BeaversEdge Top 20 for 2017: No. 14 Jake Luton
In the month of July, BeaversEdge.com will be counting down the top 20 Oregon State football players on the 2017 roster.
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No. 14 - Jake Luton
Bio
6-foot-7, 230-pounds
Quarterback
Redshirt Junior
Ventura C.C./Marysville-Pilchuck H.S.
Marysville, Wash.
(Ventura C.C.) 2016 stats: 261-of-462 (56.5%) for 3,551 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions ... 71 rushing attempts for 175 yards and six touchdowns... Played in all 11 games, led Ventura to an 8-3 record
2016 Recap
Luton dominated at Ventura, lighting up most of the competition on his way to a record season. He struggled with accuracy at times, hence the 15 interceptions, but threw 40 touchdowns and an impressive 3,551 yards. In Gary Andersen’s tenure at OSU, he hasn’t had a quarterback even be able to dream about those type of numbers.
2017 Outlook
From our point of view, it appears that Luton is the front-runner to be the starting quarterback in the fall. He was the first quarterback to take reps in the spring practices but didn’t run away with the job as many thought he would. He needs to improve on his accuracy and learning OSU’s playbook to firmly grab the job from Marcus McMaryion. Luton has boom-or-bust potential, right now I’m leaning toward boom, but he needs to take further steps towards being a Pac-12 starting quarterback in fall camp.
Greaves' take on Luton
For each player in the BeaversEdge Top 20, Marcus Greaves will provide analysis of each player. Greaves played for Oregon State from 2014-2017 and has joined BeaversEdge.com as a football analyst.
Probably the biggest question of the offseason for the Beavers is who is the starting QB? I have been fortunate enough to play alongside all three of the quarterbacks currently at Oregon State. Jake brings a Sean Mannion feel to the Beaver offense. He’s tall, has a very powerful arm, and is a great decision maker. It's hard to say what is expected from him because we don’t know who will be the QB, but if he is the starter, I’m expecting more passing to the Beavers' offense. He is more of a traditional style quarterback, so Oregon State could really be sturdy with a solid pass and run game. Luton is not a mobile QB, so they will lose the QB option that has been a very effective play for them.