Texas Football: Sarkisian gets his ideal big-arm QB in 3-Star Trey Owens

The 6-foot-4.5 and 205-pound Cypress Cy-Fair (TX) three-star quarterback Trey Owens became the third prospect to commit to the 2024 Texas football recruiting class on Jan. 11. Owens became the top quarterback target in the 2024 class for head coach Steve Sarkisian and QB coach AJ Milwee after they hauled in the elite five-star Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning in the 2023 class.

Sark and the Longhorns probably have found their one quarterback commit in the 2024 class by nabbing the big-arm in-state product Owens. Texas probably is only going to take one quarterback in the 2024 class, unless something changes with Arch and Maalik Murphy in the next year or so.

Moreover, Texas really started pushing for Owens last summer as the primary quarterback target in the 2024 class. He made nearly a half-dozen unofficial visits to Texas since last spring. And Owens is set to be on campus for Texas’ Junior Day festivities in around 10 days.

Sark and Milwee formed a really tight bond with Owens and his camp right away in 2022. Texas really started to find traction with Owens when he was on campus for an unofficial visit back in June 2022, which was unironically the same weekend that Arch took his OV to Austin.

Word on the street is that Sark and Milwee were planning that trip out for Owens and Arch to be on campus during the same visit weekend the entire time.

The strong bond between Owens and the Texas coaches wound up leading to his announcement on social media on the morning of Jan. 11 that he committed to the Longhorns. He picked Texas over offers from schools like the Baylor Bears, Washington State Cougars, Houston Cougars, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and SMU Mustangs.

Steve Sarkisian adds his ideal style of QB in new 3-Star Texas football commit Trey Owens

What Texas is getting out of the Cypress, TX, native Owens is a big-arm quarterback with good pocket awareness. In general, Owens has a good feel for the game. His football IQ shows up in his ability to go through his progressions while maintaining his composure under pressure in the pocket.

Given how complex Sark’s offense can be for a young quarterback to digest, it’s big for Owens to maintain such a high level of composure in the pocket while going through his reads. He really does well in terms of climbing the pocket when pressure is coming off the edges to make the necessary read and throw.

Owens also does a nice job of maintaining good footwork while pressure is coming in his face. He doesn’t really get thrown out of sorts when the pocket is collapsing, which is a great sign given that he’s only a junior in high school.

Being able to see the play develop and patiently wait for the right time to release the ball sounds easy, but it is a critical component of Sark’s offense, especially given the emphasis on the deep ball.

Even when there isn’t pressure collapsing on Owens in the pocket, he’s got good timing and route anticipation which puts him on the same page consistently with his receivers. The timing and touch he puts on the ball make for some really pretty throws he’s able to make to the intermediate and deep parts of the field.

He’s also got the necessary anticipation and arm strength to be able to make those tough throws to the boundary at least 10 yards downfield.

And when you combine Owens’ anticipation/timing in the pocket with his impressive arm talent, you get a quarterback that has a seriously high ceiling in Sark’s offense. Owens clearly has the arm talent that allows him to make all the necessary throws in Sark’s offense. In that way, he does remind you of the California native Murphy.

Owens has a natural fundamental throwing motion that allows for some very accurate balls to the tougher areas on the field. He also has some different arm angles that he can throw from, including some impressive sidearm releases.

And while Owens does bring a good amount of arm strength to the table, there aren’t many throws beyond five yards in front of the line of scrimmage where he will put a ton of zip on the ball. Instead, he focuses more on the placement of the ball and route timing to be able to get the throw in a window that only the receiver can get it.

When he does put some zip on the ball, though, it mostly comes on quicker passes where the play only calls for him to through one or two reads before getting the ball out of his hand. He is pretty effective in the quick passing game, but there is some room for improvement in terms of his throwing motion and weight transfer when releasing the ball.

It’s also worth noting that Owens was pretty effective in getting the ball where it needed to go during his first season as a full-time starting quarterback at Cy-Fair. He completed more than 67 percent of his passing attempts this past season, with an impressive average of nearly 16 yards.

Where Trey Owens needs to improve

Most of the pointers that the Texas coaches will have for Owens will likely have to do with his mobility. He’s a true pro-style quarterback that doesn’t possess much of a running element in his game.

That also translates to some questionable footwork and fundamentals when he’s forced to throw on the run or laterally escape from the pocket. The lateral agility isn’t the smoothest phase of Owens’ game, which can limit what he can do when the pocket breaks down in front of him.

All around, the limited mobility for Owens will also put a ceiling on the improvisational element of his game. At the outset of his career, he’s most likely going to be limited to making the reads that Sark has for him in the playbook.

Granted, Sark is good at tailoring his offensive scheme to put less pressure on the quarterback to think on the fly and make plays with his legs. This is one of the biggest reasons why I believe that Owens’ fit in this offensive system will be very conducive to his long-term development.

Owens is a good addition to the Longhorns 2024 class. Adding him to the mix in the 2024 class helps to provide some clarity in terms of what direction Sark and his staff will go for this cycle.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2024 Texas recruiting class now ranks at No. 15 in the nation and second in the Big 12 behind the Texas Tech Red Raiders.