Recruiting on the High Plains :: RB Bradley Marquez

The Red Raiders pick up their 11th commitment of the year from Odessa RB Bradley Marquez. As you'll note, Marquez is already a highly rated running back by the Scout folks and is also a ESPN150, which means that he's one of the top 150 players in the country. That's two 4-star running backs on your team, although I think that Marquez could play receiver. In any event, Marquez is a player not matter what position he plays.

The Measurables: 

Bradley Marquez
Position: RB
DTN Profile
Video: Clip 1 : Clip 2
Rivals Profile 5.7
Scout Profile
ESPN Profile 79
Ht: 5'11"
Wt: 180 lbs
Forty: 4.40
High School: Odessa (Odessa, TX)

Join me after the jump for some video on Marquez and lots of good good.

The Player Speaks:  LAJ's Don Williams and OA Varsity's Joel A. Erickson both have articles on Marquez's commitment.  Marquez tells Williams that he liked the atmosphere at Texas Tech:

"I didn’t see myself going anywhere but Tech,’’ he said. "I love the coaches. Coach (Tommy) Tuberville’s history with running backs shows, and his record.’’

Marquez said he was impressed by the camaraderie among Tech’s coaches, something he didn’t necessarily expect because the staff was assembled just since Tuberville was hired in January.

"It’s a family oriented program,’’ he said. "That’s something I can see myself being a part of.’’

But the Erickson story mentions that a part of Marquez's decision was that Oklahoma dropped their offer to Marquez as they told him that they only needed one running back:

By the spring, Marquez had narrowed his choices down to two schools, Texas Tech and Oklahoma. After a running back committed to Oklahoma a couple of weeks ago, the Sooners rescinded their offer, telling King that they only had room for one running back in the class.

"I wasn’t prepared for it, but I was aware that it could happen," Marquez said.

Oklahoma’s decision left Marquez with a clear-cut first choice, and he decided to pull the trigger.

Texas Tech has agreed to let Marquez play both football and baseball. Marquez batted better than .400 for the Bronchos this season.

"I didn’t see myself going anywhere but Tech right now," Marquez said. "My family and I talked about it, weighed the options, and I wanted to get it done. Tech is my home."

Williams notes that Marquez is in the top 10% of his class and scored a 1,300 on his SAT and quite a bit of this story focuses on Marquez's injury in his junior year where he tore a triceps tendon.  Rather than read, go ahead and watch about about Marquez's recovery (the amazing part is that Marquez's highly regarded status is based on his sophomore rushing stats):

Video:  Breaking news . . . Marquez is pretty good.

Scouting Report:  Marquez  is accustomed to receiving the handoff in out of the shotgun (or pistol formation) a delayed hand-off situation, very typical to what Texas Tech will run.  The thing that strikes me is that Marquez is not afraid of contact, but I have no doubt that Marquez has legitimate 4.40 speed.  Marquez also does and excellent job of running through tackles and doesn't go down easily.  Marquez also has exception vision.  There are also a couple of highlights where Marquez catches the ball after coming out of the backfield and he looks like a competent receiver.  He's fluid, he watches the ball into his and I have no doubt that Marquez could easily convert to a receiver.  And as I daydream about this thought, I always thought Crabtree's greatest strength was that he was capable of looking like a running back while playing receiver.

The 2011 Class:  With Marquez's commitment, it brings the Scout average up to 2.36 and for those of you who are wondering, if a player doesn't have a grade, then I'm considering it a zero for the time being.  I'd have to assume that most, if not all of these players, will be at the very least a 3-star player and this class already has 2 4-star players, and some of the current commits, depending on their senior seasons, will likely also be 4-star players.

Bradley, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!