Oregon QB Targets Bryson Beaver, Matt Ponatoski Turned Heads at Elite 11 Finals
Coming out of the Elite 11 Finals this week in Los Angeles, a narrative was built that this is among the best crop of quarterbacks that the camp has seen in quite some time.
So it bodes well that a pair of Oregon Ducks targets, Bryson Beaver and Matt Ponatoski, are receiving some high praise coming out of the camp.
After the three-day camp, Beaver was named the No. 3 top performer, while Ponatoski came in at No. 7 on the list. In a story from The Athletic's Bruce Feldman, the CFB analyst's biggest "pleasant surprise" was seeing what Ponatoski could do with the ball in his hands.
"The most pleasant surprise to me was Ohio's Matt Ponatoski," Feldman wrote. "The two-sport star has an electric arm, having been clocked at 97 mph as a pitcher. That arm wowed me Thursday morning in his 7-on-7 performance. The 6-1, 196-pounder, who is uncommitted, made two 'wow' throws to receivers who didn't look open at all, but he fired the ball into the only spot he could and completed the passes. It was impressive."
Meanwhile, Beaver turned a lot of heads throughout the weekend, coming in as a relatively unknown prospect who has exploded onto the scene in the last week.
"Bryson Beaver, a three-star recruit from Southern California (No. 54 QB in the class), turned a lot of heads as well this week. The 6-2, 200-pounder, who recently decommitted from Boise State, is getting a lot of interest from some Power 4 powers, including Oregon. It wasn't hard to see why. He has an excellent arm and good feet."
In his "superlatives" for the Elite 11 Finals, Charles Power named Beaver the player from the week with the strongest arm, while Ponatoski was the most accurate of the bunch.
Both Ponatoski and Beaver are expected to take their official visits to Oregon this week, with the Ducks likely getting a commitment from one of them. At the moment, there is a belief that Ponatoski could get selected in the MLB draft as a top high school prospect this summer, which might lead to him never taking a snap in college football. That may lead to the Ducks prioritizing Beaver, who is among the fastest-rising QB prospects in the nation.
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