Welcome to my re-rankings of the 2003 Big Ten Recruiting Classes. Every week I’ll break down a different position. I also will cover Notre Dame’s recruiting because Michigan often goes head to head with the Domers for recruits.
2003 Big Ten Quarterback Recruiting:
Brad Bower’s senior season in high school went very well as he had 2,886 total yards and 48
total TD’s. Brad was a consensus all-state selection and was rated a higher end three star prospect by both Rivals (#21 dual-threat) and Scout (#23). At Illinois, Bower redshirted in 2003 and accounted for 658 yards passing in 2004. After the ’04 season, Bower opted to transfer to Ohio University. After sitting out the ’05 season, Brad passed for 2,192 yards with 12 TD’s. Bower came out of high school a pretty highly regarded recruit, but in my opinion did not lift up to the hype.
2003: Rivals - 3 stars. Scout – 3 stars. 2010 re-rank: High 2 stars.
DaJuan Warren exited high school with a decent three star rating and all-state honors as a senior. When he arrived at Champaign he saw no time at quarterback and made a position move to wide receiver where he was pretty much a non factor.
2003: Rivals – 3 stars. Scout – 3 stars. 2010 re-rank: High 2 star athlete.
Blake Powers was a borderline Big Ten QB coming out of high school. He was rated a high two to low three star player in 2003. During his career at quarterback he passed for 2,789 yards and 23 TD’s, before moving to tight end in 2006 making Kellen Lewis the starter. His final two seasons at IU were mainly spent as a “coach” for the younger QB’s.
2003: Rivals - 3 stars. Scout – 2 stars. 2010 re-rank: 2 stars.
Drew Tate sits second in passing yards for Texas high school football with 12,183 and third in 
touchdown passes with 113. Coming out of high school he was ranked anywhere from a 3 to 4 star kid. During his career at Iowa Tate passed for 8,292 yards, second behind the great Chuck Long. He also threw 61 TD’s which ranks eighth in Big Ten history.
2003: Rivals - 4 stars. Scout – 3 stars. 2010 re-rank: Solid 4 stars. I would’ve given him a high 4, but his team was only 13-12 his final two seasons and his senior year was his worst.
Eric McCollom was named Mr. Football in South Carolina as a senior. During his final two seasons McCollom passed for 6,345 yards and threw for 72 touchdowns! Yet coming into college he was a relatively low ranked player. He switched positions to wide receiver in Iowa City, but his career was very limited due to numerous injuries.
2003: Rivals – 3 stars. Scout – 2 stars. 2010 re-rank: Incomplete. I really wish that we could’ve seen this kid at full strength.
More...