What ever happened to Evan Kraky

[Open season]

Depth chart dilemma

Monday was not the day for the Bulls. The team lost possible incumbent quarterback Evan Kraky to transfer and team MVP Brian Fisher to an arrest warrant. Now the Bulls are stuck without a whole lot of experience at QB, and a possible sticky situation.

By: Nick Margiasso

Sports Editor

Issue date: 6/10/04 Section: Sports

Before they hit the field for spring practice, Brian Fisher and Evan Kraky seemed destined to make an impact in the Bulls' football future.

Now, with less than two months until the team resumes practice for the 2004 season, the pair may be doomed to remain stories of USF football past.

In less than one week, the Bulls are in danger of losing Fisher, the 2003 season MVP, and have already parted ways with Kraky, the one-time future quarterback.

Two warrants were issued for the arrest of Fisher after he failed to appear at his second arraignment, stemming from more than $17,000 in unpaid child support to a pair of Pensacola women and a charge of driving with a suspended license.

Fisher has also been a stranger to his required summer courses, thus compounding an already shaky situation with the team.

USF football coach Jim Leavitt realizes losing Fisher -- now in a wide receiver and running back role -- would be a big blow to a team looking to make a splash in its last year prior to Big East entry.

He also realizes that there's not much he can do.

"(Fisher) has got some things he's got to figure out with child support," Leavitt said. "He has to resolve these issues and be academically eligible. Then he'll be able to be with us; otherwise he won't."

Fisher wasn't slated to play QB this season, leaving redshirt freshman Evan Kraky in the battle for the role of backup. That was spring; this is now.

Kraky was granted his release from the team Monday, a move that surely replaces his playbook studying time with filling out transfer papers.

Kraky, the best statistical quarterback in the history of Pennsylvania high-school football -- breaking Ron Powlus' previous passing yardage record with 7,400 yards, including 90 touchdowns -- was considered a recruiting steal for USF even after his ankle problems surfaced, causing Leavitt to redshirt him.

However, after showing flashes of the productivity that brought him high-school acclaim during the Bulls' spring practices -- which resulted in Leavitt commenting that Kraky "came along the most" of all the QBs -- and throwing himself into competition with senior Ronnie Banks for the backup job, Kraky was suddenly out of the picture -- and out the door.

Leavitt cites the resurfacing ankle injury as the cause for the amicable termination of Kraky's career with the Bulls.

"He had surgery on his ankle and we didn't know if he'd ever be able to play again," Leavitt said. "We didn't think he'd ever be able to play our style of offense, the mobile QB."

The praise Leavitt lavished upon Kraky during spring ball seemed to have worn off in retrospect.

"Had he come a long way? From not playing at all, yes, but he wasn't close to P.J. (Pat Julmiste) and Banks. With the ankle the way it was, he wouldn't have been able to challenge those guys."

The nagging ankle injury is apparently severe enough for Leavitt to worry about Kraky's future after USF.

"He felt like he could go to a smaller college nearer to home where he wouldn't have to train as hard," Leavitt said. "But will he ever be able to play again? I'm not sure. It'll be difficult, but he's such a good young man."

So, with Kraky gone and Fisher unable to battle for his old backup role, these recent events have left the Bulls with a battle for a No. 1 -- and not much else.

"P.J. is the starter, but Banks is right behind him," Leavitt said. "But from there we'll be looking at Louis Gachette."

[JoeB]

Who was the QB from UGA?  Was that Kraky?

[dabull80]

Kraky is in the NFL about to replace Payton Manning at QB

[Velcro]

He went over to scotland to fight, after all he is 8 feet tall and shoots lightning bolts out of his arse.

[Jewbull]

He was rated as high as Tyler Palko & Vince Young

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/sfc/recruiting/max19.htm

06/01/2001 - Updated 03:37 PM ET

An early look at the top quarterbacks

Read Max's chat transcript from Signing Day

Max Emfinger's Top 125 players from last season

Tyler Palko (6-3, 215, 4.55) of West Allegheny (Imperial, Pa.) may be the No. 1 all-around player in the country.

Consider these stats: On offense, this southpaw quarterback threw for 3,428 yards and 41 touchdowns as a junior. He also ran for another 1,112 yards and 24 touchdowns. And if this wasn't enough, I just saw him run a fake punt 70 yards for another touchdown. On defense, he is just as sensational, as he logged 156 tackles and recorded 12 picks.

The real scoop about Palko is that he could be the best free safety in the country along with also being one of the top quarterbacks.

His dad, Bob Palko is his high school head coach and his dad sent me a great highlight tape on his son. For the first 15 minutes, Tyler is running and throwing for touchdowns, but then after that, the defensive highlights come on. It would fool the average person, because Tyler Palko is a "6 or 7 frame offer." A "6 or 7 frame offer" is a player that once you have seen 6 or 7 frames of his highlight tape, you turn off the video recorder and put him on your "take" and "early offer" list.

In this case, I did not know the defensive highlights were coming, but I'm sure glad that I waited. It's really hard to believe that a kid playing quarterback on offense, could be this hard-nosed of a safety on defense, but Palko is that tough. I think he could become an All-American linebacker or safety in college if he only played defense.

Rating: 7.50

Justin Zwick (6-4, 210, 4.67) of powerhouse Washington (Massillion, Ohio) is my early No. 1 rated dropback quarterback. In what looks like a sensational quarterback class, Zwick is considered to be one of the best, if not the best dropback quarterback.

His three-year career stats are very impressive as he has 7,209 passing yards and 75 touchdowns. As a junior, he passed for 2,460 yards and 24 scores and was selected as the All-Ohio quarterback. As a freshman, while playing for Orrville, he led his team to the Division III state championship. He transferred to Washington last year.

On film, Zwick reminds me a lot of last year's prospects Brent Rawls or Brodie Croyle with his strong arm and field presence. He is also a tremendous leader who brings his teammates to a different level around him. He is tough and polished at the same time. I really love this kid. I believe that Zwick, along with Palko, will be two of my favorite players in this recruiting class, just like Rawls and Croyle were in the class last year.

Zwick tells me that right now he likes Ohio State, Michigan and Pittsburgh as his early favorites. In fact, Ohio State might be in the early lead as Zwick visited their campus while the Buckeye students were on spring break. Zwick has also been to some Ohio State basketball games.

Rating: 7.50

Vincent Young (6-5, 200, 4.38) of Madison (Houston, Texas) is a definite cross between Tyler Palko and Justin Zwick, because he displays the talents of both of those great quarterbacks. I recently saw film on Young and the first thing that you notice is that he is a tremendous physical specimen and that he would be a once in a lifetime player for any coach.

At a recent spring practice, there were eight big-time college coaches standing on the sidelines hoping that Vincent would see their monogrammed shirt. These coaches were all in complete shock to see how gifted a quarterback that they were able to see practicing on the Madison practice field.

These coaches were not only highly impressed with this great physical specimen, but also at the way he handled himself and the way he threw pinpoint spirals to his many receivers. At 6-5, he is the perfect dropback quarterback, but when you can run a 4.38 in the forty, you could play any position on the field. All who have seen this kid are in total shock as to his unbelievable potential.

Although, Young is a dropback quarterback, he ran for nearly 1,000 yards as a junior and averaged about 8.0 yards per carry.

Every college coach that has seen Young, feels that he can lead them to the national championship. Young told me that his top five schools are Florida State, Texas, LSU, Miami and Oklahoma.

Rating: 7.50

Evan Kraky (6-3, 195, 4.5, 950) of Lakeland (Jermyn, Pa.) is one of the best pinpoint passers that I have seen lately. He simply does what he needs to do in moving the team down the field for a score. He also rarely comes off of the field and is an aggressive free safety who hits hard and intercepts frequently.

In watching film on Kraky, and seeing him throw the short passes to perfection, it's hard not to remember another quarterback by the name of Ty Detmer that did much of the same. There is a very distinct difference in the two, because Kraky can run with the ball on either an option play or scrambling out of the pocket.

On one play in particular, Kraky ran to his left, stopped and hit a receiver back to his right on a misdirection play for about a 30-yard touchdown. He throws the quick outs and quick look-ins with great confidence and he is also very polished on his quick fade patterns.

Kraky looks like a born leader on the field and he is a leader on both sides of the line. His 13 career interceptions are pretty exceptional for a quarterback who never comes off of the field.

His career passing also reads pretty well as he has completed 301 of 535 for 5,782 yards and 64 touchdowns. He only needs about 1,600 passing yards to break the state passing record. He should get it in the first half of the season.

I really like this kid and his leadership abilities. He is also very smart with a 3.2 GPA and a 950 on his first SAT. He averages 15 points a game in basketball and he hit three home runs in baseball. Kraky tells me that his early favorites are Tennessee, North Carolina State, Penn State and Pittsburgh.

Rating: 7.48

Trent Edwards (6-5, 200, 4.7) of Los Gatos, Calif. may be the real superstar quarterback on the West Coast. Edwards has a phenomenal record as a junior when he completed 78% of his passes. He completed 125 of 160 passes for 2,290 yards and 29 touchdowns with only four interceptions.

Edwards has all of the tools to be the best quarterback in the country. He has the size, uncanny accuracy, and tremendous arm strength. "Trent has everything that you need as a quarterback, but his field presence is his biggest asset," says his coach Butch Catallico. "I've never seen a high school quarterback with more poise in the pocket."

Trent never gets rattled in the pocket and he is always looking downfield for that receiver to break into the clear. Even if the pocket protection breaks down and he gets sacked, he's always back on the very next play with the same poise that he had on the same play that he just got sacked.

Edwards is also a pretty good athlete for a big guy, averaging almost 16 points a game in basketball.

Every college in the country has made contact with Edwards, but Stanford, UCLA, and possibly California and Southern Cal have the best chance to sign him All have offered, along with Oregon State on the West Coast.

Rating: 7.48

Gavin Dickey (6-1, 185, 4.42, 990) of Lincoln (Tallahassee, Fla.) is another super athlete, like Vincent Young, who is being recruited to play quarterback but who could easily play a number of other positions.

As a junior, Dickey passed for 1,418 yards and 18 touchdowns and also ran for another 1,086 yards and 10 touchdowns. He caught passes for 187 yards and three more scores.

The Lincoln team is so talented, it is amazing how many weapons that they can use in the course of a football game. Even with all of these weapons, none of them can constantly change the outcome of the game more than Dickey. He is a great leader and the team always rallies around him.

In baseball, he throws a 93-mph fastball. On the track team, he has run 10.7 in the 100m and posted 4.42 in the 40-yard dash.

Virginia Tech thinks that he is a shorter version of another Michael Vick and they were one of the first teams to make an offer. He now has offers from Nebraska, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Syracuse, Michigan, Notre Dame, Alabama, Florida, Clemson, LSU and Tennessee.

Rating: 7.48

[LakeBull]

He transferred to some small school up north, but I don't think he did much there.   He was a nice kid, but not a D1 talent.

There was a nagging injury to his ankle that required surgery.   After that he was not a factor.

[Knight_Light]

He was set to transfer to UMASS:

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12676867&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416049&rfi=6

No clue if he ever played a down there.

[BULLfreak]

He was set to transfer to UMASS:

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12676867&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416049&rfi=6

No clue if he ever played a down there.

Hey Tinman Umass in north of Tampa not south.

[JoeB]

BullFreak, I think he's saying he never played a down of football there..........

[Bishop of Bulltown]

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