Part I: Jordan Carey Commitment

Sleeper is a word to describe a player that gets lost in the shuffle of recruiting. It might be taken in the negative.

Some might classify Jordan Carey as a sleeper, but he is far from that.

A number of things about Jordan make a person to take notice.

First, he comes from a wonderful family structure. Second, he values a good education by maintaining a solid 3.56 grade point average and easily qualifying academically with his required NCAA test score.

From the football standpoint there are quite a few items that should jump out at a Duck fan. One thing that is remarkable is the 20-yard shuttle (pro-agility) time that Jordan registered at the Oregon Nike camp. Only a handful each year at the Nike camps across the country do the 20-yard shuttle under four seconds. His was an outstanding 3.92 seconds, which was in the top two in the nation this year and about any year you care to pick.

How is it done and exactly what does it mean?

The pro-agility starts at one point on the field and then you go as quick as you can five yards and immediately shift gears and return 10 yards followed by a return five yards to the starting point. Try that in less than four seconds.

The 3.92-second 20-yard shuttle means that he possesses almost impossible quickness in his movements. He can change direction quick and certainly at the very top level of those that have ever done it.

He has soft hands, which means it gives him the capability to grasp all passes thrown anywhere in his direction with ease.

How did he develop that skill and what does he say about it?

He developed it by catching baseballs with a wooden board tied to his hands and then catching a ball. It taught him to let the ball gently come into his hands.

"I have done that drill (wooden board on the hand) before. You have a board on your hand and they hit balls to you. With your other hand you scoop it up and it is a lot harder, as you have a board instead of a mitt. You have to bring your hand back and cradle the ball." Soft hands!

Carey is not caught up in the ego trips to see what he is rated or what he should be rated, even though at this time he is one of the more under-rated wide receivers in the country.

“Well, I don’t pay that much to it,” he said about ratings. “I just play my game.”

Understatement: The Oregon Ducks got themselves an outstanding wide receiver for the future and over 100 Div. 1 schools will be wondering how they missed out on this one.

Look at these vitals and statistics:

Size: 5-foot-11 ½ and 196 pounds.

40-yard dash time: 4.43 at the Nike camp and his lowest was 4.37 on his high school’s track.

20-yard shuttle time: Phenomenal 3.92 seconds

100-meters time: 10.73 seconds, which is outstanding for someone that does not specialize in doing the 100-meters all the time.

Bench: very respectable 265 pounds

Squat: an outstanding 460 pounds for a recruit his size – “I concentrate on my legs, as that is what I need most for what I do.”

Vertical: 32 inches at the Nike camp and his best-recorded leap was 33 ½ inches.

The next question is tough to ask and sometimes difficult to answer for some recruits, but for Jordan Carey it was easy to answer.

Are you solid for Oregon?

“Yeah, they were the first school that ever contacted me with letters in my junior and sophomore years. So you kind of get that first excitement when you start getting letters.

Then I got tickets to go to their home games last year. I saw a couple of games. It was just amazing to me the fan base they have. The team unity and that stuck with me throughout the whole recruiting process.

They were my number one school the whole time. I got offers from Oregon State and Louisiana Tech and I had been talking to Washington. I wanted to commit early and have it done before my senior year started. I was just waiting for Oregon. When they gave me the offer, I did not have a lot to think about. I had thought it through and had talked to my parents and everything.

When I went down there on Saturday, it really firmed things up with me on how much of a family it is down there. I had gone to their camp and worked with their coaches. I liked the way they coached the kids. It felt like the right decision for me, so I didn’t have a lot to think about. I committed right there.

I don’t have those second thoughts on decisions that you make. It has been 100 percent yes for me the whole time.”

Carey will be playing wide receiver for the Oregon Ducks. He will probably red-shirt his first year, as the Ducks have the wide out position covered for awhile.

“It will depend on how I pick up plays and in comparison to the other guys that they have.” He has no qualms about the possibility of sitting out the first year at Eugene.

What would you say would be your strong points playing wide receiver?

(Note: Catch the first word of his answer.) “Hands…. I just don’t drop the ball and it doesn’t matter where the ball is. I just catch it. Hand and eye coordination.” Think soft hands!

What do you do in your spare time?

“I lift weights and run. I go to church.”

Quality, quality, quality! When you think of Jordan Carey, think quick, soft hands and quality!

This is Part I of two parts of the commitment today of future star Oregon receiver, Jordan Carey.