The high school career of Texas Longhorns quarterback commit Shane Buechele ended with Arlington Lamar's loss to Mansfield in the regional semifinal round of the 6A Division II playoffs, but based on his senior highlights, his future is bright in burnt orange.
Just take a look at his statistics from his time as the Lamar quarterback, courtesy of BON's Jonathan Wells:
Shane Buechele finished his senior season having completed just under 65% of his passes for 2,498 yards, 29 TDs and 6 interceptions, while also rushing 114 times for 817 yards and 10 TDs. This week, it was announced that the coaches of District 4-6A voted Buechele as the district's MVP.
In a little over two and a half seasons as Lamar's starting QB, he completed 64.4% of his passes (463 of 719) for 6,379 yards, 73 TDs and 14 INTs, and also rushed 270 times for 1,741 yards (6.4 yards/carry) and 19 TDs. His career yardage total makes him the third all-time leading passer in the history of Arlington ISD. He will graduate later this month and enroll at Texas in January.
So, yeah, the production is not in question.
Neither is his talent -- the 6'2, 185-pounder is a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 152 prospect overall, the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback nationally, and the No. 23 player in the state of Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Prior to committing to Texas in February, Buechele held offers from Cal, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, SMU, TCU, and Texas Tech.
As a prospect, Buechele looks a little bit like a couple of other quarterbacks who have also starred on the baseball diamond -- Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Pat Mahomes. Like Wilson, Buechele has a variety of moves in the pocket to evade defenders, even flashing a spin move on one play that resulted in a big gain. Like Mahomes, Buechele has an impressive ability to keep his eyes downfield while on the run and deliver accurate passes without having his feet set. In that regard, spending so much time playing shortstop surely helps Buechele.
In the open field, let's throw in another comparison -- Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield. Neither has incredible athleticism, but both are good runners with natural instincts that allow them to make opponents miss by maximizing their lateral quickness.
Like Mayfield, Buechele has excellent arm strength and is capable of delivering the ball with the right mix of velocity or touch depending on the type of throw he needs to make.
Expecting him to come in and compete for the starting job this spring might be a stretch, but if he transitions quickly and shows an aptitude for whatever new offense the Longhorns end up running, it's definitely not out of the question.