Record-setting Canadian QB Nathan Rourke goes Unsigned by NCAA schools: Why?

[jerrym]

Below is a review of QB Kurtis Rourke, Nathan's freshman brother who is expected to become Ohio's starting QB, sometime after his brother leaves Ohio at the end of this school year. The first url gives a more detailed of Kurtis.

https://canadafootballchat.com/ohio-...kurtis-rourke/

Prior to Ohio: Finished his career at Holy Trinity High School with 4,250 passing yards, 63 passing touchdowns, 705 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns ... Completed 70 percent of his passes ... Two-time league MVP and two-time first team all-star selection ... Helped lead Holy Trinity to a Halton Championship in 2017 and a finalist finish in '18.

https://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/f...rke_kuris_a0fz

[OV Argo]

Wonder if the emergence of some very good mobile, running QBs having success in pro ball recently - guy with the Ravens in the NFL in particular; Fajardo & Strevler in the CFL - could open some doors for Nathan Rourke ? - maybe doubtful in the NFL without the real name program resume, but the CFL should IMO really be paying attention to the potential of this kind of QB talent. We shall see come CFL draft day. A Canadian QB selected in the 1st round? - be right up there with the pigs flying I witnessed at the Big Owe in 77 ;o)

[jerrym]

Nathan Rourke finished third in the Winter CFL Scouting Bureau rankings, the same ranking that he had in September. He made MAC Conference First Team All Star, based on a career best 2,676 passing yards with a 61.4% completion rate, 780 yards rushing, with 20 passing TDs and 12 rushing TDs. For his three year career at Ohio (he previously played junior college) he had 7,313 yards passing with a 58.8% completion rate, and 2,547 rushing yards and an Ohio record 110 TDs (60 passing, 48 rushing, and 2 receiving).

[jerrym]

Rourke will play his final collegiate game on January 3rd at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against the Nevada Wolfpack. It will be televised on ESPN.

[jerrym]

Rourke's final college game will also be broadcast on TSN 1 and 3 on January 3rd at 3:30 PM ET when Ohio faces the Nevada Wolfpack in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

[doubleblue]

First quarter 3-3. Rourke is a good running QB. Could he be used similar to Streveler as he develops on a CFL team? Doesn't look as big as Streveler but looks to be a better passer.
O'Leary-Orange has caught one short pass for Nevada and over thrown on a deep pass.

Former Argo QB John Congemi doing the colour for ESPN on this game.

[doubleblue]

20-9 for Ohio at the half. Nathan Rourke making it look easy running the ball against Navada, but it won't be that easy in the pros. Missed a wide open receiver in the end zone when he hurried a pass.

O'Leary-Orange had a drop on the one pass thrown his way, but he was in tight coverage. Threw a nice block to allow his RB to get the corner on a Nevada running play.
Nevada freshman QB Carson Strong has a good arm with a nice touch.

[doubleblue]

30-9 at three quarters. Mouse Davis could make a good run and shoot QB out of Rourke. He has some zip on his throws but over threw two more wide open receivers. Rourke is kind of a throw back to the old option play and he runs it well.

Orange was called for offinsive interference once but didn't see a pass thrown his way.

[OV Argo]

Rourke is an outstanding running QB - tough and hard to bring down and also showed a nice burst of speed on a long TD run; and while he missed a few deep throws to open receivers, his passing arm looks pretty good - made some accurate throws and no picks or ducks. And so nice to see an offence use a consistent and diverse run game to dominate - so long gone from possibility in the same old CFL offensive thinking style nowdays. Rourke to be a top CFL draft pick ? - i highly doubt it, but maybe (several CFL teams have huge need for TC QB competition IMO) - similar skill set to Western QB Chris Merchant, who went CFL GOB un-drafted. We shall see. Same deal for Dinos QB Sinagra - outstanding passing arm who just won the Vanier.

Impressed by the Nevada rookie QB's passing arm; and one of their receivers (Cooks i think) made a number of excellent, athletic catches; O'Leary-Orange did not do much but was not targeted much - at least he was a regular on their offence. Probably a high CFL draft pick, but not sure he is a top 5 draft board receiver (several U Sports receivers might deserve to be rated higher rather than CFL scouting deference to NCAA resumes).

[OV Argo]

Nevada coming back to make it close; again - this Elijah Cooks kid at receiver for them is just sensational IMO - big 6-4 target who can make tough catches; 3rd year guy i believe - if he does not draw NFL interest down the road, i hope some Argo scouts watched this game.

Rourke named player of the game; has led Ohio to 3 straight Bowl wins - any CFL scouts watching ? ;o)

[doubleblue]

Rourke is an outstanding running QB - tough and hard to bring down and also showed a nice burst of speed on a long TD run; and while he missed a few deep throws to open receivers, his passing arm looks pretty good - made some accurate throws and no picks or ducks. And so nice to see an offence use a consistent and diverse run game to dominate - so long gone from possibility in the same old CFL offensive thinking style nowdays. Rourke to be a top CFL draft pick ? - i highly doubt it, but maybe (several CFL teams have huge need for TC QB competition IMO) - similar skill set to Western QB Chris Merchant, who went CFL GOB un-drafted. We shall see. Same deal for Dinos QB Sinagra - outstanding passing arm who just won the Vanier.

Impressed by the Nevada rookie QB's passing arm; and one of their receivers (Cooks i think) made a number of excellent, athletic catches; O'Leary-Orange did not do much but was not targeted much - at least he was a regular on their offence. Probably a high CFL draft pick, but not sure he is a top 5 draft board receiver (several U Sports receivers might deserve to be rated higher rather than CFL scouting deference to NCAA resumes).

30-21 final for Ohio. Fumbles in the 4th quarter made things interesting. Nathan Rourke chosen player of the game. But I agree his passing isn't ready for the CFL just yet. He isn't Doug Flutie but has some of that ability to be a game changer down the road IMO.

O'Leary-Orange had a couple of nice catches in the 4th out of four thrown his way. Couldn't hold on in the end zone late in the game under double coverage. He doesn't look his listed 6'4, probably closer to 6' 2. Could be a good possession type receiver eventually in the CFL.
Will be interesting to see if Rourke and O'Leary-Orange show up for the CFL combine in March to see how they compare with the CIS guys. They're both rated 1st round now I would think with Gallimore and Claypool probably NFL bound.
If the Argos wanted to draft Rourke they might have to take him with their first pick as Hamilton with two picks in the 1st round could afford to use one of theirs to take a fairly local guy from Oakville.

[jerrym]

Rourke did what he does best in the game, run with exceptional skill, especially for a QB, and manage the game with an authoritative presence that never gets too excited or down that is relayed to his teammates. He was well off the mark on three passes to wide open receivers. Perhaps some of that might be related to not having played a game in over a month, but his passes were far from tight spirals so he will need to work on that. However, he has shown he has the determination, focus and coach ability that has enabled him to overcome many obstacles to get as far as he has in his career so far.

[paulwoods13]

If the Argos wanted to draft Rourke they might have to take him with their first pick as Hamilton with two picks in the 1st round could afford to use one of theirs to take a fairly local guy from Oakville.

Unless he has significantly more upside than O'Connor (which I doubt), I would not spend a first-round pick on him. We have O'Connor in the pipeline already, which is a great position to be in. Need to focus our highest picks on positions with greater need, IMO. Especially o-line, where we have some young talent but have no idea whether they will pan out. In later rounds I'd be fine with drafting Rourke or another good QB prospect.

[jerrym]

As I commented in the Double Blue section, Rourke looked sharper at the NFLPA Bowl with his passes, throwing a TD pass that was called back, and having several well thrown balls dropped, but he did throw an interception. However, he did not let that or three penalties by teammates inside the ten yard line bother him, throwing a TD pass pass interference penalty after two previous offside penalties when he twice took the team to the one yard line. The NFLPA Bowl HC did not seem to take advantage of Rourke's running ability utilizing him as a drop back passer instead, but Rourke still showed flashes of his running ability by scampering for ten yards twice for first downs.

Rourke's comment on the NFLPA Bowl is below:

"Playing here does a lot because you're doing NFL stuff and going against high talent," Rourke said. "It's tough to get chemistry within a week, but it can help with the scouts because we were able to do interviews."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...ollegiate-bowl

[jerrym]

Nathan Rourke's pro day will be March 17th.

During his senior season, Rourke threw for 2,676 yards, 20 touchdowns against five interceptions with a 61.4 completion percentage. He rushed for 780 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 5.4 yards-per-carry. The Bobcats went 6-6 and earned a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl spot, a game they would go on to win with Rourke being named MVP.
The physical activity and sport coaching major earned 2019 All-Mid-American Conference first-team honours.

Rourke started all 13 games as a junior in 2018 and led the Bobcats to a win in the Frisco Bowl and a 9-4 overall record. He completed 164-of-274 of his passes (59.9 per cent) for 2,434 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions while carrying the ball 134 times for 860 yards (6.4 yards-per-carry) and 15 touchdowns.

The dual-threat QB finished his Ohio career with a 24-13 record as a starting quarterback and was under centre for three-straight bowl victories. Ohio matched the University of Toledo (1969-1971) and Miami University (1973-1975) for the most consecutive bowl wins in Mid-American Conference history.

Over three seasons at Ohio, Rourke produced 7,313 passing yards, 60 touchdowns compared to 20 interceptions and 2,552 rushing yards with 48 touchdowns plus three receptions for 20 yards and two touchdowns — program-record 110 total touchdowns. The six-foot-two, dual-threat passer has the skills to succeed at the pro level. The Oakville, Ontario native is catching the attention of scouts on both sides of the border.

https://3downnation.com/2020/03/01/c...-for-march-17/

[jerrym]

There's another O'Rourke QB entering the picture - Nathan's brother Kurtis.

Kurtis Rourke is, of course, the younger brother of B.C. Lions’ draft pick and two-time Cornish Trophy winner Nathan Rourke. Unlike his dual-threat sibling, this Rourke is a statuesque pocket passer. His first career start as a redshirt freshman didn’t take him out of his brother’s shadow, but it certainly flashed some high-end potential.

Going 12-of-19 for 231 yards and two touchdowns, Rourke exhibited big-time arm talent when able to rifle the ball down the field. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination — he hung onto the ball too long, took bad sacks that resulted in fumbles and needed to give way to the running talents of Armani Rogers to get the team rolling at times.
Still, Kurtis might already be a better pure downfield passer than Nathan and he’s got three years or more still to develop. Nothing excites football fans in this country like a Canadian quarterback and Kurtis Rourke is the next one to watch.

https://3downnation.com/2020/11/09/i...0-ncaa-action/

[paulwoods13]

Nothing excites football fans in this country like a Canadian quarterback . . .

Really? I wonder what evidence 3DN has for that assertion.

[OV Argo]

Nothing excites football fans in this country like a Canadian quarterback . . .

Really? I wonder what evidence 3DN has for that assertion.

Yep; more lip service, phony B$ to dance around the topic, rather than addressing the real heart of the subject (the attitudes of CFL GOBs); don't recall that big supporter of Canadian QBs - Dustin Junk - saying boo about Adam Sinagra (who had been on the CFL Scouting Bureau's top 20 prospects list) going totally over-looked and un-drafted last draft. Don't think a single 3 Down reporter had the guts to ask some serious questions there = they accept CFL standard thinking on the matter and don't want to rock the boat - maybe CFL shills wouldn't talk to them and feed them insider info.

[jerrym]

Nothing excites football fans in this country like a Canadian quarterback . . .

Really? I wonder what evidence 3DN has for that assertion.

Last night Nathan Rourke not only won the game 44-3, he set a Canadian QB record with 436 passing yards.
Just as the success of the first Black QBs, primarily in the CFL, led to more Black kids imagining them, then trying out for QB, and years later becoming a growing pipeline of Black QBs in the NFL, Rourke's success will help inspire more Canadian kids to do the same and join the steadily growing list of pro QBs.

[paulwoods13]

Just as the success of the first Black QBs, primarily in the CFL, led to more Black kids imagining them, then trying out for QB, and years later becoming a growing pipeline of Black QBs in the NFL, Rourke's success will help inspire more Canadian kids to do the same and join the steadily growing list of pro QBs.

I'm not disagreeing that success by Rourke might inspire Canadian kids to hope they can make it to the CFL. But let's not overstate it -- as long as football has been played, some kids have wanted to play QB, without regard for the realities of how few individuals actually make the pros. And I don't know of any evidence that the success of Black QBs in the CFL had any influence on Black American kids trying to play QB. There weren't many kids of any colour in Florida or Texas or California paying attention to Canadian football in the 1970s and '80s.