Skill, speed shine in football signings

Ten starters will return on offense next season for the Cal Poly football team, an extremely rare positive directly around the corner, but also a glaring shortcoming soon afterward.

The Mustangs took steps to remedy the looming dwindling of their depth chart by securing national letters of intent from 16 players, most of them at skill positions, Cal Poly head coach Rich Ellerson announced Wednesday.

Of the 16 additions, 11 were quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, linebackers or defensive backs. The Mustangs will graduate 13 seniors at those positions following next season, including eight probable starters, leaving what Ellerson called a “tremendous need.”

Five of those officially added Wednesday at least partially played quarterback in high school, while four had experience at running back, three at wide receiver and tight end, another three at linebacker and five at defensive back. Ellerson said he hopes nearly all of them redshirt in 2008 before filling the vacated spots.

Headlining the class could be Quentin Greenlaw, a 6-foot, 205-pound linebacker hailing from Rio Mesa High in Oxnard.

Greenlaw, pointed out by Ellerson as the most heavily recruited prospect of Cal Poly’s crop, compiled 168 tackles and six sacks in his final two seasons, and was named to the All-Ventura County First Team as a senior.

After reportedly drawing interest from Oregon, Washington and Air Force, among several other Football Bowl Subdivision programs, Greenlaw elected to go to Cal Poly because it “would feel more like home,” Ellerson said.

“He meant a lot to us,” Ellerson added of the All-Pacific View League First Teamer “capable of doing some spectacular things.”

Although Greenlaw also has experience at running back, and has the speed to be a B-back in Cal Poly’s offense, Ellerson said, the Mustangs coaching staff projects him primarily as a rover or a mike linebacker.

“With his running back background, he’ll see the game the way rovers and mikes have to,” Ellerson said. “He sees the reciprocal picture the running back does.”

Offensively, the highest-profile acquisition, and one Ellerson characterizes as a “perfect, ideal” fit looks to be quarterback Andre Broadous of Grant High in Portland, Ore.

An all-state Class 6A signal caller, Broadous amassed 44 touchdown passes and ran for 35 more scores in his final two prep campaigns. As a senior, he completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 2,064 yards during Grant’s 12-1 season.

“It was a niche for him and a niche for us,” Ellerson said of the “special opportunity” to acquire the Oregonian because of the background of current Cal Poly offensive coordinator Ian Shields, who recently was a head coach at Eastern Oregon.

Broadous reportedly attracted interest from several FBS schools including Oregon State and Idaho.

He could receive his most competition behind center from fellow addition Doug Shumway, a 6-foot, 175-pound quarterback from Agoura High.

Called by Ellerson the “most finished product as a passer in this class,” Shumway connected on 65 percent of his passes for 2,023 yards and 19 touchdowns with six interceptions as a senior.

Ellerson noted the Westlake Village native’s experience as a point guard in basketball as exemplifying extraordinary field vision.

A consistent theme in all but two of the signings’ athletic backgrounds, Ellerson added, is some experience not only at a multitude of positions in football, but also in other sports, most commonly track and field, through which their explosiveness and speed are already proven.

While the Mustangs coaches naturally have preconceptions about where certain players might ultimately fit best, they won’t jump to any conclusions, especially with a group whose versatility and flexibility are such assets, Ellerson explained.

Among other offensive, skill-position signings were running back Thomas Reynolds, of Archbishop Mitty High in San Jose, wide receiver Josh Swaney of Troy High in Fullerton and all-purpose threat Ryan Taylor of Oakmont High in Roseville.

Reynolds, Ellerson said, became less recruited after breaking his leg during his senior year, when he rushed for 1,095 yards and 10 touchdowns on 167 carries.

Swaney, at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, reeled in 45 passes for 811 yards and nine scores as a senior.

He could get some company at wide receiver from Taylor, who, while a quarterback who completed 51 percent of his passes for 1,110 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior, exhibited overall playmaking ability that could warrant his transition to the outside.

Other signings included: Matthew Bertole, an offensive and defensive lineman from Loyola High, Asa Jackson, a defensive back from Christian Brothers High, Ryan Medina, a tight end and defensive end from St. Bonaventure High, Kyle Mohamed, an outside linebacker from Brawley High, Bismark Navarro, a wide receiver and cornerback from Lowell High, Kelvin Rutledge, a running back and defensive back from Lawndale High, Ryan Solomon, a running back and defensive back from Peninsula High and Karl Winkelman, an offensive tackle and outside linebacker from Los Gatos High.

San Luis Obispo County signings included Logan Budd, a quarterback and defensive back from Morro Bay High and Korben Boaz, a two-way lineman from Nipomo High.

Cal Poly, Ellerson said, is still actively pursuing a handful of recruits. The regular signing period ends April 1.