Scary potential

[rl]

AUBURN, Ala. | Auburn landed a talented and strong-armed quarterback on Wednesday.

But it's what Woody Barrett can become over the next couple of years that the Tigers' coaching staff is banking on.

"He's getting better every day as a quarterback," West Orange coach Bob Head said. "When he got to West Orange a year and a half ago, he was primarily a runner. He had a huge arm but didn't really know how to play the quarterback position. He's pushed himself to the next level in the weight room and on the field, and turned himself into one of the top quarterbacks in the country.

"The thing that's so scary is he has a chance to be even better. The potential is just through the roof."

Barrett, 6-foot-2 and 221 pounds, led West Orange to its best season in school history last year. The Warriors rolled to an 11-0 start before running into the Apopka juggernaut in the second round of the Class 8A playoffs, losing 42-0 to the Chandler Cox-led Blue Darters.

Barrett finished his junior season completing 86-of-139 (61.9 percent) of his passes for 1,558 yards and 24 touchdowns. He added 813 yards and nine touchdowns rushing.

"He can just take over a game and he elevates everybody around him," Head said. "We have a great receiver who everybody in the country has offered in Eddie McDoom. He gets the ball to him and spreads it around. He does a really good job of picking up the team around him.

"He's a really, really good football player and his best football is ahead of him. The more he gets coached at the quarterback position, he's going to be even better."

A completion rate over 60 percent is a good sign. But Head sees the potential -- there's that word again -- for Barrett to be a more consistent and precise passer.

"He has a tendency to overthrow his receivers at times and we're working on that," Head said. "but he has good touch and throws a good ball. His arm is definitely strong.

"We always kind of compare him to a (former Auburn quarterbacks) Cam Newton and Nick Marshall. He's in that kind of mold where he's a run-first, huge, strong-armed quarterback. He might not be the most accurate passer but has a cannon. He kind of reminds me of (former NFL quarterback) Steve McNair, just that big, thick body. That's kind of the guy I compare him to a lot of scouts, kind of a linebacker playing quarterback."

Like Newton and Marshall, Barrett's athletic skill make him a good fit at Auburn.

"That high tempo, quick throws, quick runs, tough kid, I think that he will fit right in," Head said.