Opposing defenses had a hard time corraling Edwardsville (Ill.) junior quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman last fall. Rahman (6-1, 182 pounds) passed for 548 yards, rushed for 1,399, and was responsible for 34 combined touchdowns during a season in which he earned All-State honors.
He is running track this spring (1oo meter dash as well as the 400 and 800-meter relays) and showing the speed which helped him rush for 26 of those touchdowns.
"The truth is, he's a special athlete," Tigers head coach Matthew Martin said. "Our offensive coordinator Doug Heinz does a good job of running an offense that features a dual-threat quarterback. The kid is pretty special with the ball in his hands. He is able to make people miss in open space, has pretty good top end speed -- once he gets in the open, very few are going to catch him, and he is strong too. He is able to break a lot of arm tackles."
The industry-generated 247Sports Composite has Abdur-Rahman as the No. 5 junior in the state, although there are coaches out there who would argue that is still too low.
Rahman's physical gifts had caused some programs to look at him at other positions, hence his ranking as an athlete, but after only one year of playing quarterback (he played safety as a sophomore), the best is still yet to come for him at that position.
"He gets both," Martin said. "There are people interested in him as a defensive back, wide receiver, and I've even heard talk of running back, and then some offer him as a quarterback. I think if he had the choice, he would like to play quarterback, but it just depends on the school and it's all about weighing his choices."
The Tigers have had coaches from Notre Dame, Michigan State, Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois and Northwestern stop in during the spring evaluation period. All of those schools have offered along with his two most recent offers, Indiana and Purdue. UCLA is in the school today. Abdur-Rahman's last visit was to Notre Dame at the end of April, but he is looking at taking more trips this summer.
"He's already taken some visits, I don't know all the schools, but I'm sure he has some things planned this summer," Martin said. "It is tough for these kids trying to get these visits in. In Illinois, we have quite a commitment this summer as far as practices go."
While the school is still unknown, Martin is confident that the one who gets his quarterback will get a great athlete and kid.
"He is a good student, he does a good job -- no problems there. He is a qualifier. He is a good kid and good teammate," he said.
