Quinn Ewers following in the footsteps of just a few players

Numerous high school basketball players reclassify and enroll in college a full year early after skipping their senior season. The same thing happens in soccer, baseball and volleyball, too. But what five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers is doing is rare in football.

Ewers announced Monday that he is skipping his senior year of high school at Southlake (Texas) Carroll, in the Dallas suburbs, and enrolling this month at Ohio State (where he’ll be part of a four-man, all-freshman quarterback room). As far as we can tell, he is just the fifth high school football player to make the move.

Here’s a look at the first four, listed chronologically.

QB John David Booty

First year of college: 2003, at USC

The buzz: Booty (pictured above) led Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian to back-to-back state titles as a sophomore and junior, then graduated early and took off for the West Coast. He redshirted as a freshman with the Trojans, then was a backup for two seasons before becoming the starter as a fourth-year junior in ’06. He threw for 3,347 yards and 29 TDs that fall, capped by a 391-yard, four-TD performance in a Rose Bowl win over Michigan. He surprised some by returning to school as a redshirt senior in ’07. Booty missed three games with a broken finger but still threw for 2,361 yards and 23 TDs. The Trojans were 22-4 in his two seasons as the starter. He was a fifth-round pick by the Vikings in the 2008 draft but never played in an NFL game.

QB Jake Bentley

First year of college: 2016, at South Carolina

The buzz: Bentley enrolled a year early after his dad, Bobby, was hired as South Carolina’s running backs coach; he had played his junior season at Opelika (Ala.) High when his dad was an Auburn assistant. The plan was to redshirt Bentley that fall, but he became the starter after the Gamecocks opened 2-4. He was the fulltime starter in 2017 and ’18, then suffered a foot injury before the 2019 season and missed the year. He transferred to Utah last season and became the starter, then left for South Alabama in January. This season, Bentley is expected to start for the Jaguars, whose offensive coordinator is Major Applewhite.

QB J.T. Daniels

First year of college: 2018, at USC

The buzz: Daniels was the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2017 as a junior at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, then enrolled early at nearby USC. He became just the second Trojans true freshman quarterback to start a season-opener, joining Matt Barkley (2009). Daniels threw for 2,672 yards and 14 TDs that fall, then started the 2019 opener as well. But he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first half of the opener and Kedon Slovis took over. Daniels decided to transfer to Georgia in May 2020, and after getting healthy, he started the final four games for the Bulldogs last season. Big things are expected from Daniels this fall.

CB Tony Grimes

First year of college: 2020, at North Carolina

The buzz: Grimes, who had been a consensus top-10 player in the 2021 class, reclassified and enrolled at UNC last August instead of playing his senior season at Virginia Beach (Va.) Princess Anne. He played in all 12 games, with four starts. Grimes played especially well in the Orange Bowl loss to Texas A&M and is considered a legit contender for All-ACC honors this season.

Note: This list does not include QB Christian LeMay, who skipped his senior season of high school football in the Charlotte suburbs in 2010 but didn’t enroll at Georgia until January 2011. Nor does it include players who didn’t play their senior seasons because of COVID last year and enrolled in January. And RB Jaydon Blue, who is part of the 2022 recruiting class, said he is skipping his senior season in the Houston area this fall and planning to enroll at Texas in January. He said he planned to “take this time to focus on my academics while enhancing my off-the-field training/rehab regimen.”

(Top photo of Booty: John Pyle/Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images)