In this installment of The Recruiting Notebook, we meet the QB in this recruiting class, one who has a world of talent and could be the starter for Miami in the future: Valdosta (GA) Lowndes QB Jacurri Brown.

Bio

I’ve long held that Recruiting Rule #1 is that you must take a QB in every class. And, like most good programs, Miami has been on that kind of talent acquisition schedule. And, for the 2022 cycle, the focus turned early to Valdosta Lowndes 4-star QB Jacurri Brown as the QB for Miami in this class.

A dynamic 6’4” 205lb player, Brown popped up on the recruiting scene early on in his HS career. He was a depth player who got in and had some stats as a sophomore, but when he had a breakout junior season in 2020, things started heating up for him. But before that season, Brown took a summer camp visit to one school:

Miami.

Brown emerged as the starter for Lowndes as a junior and his connection to Miami and then-OC Rhett Lashlee continued to grow. And as that connection grew, other teams started taking notice. Arizona State. Florida. Ole Miss. Kentucky. And more. And for good reason: Brown is damn good.

Following that strong 2019 offseason, including the Camp visit to Miami, Brown was finally given a scholarship offer to The U. It wasn’t his first offer, but it was significant. As Brown crafted a massive junior year in 2020 — nearly 2900 yards of total offense and 30 total touchdowns for a 10-2 Lowndes team that went to the State Finals — Brown to Miami picked up steam.

Brown named Miami one of his five finalists — along with Arizona State, Auburn, Florida, and Texas A&M — on February 18th. But the predictions he would pick Miami started cascading in just a week later. And, true to form, Brown made those predictions come true when he committed to Manny Diaz’s Canes on March 26th.

Recruiting Ranking

On the 247sports composite, Brown is a 4-star prospect, the #21 QB nationally, #26 in the State of Georgia, and #285 player overall in this class.

Brown committed to Miami over offers from Arizona State, Auburn, Florida, and Texas A&M on his list of finalists from a list of 23 scholarship offers from around the country

As A Player

Brown is a highly productive player. In his HS career, Brown accounted for 6,710 yards of offense — 3387 passing and 3323 rushing. That’s incredible balance between making plays with his arm and his legs. And, that’s a LOT of rushing yards for a QB in what amounts to about 2.4 season of playing time (including the limited snaps he got as a sophomore).

Not only did Brown eat up chunks of yards, he found paydirt. 72 TDs total — 28 passing and 44 rushing. That’s a lot of points he’s helped his team score. And that’s the point of the game on offense, right? Score points. Win. It’s that simple.

Jacurri Brown is also a record setter. What records? These records:

Brown is a gamer, often rising to the occasion in the biggest games, and leading his team to victory. A 20-5 record as a starter in 2 year is proof Brown knows how to win, and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. Brown has led multiple final-drive comebacks to help his team win games. That’s the ability to dial up the best performances in the biggest moments. You want that from all your players, but especially from your quarterback.

Brown was an Elite11 invitee over the summer before his senior year. He got to go to the elite QB camp and compete with and against the best HFSB signal callers in the country, and learn from some of the best coaches in the industry. So that is a major step in his development.

And that’s good....because development is needed from Brown as a passer. He’s big and strong, but has inconsistent mechanics, as evidenced by a 53% completion rate in HS. His arm is STRONG though, so if he can figure out how to better and more effectively throw the ball, Miami could really have something here. And I know you’re reading this paragraph and that’s making you think he’s trash....he’s not. Because for every yard gained passing, he gained one rushing. And that matters. The ability to integrate, and dominate, in the QB run game, or the zone-read game, or RPO game, or just scramble and get outta dodge when pressure is around is a HUGE bonus for an offense that can be backbreaking for the opposing defense.

Here’s an eval of Brown by 247sports Southeast Recruiting Analyst Andrew Ivins:

Impressive looking athlete with the desired height to play the position. Owns a leaner build now, but could eventually get up to 220 pounds or more. One of the more unique quarterback prospects in the class of 2022 given ability to run the football. Has already eclipsed the 100-yard mark rushing in 14 different varsity games. Still developing as a passer, but started to show some improvement the spring after junior season. Has no issues getting the ball to all different levels of the field. Likes to use trajectory to his advantage, especially on his deep shots. More of a drive-ball thrower, but capable of making off-plane throws on the run. Streaky player that’s not afraid to challenge tight windows, but struggles at times with accuracy and tends to make some of the easiest throws the most difficult. Tested exceptionally well before his senior season clocking a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash and a 4.4 in the short shuttle. Long stride allows him to pull away from defenses. Not afraid, however, to lower his shoulder and power through defenders, if needed. Considered a leader by those in his huddle and has won plenty of big games on Friday nights playing in one of the Peach State’s highest classifications. Will need to find some touch and keep improving his mechanics, but raw tools are valuable at the quarterback position, and he has a ton of them. Should be viewed as a high-ceiling, low-floor prospect that can make a difference at the Power 5 level with patience and the right coaching. Likely to thrive in an offensive system that embraces dual-threat quarterbacks and leans on his strengths.

And here’s the post-commitment video breakdown of Brown by our own Roman Maricante:

Strengths

• Size/physical build
• Arm Strength
• Running ability
• Athleticism
• “gamer”

Weaknesses

• Passing accuracy
• Very raw overall
• Ran limited offense in HS, so will have to learn A LOT in college

Miami Outlook

Note: changed this up from just a freshman-season outlook to a career outlook for each player last year and we’re continuing that style this year as well.

It’s rare that freshman QBs come in and start early. It’s rarer that you bring in a QB who you know will likely need 3 years to get to game-ready status. But the latter is the case with Brown.

Quarterback is a tough position to project, because so much rests on the shoulders of that position, and there’s so much growth from HS to College that needs to happen for those players. And, with other blue chip talents on the roster, burgeoning superstar Tyler Van Dyke and blue chip RS frosh Jake Garcia, there is plenty of competition for the Canes’ starting QB spot down the line.

And that’s honestly a good thing for Brown. Because it gives him the time he’ll need to focus on his craft and develop as a passer without needing to be rushed into action earlier than he’s actually ready. Miami could decide in year 2-ish (maybe year 3 depending on what TVD does after the 2022 season) to give Brown a small package of plays where he mostly operates run game elements (zone-read, QB power) and sprinkle in a pass or two along the way.

I think that Brown can be a quality P5 starter here. It’s just going to take a fair bit of time for him to get there. 3+ years is my guess. And, depending on the roster construction as a whole at QB, I could see a DJ Shockley wait-until-year-5-to-finally-start path for Brown here at Miami. I mean, if he stayed for 5 years if he wasn’t starting/playing.

Again, extrapolating a HS QB to star college QB is tough, especially when you have other blue chip prospects on the roster. But for Brown, there is plenty of reason to believe he can, and will, be successful at Miami given the opportunity. Now, we’ll see if he develops and is able to get it in his time in Coral Gables.

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That’s it for this installment of The Recruiting Notebook.

Go Canes