Elite 11 Baton Rouge preview

The Elite 11 makes a stop in The Boot this weekend as several of the region’s best and top young signal-callers make their way to the capital to compete in this competition.

The event is drawing some of the top rising seniors and several more notable underclassmen from not only Louisiana, but also parts of Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, among others. On3 Consensus four-star quarterback Rickie Collins Jr., a Purdue commitment, headlines the 2023 quarterbacks expected.

Here’s more on the arms heading to the Elite 11 regional in Baton Rouge:

Collins headlines senior crop

There are three quarterbacks from Louisiana ranked among the top-16 nationally. Headlining the Elite 11 this weekend is Collins out of local Baton Rouge (La.) Woodlawn High School, the No. 16 quarterback in the On3 Consensus.

Collins pledged to the Boilermakers last fall after landing early offers from Arkansas, Virginia Tech and the previous LSU staff. Purdue, which was also among the first to offer the quarterback, won out for his commitment.

Collins is not only a standout on the football field — accounting for more than 2,500 yards of total offense, including 2,000 yards passing as a junior — but also plays baseball and basketball. Last season, he engineered a victory over the state’s top-ranked team, Catholic, on the road, on top of leading his squad to the Class 5A state quarterfinals.

Collins embodies many of the signature attributes of a winning quarterback with poise, confidence, as well as the ability to attack all areas of the field and improvise at a high level while also making off-schedule plays consistently.

Sleepers to know

Among the other soon-to-be seniors from the region expected to compete is Houston (Tex.) Strake Jesuit passer Bryce Fucik. A talented quarterback with an old-school style, Fucik (6-foot-2, 175 pounds) threw for more than 2,500 yards with 30 touchdowns last season while completing 69-percent of his attempts. He tacked on another 300 yards rushing with four more scores.

Fucik is an accurate passer and flashed a knack for improvising and making plays on the fly last fall. He operates a high-tempo passing attack and is well-adept at also moving the sticks with his legs if need be. McNeese State hosted the Texas quarterback this week.

Fellow senior AJ Samuel out of New Orleans powerhouse Edna Karr has lifted his team to deep postseason runs each of the past two years. The 5-foot-11, 165-pounder operates a vertical passing attack at a high level and is also well-equipped to make plays on the run.

Several 2024 QBs to know

Josh Flowers headlines the crop of 2024 quarterbacks expected. The Mobile (Ala.) Baker four-star is tabbed as the No. 7 passer in the country on the  On3 Consensus, which also rates him as the No. 97 overall player.

Florida offered Flowers midway through his sophomore season and since then, the rest of the SEC has taken notice. He has a busy spring ahead with multiple visits scheduled throughout March and April.

Also in attendance is local Baton Rouge (La.) Catholic state championship-winning quarterback Daniel Beale. Beale, returning from a visit to Florida State, has also stopped at Mississippi State this spring. He’s got a skill-set designed to attack downfield.

Make way for 2025

This regional will also feature a handful of underclassmen already on college’s radars. That includes East Texas passer Roy Thomas Jenkins and Emile Picarella out of Mississippi.

Jenkins, who holds early offers from both Texas A&M and Houston and will visit Texas next month, passed for 2,200 yards with 30 total touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions as a freshman. The talented young gunslinger boasted a 61-percent completion percentage at Beaumont (Tex.) Monsignor Kelly and in the process, fit throws into tight windows, attacked downfield and played beyond his years.

Picarella holds early offers from Oregon and Akron, with the common denominator being Joe Moorehead, who has taken a liking to the talented 6-foot-2, 190-pounder out of Madison (Miss.) Saint Joseph — and for good reason. The Magnolia State product has a big arm, good vision and is already well-polished.