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Texas Commit Dia Bell Shines Bright vs. Talented Field on Day 1 Of Elite 11 Finals

Texas Longhorns five-star QB commit Dia Bell put on a show during Day 1 of the Elite 11 Finals

Matt Galatzan

Texas Longhorns commit Dia Bell at the Elite 11 Finals
Texas Longhorns commit Dia Bell at the Elite 11 Finals / Brooks Austin - On SI
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LOS ANGELES, CA - The Elite 11 Finals are underway at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, and five-star Texas Longhorns quarterback commit Dia Bell is already starting to form some separation between himself and the rest of the field.

I felt like there was a clear-cut top two on night number one here in Los Angeles, and that was Bell and Houston commit Keisean Henderson. The highlights from Henderson are undeniable, and he has extreme traits, and there is immense life on the football.

However, throughout the night, the most consistent for my money was Bell. He rarely missed a throw and looked smooth in his footwork and delivery snap after snap after snap. He also showed off an even more elite arm talent than we initially anticipated, and constantly placed the ball in the right windows with impressive zip and accuracy.

Elsewhere, Faizon Brandon and Landon Duckworth were in that next tier for me on the evening. Both are relatively raw when it comes to some of the traditional drops that this event forces upon these young quarterbacks, but the arm strength from both flashed throughout the first night. Brandon went on to win the rail shot competition at the end of the evening — A line drive throw down the sideline designed to mimic a Cover 2 “hole throw” on the facemask of the receiver.

Texas Longhorn QB Commit Dia Bell at the Elite 11 Finals
Texas Longhorn QB Commit Dia Bell at the Elite 11 Finals / Brooks Austin - On SI

The 'Best Ball' of the night was Boise State commit, Derek Zammit, and the data backed it up. At one point, I checked with the advanced analytics team on site, Zammit’s revolutions on the ball were hands down the highest of any player throwing Tuesday night. He throws an extremely tight and accurate football.

Another candidate for 'Best Ball' would be Dia Bell's fade-away pass in the corner of the end zone earlier in the night, but we're gonna give the edge to Zammit.

I was also pleasantly surprised by Florida commit, Will Griffin. There’s no doubt it’s an interesting throwing motion, one that mimics a catcher in baseball, but it’s extremely quick and efficient. And he certainly knows how to “swing his swing.” It’s a consistent cut that produces consistent results. Though he did struggle on some of the bigger horsepower throws at times.

All that said, at the end of the day, it appears to be Bell and Henderson vs. the field heading into Day 2 of the competition.

On SI Director of Recruiting Brooks Austin also contributed to this article.e

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writers’ Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014, covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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