An Elite Impact
If you watched the National Title game last night a lot of things happened. An epic come back. Players rising to the occasion and others getting a little heated. The one thing that really caught my eye was the QBs. Georgia Started Jake Fromm while Alabama started Jalen Hurst, but in the second half decided to go with the back up Tau Tagovailoa.
What first caught my eye was the fact that all three of these players are 19 or younger. I know when I was 19 I wasn’t in any way shape or form in the same situation they were in leading two of the top football teams in the country into the national title game. If you look at Fromm and Tagovailoa though they are both freshman; and not red-shirt freshman or guys who came back to school after they tried out baseball but True Freshman. A year ago those two were starting their final semester in High School and worrying about who they were going to take to prom.
To some it may seem crazy that two True Freshman had that big of an impact on such a game. But these two aren’t your normal every day True Freshman Qb’s. Both took part in a camp called the Elite 11, which is put on by Nike every year. They take the best High school Qbs in the country run them through a week of work outs to try and find who the “Best Qb in the Country” for that given year. Some notable Alumni from this camp are Andrew Luck, Mathew Stafford, and Tim Tebow but the list goes on and on. These two though did not just compete in this event, but the almost won it. Fromm showing up and fighting for it while Tagovailoa Won the whole thing. The two were actually roommates while they were there.
Those two are not the only guys to make an impact on the 2017 football season from their class. Out of the 12 guys that competed at the camp 5 of made a contribution to their team. None of which were in a negative way.
Sam Ehlinger. He went to UT. Out of the 13 games this year Ehlinger played in 9 of them while starting 8. He was 158-275 for 1915 yards, 11 Touchdowns, and 7 Interceptions. While playing UT went 5-4 when Ehlinger had something to do with the game.
Myles Brennan. He went to LSU. The Tigers played 13 games Brennan had a part in 6 of them. Although he did not make any starts LSU still went 4-2 when he got in the game. He finished the season going 14-24 for 182 Yards, 1 Touchdown, and 2 Interceptions.
Jake Fromm. As we all know he went to Georgia. He played in all 15 games making his first start on the road at Notre Dame. The Bulldogs went 13-2 making it to the National Championship with Fromm at the helm. Fromm was 181-291 with 2615 yards, 24 Touchdowns, and 7 Interceptions. For a True Freshman the SEC this is one of the best years that their has been as of late.
Tau Tagovailoa (The MVP). As we know again he went to Alabama. Tau had a part in 8 of Alabamas games this year which they went 8-0 in. Tau coming in in the second half of the National Championship was the spark that helped turn the tide on the Tide. On the season tau was 49-77 for 636 yards, 11 Touchdowns, and only 2 Interceptions.
Hunter Johnson. Johnson went to Clemson. Making no starts this year he played in 7 of the games. In those 7 games Clemson went 7-0. Johnson had great numbers for the limited amount of reps. Going 21-27 for 234 yards, 2 Touchdowns, and 1 Interceptions.
This year if an Elite 11 Took part of a game that team was more then likely going to win. Playing in 45 of the 70 games that all their teams played, going 37-8 record with 22 starts. Then going for a total of 423-694 for 5582 yards, 49 Touchdowns, and 19 Interceptions.
To say these guys are Elite maybe an understatement but it will be fun to watch how the rest of their college careers turn out.