I certainly agree with you there, Jared was more than a handful to anyone trying to tackle him, and he had a cannon for an arm on top of that, but still, I don't think he had to make as many plays happen series after series after series like Couch did. Jared might have had to tuck it and run every once-in-a-while, but he still had solid backs to hand off to, a great receiver corps, plus a D1 tight end to throw to every play.

 

No doubt.....but when he needed to make a play, I can't ever remember him not making it his senior year. Including against the AAAA state champs.

I certainly agree with you there, Jared was more than a handful to anyone trying to tackle him, and he had a cannon for an arm on top of that, but still, I don't think he had to make as many plays happen series after series after series like Couch did. Jared might have had to tuck it and run every once-in-a-while, but he still had solid backs to hand off to, a great receiver corps, plus a D1 tight end to throw to every play.

 

I remember a game on a Saturday afternoon in Park Hills where Jared threw a ball about 50 yards in the air with two Colonels hanging on him and hit his WR right in the chest for a TD. He did crazy stuff like that, that makes him stand out in my mind more.

First pass that I ever saw him throw was as a Soph during a NewCath - Highlands JV game. I was talking to some of the guys from Highlands about our game the Friday night before. I looked up and he was rolling to his right and threw it 50 yards across his body for a TD, hitting his WR in stride. I couldn't believe that he wasn't starting for their Varsity. I had never seen a kid my age do that.

Trust me, I'm not trying to say he didn't have incredible talent. I just think had he been scrambling as much as Couch had to, and were the other 10 guys on the field not the Highlands caliber players that Jared played with, I feel like he wouldn't have been quite the player that couch was.

I emailed one of my buddies about this. Asked who was better, Couch, Lorenzen, or Towles. His response:

 

First, a HS only debate is kinda dumb. You CANNOT in any way compare Lorenzen/Towles to Couch. Couch had crap around him, but for the most part, he also played NO ONE! He started all 4 years and wasn’t pulled in blowouts either, so comparing stats is a stupid endeavor. Lorenzen (particularly) and Towles played on great teams with good/great players around them (and rarely played in the 2nd half.) All reasons why stat comparisons are senseless.

 

But as a debate of talent, I really don’t think this is much of a debate.

 

Lorenzen, for all his unique abilities that made him unstoppable in HS (size, man strength, D1 receivers), he was not an accurate passer and an even more suspect decision maker. (This proved itself out in college when he twice lost his starting role for inconsistency and poor decision making – that definitely never happened to Couch.) Lorenzen’s only checkmark against the others is armstrength, that, and being 300+ lbs. and still being able to run.

 

Towles seems to me - in the three times I’ve seen him play - to be a very accurate passer and a better runner than either Lorenzen (who was obviously not shifty but could certainly bowl over even most college LBs) or Couch (who was okay but not great as a runner – though he was very athletic, he was also Mr. Basketball his senior year). Towles also seems to be a supreme decision maker. His TD/INT ratios are seriously a joke. Dude just doesn’t throw picks. That (and his running ability) will be his biggest asset(s) in college – I hope.

 

But seriously, how are we even having this debate. Couch was on the cover of SI as a junior, he was the national HS player of the year on several services, he started every game from the moment he stepped foot in Lexington, he lead the SEC in passing twice (once while Manning was still at UT), he was a Heisman trophy finalist (yeah, he was sitting there in NY next to Ricky Williams), and he was the freaking first overall pick in the NFL draft. Not to mention, he threw the prettiest ball I have ever seen in person. His throws seemed as if you could pluck them out of the air with two fingers. He had plenty of arm strength, was very accurate, had a very quick release (something Lorenzen did NOT have), and - in college – was pretty elusive in the pocket and made good decisions. Frankly, with a better coaching staff, offensive weapons, and certainly offensive line or any kind of running game, I think his NFL career could have been vastly different. Much like Carson, confidence and (a shoulder/knee) injuries really derailed his NFL career.

 

Time will tell with Towles, but one huge indicator is that the staff didn’t simply name him a starter from day one, like Couch. Max Smith and Morgan Newton are not THAT good. In my opinion, if Towles is anywhere near Couch, he’d have been named the starter yesterday and not Smith.

I saw all 3 play. Couch a bunch of times, Lorenzen 5 or 6 times, and Towles 3 times.

 

I would rank them Couch, Lorenzen, Towles

 

I would jump at the chance to recruit either of the 3, they were all fantastic players at the high school level.

I emailed one of my buddies about this. Asked who was better, Couch, Lorenzen, or Towles. His response:

 

 

Pretty good response, but he's wrong about Couch starting every game since he stepped on campus.

Trust me, I'm not trying to say he didn't have incredible talent. I just think had he been scrambling as much as Couch had to, and were the other 10 guys on the field not the Highlands caliber players that Jared played with, I feel like he wouldn't have been quite the player that couch was.

 

Obviously all these QB's made several fantastic plays in high school. They gave it their all, and thats all you can ask of a high school player. I don't know which one of these three were the best, nor do I know how much talent they had around them. I've seen Pat Towles run over people, just like Jared did. I saw couch play in one game in person and that was the only time I saw him play in high school. Couch obviously had talent to end up in the NFL, just as Jared did. Didn't PT break a lot of Jareds records over the years?

 

I once heard some college recruiters wanted to check Jareds arm strength before making a scholly offer, so they had Jared kneel down on the 40 yard line, and told him to "throw it as far as you can". Well, he threw it between the uprights of the goal posts, he didn't get 3 points for it, but he sure made believers out of those college recruiters. True story or not, I don't know, I heard it through the grapevine.

Obviously all these QB's made several fantastic plays in high school. They gave it their all, and thats all you can ask of a high school player. I don't know which one of these three were the best, nor do I know how much talent they had around them. I've seen Pat Towles run over people, just like Jared did. I saw couch play in one game in person and that was the only time I saw him play in high school. Couch obviously had talent to end up in the NFL, just as Jared did. Didn't PT break a lot of Jareds records over the years?

 

I once heard some college recruiters wanted to check Jareds arm strength before making a scholly offer, so they had Jared kneel down on the 40 yard line, and told him to "throw it as far as you can". Well, he threw it between the uprights of the goal posts, he didn't get 3 points for it, but he sure made believers out of those college recruiters. True story or not, I don't know, I heard it through the grapevine.

 

Heard the same story. I don't know if it happened, but I don't doubt that Jared could've done it.

Pretty good response, but he's wrong about Couch starting every game since he stepped on campus.

 

Haha, I'll have to point that out to him. I'd have to agree with most everything he responded with though.

1. you can't tell me what I can and can not do

2. The question did not ask why, just asked us to rank them

 

Pretty sure I already did.

What did he do his Sophmore year against a nationally ranked Cincy St.X team?? I believe he came in when the first team qb got hurt early in the game and upset them...To me that is a huge win your first time into a varsity game...lol

 

Exactly the game I was thinking of as well.

I emailed one of my buddies about this. Asked who was better, Couch, Lorenzen, or Towles. His response:

 

Did nobody look at my comparisons? Your friend agrees w/ something I put on PG. 2.

 

Schemantics here:

Couch was not Mr. Basketball in 1996. Daymeon Fishback was.

 

Also, Couch wasn't named #1 right off. Curry wasn't sure what to do w/ him. This is also a bad barometer b/c Lorenzon booted a very, very successfull Bonner as a red shirt Freshman.

Roll on Southern Cal!!!!!

 

Don't even know what that means but ok.

Exactly the game I was thinking of as well.

 

Again, Pat played great, but he didn't throw the ball that game. He wasn't called on to be the leader, understandably. I was speaking about when the QBs had to be the playmakers for their sides.