Commitment Analysis: Jake Luton

THE COMMITMENT: Jake Luton had just one scholarship offer as a class of 2014 quarterback from Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington. That offer was from Idaho, and he signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Vandals.

Luton redshirted his freshman year at Idaho and played sparingly as a redshirt freshman behind starter Matt Linehan. Earlier this year during spring practice, Luton was the starting quarterback during spring ball, but Linehan was expected to be healthy for the fall.

Luton felt like it was best for him to leave the program, and he went the junior college route to attend Ventura Community College in Ventura, Calif. for the 2016 season.

The 6-foot-6, 230-pound gunslinger picked up a few offers from small schools like Alabama A&M, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, and Murray State.

Luton received a big offer from the Oregon State Beavers on October 18 and committed to OSU the following night.

"After discussing everything with my family, it seemed like a great fit and situation for me and didn't see any reason to drag it out," Luton said.

Luton will enroll at Oregon State in the spring and go through spring practice. He will enter as a redshirt junior with two years left of eligibility.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR OREGON STATE: The Beavers offered Luton coming off of their game against Utah in which both Darell Garretson and Conor Blount were injured. Garretson is out for the remainder of the season, but Blount is listed as probable on this week's injury report.

Luton gives the Beavers more depth at the quarterback position, and he will have a chance to compete for the quarterback position in the spring.

Luton was unranked before his commitment to Oregon State, but after Rivals had a chance to evaluate him, Luton landed a 5.6 three-star ranking. 5.6 is the mid-level ranking for a three-star recruit.

The Beavers have 18 total commitments and are ranked at No. 36 in the Rivals.com Team Recruiting Rankings.

Mike Farrell - Rivals.com National Recruiting Director

"When watching him on film, he’s clearly huge and his arm is a rocket. He can make all the throws, shows some ability to throw on the run and outside of the pocket and with some refinement to his skills reading defenses, he has great upside. He is a boom or bust kid to me, so a mid three-star ranking fits."

Brenden Slaughter - BeaversEdge.com Senior Writer

"Jake Luton reminds me a lot of former Utah quarterback Travis Wilson. Like Wilson he was big, tall and had a good arm. And also like Wilson, he didn't run very often, but when he did run he was very hard to bring down. I like what Luton brings to OSU's offense."

Ryan Singer - Florida Tech quarterback (DII) and brother of BeaversEdge.com's Mike Singer

"He has nice size and pocket presence and also a nice, compact and quick release. Luton makes quick decisions with the football and can fit the ball in tight windows with a rocket arm, and he also shows good touch on the ball when needed. Luton is a throw first passer when leaving the pocket, and his eyes are always down field. He's mobile enough to pick up the first down with legs. I like him a lot."

Adam Gorney - Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst

"Luton is a talented pocket passer who has a big arm, can fire the ball all over the field, and what I like is that he keeps his eyes down the field, finds open receivers, and then has the arm strength to put the ball where it needs to be. He doesn't seem super comfortable getting out of the pocket and throwing on the run, and I'm not thrilled he's completing just 56.5 percent of his passes and has 11 interceptions this season, but he's a gunslinger who can move the ball down the field. Luton also has 23 touchdown passes and with his cannon he has proven he can make things happen in the downfield passing attack."

Watching Oregon State this season, I've seen tentative quarterbacks that will not throw the ball down field with confidence. I loved Darell Garretson after the Minnesota game with his three touchdown, zero interception performance, but things got much worse in the passing game from there.

The jury is still out on Marcus McMaryion and Conor Blount, and maybe even Garretson could come back next year and fight for his starting job, but I think Luton is exactly what Oregon State needs.

Here's why.

As Gorney mentioned, Luton has thrown a lot of interceptions this season. He's thrown 11 interceptions in 6 games. That's nearly two pics a game. Not good.

In the hudl tape that you can view below, you won't see any of Luton's interceptions. However, my guess is that Luton throws interceptions because of the trust that he has in his arm. He thinks he can fit the ball into the smallest of windows.

That's what Oregon State needs. Is Luton tentative? Heck no. Luton is a gunslinger that has a rocket arm, like my brother stated. And like Farrell said, Luton is a boom-or-bust type prospect. He could either be a turnover machine or a guy who could possibly play in the NFL.

I love this pickup for Oregon State, especially since he'll be able to have the spring to learn the offense and compete with the other quarterbacks for the starting job.