'09 OH QB Devontae Payne (Eastern Michigan Signee)

[wadc45]

Bucknuts.com - Bucknuts Recruiting Rewind: 9/9

Class of 2009 QB Devontae Payne has put himself on the map this off season. He will be one of the most recruited players in the class of 2009. Watching film of Devontae, you see a very raw prospect who at 6-5, 220 is still showing signs of growing "Paynes." His size is almost awkward as he towers above just about everyone on the playing field. But as he grows into his body and you project Devonate out to about three or four years from now when he will actually see the college football field, you will see a man amongst boys. This could very easily be the next Byron Leftwitch, Daunte Culpepper, or maybe even Vince Young. Right now, Payne shows great accuracy and understanding of the game as evidenced by his 19 TD pass verses three interceptions his sophomore year. Watch for this player to make great strides his junior season and find himself amongst the top prospects in Ohio.

FWIW, Leftwich, Culpepper and Young could not be more different...if anything Leftwich and Young were/aree on two ends of the spectrum and Culpepper is/was somewhere in the middle...

[OregonBuckeye]

Originally Posted by wadc45

FWIW, Leftwich, Culpepper and Young could not be more different...if anything Leftwich and Young were/aree on two ends of the spectrum and Culpepper is/was somewhere in the middle...

Agreed. I didn't see any Vince Young in those highlights. I can agree with the Leftwich comparisons.

[JCOSU86]

Originally Posted by wadc45

FWIW, Leftwich, Culpepper and Young could not be more different...if anything Leftwich and Young were/aree on two ends of the spectrum and Culpepper is/was somewhere in the middle...

On the contrary, they are all African-American QBs. As the author of the piece so elequently pointed out, they are all the same

[wadc45]

cleveland.com High School Sports

No. 24 Cleveland South 20, Cleveland JFK 6
Posted by From staff reports on October 20, 2007 12:38 a.m.

Kenneth Williams scored on an 80-yard pass from Devontae Payne in the fourth quarter as the Flyers won a Senate Athletic League home game.

South is 8-1, 6-0. JFK led, 6-0, after one quarter.

South moved ahead in the second quarter when Payne connected with Patrick Bennett from 20 yards and Brian Jackson made a two-point conversion.

Jackson capped the scoring in the fourth with a 4-yard run.

[osugrad21]

Great read...

CPD

Cleveland South's high school football team a winner regardless of playoff score, says columnist Terry Pluto


Friday, November 02, 2007
Led by a coach who won't quit, Cleveland South's 28-man football team bands together for its first-ever state playoff game.
When Jarvis Gib son stands in front of the 28 Cleveland South High School football players, the coach thinks about more than his team making the school's first trip to the state playoffs tonight when the Flyers face Normandy at Byers Field in Parma.




Cont...

Gibson thinks of Devontae Payne, the star 6-foot-7 quarterback who is being recruited by Big Ten schools. He thinks of how a few years ago, by his own admission, Payne was getting "C's, D's, F's . . . not real good." He thinks of Payne having GPAs of 3.2, 3.5 and 4.0 in his past three grading periods.

[stowfan]

Sounds like the kid's a worker

[Napoleonbuck]

How does Payne compare to Arvell Nelson?

Payne looks like he might be a little more of a pure passer, but it looks like Payne will have the same frame issues that Nelson had.

[ShakerBuck]

Rivals top 100 for '09

Devontae ranked #76 Nationally.

I've heard some speculation that DE might be his position at next level

[osugrad21]

BN $

Devontae says he does not have any offers yet but is hearing mostly from Notre Dame, Illinois, and Iowa. He says Illinois has his attention right now.

[Tresselbeliever]

Devontae will probably be a good player for someone, maybe in the B10. At this point, I don't know if he's got what OSU is looking for in a QB. Nothing jumps out, footwork, arm strength, mobility, release. Duane's had a long history of hyping Ohio QBs to be the next big thing. Clay Belton, another kid that's 6-6 220 was rated as the #2 player in Ohio, very late in the year too. Belton signed with MU, maybe that's where Devontae will end up too.

[OSUBucks22]

Rivals $ (Illinois site)

1/30

Devontae says that JT was in to see him at his school yesterday. Ron Zook has also been in recently, as has coaches from Colorado, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, and Iowa. He was in attendance for the OSU/Illinois game and likes Illinois's offense.

[wadc45]

BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : If Pryor says no, team looks for options

Friday, February 8, 2008 3:06 AM
By Ken Gordon

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

As he surveyed a rather surreal post-signing day landscape, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel fell back on what he does best:

He shrugged it off and went to work.

"It is unusual," Tressel said of awaiting a decision from Terrelle Pryor, the nation's top quarterback recruit who chose not to sign a letter of intent Wednesday. "But it is what it is, and we press on."

Press on, indeed. The Buckeyes are wasting no time in lining up quarterback prospects for the recruiting class of 2009. They are set to host Cleveland South standout Devontae Payne on an unofficial visit later this month.

That likely would have been the case no matter what Pryor's situation, but now the hunt has taken on a new urgency.

Continued...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

South's Payne stands out at combine

Jeff Walcoff, Staff Writer
02.14.2008

At more than 6-feet-5 and just a shade under 220 pounds, DeVontae Payne is hard to miss.
The Cleveland South High School soon-to-be senior quarterback stood out above the rest of the 300 or so athletes competing at the National High School All-Star Combine Wednesday in the Casey Coleman Field House at Browns Headquarters in Berea.
Payne said he always has risen above the competition. At age 10, he wasn't allowed to play midget football because he was too big so he was moved to Pee Wee. He played Pee Wee for just one year before being moved up to an even higher level.
By age 12, he was playing against 15 year olds and playing well. He said he realized he was a special player when he overtook his team's starting quarterback role from a 15-year-old.
"From then on I realized there was nothing to waste, so I started to play more," he said.

He's receiving interest from several institutions, including four in the Big Ten: Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana.
At this point, he said he has a strong interest in Ohio State and Illinois.

[Buckskin86]

video interview with DeVontae...

Browns Sights & Sounds

[Buckeye Nut]

Originally Posted by Buckskin86

video interview with DeVontae...

Browns Sights & Sounds

Impressive young man. Seems to have a very level head, well spoken, cares about school, good all-around kid.