Since 1999, the Elite 11 QB camps have hosted the top senior quarterbacks in the nation annually. 12 of the past 13 Heisman trophy winning quarterbacks and 15 of the top 20 NFL passers in 2019 have attended the Elite 11 Finals or an Elite 11 Regional. This year, the Elite 11 Finals are from June 30th-July 3rd in Los Angeles, hosting 20 of the nations top arms from 11 different states with eight of the top 10 quarterbacks from the 2022 class. Georgia will be showcasing three players in 2021, one of four states to bring multiple players to the camp along with California, Texas, and Tennessee. AJ Swann, Jacurri Brown, and Holden Geriner have the opportunity to compete with the best quarterbacks in the country in the highly anticipated Elite 11 Finals.
Cherokee’s AJ Swann is coming into the Elite 11 Finals after winning Region 5-7A Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Swann was a huge factor in leading Cherokee High School to the state playoffs last season, where the Warriors ended the season with a 8-3 record.
Swann has two very productive years under his belt at Cherokee, throwing for 2,399 yards with 20 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 59.8% completion percentage as a sophomore and for 2,149 yards with 21 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 60.4% completion percentage as a junior last season. The 6’3 200 pound pro-style QB is a three-star recruit committed to the University of Maryland and is a top 50 player in Georgia.
Cherokee head coach Josh Shaw has high praise for AJ’s ability as a quarterback and his development to where he is today.
“I think the biggest thing is his arm strength, being able to make all the throws on the field,” said Shaw. “The deep comeback, the deep out, throws that require a tremendous amount of arm strength is definitely a plus.”
Swann’s knowledge of the game and decision-making gives Coach Shaw an immense amount of confidence in the rising senior.
“He is an extension of our offensive coordinator on the field, I would feel completely comfortable with AJ calling the plays for our offense,” said Shaw. “In our RPO based offense, every play is a run or a pass, so he is making those decisions anyways.”
Swann’s improvements have been noticeable, dropping from 215 pounds as a sophomore to 195 pounds during the quarantine before his junior season. With the loss of weight, AJ became a more effective player all around. His mobility increased quickly from his sophomore to junior season and he has become a more accurate passer with more experience under his belt.
Shaw added, “He can make throws now as a senior that he couldn’t make as a sophomore.”
Attending the Elite 11 Finals is a great opportunity for Swann, who Coach Shaw believes will benefit from being around all of the various QB prospects.
“You are working with Trent Dilfer and a bundle of former NFL guys and quarterback gurus so it’s definitely an awesome learning opportunity as well as an opportunity to compete,” Shaw stated, “but the mental component is really where we’ll see a big difference when he comes back.”
Swann is coming into his senior season looking to extend Cherokee’s playoff streak to four straight seasons. With AJ’s development as a player, he will be in a prime situation to have his best high school season under Coach Shaw in 2021.
Jacurri Brown is the 12th ranked quarterback in the 2022 class according to 247 Sports, the highest of any Georgia quarterback attending the Elite 11 Finals this year. Brown has only lost three games in the past two seasons for Lowndes, leading the Vikings to a state championship appearance in 2019 with a 14-1 record and to the semifinals with a 10-2 record last season.
The 6’4 205-pound Miami commit was named to the Georgia 7A All-State first-team, running the ball just as well as he threw it. Brown amassed 1,537 yards for 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions through the air with only a 47.8% completion percentage. On the ground, Brown ran for 1,101 yards and 16 touchdowns, picking up 100+ yards five times this past year and 14 times in his high school career. In fact, Jacurri had more rushing attempts than passing attempts last season (189 to 184).
Brown has shown promise as an elite dual-threat talent, but still has some improvements to make before he takes the next steps of his career. He has a huge arm and if he can develop as a passer all around, then he will be tough to stop. The sky’s the limit for Brown, who will certainly benefit from attending the Elite 11 Finals. He should learn a thing or two from the camp and will be a scary competitor to play against in 2021.
Holden Geriner enters the Elite 11 Finals as the 15th ranked quarterback in the 2022 class. The Benedictine signal caller led the Cadets to the 4A semifinals with a 9-3 record, extending Benedictine’s playoff streak to 10 consecutive years.
Geriner is 6’3 215 pounds with great accuracy and a huge arm. As a junior, Holden was named to the all-state first team in Class 4A by the AJC, racking up an impressive 2,770 yards for 25 TDs and three interceptions with a 67.8% completion percentage. This was a huge step up from his sophomore season, where he only picked up 1,405 yards with 14 TDs and 12 interceptions, completing only 46.6% of his passes.
The four-star Auburn commit made a monumental leap from his sophomore to his junior year. He learned how to make the easy throw but understands that there are times when he needs to use his arm and make a good throw.
“One of the biggest improvements I’ve seen of any player,” stated Benedictine head coach Danny Britt. “He learned how to control the cannon he has. I just said ‘hey listen, if you dump off a five-yard pass to one of our really good athletes and he takes it 60, that’s a 65-yard touchdown pass. If you make a beautiful throw for 65 yards down the field but it’s three yards over our receiver that’s an incomplete pass.’ And he really took that to heart.”
With Geriner’s size, strength, understanding of the game, and his high school experience, he should make a seemingless transition to the college level according to Coach Britt, who believes that he has helped set Holden up for the next step in his career.
“I feel like our program at Benedictine is run very much like a college,” said Britt. “So I think he will have an understanding on how to work, how to study film, how to practice, how to take coaching, so I think it will be a somewhat easy transition for him. I think he already has collegiate level arm talent and he has collegiate size, so I think those things will be in place.”
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