New Jersey 2024 QB Patrick Grusser ready to spin it for D-I scouts this spring

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG

Seeing is believing, and Patrick Grusser (6-2, 190) is ready to make believers out of college offensive coordinators and QB coaches. The 2024 prospect spent his junior campaign delivering the rock with DePaul but will lace up the cleats with Montvale’s (NJ) St. Joesph Regional this fall. Grusser takes us behind the scenes on how he is preparing for spring practices and summer camps with a look at his ongoing recruiting process.

The spring practice sessions will be key for more than one reason. Grusser was limited to five game appearances and a scrimmage in 2022 due to an ankle injury. But with those contests he amassed 1,258 yards passing with eight touchdowns and rushed for 318 yards off 42 carries with three more scores posted.

Running a spread attack this fall, Grusser spoke about how he is preparing.

“I am refining stuff for my new playbook; I got my playbook early,” Grusser stated. “I am working on my footwork for those plays and connecting them to the routes, and I am working on the rhythm of getting off those throws.”

Grusser shared what he is bringing to the field for the Green Knights, “I’d say my ability to improvise and extend plays, and I can make those throws that not everyone can make. I can make plays with that first look out of the pocket when nothing is there.”

College scouts may not get to see one of the more overlooked facets to Grusser’s abilities this spring.

“My run game is overlooked,” Grusser said. “As a quarterback, there were not a lot of runs at DePaul. I will use my legs and show more of my speed this year. My decision making, knowing what the defense is in, and knowing where I am going with the ball before the snap then reading the defense is an overlooked part of my game. My film study is overlooked. Before each game I am watching Hudl seven days a week. I know what their formations are before game day.”

With what he can do on the field, teams are tracking his progress.

“I am talking to a lot of D-I schools, Fordham, Stonybrook, Delaware, Penn, Army, Cornell, New Hampshire, Brown, Villanova, Yale, Holy Cross, and Monmouth,” Grusser shared.

Part of the recruiting process for those programs is getting Grusser on campus.

“I went to some Junior Days and on some visits,” Grusser stated. “I visited Villanova, Holy Cross, Stonybrook, I was supposed to go to Delaware but couldn’t, and I went to Fordham and Monmouth.”

The time spent with the Wildcats in Pennsylvania was covered.

“It was more of an actual visit at Villanova,” Grusser shared. “I was one on one with my recruiting coordinator and with their QB coach (Chris Boden). We went over their plays and their formations, what they do as an offense, how I could fit that scheme, and what I could work on to fit that scheme like a glove.”

The trip to the Bronx to see the Rams was an opportunity for Grusser to catch up with the coaching staff.

“Fordham was more of a Junior Day visit,” Grusser said. “I was talking to my recruiting area coach. My brother was recruited by them too; he knows my family already. We have a relationship already. He was talking about Fordham, opportunities after football for life, how I would fit their scheme, and what they do. They like to sling the ball a lot, I was intrigued by that.”

On Tuesday, Grusser has his first spring practice with the Green Knights. He listed some of the teams expected to be at practice in the coming days, “Fordham, Stonybrook, Holy Cross, Villanova, Delaware, and Monmouth.”

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