Justin Holland Bio

Bear Creek High School:

Four-time letterwinner in football at Bear Creek High School...broke the state and high school records for passing yards (10,567) and touchdowns (108)...was named to the first team all-state team as a sophomore and senior and second team all-state as a junior...also named a Parade All-American and Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2000...named to the All-Jeffco first team three times and was the 2000 Conference MVP...Holland's teams were state finalists his freshman and senior seasons...captain of the football team as a junior and senior...one of only five players in national prep history to throw for more than 10,000 career yards...formerly played for former Rams' quarterback Tom Thenell at Bear Creek...member of the National Honor Society and had a 3.8 grade-point average. 

FROM UNDER CENTER TO UNDERRATED… COLORADO STATE QB JUSTIN HOLLAND
By: John Murphy

April 8th, 2006:

Colorado State senior quarterback JUSTIN HOLLAND stepped out of the shadows of former Rams’ cult hero Bradlee Van Pelt (Denver) and into the starting lineup at the start of his junior year in 2004.  He made his own mark immediately, averaging 321 yards passing in his first five starts before suffering a season-ending left ankle injury against San Diego State.  In fact, he ran off games of 403 yards against in-state rival Colorado, which was the highest single-game passing yards mark over 15 years (1987), 359 yards against BYU, 311 yards against Montana State, and then 298 against Minnesota and 233 versus USC, while also completing over 60% of his pass attempts.  He also finished his career 6th all-time in terms of total passing yards behind several former NFL quarterbacks, including Kelly Stouffer, Moses Moreno and Van Pelt, which is even more impressive when you see that he only had 17 career starts.

As a senior, he took even more of a leadership role with the team, taking responsibility for his teams early two game losing streak to start the season before leading them back to a bowl-game berth against Navy.  He passed for 3,185 yards through the air with 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, while completing over 63% of his pass attempts.  “(I) mean look at our ground attack… (We) had a 1,000-yard rusher but averaged like 3.5 yards per carry… and we gave up a lot of points defensively, so (Justin) had to keep coming out throwing each week to keep us in the game or try to bring us back”, explained one of his fellow Rams’ teammates.  A closer look at the team’s overall stats from last season would prove out that point, as the Rams score almost as many points in the fourth quarter (119) of games as they did over the second and third quarters combined (122).

In-spite of having fellow NFL prospect David Anderson at wide receiver, he did a good job of spreading the all around, as a total of seven players caught at least ten or more passes last season.   Their offensive did not allow him to create a lot of big plays down-the-field, but at his recent Pro Day he launched a pass between 75-to-80 yards to a standing target in the end zone after completing his full positional workout for scouts and coaches who were on-hand, including Miami Dolphins quarterback coach Jason Garrett.  Holland ran between 4.86 and 4.90 in the 40, 4.34 short shuttle, 7.44 in the 3-cone, 29” vertical, 8’9” broad jump and weighed in at 6023, 219 pounds, which was about ten pounds heavier than most scouts expected.  He had also earlier scored an impressive 36 on the Wonderlic, which is not surprising for a former member of the National Honor Society in High School.

His career numbers also tell the story of a signal caller that is clearly being overlooked by many as we enter the final three weeks until this year’s NFL Draft.  In just 17 career starts, he produced seven games with 300-plus yards passing, two games with 400-plus yards passing and three other contests where he passed for 280-or-more yards.  His senior campaign saw him finish among the Top-10 (6th overall) in terms of passing efficiency for current draft-eligible quarterbacks.  He is also rated Top-5 in both career passing efficiency and career completion percentage quarterback when compared to other available signal callers.

Holland also possesses the pedigree and intangibles to make him a future success at the next level.  He finished his prep career as one of only five quarterbacks all-time to pass for over 10,000 yards, and was heavily recruited to the University of Miami.  “(I) got to play with some really good players at the East-West Shrine Game and then caught balls from all types of guys at the Combine… but none of them were better than Justin (Holland)… he throws a great ball and he’s still the guy that I would want to see in my huddle”, said former teammate David Anderson, the All-Mountain West wide receiver who is also a prospect for this month’s NFL Draft.

A quick examination of Holland’s numbers when compared to those of some of the top-rated quarterbacks, including Jay Cutler (Vanderbilt), Charlie Whitehurst (Clemson), Brodie Croyle (Alabama) and Reggie McNeal (Texas A&M), might surprise most fans and evaluators as he more than holds his own in a number of important categories.  Holland passed for more yards, touchdowns and QB rating than all of them, including Cutler, was by far the leader in yards per attempt, by over a full yard with 8.63 per attempt, and  only Whitehurst had a higher completion percentage (67.3% to 63.6%).  “The Combine is a weird deal you get certain guys in there and a few are always left just outside the mark, that was the case with this kid (Holland), as (I) know there were several votes in his favor”, explained one long-time NFL scout.

When you look at the career numbers, workout results and NFL potential it is clear to our staff that outside of Cutler, who is a sure-fire first round selection, that the overwhelming public opinion and rating of guys like Croyle, Whitehurst, McNeal and others as being clearly rated above him is just not totally factual. 

In fact, in a game where you often hear “Numbers Don’t Lie” it might be surprising to some to hear that former NFL All-Pro quarterback Marc Bulger was actually a sixth round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints before being signed as a free agent by the St. Louis Rams.  Holland has many of the same positive attributes that drew renowned area scout Tom Marino to pinpoint Bulger for his future success long before he became a household name.  Keep an eye on where Holland lands as he just might be a similar type steal 2-3 years down the line.

Tim Thenell
Casey Bramlet
Corey Bramlet
Ryan Clement
Justin Holland