San Clemente’s Sam Darnold and Servite’s Travis Waller will have a lot to talk about after spending a week at the nation’s most prestigious summer showcase for high school quarterbacks.
The Elite 11 camp, which is held in Beaverton, Ore., and limited to players entering their senior year, is known for testing quarterbacks in nearly every way possible, and for bringing the NFL to them. (Johnny Manziel was one of the camp’s guest speakers early in the week.)
While the camp doesn’t end until Thursday evening, there has already been a lot said about how Waller and Darnold are faring and where they stack up in the field of 18, which includes St. John Bosco’s Josh Rosen.
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ELITE 11: THE OPENING
Thursday’s schedule: 7-on 7 semifinals and finals; lineman challenge finals.
TV: ESPNU, 5 p.m.
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USA Today did an early evaluation, which included quotes from the camp’s head coach, Trent Dilfer, and camp instructor George Whitfield. Here is what was written about Waller, Darnold and Rosen:
On Waller: “Elite 11 coaches couldn’t stop raving. This Californian is simply phenomenal: Waller is the total package, even if his delivery has a slight lag, and fits to the letter what Oregon wants from the quarterback position. When all is said and done, he might end up with the most successful college career of any prospect at the event.
‘Oregon just got their (Marcus) Mariota,’ Dilfer said.
‘He’s a special kid. He really is. It will be interesting how consistent he is in The Opening (which is part of the Elite 11) when it’s all passing. Because one of his gifts is what he can do with his feet. In this group, he’s the Colin Kaepernick. And I have no problem saying that. He’s going to be the guy who is so physical, and so physically gifted, that because he can also pass, he’s going to be really hard to defend.’
On Darnold: “A fast riser on the recruiting trail — he recently picked up an offer from the (Oregon) Ducks — Darnold wasn’t a standout on Sunday. That changed Monday, when Darnold was crisp during seven-on-seven drills.
‘It’s like he knew and he went to bed (Sunday night) and said, “OK, just gotta get going,” ‘ Dilfer said. ‘And he came out boom, boom, boom, boom.’
After he battled an ankle injury as a junior, making him a bit of a late bloomer on the recruiting trail, it’s almost certain that Darnold will continue to pick up scholarship offers from a number of big-name programs throughout the rest of the summer.”
On Rosen: “Rosen looks built in a mad-scientist laboratory, if not one of NASA’s next-generation research facilities. He’s the perfect quarterback, basically: Rosen is tall, long-armed, strong and as college-ready as any Elite 11 invitee. ‘Josh Rosen’s probably the most polished,’ Whitfield said.
‘Josh Rosen is supremely talented. He makes incredibly difficult things look easy,’ Dilfer said. “He’s just a highly intellectual kid that understands the game a certain way and now is trying to figure out the way we’re trying to teach it. But he’s thrived. It’s real work, and he’s made it look easy.’
USA Today added that the camp’s coaches are thinking “this might be the most impressive Elite 11 group since at least 2011 — a group then paced by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston.”
Going into Tuesday, Darnold was No. 5 in the camp’s rankings, and Waller and Rosen were not in the top 11. The final rankings will be released at the conclusion of the event.
