It's about to go down.
Ohio State commit Quinn Ewers and 21 other quarterbacks will descend upon Manhattan Beach, California, this week to begin competing in the Elite 11 Finals. The competition returns this year in its typical three-day format, running from Wednesday to Friday at Costa Mesa High School.
Per usual, the competition is stiff.
Fellow five-star quarterbacks Walker Howard (LSU), Ty Simpson (Alabama) and Conner Weigman (Texas A&M), along with four-star Media native Drew Allar (Penn State), earned invitations to the Finals. The other participants include Cade Klubnik (Clemson), AJ Duffy (Florida State), Maalik Murphy (Texas), Gavin Wimsatt (Rutgers), Jacurri Brown (Miami), Holden Geriner (Auburn), Nick Evers (Florida), Devin Brown (USC), Katin Houser (Michigan State), AJ Swann (Maryland), Zach Pyron (Baylor), Nate Johnson (Utah), Tevin Carter (uncommitted) and Luther Richesson (uncommitted).
Wednesday's on-field competition is at 6:30-8:40 p.m. PT, Thursday's is at 6:20-10 p.m. PT and Friday's is at 8:30-10:40 a.m. PT. Then, on Friday evening and Saturday, all of the quarterbacks will play 7-on-7 as part of The Opening Invitational.
Ewers, a five-star and the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, will enter as the favorite to become the Elite 11 MVP.
2021 #Elite11 Finals Invite No. 6
— Elite11 (@Elite11) April 18, 2021
Quinn Ewers (@QuinnEwers) pic.twitter.com/eH5s3r2blW
In recent years, Buckeyes signal-callers have fared particularly well in the Elite 11 Finals, which is designed to have nearly two dozen of the best rising senior quarterbacks compete with each other while getting one-on-one lessons from the coaches in attendance.
Last year, current freshman Kyle McCord was honored as one of the Elite 11 Finals top performers. He also won the pro day competition. C.J. Stroud and Jack Miller both competed at The Opening Finals in 2019, with Stroud becoming the MVP and Miller ending the workout prematurely with a back injury. Justin Fields famously jousted with Trevor Lawrence in 2017 and came out on top, earning MVP honors.
Now, it's Ewers who'll try to show out at the Elite 11 Finals.
Later in the week, two of his fellow Ohio State commits – linebacker C.J. Hicks and wide receiver Kyion Grayes – will show up at Manhattan Beach for The Opening Invitational. AJ Harris, a big-time 2023 cornerback target, and four-star 2022 safety target Xavier Nwankpa will also be there.
Of note: I'll be at the Elite 11 Finals this week, so you can expect coverage of the event here at Eleven Warriors throughout the week.
