As we continue to work through a series of freshman quarterbacks, today we’re looking at Missouri freshman QB Gabarri Johnson & Louisville freshman Pierce Clarkson.
Highly touted four star prospect Gabarri Johnson committed to Missouri after taking an official visit in April of 2022, and will head to the program with the intent of taking over as the starter for the next several seasons.
Pierce Clarkson chose Louisville despite interest from local school UCLA, and the St. John Bosco quarterback will now compete with a new group of quarterbacks for the job vacated by Malik Cunningham.
Gabarri Johnson – QB, Missouri
Johnson played his high school football at Lincoln High in Tacoma, Washington, and received significant interest from schools on the West coast as a result.
He was offered a scholarship at Oregon, Oregon State and local schools Washington and Washington State, but chose to head to Missouri, which was recognised as a great piece of recruiting by the Tigers to pry him away from strong offers from schools in his home state.
Gabarri Johnson was ranked as the number four dual threat quarterback in the country by Rivals, and led his high school to an 11-1 record in his senior year.
Johnson throws the football with some zip, and the threat of taking off and beating defenders in space is ever present. He’ll be a fun prospect for the future of the Tigers program without a doubt.
Pierce Clarkson – QB, Louisville
Pierce Clarkson was a consensus four star recruit who committed to Louisville over several other notable college football programs.
He played for St. John Bosco, a well known high school team in California, and his showings led to offers from the likes of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas A&M and local school UCLA.
The Bruins pursued Clarkson but he chose Louisville, and will now compete to be the next long term starter for the Cardinals.
Clarkson led John Bosco to a state championship this past season in a 45-0 win and his team was ranked number one in the country. He played in the All-American Bowl, and his game seemed to go from strength to strength over the past couple of seasons.
He threw for over 2,000 passing yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior, while adding over 500 rushing yards and five more scores on the ground.
2023-2024 CFB Season Opportunity
Gabarri Johnson
Redshirt junior Brady Cook is the anticipated starter for the Missouri Tigers this season, having taken over the lead role for the duration of the 2022 college football campaign.
While he was the starter last season, his 14 touchdowns and seven picks left the door open for challengers. Right now those challengers are expected to be redshirt freshman Sam Horn, a former four star recruit himself, and redshirt sophomore transfer Jake Garcia, who spent the last two seasons with the Miami Hurricanes.
Garcia saw some game time for the ‘Canes too, throwing for 809 yards and five touchdowns while also throwing four picks. He’ll be the most experienced competition breathing down Brady Cook’s neck, and having those two guys ahead of him might mean a complex road to the starting role for Gabarri Johnson.
His play time as a freshman could be limited. The word out of camp so far this year is that the job is most likely going to be Brady Cook’s to lose, and that makes sense considering his experience. That said, Mizzou fans are waiting for somebody to emerge as the guy who is going to start for the team for the next four seasons, something they haven’t had for quite some time. Perhaps Gabarri Johnson will become that guy?
Pierce Clarkson
Malik Cunningham has been the starter for Louisville for the last four seasons. He ran a tonne, including a huge season in 2021 in which the quarterback rushed for 1,142 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Having now moved on to the NFL and an undrafted free agent shot with the New England Patriots, Louisville will be looking for a new starting quarterback in the 2023 CFB season.
Among those competing for the job is Jack Plummer, who threw for over 3,000 yards and 21 touchdowns at Cal last season. Plummer is going into his fifth season of college football having spent the first three years at Purdue, and is the heavy favorite to take on the role for the Cardinals this coming campaign.
While he might have strong odds for the job, Plummer is not the only transfer who came in. Both redshirt freshman Brady Allen, who was at Purdue last year, and Harrison Bailey who has been at both Tennessee and UNLV will also be out there fighting for a spot.
Pierce Clarkson might not see too much playing time this season, but you get the sense that he is expected to be the future of the program. Clarkson fits the style of offense Louisville have been running for a long time now, and his mobility and style is a perfect match for the team.
Pro’s and Con’s for playing time
Gabarri Johnson
The main pro for Gabarri starting is the lack of confidence the fan base currently has in the program’s quarterbacks. Brady Cook did just enough to warrant holding onto the job, and his toughness in leading the team from the front is clearly evident, but some of the criticism was also warranted.
Johnson might be a freshman, but if the young QB shows out in camp and Brady Cook gets pulled at any point this season, there’s no reason Johnson would be forced to sit behind any of the other competing quarterbacks if he’s played better than they have.
Behind Cook, the job is wide open.
That said, the risk in playing him is of course the lack of experience at the college level. At least Jake Garcia has taken over 100 snaps for the Hurricanes and spent two seasons in a college football program, and Sam Horn is a year ahead of Johnson in terms of experience at Missouri too.
Pierce Clarkson
The pro’s are pretty obvious with this pairing. Louisville has become known for its dual threat quarterbacks, and while things might be a little different under Jeff Brohm, Clarkson has the potential to be a great dual threat QB for the program.
His high school tape is really clean. His mobility and movement both in the pocket and escaping it to extend plays jumps right out of the film. He rolls out really nicely, he’s got good footwork, and he can make some elite level throws while on the move.
Not only is the Louisville freshman quarterback capable of leading his team with his footwork and arm talent from behind the line of scrimmage, but when he takes off running he looks just as smooth. Things just look really natural for him, and that natural talent is going to be exciting to watch grow at the college level.
The drawback to playing him early is having him out there over guys who have experience as starting quarterbacks. It’s going to take some doing to beat out Jack Plummer that quickly, but with a new coaching staff in place nothing is set in stone for the Cardinals offense this season.
Why draft him in CFB Fantasy Leagues?
Gabarri Johnson
Johnson’s ceiling looks to be really promising. His character has been celebrated by his high school coaches in every report, article and interview I’ve seen about the young man, and that’s always a good sign.
It appears that Johnson will develop into a strong leader in the locker room, and his potential with a football in his hands is also very exciting.
As mentioned, Missouri fans are desperate to find a quarterback that’s going to be here to stay, who elevates the rest of the team with his play week after week. Either Brady Cook is going to provide that, or he’s going to relinquish the position and somebody else will have a chance to make it their own.
Johnson will have to beat out both Garcia and Sam Horn, but if he does, and he gets on the field, it could be a fun few years for Tigers fans.
Pierce Clarkson
The high school film with this young man is enough to peak your interest. There’s a reason he was running the number one team in the country this past year, and he did so with style.
Clarkson has all the traits you would be looking for in a developing high school quarterback, especially one who fits a dual threat system.
It might not be this year, but your college football devy league mates could end up regretting allowing you to draft him as he grows into a starting role at Louisville.
Stock Radar as an NFL prospect
Gabarri Johnson 5%
Johnson’s high school tape is superb, but I need to see how he handles a step up in competition before I make any bold claims here. It often looked like he was coasting through defenses both with his arm talent and his ability as a runner, and that is either because he makes the difficult things look easy or because the level of competition he faced was not up to standard. Perhaps a mix of both, but I’m excited to see him get a shot in the college game.
Pierce Clarkson 9%
This is a talented football player. I watched a couple of his high school games on film and everything just seems to come naturally. He’s played in a high pressure environment at the high school level, and if he can handle it with the same level of execution in college then we could well see a very interesting NFL prospect a few years from now.
