Tall signal callers land their first offer

Patrick O'Brien - who's a running and throwing threat at San Juan Hills High School (San Juan Capistrano) landed his first scholarship offer on Tuesday, April 21, from a prestigious Big 10 university (photo by Lorenzo J. Reyna).

Throughout most of the offseason, scout writers and people who follow recruiting felt that Patrick O'Brien was the biggest sleeper among the California quarterbacks in the Class of 2016; because he hadn't been offered a scholarship right away.

But on Tuesday, April 21, the underrated O'Brien was awarded his first scholarship pledge, and it comes from the Big 10.

Nebraska came through and offered the 6-foot-4, 220-pound O'Brien of San Juan Hills High School (San Juan Capistrano), who has caught the attention of numerous writers because of his arm strength, accuracy, ability to spread the ball around and frame.

The dual-threat quarterback has hit the 7on7 circuit with B2G (Beyond 2 Grand) and helped sling an assortment of bombs at Passing Down's So Cal regional, which led the B2G 5-Star squad to the regional championship on March 29 in Fontana. O'Brien's performance drew rave reviews from national recruiting websites scout.com (Fox Sports) and rivals.com (Yahoo!).

Last season, O'Brien combined for 25 touchdowns running and throwing and accumulated 2,733 yards for the 4-7 Stallions.

MATUTE LANDS FIRST OFFER

Angel Matute - who's another 6-foot-4, 220-pound field general - landed his first scholarship pledge from Arkansas State University of the Sun Belt Conference on April 20.

Matute, who plays at Rancho Cucamonga High School, is considered a dual-threat quarterback according to Rivals.

After the 2014-15 season, Matute accounted for 2,855 passing yards, 213 rushing yards, 24 touchdown passes and 8 interceptions.

Like O'Brien, Matute has put on the shorts and dri-fit to gain more exposure for himself on the 7on7 trail. Matute has been throwing the ball for Rhare Breed of the Inland Empire.

He's also received interest from Arizona, Arizona State, North Carolina State, Purdue and Texas Tech.