Dylan McCaffrey Could Be One Of Colorado’s Best

Colorado isn’t necessarily a state known for cranking out top-level football players, and those that are produced by the Centennial State tend to be the big men in the trenches. Despite that, there are some outstanding prospects at the skill positions every now and then. Highlands Ranch Valor Christian quarterback Dylan McCaffrey is certainly the best in the 2017 class.

In a Denver metro area that has produced BCS signal-callers like Cyler Miles (Washington, Class of 2012 and Luke Del Rio (Alabama, Class of 2013), there’s a good chance that McCaffrey could be the best quarterback to ever come out, according to Denver Post Preps Editor Neil Devlin - who should know, with 36 years on the beat under his belt.

“I think he’s going to surpass both of [Del Rio and Miles], frankly,” Devlin said. “Our football is OK here, and everything, but usually we’re a state that produces linemen more than anything, as opposed to skill players. We just don’t have the population base that other states do: we’re not that dense. After his senior year, I’ll probably say that he’s about as good as I’ve seen here, for sure.”

McCaffrey’s accomplishments at this point are already starting to pile up. He was selected to the Post’s all-state dream team after a junior season in which he threw for 2800 yards and 27 touchdowns while leading his team to a state championship.

In the state title game, he led a furious comeback from two scores down in the fourth quarter, giving Valor a 29-26 victory over Arvada Pomona (who had beaten Valor in their second game of the year, the Eagles’ only loss of the season). Two throw in particular still stand out in Devlin’s mind.

“He made two throws in the championship game here that you just don’t see on this level,” Devlin said. “He threw a seed into double-coverage on the sideline that was really good. Then he threw a lob pass to the corner of the endzone for a really big two-point conversion that pretty much sealed the victory.

“They were fairly solid and everything, but he was the one who made the plays to carry them, without a doubt. They got better on defense as the year went on, but he also led them to a come-from-behind victory in the championship game, and that wasn’t by design, and it wasn’t the defense bailing them out of a hole. He stepped up and he did it. There’s no doubt about that.”

McCaffrey’s bloodlines are well known - dad, Ed, played in the NFL for several years with the Giants, 49ers, and Broncos, older brother Christian was the Heisman runner-up in 2015, and maternal grandfather is the late Dave Sime, a onetime world record-holder in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the 220-meter low hurdles - but the natural athleticism isn’t the only thing in the 6-5, 210-pounder’s favor.

He’s also a tough quarterback with the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of his team. That’s a huge part of what helped Valor Christian achieve so much success during his junior year - and bodes well for the future.

“This guy is tough,” Devlin raved. “He took a licking a couple times and kept getting back up. I think he’s deceptively strong, I think he’s smart. All the intangibles as well as the physical gifts, he deserves a chance to play. He carried a lot of it. They weren’t nearly as talented around him on offense as they were in recent years. They had one really good receiver, Ben Waters, but [McCaffrey] had to do a lot of it himself.”

Toughness in a quarterback is certainly nice, but at times can lead to players getting themselves into trouble. Trying too hard to make a play can result in turnovers when the pocket collapses. That hasn’t been a problem with McCaffrey to date, and Devlin projects it won’t become one when he dons the Winged Helmet.

“One thing that he did really well, especially in the championship game, is he had that sense of when to get rid of the ball,” Devlin said. “He does it at the last possible instant, and he got really good at that. At the next level, when they have big boys and studs rushing him, he’s going to have to adjust to that: get rid of the ball a little bit earlier. He’s not afraid to take a sack - he’s really careful with it, and won’t throw it away into trouble. He does have that sense. He’s going to hold onto it until the last possible second and either complete it or throw it away.”

The No. 39 player in the nation is the cornerstone to the Wolverines’ 2017 class early in the process, and given that nobody around him has anything but positives to say, it’s easy to see why.