The boys over at the Blue-Gray Sky (BGS)had a great post - Top Guns - detaling how Elite-11 quaterbacks have performed over the years. CFR does the work for us in terms of defining what this Elite-11 deal is all about:
[T]he Elite 11 is a quarterback camp out in California that brings together 11 of the nation's best prep quarterbacks.
It's kind of a 'who's who' event for the high school passers and recruitniks.
As you can see from the piece, the Elite 11 quarterbacks collegiate outcomes have been a mixed bag.
Yes, 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart was an Elite 11 quarterback, but so was well-traveled John Rattay.
The BGS post goes into incredible detail in covering all the QBs participating in these camps going back to 1999. We were interested in picking out the class of 2001 for obvious reasons:
It's kind of a 'who's who' event for the high school passers and recruitniks.
As you can see from the piece, the Elite 11 quarterbacks collegiate outcomes have been a mixed bag.
Yes, 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart was an Elite 11 quarterback, but so was well-traveled John Rattay.
Elite
A quarter of this class has established itself as legitimate starters in college football: Pitt's Tyler Palko, Michigan State's Drew Stanton (he has to stay healthy), and finally, the Longhorns' Heisman hopeful Vince Young.
Limbo
Another one-third of this class is on two teams; these quarterbacks are battling for starting jobs. Drew Olson will duke it out with Ben Olson for the UCLA starting spot when he returns from injury later this summer. Meanwhile, Ohio State hasn't determined a starter between Justin Zwick and Troy Smith; both played well this spring although Smith should have the upper hand based on how he played down the stretch last year. Finally, Walt Harris hasn't named a starter in Palo Alto yet, and two-year starter Trent Edwards is trying to hold off T.C. Ostrander.
Eli-minated
Michigan's Matt Gutierrez may have become the next Wally Pipp after his shoulder injury allowed Chad Henne the opportunity to start last fall. Anthony Martinez quit football to play baseball at Virginia, and after being suspended for academic reasons, he is currently hoping to rejoin the team. Ryan O'Hara quit football and dropped out of Arizona in order to take care of his ailing brother. Gavin Dickey is still playing quarterback for the Gators but considering his baseball career as well as the fact that he's fighting for a back-up spot with Josh Portis and Cornelius Ingram, I think Dickey is fighting an uphill battle. Either his days at as a signal-caller are numbered, or he may turn to baseball full-time.
Don't forget the class of 2001 also gave us Matt Moore. So yeah ... KD had noooo talent at QB when he took over as the head coach. The poor thing only had an Elite-11 QB and probably one of the top-3 raw QB talents (besides Ben Olson, Trent Edwards (Stanford)) in the West Coast. And this year he will have a senior Drew Olson, Ben Olson (who apparently is looking good during this summer's 7 on 7 drills,), Patrick Cowan (who is reportedly vowing the coaches) at his disposal. So QB position will definitely not be the excuse if he fails to come up with 9 wins this season. He will have UCLA's version of Maverick, Goose, and Iceman at his disposal (it is up to DO, BO, and Cowan to compete hard and figure out who is going to fill whose rolls).
A quarter of this class has established itself as legitimate starters in college football: Pitt's Tyler Palko, Michigan State's Drew Stanton (he has to stay healthy), and finally, the Longhorns' Heisman hopeful Vince Young.
Limbo
Another one-third of this class is on two teams; these quarterbacks are battling for starting jobs. Drew Olson will duke it out with Ben Olson for the UCLA starting spot when he returns from injury later this summer. Meanwhile, Ohio State hasn't determined a starter between Justin Zwick and Troy Smith; both played well this spring although Smith should have the upper hand based on how he played down the stretch last year. Finally, Walt Harris hasn't named a starter in Palo Alto yet, and two-year starter Trent Edwards is trying to hold off T.C. Ostrander.
Eli-minated
Michigan's Matt Gutierrez may have become the next Wally Pipp after his shoulder injury allowed Chad Henne the opportunity to start last fall. Anthony Martinez quit football to play baseball at Virginia, and after being suspended for academic reasons, he is currently hoping to rejoin the team. Ryan O'Hara quit football and dropped out of Arizona in order to take care of his ailing brother. Gavin Dickey is still playing quarterback for the Gators but considering his baseball career as well as the fact that he's fighting for a back-up spot with Josh Portis and Cornelius Ingram, I think Dickey is fighting an uphill battle. Either his days at as a signal-caller are numbered, or he may turn to baseball full-time.