Mason Blocker may not have the ranking or offers like some of his quarterback counterparts - an injury-plagued junior season is the primary reason for that - but neither did Marcus Mariota when he signed with Oregon several years ago.
In fact, that's what new UCF coach Scott Frost told the Mandeville (La.) Fontainebleau product when he gave him a call on Sunday night.
"Coach Frost told me the story about Mariota and how he went to the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp and they told him he shouldn't be playing quarterback," Blocker said. "That made me feel a lot better."
The New Orleans-area dual-threat passer finished his senior season at Fontainebleau with 1,750 yards passing and 18 touchdowns with 787 additional yards on the ground and another 10 rushing touchdowns, helping his team to a 6-4 record. It was his first season playing under his father, Chris Blocker, as head coach.
"They opened up a public school down the road a few years ago and we lost a lot of good players," Blocker said. "It's taken three years to build up a really good program. We beat some teams that we hadn't beaten in four years even though we may not have the best talent."
Blocker has been hoping he'd attract more recruiting attention since he wasn't able to generate much exposure as a junior.
"I had a great summer going into my junior year and then I hurt my back right before the season," Blocker said. "It was a really bad sprain in my lower back and it affected my running and throwing. I actually started the first game and played well, but the next morning when I woke up I couldn't walk. I got it checked out and they said it was a bad sprain and that I needed to stay off of it for three or four weeks and do physical therapy."
He returned in the latter half of the season to play in a few games, but he was far from 100 percent.
"I know that hurt my recruiting big time," Blocker said. "It hurt my stats and also hurt my team. When I came back they had to switch me out because I could only do so much because of my back. I still had about 1,000 yards passing and 700 yards rushing in only six games. After the season I had three months of physical therapy and got it back to where it's supposed to be. I'm a lot stronger and just had a great senior year."
Blocker says he currently has about eight offers from a combination of Division II, Division III and NAIA schools, but he's been hoping to get a look from Division I. Tulane, Louisiana Tech, Southeastern Louisiana, Indiana State, Central Arkansas and Alabama State have been in recent contact. So has UCF.
"When I saw the coaching change and saw that Coach Frost got the job, that got me pretty excited," Blocker said. "I thought why don't I send my film to UCF? Maybe they could look at me? At this point in the recruiting process it's pretty hard for a quarterback because schools are usually set on who they have, but I knew they didn't have a quarterback commit. One of my trainers, (former NFL player) J.J. McCleskey, he sent my film to somebody and they wound up getting it."
UCF's new quarterback coach, Mario Verduzco, made the first contact about a week ago.
"He really liked my film," Blocker said. "He said, 'I just got the job and Coach Frost and I are going to be looking over quarterback prospects tonight.' After that, they told me I made the board. Then Coach Frost called me last night and said, 'Yeah man, I really like your film. I don't care if you're a no-star or a two-star, I just care if you can play and fit our offense. We want you here.' He knows I've been under the radar and overlooked."
Frost told Blocker he was the type of quarterback they feel can run UCF's version of the Oregon offense.
"He said I fit very well in the offense," Blocker said. "He liked how I ran the zone read very well, how I can make plays when the play breaks down and find somebody open. He said I was pretty high up there (on the board), their top guy. I'm one of four quarterbacks they're looking at. They want me to come for a visit. They'll call me next week to set up a date."
The visit will likely be Jan. 15 or 22.
"UCF is actually one of my favorite schools just because I saw Blake Bortles play there," Blocker said. "That's when I started liking UCF. Blake Bortles is one of my favorite QBs coming out of college to the NFL. That's when I started liking UCF a lot more. I didn't really hear about it until he went there. I like the community. I've been in the area, but I've never visited UCF."
If he does land that offer, Blocker seems poised to jump on it.
"I'm pretty fired up," Blocker said. "I'm pretty excited. Just being coached by Coach Frost is kind of like a dream. I've always wanted to be coached by Coach Frost ever since I saw what he did with Mariota. I never thought it might happen. I'm just hoping the process plays out well."
Senior Season Video Highlights
