Thune's Day 2 Rankings From Elite11 Competition
The Elite11 participants will hit the field once again at 10 a.m. for the final day of workouts, and it's shaping up to be quite a battle for the MVP crown. Caleb Williams held a wide lead after Day 1, but a somewhat lackluster pro day script caused the Washington, D.C. native to lose his advantage.
Here's where I rank the competitors after two days of action.
1. Ty Thompson (+4) - The Ducks commit gets the slight edge over Williams for the top spot here, as he's been consistently brilliant over the first two days. He went 16-for-20 on his pro day script, and three of those incompletions were drops. He turned heads on Day 1 and kept them turned on Day 2.
2. Caleb Williams (-1) - As I mentioned late last night in my knee-jerk evaluation of Williams, he struggled to throw to his weak side in pro day workouts. He's by far got the best arm of any quarterback here, but he looked very much human yesterday, and was upstaged by several of his competitors.
3. Carlos Del Rio (+6) - After an up-and-down Day 1, the Florida pledge got off to a torrid start on Day 2, and easily had the most spectacular pro day performance. SI All-American ranked Del Rio's near-perfect script the best in the field.
4. Garrett Nussmeier (+2) - LSU's four-star commit has been rock solid, making throws to all three levels with aplomb. His ball placement wasn't exceptional on Tuesday, but he excels at throwing catchable balls and has very smooth footwork. He's squarely in contention for MVP honors.
5. J.J. McCarthy (+5) - I wasn't sold on McCarthy after Day 1, but he led off Tuesday's pro day workouts with a near-flawless performance. He completed 15 of 18 passes on his script, releasing each pass cleanly and spinning beautiful spirals. It'll be tough for McCarthy to compete for the MVP at this point, but he's come on strong.
6. Brock Vandagriff (+2) - The Georgia commit started hot, completing his first 10 passes on his pro day script. However, he looked fatigued by the end of the routine, and his mechanics began to suffer. He hasn't quite lived up to his billing as a five-star prodigy thus far, but he's still solidly among the top passers at the competition.
7. Kyle McCord (+8) - The Ohio State commit struggled mightily in drills on opening night, but looked much improved in his pro day workout. His downfield accuracy was possibly the best in the field. He completed 10 of his final 11 passes, with a drop representing the only incompletion.
8. Luke Altmyer (-6) - Altmyer wowed me on Day 1 with his pristine footwork and outstanding accuracy. But he went just 11-of-19 in his pro day workout, and just didn't seem dialed in. The Florida State commit is still one of my favorite prospects at the Elite11 finals, but he's fading as of right now.
9. Miller Moss (-5) - Compared to the rest of the field, Moss hasn't been much better than mediocre thus far. He doesn't have the ability to throw downfield without taking a quite obvious bodily gather, but he's pretty sharp with his intermediate passing. Ball placement needs to improve if the USC commit is going to stay among the top 11.
10. Drake Maye (+6) - Maye looked lost at sea on opening night, but rebounded nicely on Tuesday evening. He hit on 15 of 19 passes, and flashed the elite arm talent that has Tar Heels fans stoked about his future. He's among the most physically gifted passers in this class, but he's got to become more consistent with his release.
11. Christian Veilleux (-8) - Veilleux was absolutely wondrous on Day 1, and honestly, he wasn't terrible on Tuesday either. He completed just 11 of 20 passes on his script, but his wide receivers did drop six balls. However, he didn't have nearly the same sharpness or ball placement as he did on opening night. For what it's worth, the Penn State pledge throws a beautiful spiral.
12. Maddox Kopp (N/A) - Kopp is making serious noise at the Elite11 finals. According to SI All-American's John Garcia, he's fielded calls from Texas, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt since defeating Caleb Williams in the rail challenge on Monday night. His only current offer is from Houston, but I'd be willing to bet that isn't the case a week from now. He's got a huge arm, and he's beginning to rein it in and deliver consistently accurate passes.
13. Tyler Macon (-6) - Macon struggled in the short and intermediate game in his pro day workout, and took a step backward after a strong Day 1 showing. The Missouri commit could still make the eleven-man cut, but he'll need a big Day 3 to make that happen.
14. Kyron Drones (N/A) - The Baylor commit has been solid, if unspectacular, over the first two days of action. He had his moments throughout his pro day workout, but missed throws too often and didn't place the ball quite as well as his fellow QBs.
15. Kaidon Salter (+4) - On the heels of an atrocious Day 1, the future Tennessee Volunteer looked much sharper throughout pro day. He's not going to blow anyone away with arm strength, but he can place the ball adequately enough, and he's a fine passer on the run.
16. Behren Morton (-3) - The Texas Tech commit can throw a fantastic deep ball, but his intermediate accuracy leaves much to be desired. He gained steam towards the latter half of his pro day workout, and might contend for a back-end spot in the Elite 11 when it's all said and done.
17. Dematrius Davis (-6) - Auburn's quarterback of the future has been decently accurate with his throws over two days of action, but doesn't have a ton of zip on the ball and has a tendency to get careless with his mechanics. Fortunately, he's a phenomenal athlete, so his running ability masks his shortcomings as a thrower.
18. Tyler Buchner (N/A) - It's alarming how awful Buchner has looked in Nashville. He made even the easiest throws on his pro day script look like a task, and his release is inconsistent and unsightly. Right now, he simply doesn't look like a five-star quarterback (or even a four-star, for that matter). He's been by far the biggest disappointment of the week.
19. Grayson James (-2) - The uncommitted Plano, TX product hasn't measured up to the competition through two days, and he struggled to place the ball throughout his pro day performance. He doesn't have any Power 5 offers at the moment.
20. Jay Allen (N/A) - The Florida baseball commit is the only unranked prospect at the Elite11 finals, and he's quite clearly not on par with the rest of the field. He's accurate enough, but just can't spin the ball or put any zip behind it.
Stay up to date with SI Sooners for continuing coverage from Nashville as Day 3 arrives.
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