Kurt Benkert looks the part of an NFL quarterback. He stands 6-foot-3, weighs 215 pounds and, according to his Cape Coral High School quarterback coach, carries himself like a younger version of New England Patriots icon Tom Brady.
A precision-passer who takes pride in staying in the passing pocket, Benkert’s life journey and experience as a high school quarterback at Cape Coral and Island Coast high schools have positioned him to make Lee County history.
In this week’s NFL Draft, which runs Thursday to Saturday, the former University of Virginia and East Carolina quarterback expects to become the first player from a Lee County school to be selected at the position. He’s projected as a fifth- or sixth-round pick in most mock drafts and a top-10 quarterback in the draft.
Deion Sanders played quarterback at North Fort Myers High but was drafted as a cornerback before becoming a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Nate Allen played quarterback and defensive back at Cape Coral High but landed in the NFL as a safety.
Noah Brindise played quarterback at Cypress Lake High and coached quarterbacks for the Washington Redskins but never played a down in the NFL.
“It will be nice to be the first to make a career out of it,” Benkert said.
Benkert, who is white like most NFL quarterbacks, had childhood experiences more in line with those of his future African-American NFL teammates. The son of a blue-collar tattoo artist, Benkert spent half his childhood playing youth football in inner-city Baltimore, Maryland, and the other half playing in Cape Coral and Fort Myers with the Cape Storm and Fort Myers Firecats youth programs that were predominately African-American.
“I’ve been around a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds,” said Benkert, who was named for his uncle, who was shot to death just before he was born. “I’ve been through stuff that other people haven’t.”
Benkert, 22, returned to Cape Coral this week to watch the NFL Draft with his friends and family. He married his high school sweetheart, Samantha, at Lover’s Key two years ago, and they will be staying with her parents for the draft.
Benkert’s family and friends hoped his name would be called sooner than most mock drafts indicated. CBS Sports projected him to go in the sixth round to the Atlanta Falcons.
Benkert did a workout Wednesday morning for the Jacksonville Jaguars at North Fort Myers High. He also twice has worked out for the Baltimore Ravens and Falcons, and he has worked out for the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals. At the NFL Combine, he conducted interviews with almost every team. The Miami Dolphins also have expressed interest, he said.
UCLA’s Josh Rosen, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, Wyoming’s Josh Allen and USC’s Sam Darnold are considered the top four quarterback prospects that are likely to be taken before Benkert can make Lee County history. The sooner their names get called, the sooner Benkert could possibly rise to the fourth or even third round.
“I’m not nervous,” Benkert said. “I just can’t wait to find out where I’m going to play.”
Benkert played in 2011 at Cape Coral High as a junior and in 2012 at Island Coast High as a senior.
During those two seasons, he showed flashes of brilliance to his coaches, who began wondering if Benkert would finally break Lee County’s NFL quarterback drought.
“It was great coaching him,” said former Island Coast coach Joe Bowen, now the athletic director at North Fort Myers. “We knew that whenever Kurt had the ball in his hands, he could make plays. Kurt always wanted to win. Whoever gets him is going to be very lucky. He brings so much to the table. Besides being a great ballplayer he’s a great teammate.
“Any time a kid was struggling in the classroom, he would help them out as well. He’s a good kid. He was always such a goal-oriented kid.”
Steve Caiazzo worked with Benkert as his quarterback coach at Cape Coral High. Caiazzo kept comparing Benkert to Brady, who has won five Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots.
“Let’s put it this way,” Caiazzo said. “He looks like Brady. He’s smart like Brady. He’s always had a tremendous arm. When I started coaching him, we had him moving in that direction. He had tremendous acceleration. He got better and better and better. He’s such a dedicated guy. Never missed a workout. Never took time off. He was one of those special kids in high school.”
Pressed that Brady might be too lofty of a comparison, Caiazzo wouldn’t back down. Told of his comments, Benkert smiled and said he didn’t mind.
“This kid is by far the best kid I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Caiazzo said. “His spirituality. His demeanor. The way he talks to people. The way he treats people. His physical attributes. His smarts in the classroom. It’s just amazing.
“Let me tell you something. This kid has everything and then some. We’ll wait a couple of years. I don’t believe it’s going to come back to haunt me, because I’ve been around this kid for so long. When I tell you he has it all, he has it all.
“It wouldn’t surprise me to see him step in and start as a rookie if the right opportunity presents itself. I’m hoping he goes to New England.
“I think he was the best of the entire lot. When it’s all said and done, I think he’s going to be the best of all of them. He has a tremendous arm, and his accuracy is beyond what you see in the upcoming draft. People are trying to scoop this kid. He’s the best-kept secret in the entire draft. He may surprise some people and go in the second round.”
Benkert’s self-analysis didn’t match that of his former coach. He said he would love to start as a rookie but recognized most quarterbacks spend a year learning the pro game from the sidelines.
“I think there will be a little bit of a learning curve,” Benkert said. “There are some things that I have to do.”
There were always things Bruce Benkert had to do in order to put his son in a position to rise in the quarterback recruiting ranks.
Bruce Benkert moved his son to Southwest Florida for youth football during his middle school years, but they moved back to Maryland so he could attend a private school on a $20,000 a year scholarship at Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Maryland. Kurt Benkert played there during his freshman and sophomore seasons, but father and son decided Florida would be a better fit in facing better competition and preparing him for college. They moved back to Cape Coral prior to his junior season.
“I wanted to get him down there early in his life because I know that area was a hotbed for recruiting,” Bruce Benkert said of Southwest Florida. “I closed a lot of shops for him to have the best opportunity he could. I did everything so he would have that.”
Bruce Benkert was also glad his son experienced life in and around Baltimore.
“I coached in one of the worst spots of Baltimore,” Bruce Benkert said. “I think it helped him a lot. It just made him a tougher kid. You can’t intimidate him. When he steps on that field, it’s like a switch turns on.”
Benkert redshirted as a freshman in college and played the 2014-15 seasons at East Carolina, where he earned an undergraduate degree in finance. He transferred to Virginia, from which he again graduated early with a masters degree in athletic administration. He played the 2016-17 seasons at Virginia and set several school passing records, including 3,207 passing yards last season as a senior and the single-game record as he threw for 455 yards in a game against Connecticut.
“I guess it hasn’t really hit me yet,” Bruce Benkert said about his son about to be drafted. “There have been a lot of downs and ups. I’m just really excited for his future. Whoever gets him is going to get a franchise quarterback.”
Connect with this reporter: David Dorsey (Facebook), @DavidADorsey (Twitter).
Kurt Benkert
Age: 22
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 215 pounds
High Schools: Cape Coral and Island Coast
Colleges: East Carolina and University of Virginia
NFL outlook: Considered a top 10 quarterback in this year's NFL Draft class, Benkert projects to be a fifth or sixth round pick in most mock drafts.