A QB recruit Ole Miss offered is putting up video game numbers in Colorado

Last week we highlighted quarterback K.J. Jefferson—who just moved into third place for all-time passing yards in Mississippi high school football—and whether the Rebels can flip him from his Arkansas commitment.

Now, we turn our attention out west to 2020 QB rewriting the record books in Colorado.

Three-star pro-style quarterback Aidan Atkinson received an offer from Ole Miss after throwing piling up 3,405 yards and 23 touchdowns for Fairview High in Boulder. This year, he has taken things to an entirely new level. Just nine games, he’s already broken the state record for single-season touchdown passes (53).

And that’s just the beginning of what he’s done to the Colorado state record book.

• His 687 yards and nine touchdowns in a single game are both records.
• His 3,750 yards this season are seventh most single season
• His 234 completions are eighth.
• His 374 pass attempts are tied for 11th-most.

Fairview is 8-1 on the shoulders of Atkinson’s insane 2018 season. With 3,750 passing yards, he’s 500 yards in front of the next highest high school quarterback in the country. He’s averaging 16 yards per completion and completing 62.6 percent of his passes while throwing just seven interceptions. Throw all of that in a pot and you get a sterling 127.8 QBR.

Oh, and he still has another year of high school left.

Ranked as the 16th best pro-style quarterback in the 2020 class, Atkinson holds offers from Boise State, Colorado, Northwestern and South Carolina. Christoph Ludwig, Red Cup’s Colorado correspondent, has seen the 6’3, 195-pound Atkinson live and in person. He came away impressed.

When Atkinson’s career is over, he’ll likely be the Colorado state record holder in career passing yards and touchdowns, as well as holding single-game records for those categories. He has a strong arm, shows good touch and accuracy on deep balls, can fit throws into tight windows and isn’t afraid to step into a throw in the face of the oncoming pass rush.

He doesn’t have the running ability Ole Miss offensive coordinator Phil Longo typically looks for in quarterbacks, but he can escape and make plays when the pocket collapses. He might not seem like the typical dual-threat quarterback you’d associate with a Longo offense, but he certainly has what it takes to succeed in the SEC.

It’s still a ways away and there are some other quarterback targets much closer to home, but Atkinson is a joy to watch. He stands tall in the pocket, works through progressions like a veteran, has arm talent to spare and possesses lethal accuracy. The talent in 5A Colorado football isn’t great, but he certainly exposes what talent they do have.

He’ll be a name to keep an eye on for 2020, if not just for the sheer comedy of his dunking on the Colorado record books.