It’s clear that 2014 Arkansas quarterback commitment Rafe Peavey has all the skills to be a top quarterback.
The son of former NFL center and John Elway teammate Jack Peavey, the Bolivar, Mo., star has a great arm, excellent mechanics and the ability to make plays with his feet as well.
Peavey (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) is also intelligent as evidenced by the fact he was in the ear of Frankfort (Ky.) Franklin County wide receiver Ryan Timmons last week before the Razorbacks’ home game with Rutgers.
Timmons (5-11, 175, 4.35), who had 2,651 yards total offense and 38 touchdowns last season and is on that kind of pace again this season, was on his official visit and could be a playmaker for Peavey in the future.
“I just want to be a leader and help to bring as many great players to Arkansas as I can,” Peavey said. “That’s part of being a quarterback, part of being a leader.”
Peavey, whose mom ran track at Arkansas, and his uncle was an Olympic swimmer, is surprised at how Arkansas has struggled out of the gate to a 1-3 start.
But that has not diminished his level of commitment to the Razorbacks.
“I am totally committed and this is where I am going to go to school,” Peavey said. “It is and has been a great program and will stay that way no matter how the start of this season has gone. I’m all in.”
Peavey notes it had to rock the Arkansas program when All-SEC quarterback Tyler Wilson went down with an injury and did not play the second half of the second game of the season.
Wilson had the Razorbacks up 21-7 over Louisiana-Monroe when he suffered a concussion and was in the locker room when the Warhawks rallied for a 34-31 win in overtime.
Wilson missed all of Alabama’s 52-0 beat down of Arkansas, but returned last week to pass for 419 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-26 loss to Rutgers.
“He’s their leader,” Peavey said. “It’s hard to go forward without your leader, but I think they are going to rebound. He’s a great quarterback and the other areas of their team will improve with him shoring up that spot.”
Peavey and the Liberators are 3-2 this season with back-to-back 38-0 wins against Hollister and Marshfield, and an upcoming home game tonight with Buffalo.
Like Wilson, Peavey was injured the second week of the season and was limited in a 19-8 loss to Branson.
Both he and starting tailback Kolby Follis missed a week three loss to Harrisonville (26-0) with high ankle sprains.
“It is going really good so far,” Peavey said. “We are playing pretty good. We have been a little bit beat up, got some guys with high ankle sprains, but we are getting better. I’m real excited about what we might do the rest of the season.”
Peavey has completed 46 of 90 passes for 741 yards and eight touchdowns and also rushed for more than 200 yards and five more scores.
He finished with 1,734 yards passing and 465 yards rushing as a sophomore while accounting for 33 touchdowns.
“I am a lot bigger and a lot faster than I was,” Peavey said. “I also think, more so than last year, if the play breaks down, I am calmer and better at extending it.”
Dudley E. Dawson is the recruiting editor for Hawgs Illustrated, an NWA Media publication. His recruiting column appears each Friday. Email [email protected].