SOUTHLAKE, Texas — The Elite 11 tour continued Sunday at Southlake (Texas) Carroll and featured a deep group of quarterbacks, particularly in the 2022 recruiting class. Three Elite 11 Finals invitations were issued at camp’s end: Ohio State five-star commit Quinn Ewers, Clemson four-star commit Cade Klubnik, and Florida four-star commit Nick Evers.
The Southlake (Texas) Carroll five-star and nation’s No. 1 overall prospect on the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and Top247 rankings did not disappoint. Ewers repeatedly showed all of the traits that have put him atop the 2022 class for the past year.
One of Ewers’ most unique attributes is the second life his throws show on the back half. More than any other quarterback at Sunday’s event, Ewers’ throws seemed to accelerate as they progressed toward the receiver, as if the second half of the throw had another gear that other quarterbacks don’t show.
Ewers does that while looking smooth and effortless in his tempo and delivery. He varied arm angles at will in rollout reps, as if challenging himself to mix it up and show his array of release points and functional athleticism in a more controlled setting.
Whether it was ripping throws over the middle of the field or the perimeter in the short-to-intermediate range, or unleashing downfield against a strong wind that did not affect his throw, Ewers lived up to the billing in earning his Elite 11 Finals invitation.
Cade Klubnik, committed to Clemson — Right up there with Ewers was Klubnik, whose Austin (Texas) Westlake squad outdueled Ewers and Southlake Carroll in the Class 6A Division I state championship in mid-January. Klubnik’s athleticism is obvious in this type of camp setting, particularly shining in on-the-move throws.
But perhaps what stood out most about Klubnik’s Sunday performance was his release quickness and consistency. Klubnik looked like he was getting the ball out faster than ever, and he coupled that with consistent velocity to multiple levels.
Along the same lines, Klubnik’s ability to couple downfield arm strength with catchable touch on timing-oriented throws, posts, corners, etc., was on full display. An occasional throw missed here and there, but for the most part, Klubnik was very accurate across the several stations featured at each Elite 11 tour stop. Klubnik’s consistency and accuracy were reflected this past season in his sterling interception rate of one in every 117.67 throws, easily the best of all Top247 quarterbacks.
Garret Rangel, committed to Oklahoma State — Rangel was undoubtedly one of the most consistent performers at Sunday’s event. His footwork, release, and accuracy were constants throughout the day.
The top end of Rangel’s arm strength may not rival Ewers, Klubnik, or Evers, but he showed the requisite arm strength to complement his terrific performances in the other categories. He did a good job staying on top of the ball and virtually never missed high, and even his misses were not bad misses.
The Frisco (Texas) Lone Star standout has been highly productive on the field in his first two years as a starter and nothing should change this fall and into his career at Oklahoma State. He was light on his feet and seemed as if all of his movements were measured, without being mechanical, while also competing with urgency and treating reps like game situations.
Nick Evers, committed to Florida — similar to USC commit Devin Brown at the Elite 11 Houston Regional a few weeks ago, Evers was the quarterback at Sunday’s camp who got noticeably better as the day progressed, so much so that he earned one of the three aforementioned invitations to the Elite 11 Finals.
Evers really got his feet under him during the nine-throw “pro day” station. Getting a chance to reel off nine consecutive throws, rather than one at a time before heading to the back of the line again, has to help a QB get in his rhythm, and that seemed to be the case with Evers.
The Flower Mound (Texas) High School standout showed a quick and consistent release, accuracy, and encouraging zip on these particular throws to set the stage for the rest of his day, which featured an improved combination of velocity and ball placement. Evers owns a long, lean frame that should hold more weight and continue to raise the ceiling on his downfield capacity, which is already a strength of his.
That TXHSFB trio of Ewers, Klubnik, and Evers pushes the total of Elite 11 Finals invitations to eight. The first three tour stops produced invitations for the following quarterbacks: Miami four-star commit Jacurri Brown from Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes; Maryland three-star commit AJ Swann from Canton (Ga.) Cherokee; Texas A&M four-star commit Conner Weigman from Cypress (Texas) Bridgeland; LSU five-star commit Walker Howard from Lafayette (La.) St. Thomas More; and USC four-star commit Devin Brown from Queen Creek (Ariz.) High School.
The Elite 11 tour continues next week with an April 25 stop in the Philadelphia metro area at Fort Washington (Pa.) Upper Dublin. The Elite 11 Finals will occur at some point in the summer at a site and time to be determined.
— Virginia Tech three-star commit Alex Orji earned top testing honors at Sunday’s event. According to Elite 11 staff, Orji ran a 4.73-second 40-yard dash and a 4.59-second shuttle, while jumping 37-plus inches in the vertical. The Sachse (Texas) High School QB’s velocity is not in question as he repeatedly ripped throws that got on top of receivers quicker than they expected.
— Speaking of arm strength, San Antonio Southside three-star Richard Torres showed one of the biggest arms at the camp. Torres and Ewers were the only quarterbacks who beat a stiff wind on multiple downfield shots. Torres is raw but big-framed and athletic, with a background in basketball as well, and his upside makes him particularly intriguing.
— Rockwall-Heath (Texas) three-star Josh Hoover flashed in the 30-yard posts to the end zone in the latter portion of the camp. As his tape often shows, Hoover knows how to drop the ball in the bucket in those situations and did just that at Sunday’s event.
— Colorado three-star commit Owen McCown had the distinction of being the only lefty in the top QB group. The functional athleticism the Rusk (Texas) High School QB showed on the field last fall was evident in his performance in rollout drills, where he made accurate throws with and against his body on multiple occasions.
— Gilmer (Texas) High School three-star Brandon Tennison was another QB who seemed to improve as the day progressed. Tennison is a highly productive dual-threat QB for a perennial Class 4A power, and his comfort on rollouts and throws on the move was obvious during the second half of Sunday’s camp.
— One of the biggest quarterbacks at Sunday’s camp, Jones (Okla.) High School three-star Carson May had his fair share of moments. May’s velocity and downfield strength are understandably at their best when his footwork is well aligned, and he showed that on a number of throws Sunday.
— Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral three-star Brayten Silbor showed up with one of the bigger frames of the top group of 2022 quarterbacks at Sunday’s event. Silbor’s arm strength capacity is high thanks to that frame, and he showed some encouraging touch on throws outside the numbers.
— Shreveport (La.) Calvary Baptist’s Landry Lyddy was another QB who generated a bit of buzz. Lyddy, who threw for 3,500-plus yards with a 43-3 TD-INT ratio in 2020, got the ball out quickly and was accurate for the most part over the course of the afternoon.
