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Chuck Martin and the Miami RedHawks picked up their future signal caller on Monday as Covington Catholic (KY) quarterback A.J. Mayer announced via Twitter he was committing to Miami. He chose the Red and White over Akron, Ball State, Eastern Kentucky, and Murray State.
Beyond blessed and excited to say that I have committed to Miami University! Go RedHawks! ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/T8UttHY6J6
— AJ Mayer (@ajm36640) April 11, 2017
Mayer, coming in at 6’3” and about 200 lbs., had a stellar junior season running the Colonel offense with 2,461 yards through the air, 20 passing touchdowns, 513 rushing yards, and 11 scores on the ground. His season earned him 5A District Five Player of the Year, and he is ranked as the #8 player in Kentucky and the #2 QB in the state in 2018. You can view his junior highlights below courtesy of Hudl.
Judging by this film, you can see why Miami was the first school to offer Mayer. He has good arm strength, ball location is good, and he’s very smooth as a runner. The only thing that might be an adjustment for him would be that he’ll have to get used to playing in a muddy pocket at the next level (because he won’t get nearly as much time to throw as he does now) and he’ll have to not take as many shots down the field since the margin for error on those throws is so much smaller in the college game. He likely will have to wait for his shot (Gus Ragland, Billy Bahl, and Jordan Martin are all juniors in 2017, and Jackson Williamson will be in his first year of the program), but he should be a good one.