Huskies see Sizemore in unique light: QB - Seattle Post-Intelligencer February 3, 2000

By TED MILLER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Grady Sizemore presents two certainties to University of Washington fans: The multi-talented Cascade High School star signed with the Huskies yesterday and he won't play on the offensive line.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Sizemore isn't a man without a position. He is a man with too many positions. Recruiting gurus, who for years pulled their hair in opposite directions trying to assign positions to such players, created a new classification -- athlete -- for those individuals.

Sizemore, who won't turn 18 until August, starred for Cascade as a running back and defensive back. He could play either at Washington.

So where is he scheduled to play for the Huskies? Quarterback. His qualifications for that position? Well, he doesn't really have any.

But when you toss aside the fact that he tossed about two passes for Cascade in spot duty at quarterback this past season, he does offer one compelling justification for his experiment behind center. He reminds a lot of folks of Huskies quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo.

"That's kind of why I want to play quarterback," said Sizemore, who was guided around campus by Tuiasosopo when he paid his official visit to Washington. "I like their system and the kind of offense they run."

Like Tuiasosopo, a product of Woodinville, Sizemore played in a wing-T offense that piled up yards on the ground, not through the air. Sizemore is a little smaller but perhaps a bit faster than Tuiasosopo. Though Tuiasosopo was exclusively a quarterback in high school, most programs recruited him as a safety or even a linebacker.

In fact, Tuiasosopo signed with Washington in large part because he was guaranteed an opportunity to play quarterback. He quickly proved he had potential as a passer and was named second-team All-Pac-10 as a junior.

Yet it was Tuiasosopo's running and scrambling skills that made him so dangerous. Sizemore boasts the same skills.

Sizemore, who has been clocked at 4.55 in the 40-yard dash, ran for 1,199 yards and scored 20 touchdowns this season. He also became Cascade's all-time leading rusher with 3,081 yards.

He has other similarities with Tuiasosopo. For one, neither is prone to brashness when asked about their abilities. Just as Tuiasosopo stubbornly shrugged off his status as a budding star, Sizemore passed on self-promotion. He doesn't even know his statistics from last season.

"He's very reserved," Cascade coach Rollie Wilson said. "He's about as nice a kid as you'd ever meet. If we asked him to play left guard, he'd play left guard and he'd do a great job."

Wilson noted he learned of Sizemore's commitment to Washington days after the fact.

"He didn't run around campus and say, 'Hey, I'm going to Washington,'" Wilson said.

Sizemore also is an outstanding baseball player and will play the sport for the Huskies. Wilson said Sizemore might end up being better at baseball than football. Sizemore probably will be selected in baseball's amateur draft in June but he has informed scouts that he wants to go to college. He said it would take an overwhelming offer to sway him from Washington.

If the quarterback experiment -- which is due in some part to the fact that Washington didn't sign another quarterback -- doesn't pan out, don't expect Sizemore to disappear.

He had 80 tackles and eight interceptions for Cascade's defense this season and became the school's career pickoff leader with 16. He could easily make a move to safety, something that Wilson suspects will happen.

"I think he could play defense soon," Wilson said. "It could take a couple of years to develop as a quarterback, though I wouldn't put that past him. He's a great defensive player and is capable of making a defense quicker. He has a great nose for the ball."

Despite his talents, Sizemore wasn't a big name on recruiting boards at the beginning of the season.

But as the numbers piled up and game tapes started circulating, schools came calling. Sizemore picked the Huskies over Arizona State, Clemson, California and Washington State, each of whom offered a scholarship.

In its January "All-America" issue, SuperPrep rated Sizemore the state's fourth-best prospect behind Tacoma linebacker Larry Stevens, Vancouver tight end Willie Walden and Bellevue offensive lineman Dan Dicks.

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