Intangible has become a sort of buzz word when describing quarterbacks. Intangibles are the traits that cannot be taught or measured. They can be simply understanding the intricacies of the game.
For Peyton Ramsey, the first commit in IU’s 2016 football recruiting class, those intangibles have become second nature. The rising senior quarterback at Cincinnati’s Elder High School has been surrounded by the sport since the day he was born.
His father, Doug Ramsey, is entering his 19th season as head coach at Elder.
“I grew up around the game and loved every minute of being a coach’s son,” Peyton said. “I grew up watching arguably the best high school football in the country, and it motivated me to be the best that I could be.”
Doug has coached the team since before Peyton was born, winning two state championships along the way. He said Peyton didn’t start playing organized football until 5th or 6th grade, but he knew Peyton wanted to be a quarterback.
“I looked forward to Friday nights as a kid and dreamed of playing under the lights,” Peyton said. “I’ve been in love with the game ever since I could walk.”
This constant exposure has resulted in Peyton’s ability to absorb the game quickly. For example, look at his growth from his sophomore to junior seasons. His sophomore season, he threw 15 interceptions, including eight over the course of two playoff games. One year later, he was controlling the ball better, throwing for 2,000 yards and running for over 900.
“I think the things that are best about him are really the intangibles and his understanding of what we are trying to do,” Doug said. “He is really a smart kid. He’s a great leader. Kids gravitate towards him.”
To quantify how smart Peyton is, Doug said he is 12th in his class at Elder.
Doug pointed out how quick of a decision-maker Peyton is. That is one of the biggest improvements he saw in his son from his sophomore to junior seasons. He thought it was funny how scouting services like 247sports and Rivals label Peyton as a “pro-style” quarterback while he ran as well as he did last year.
Peyton, a 3-star prospect according to 247sports.com, admittedly didn’t have a large amount of “Power Five” schools interested in him. It came down to a final three of IU, Boston College and Wake Forest. He wasn’t able to pinpoint it, but something about IU just felt right.
He has been working on recruiting other high school players to join him at IU. He said there are three or four recruits he has been hitting the hardest and that things usually pick up in the summer.
In terms of his own improvement, Peyton said he has been focusing on gaining weight. He has been in the gym as much as possible and eating anything in sight. He said he does not have any exact dietary guideline, just trying to consume as much as possible. Doug expects Peyton to play his senior season at 20 to 25 pounds heavier than last year. He plans on this improving Peyton’s arm strength and ability to break tackles.
“I’ve been head coach now for 18 years, and there’s only a handful of guys I’ve seen that I’ve coached that have worked as hard as he has,” Doug said.
IU has had a quarterback be the first commit in a class before. Just last year, Tommy Stevens was the first 2015 commit before switching to Penn State last November. Peyton doesn’t see that being the case for him. He said his commitment is strong.
“I like IU a lot and I do not see that changing.”
