Up in today’s Georgia Tech Football 2021, early signee profile is the Yellow Jackets lone quarterback of the class, Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, CA) product Chayden Peery.
Peery is coming off a high school career in which he was Sierra Canyon’s starting quarterback for each of his three high school seasons. The signal-caller would’ve been the starter once again this season but with California not starting the season until later this spring, Peery was unable to play his senior season. Instead, he has already enrolled at Georgia Tech.
Peery finished his high school career, completing 60% of his passes (522-for-860) for 7,972-yards, 50 touchdowns, and 17 touchdowns. He also had 16 rushing touchdowns in his high school career. During his career, he earned multiple accolades including All-State honors.
Recruiting wise, he’s ranked as a composite three-star prospect per 247Sports and is ranked as a top-700 player in the nation, a top-25 pro-style quarterback, and a top-60 player in the state of California. During his recruitment, he received 25 reported scholarship offers which included Arizona State, Boise State, Boston College, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan State, and NC State.
His film and what he brings to Georgia Tech:
There is a lot to like about Peery, to say the least, and if his film is truly a treat to watch. The first thing to know about Peery is compared to what Georgia Tech has traditionally recruited over the last decade-plus including under Geoff Collins, Peery is a true pro-style quarterback. He feels most at home in the pocket and will not take off and run unless he needs to.
The one thing that really jumps out on Peery’s tape is his strong arm, he has the ability to drop passes in on wide receivers at any part of the field. With good velocity on his passes, he can fit the ball into tight windows and shows great anticipation on his throws as well, a great combination for any quarterback to have. Perhaps the most impressive part about his ability when it comes to throwing the ball is he makes it seem pretty effortless which is a true testament to his arm strength.
Peery in high school showed quality accuracy, completing 60% of his passes as a junior and only throwing one interception in the process. In his 16 games during Sierra Canyon’s 2019 season, he threw for 3,401-yards and 18 touchdowns. He also rushed for 148-yards and five touchdowns on the season.
All in all, Peery is a quarterback who truly seems under-ranked by the industry and it makes you wonder why he is and to be fair, watching HUDL highlights doesn’t give the full story of a player. After all, they are their highlights, not the entire body of work. With that being said, Peery has the abilities that could allow him to be a really good quarterback at the next level.
His future on The Flats:
First, Peery has the talent to start at a Power Five program down the road, perhaps not as a true freshman or even as a redshirt freshman but he certainly has the talent to do so. Now, in terms of his future on The Flats, he’ll need to have patience as he is likely to sit at least two years behind Jeff Sims, though three-years isn’t out of the question either. He’ll also have to battle against who the Yellow Jackets bring in with the 2022 recruiting class and possibly even the 2023 recruiting class. In terms of his ceiling, Peery has the ceiling of being a two-year starter for Georgia Tech with a floor of being a quality backup quarterback.