As we gear up for the 2012 football season, we’ve partnered with the Newsplex to bring you the first ever Scrimmage Play Six Quarterback Camp. We put six members of one of the most impressive quarterback crops in a while in Central Virginia through the paces with Athlelite Factory’s Joe Sanford running drills and a whiteboard session during a summer clinic. We also talked with each quarterback about their career up until this point and the upcoming season. Look for video on CBS 19 each night this week at 6 and 11 p.m.
Jhalil Mosley took over at quarterback for Monticello as sophomore in 2010. He was baptized at the position under then coach Brud Bicknell who has a knack for developing top-flight high school quarterbacks including Joe Sanford, Mike Brown and Mike Graham and tutored future NFL starter Shaun King back in college. All three of those former Monticello athletes went on to play significant collegiate football with Brown now trying to make his way on to the Jackonsville Jaguars albeit at a different position after playing under center at Liberty.
In his recruiting rounds, Mosley’s been to a countless number of combines and camps and his participation in the Scrimmage Play Six QB Camp was one of his last. Exercises like this have been his way of life this summer and last as looked to land his college destination.
“This was a good chance to come out here and make sure my skills are still good and help continue to do what I want to on a day-to-day basis,” Mosley said. “I practice Monday, Tuesday and Thursday on my footwork, accuracy and drills to make sure the skills are tight.”
It’s to Brown that Mosley is most comprable, both in terms of athleticism, quarterbacking skills and school history. That’s high praise and just last week Mosley made a big decision as he chose to play for James Madison University come 2013. The Dukes see Mosley as a dynamic quarterback and want to keep him at that position with a lot of talk that JMU coach Mickey Mathews and his staff think he’s ready to start as a freshman.
Mosley has come a long way both in terms of intangibles, measurable and overall mindset. After his sophomore season, the Monticello product did the camp rounds in 2011 and this time around, everything is different.
“I’m a lot more comfortable now because last year I was nervous going to every camp,” Mosley said. “I’ve been competing with three and four star athletes, quarterbacks that are 6-foot-4 and I’m 5-foot-11 and a half, and 170 pounds. Now this time around I’m just myself. I’m confident and comfortable with my skill set.”
In terms of development, Mosley points to the intangibles as being his biggest hurdle and something to which he devotes as much thought and time as he can.
“Right now it’s about leadership skills,” Mosley said. “We lost everyone from last year and now everyone is looking up to me for it and so there’s a whole lot on my shoulders. But I’m really looking forward to it. My team is confident in me, I’m confident in them so we’re just going to go out and play ball.”
Just a week away from starting Monticello’s summer camp on July 30th, Mosley will be without his starting running back in Isaac Robinson and top two wideouts Sam Patterson and Nathan DiGregorio as all three graduated this spring. Rising senior James Banks figures be one of Mosley’s most targeted receivers with the fall season looming. For Banks, having a 3-year starter playing quarterback with skills to improvise, extend plays makes life a lot easier.
“It’s a big plus that when he gets jammed, he can get out of the pocket,” Banks said. “Knowing that he can make plays with his feet or do that then find someone like me coming back, that’s huge.”
But as much gets made of Mosley’s abilities to evade the rush, run the ball and scramble, at the end of the day he’s going to JMU because he can throw.
“He makes throws that are a lot more mature than you see from most the quarterbacks in (the Jefferson District),” Banks said. “He plays beyond his years, he’s smart and he knows how to throw it around and put it exactly where only they can make plays on it.”
And so as the Mustangs get ready to open camp, they can take great solace that Mosley isn’t just a do-everything kind of quarterback, but that he’s now as comfortable as ever in that position and ready to shine in his senior year.
