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Thursday, August 29
 
Leak enters season as No. 1 prep QB

By Tom Lemming
Special to ESPN.com

At this stage, I have Chris Leak ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the country. He's got decent size and speed, tremendous awareness, a super release, great confidence and an uncanny knack for finding the open receiver.

Chris Leak threw 57 TDs in 2001.
Leak has a live arm, but is a precision passer with tremendous feet and command of not only his own abilities, but the team's as well. He also has a certain something that I haven't seen with any other quarterback this year -- a coolness under pressure and an easy throwing motion . Plus, he's the most productive guy around too -- throwing for 4,541 yards and 57 TDs last year.

Leak's such a smart kid. Even at his age, he throws very few interceptions (10 last year) considering the amount of passes he's thrown. He's not a runner because of the offense, but he does have running skills. If he's forced out of the pocket, he becomes a weapon with his running skills. It's a major plus that a lot of the other supers don't have.

A lot of times he throws from the shotgun and will have to work on his drops when he gets to college. He reminds me of Rex Grossman, size-wise, arm-strength wise, throwing-motion wise and production wise. He gets the job done.

Some people have said he's too short or doesn't have as good an arm as Kyle Wright, but when you put all his positives and talents together, I don't think you have a better quarterback in the country. If he goes to the right program, he'll be a Heisman candidate.

Tom Lemming is a recruiting analyst for ESPN.com.






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