How good was Shelby Valley’s ’24 QB, Russ Osborne, over the course of his sophomore season. Put it this way; unless your name is Cam Hergott you probably didn’t do half as well.
Osborne has carved out for himself a reputation for being one of the best dual-threat QB’s in the Appalachia mountains. A look at his body of work will solve that mystery.
Osborne competed 137 of his 218 passing attempts. That is close to 63% in completion percentage, enviable even if the QB is of the drop-back variety.
Osborne threw for 2,455-yards in his 11-games, good for 223.2-yards per night. This is Shelby Valley folks. How many QB’s not playing for Pikeville High around Pike County are logging that many aerial yards an outing?
Osborne threw for 19-TDs against 9-interceptions over the course of his sophomore season. He was also the ball club’s second leading rusher, gaining 785-yards on 114-carries while scoring 15 TDs on the ground. He was “top-dawg,” statically, in rushing TDs.
In football we call those “you have to be freaking kidding me” numbers. It sort of boggles the mind.
Osborne is 6-0, and weighs 175-pounds. He is an athlete who figures to lengthen and thicken as he matures.
Russ has clocked at 4.9-seconds in the 40-yard dash and 4.7-seconds in the short shuttle. Both of those numbers seem old. This kid broad jumps 96-inches, or 8-feet for those incapable of dividing by 12. We believe he may be a tad faster and quicker than reported.
Regardless, Osborne is explosive and getting both faster and quicker as he goes along. This is a big summer upcoming for him. He needs to hit the camp circuit and replace his numbers with numbers more in line with the kind of QB prospect we believe him to be and which the national ranking services project.
The most important statistic for any QB is wins/losses. Shelby Valley was 5-6 in ’21 and that is not terrible.
However, Osborne will be junior next season. Juniors need to lead their teams to a higher quotient of wins to be taken seriously as a next level player particularly as a QB.
One number we do like is the “4.0” beside his “GPA.” We have talked about this plenty but will continue. Grades like Osborne’s give prospects opportunities others lack. Easy to find money for the Honor Roll athletes.
Now Osborne is a member of QB Hit List and has been rated by that national ranking service. We consider QB Hit List to be a reputable judge of both playing and position specific type talent.
QB Hit List has Osborne ranked the 83rd best dual threat QB in the ’24 class. That’s in the country for the curious. We agree with them.
This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!
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