10 quarterbacks with a chance to start as a freshman saying:

While it will take some getting used to seeing Stanford without 12-year head coach David Shaw, former standout Sacramento State head coach Troy Taylor will begin a new era for the Cardinal in 2023.He will have 3-star Myles Jackson to potentially get things started at QB. The recruit signed with Stanford despite having offers from Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Oregon State, among other big-time schools. He even committed and reclassified to join the 2023 cycle—forgoing his senior season to graduate early—before Taylor was hired.

They continued saying:

Jackson, the No. 27 signal-caller in the class, threw for 3,620 yards and 47 touchdowns with just seven interceptions during his 2022 season at Millikan High School in Long Beach, California. Despite his being one of the younger signal-callers in Stanford's QB room, it's a bit of an inexperienced group he is stepping into. Tasked with replacing two-year starter Tanner McKee, who is headed to the NFL, Stanford has just a couple of guys with experience. There's junior Ari Patu, who has completed 14 passes over two seasons, and Wildcat quarterback Ashton Daniels, who accounted for 195 total yards last season. Given that, Jackson's talent could win out and get him on the field early in 2023.

Jackson has elite arm talent and always has his eyes down field looking for an open receiver even when the pocket breaks down. In Taylor's pass heavy offense he will have the chance to display his arm talent, and can also run if needed. 

Winning the job may not be the easiest task depending on how much Patu has learned in his couple years as a reserve, but in an interview with 247Sports a while back Jackson expressed that he is just wanting to learn and grow as a quarterback. In an era where players frequently transfer when things don't go their way right away, Jackson is looking to learn from whatever experience he can obtain and be the quarterback of the future for the Cardinal.