Georgia Tech Recruiting: Local QB Tobias Oliver is Commitment #15

Ed. Note: Apologies for the delay on this. It’s been a busy week for the staff, both here and elsewhere.

On Saturday, Qua Searcy’s dive to seal a Georgia Tech win over their in-state rivals ensured it would be a good weekend for the Yellow Jackets’ coaches and fanbase. On Sunday afternoon, the weekend got a little better as the coaching staff got word that recently-offered QB Tobias Oliver had committed to Georgia Tech.

Oliver is listed around 6’2”, 180 pounds, and hails from Northside High School in Warner Robins, GA. His only other reported FBS offers were from Troy and Army, but he’s gotten more interest from bigger programs throughout the season, as he’s led his high school team to an 11-2 record with an upcoming appearance in the state semifinals this weekend.

A look at Oliver’s highlights (one of his games from this year are shown below) show why the Georgia Tech coaching staff would be interested in him. He’s a very gifted runner, with a great combination of top-end speed, acceleration, agility, and balance. He’s also fully comfortable operating within an option system that involves more than just the standard read option — he’s shown making good reads to pitch the ball, both backwards and forwards. I have one primary concern about Oliver as a quarterback in Georgia Tech’s system — his frame. Oliver is tall at 6’2” (for comparison, Justin Thomas is around 5’10”), but at only 180 pounds (roughly the same as Thomas) his frame is extremely slight. That helps him to be so nimble in his running, but also could be cause for durability issues.

In passing the ball, Oliver is reasonably accurate, although I can’t say I’ve seen him make many particularly tough throws (including highlights from other games). My main concern about Oliver, from a passing perspective, is arm strength. None of his throws (again, including other games) appear to have much power behind them. As a quarterback at Georgia Tech, he may not have to make a ton of tough throws, but he’ll need to have the arm strength to put the ball in windows while they’re present, before throws become a lot more tough. That, not to mention that he’ll also be asked to throw the ball deep down the field regularly within the passing game.

Oliver is a strong pickup for Georgia Tech — a quarterback with the athleticism to contribute at a lot of other positions if necessary. He’s rated as only a two-star prospect by Rivals (5.3), although that seems a little outdated considering his performance this season. He’s rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports (89) and the 247Sports Composite (0.8374).

As of now, Georgia Tech’s 2017 recruiting class is as follows:

Congratulations to Oliver and his family on his commitment!