LOS ANGELES — The Elite 11 Finals begin Friday, and college football’s next top signal callers from around the country will be participating. Some of the class of 2018’s best quarterbacks will be in attendance, having been selected for the finals from the Elite 11 Regionals over the last few months. This year’s event will be in Los Angeles.
The Finals take place over the course of three days and allows these quarterback prospects to participate in a variety of on-field drills while receiving one-on-one instruction. Also incorporated in the event is classroom instruction, along with off-field development. The final list of Elite 11 quarterbacks is named after the three days, and that group moves on to participate at The Opening Finals, which takes place next month in Oregon.
Live Coverage
SB Nation readers can follow our live coverage at this link from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. All times ET p.m.
There is no TV or live streaming coverage available for the event, so the live blog at the link above is your best bet.
A history of success
According to the Elite 11’s website, 10 of the past 11 quarterbacks to have won the Heisman Trophy attended the Elite 11 Finals or an Elite 11 Regional. Another 34 of the top 44 NFL passers in 2015 attended the Elite 11 Finals or an Elite 11 Regional.
Still not convinced about the event’s success? Take a look at some of the more notable past attendees. Some of the most famous among them include Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, Andrew Luck, Tim Tebow, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, and Jameis Winston, along with others.
We’re not saying the Elite 11 camp creates great talents, but it is a great venue to see top talent compete against other elite prospects.
Does Trevor Lawrence have the No. 1 spot locked up?
Some of the prominent attendees include the nation’s No. 1-overall recruit in Trevor Lawrence, who’s committed to Clemson, and the No. 1 dual-threat prospect and Penn State commit, Justin Fields.
With a strong spring performance, some are wondering whether Fields could overtake Lawrence for the No. 1 QB ranking, but others think it’s a storyline drummed up to create interest in recruiting. Lawrence is one of the best QB prospects to come along in a while, so if Fields can overtake him, he will likely have to put on a show.
Most of the nation’s biggest stars are on hand
In addition to Lawrence and Fields, five-stars like USC commit Matt Corral and Ohio State commit Emory Jones are throwing. As is four-star Michigan commit Joe Milton, and UCLA commit Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Almost all of the nation’s best quarterbacks are on hand.
Where are the undecided recruits leaning?
Five QBs enter the finals uncommitted. With our annual QB Dominoes feature, SB Nation has profiled the recruiting journey of the top QBs nationally, analyzing how one move impacts not only a prospect, but also several schools.
Corona (Calif.) QB Tanner McKee is perhaps the top uncommitted QB at the event. He would enroll in 2020 after serving his LDS mission, and he is reportedly high on BYU and Washington, as well as perhaps some SEC schools like Alabama and Georgia.
We expect North Charleston (S.C.) Ft. Dorchester QB Dakereon Joyner to pick South Carolina over N.C. State in a few weeks but will be checking to see which schools are willing to accept his commitment as a QB, as opposed to an athlete.
And it’ll be interesting to see where four-star Earle (Ark.) QB Gerry Bohanon picks from his final six of Georgia, Baylor, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Louisville, and Arkansas.
We’ll also be looking to learn what the recruiting picture is like for Jacksonville (Fla.) QB Carter Bradley, and Chandler (Ariz.) QB Tyler Shough, with big schools like Louisville offering the former, and Michigan and Florida State getting involved with the latter.
An out-of-state trend
The state of Georgia has four QBs in the event, while California and Florida have three. But only one of those 11 is committed to a school in his home state.
The full roster is below:
Elite 11 Roster 2017
Player | High School | State | Verbal |
---|---|---|---|
Player | High School | State | Verbal |
Bohanon, Gerry | Earle | AR | Uncommitted |
Bradley, Carter | Providence | FL | Uncommitted |
Cooper, Cammon | Levi | UT | Washington State |
Corral, Matthew | Long Beach Poly | CA | USC |
Fields, Justin | Harrison | GA | Penn State |
Foster, James | Lanier | AL | Missouri |
Gatewood, Joey | Bartram Trail | FL | Auburn |
Jones, Emory | Heard County | GA | Ohio State |
Joyner, Dakereon | Fort Dorchester | SC | Uncommitted |
Lawrence, Trevor | Catersville | GA | Clemson |
Leary, Devin | Timber Creek | NJ | NC State |
Mayden, Jalen | Sachse | TX | Mississippi State |
McKee, Tanner | Centennial | CA | Uncommitted |
Milton, Joe | Olympia | FL | Michigan |
Mitchell, Re-al | St. John Bosco | CA | Iowa State |
Patterson II, Quincy | Solorio Academy | IL | Virginia Tech |
Rogers, Justin | Parkway | LA | TCU |
Shough, Tyler | Hamilton | AZ | Uncommitted |
Sirmon, Jacob | Bothell | WA | Washington |
Stenstrom, Blake | Valor Christian | CO | Colorado |
Thompson-Robinson, Dorian | Bishop Gorman | NV | UCLA |
Tuttle, Jack | Mission Hills | CA | Utah |
West, Jack | Saraland | AL | Stanford |
Williams, Jarren | Central Gwinett | GA | Kentucky |
Yankoff, Colson | Coeur d'Alene | ID | Washington |