The first commit of the [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] era is still going strong at the Elite 11 Finals. [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] has been having a solid few months, recently earning his fifth star from 247Sports and has just been named Elite 11’s 2022 MVP.
Arnold had some stiff competition with former OU commit Malachi Nelson, Dante Moore, Miami’s Jaden Rashada and others competing against him.
Texas commit Arch Manning did not make an appearance.
Arnold is the first five-star QB (247Sports Composite) of the post-Lincoln Riley era. After Riley left, lots of people were saying that OU would never get a big name recruit again. While Nick Evers is a nice get, Arnold might be a step or two ahead of him physically.
The 2022 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝟏𝟏 𝐌𝐕𝐏, @_JacksonArnold_! pic.twitter.com/q8CZ9Tll53
— Elite11 (@Elite11) June 30, 2022
Oklahoma has a history of their recruits performing well at Elite 11. Both Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler balled out during their time there.
Besides the brief “we want Caleb” controversy, OU hasn’t been a school like an Ohio State with multiple QB1s in the same QB room at the sime time. With Evers and Arnold coming to Norman in 2022 and 2023 respectively, that can change very quickly.
Of course, the Sooners will be have Dillon Gabriel at QB1 for 2022. Gabriel has experience in Jeff Lebby’s offense, but it will be interesting to see if Evers gets any snaps this year, and if he does, when he will get them.
Though only considered a four-star at the time of his commitment, Jackson Arnold’s been on an upward trajectory this spring. I’m just his first season starting on varsity for Denton Guyer, Arnold helped his team get to the state championship game.
Heading into his senior season, it’s very realistic that by the end of the year Arnold’s a consensus five-star quarterback. Heading into the Elite 11 with less fanfare than some of his counterparts, Arnold stole the show, providing a glimpse of what’s coming to Norman down the road.
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