Saraland QB K.J. Lacey has the tools to be great and recruiters are noticing
By Jimmy Wigfield, Call News
The founder of Mobile-based QB Country and famed quarterback mentor David Morris — who has tutored Eli Manning, Georgia’s Stetson Bennett, Arkansas’ K.J. Jefferson, Duke’s Riley Leonard, North Carolina’s Drake MayE and NFL quarterbacks Jake Fromm and Gardner Minshew, among others — said Lacey is breaking new ground as the epitome of a modern quarterback.
“He can throw it as good as a lot of guys in college right now,” Morris said. “His arm is NFL (caliber) right now in terms of pure arm strength. He is 100 percent can’t miss. He’s as good as this state has ever seen and he’s not done developing. He’s ahead of his years from an anticipation and a pure arm standpoint. … Nothing is guaranteed, of course, and he’s got to stay healthy, stay out of trouble, stay humble and continue to work as hard as he has in the past. If he does that, the sky’s the limit.
“He’s not even a once-in-a-decade player. I’ve been doing this since 2004 and, at this age, there’s never been one like him.”
Morris said Lacey has the mind of a veteran player and plays fearlessly.
“Usually with a young starter, there’s a process with the ability to play on time with the clock in your head and throw the football without hesitation,” Morris said. “With a 10th-grader, it usually takes the whole season to feel comfortable and have confidence in doing that. With K.J., it was there from game one and that’s a credit to K.J. and Jeff and (Saraland receivers coach) Brett (Boutwell). He learns quickly. He loves to know what’s going on.”
“He’s got great instincts,” Morris said of Lacey. “There are quarterbacks who have book smarts and can tell you all about the coverages and then there are the quarterbacks with street smarts who have the incredible instincts to see space and take what the defense gives you. He’s both.”