Last Wednesday, Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher landed one of the more underrated signal callers in the 2024 cycle, as Fisher and his staff once again pulled a coup in the East Coast region, as three-star Massachusetts quarterback Miles O’Neill chose the Aggies over Boston College down the stretch.
Without being able to see him in person, going off of his available tape, as limited as it is, was enough to witness this young man’s potential once he finds his footing in a collegiate offense. First off, standing at a whopping 6-5 and 220 pounds, everything is there from a physical standpoint, while his various highlights show a player with incredible arm strength and touch on vertical routes, corner routes, and seam routes, tossing 50-plus yard bombs with ease.
There is a distinct difference between a big-armed armed thrower and a strong thrower with touch. O’Neill fits the latter to a T. Playing in a vertical-based offensive scheme throughout most of his high school career, his out-of-structure throws combat O’Neill’s consisting throwing down the field throws in the middle of the field is where he has struggled, mainly due to his off-balance throwing motion due to a lack of finesse, mostly because of his size, placing less velocity on his throws to hit his target accurately.
In the pocket, O’Neill’s footwork and balance have improved year to year. Once things get ugly, his ability to escape upfield with surprising speed and agility is highly promising, as quarterbacks are expected to develop at least some duel-threat ability as defenses continue to become more athletic.
Overall, Bobby Petrino’s hiring as Texas A&M’s new offensive coordinator could spell success future success for Miles O’Neill, whose strong arm, football intelligence (4.0 GPA), and mistake-freak play in the vertical game is just what Jimbo Fisher and Petrino are looking for at the quarterback position. Gig ‘Em, Miles!
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