PRZ Showcase Top Quarterbacks: Strongest Arms

There's plenty to recap from Saturday's PRZ Carolinas Showcase including potential movers, hot prospects, superlatives and more, but we'll start with one of the most impressive groups: the quarterbacks. There were so many talented guys that we had to break it up into two different articles. Top to bottom, the quarterback group was one of the most talented I've ever seen at a showcase with arm strength and accuracy aplenty to go around. Here, we'll talk about the guys with the five strongest arms at the camp, as well as how they fared in drills and in the combine portion of camp. <strong><img class="alignleft wp-image-319466" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/04/IMG_3678-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="121" height="161" />[player_tooltip player_id="411919" first="Gavin" last="Owens"], 6'4 205- Wren</strong> The biggest name in terms of stars and offers in attendance did not disappoint. His arm talent is off the charts and his footwork is incredibly polished for a freshman. He already has elite size and arm strength and showed that often Saturday. The big lefty flicks the ball and it jumps out of his hand. He displayed great touch on some deep balls and threw some rockets on intermediate routes. He had one deep out from the opposite hash that beat tight coverage in 1-on-1s and really impressed me. His missed a couple of balls here and there, but his arm talent is up there with other future Power Five signal callers. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="144215" first="Tanner" last="Ballou"], 6' 180- Northwest Guilford<img class="alignright wp-image-319104" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/04/55-Tanner-Ballou-293x300.jpg" alt="" width="143" height="146" /></strong> Ballou's inclusion on this list is more impressive to me because I had written just last summer that his arm strength was a bit of a work in progress. He's spent a ton of time in the weight room and the results are clear. He generates a lot of velocity from a compact throwing motion and quick release, which is all the more important at his current height. He's also in consideration for the accuracy list and the only knock I saw on Ballou was his height and he's so young, that might take care of itself. For a 2024, he's incredibly advanced as a passer and I left more impressed than I initially thought I might be. Check out his camp highlights: https://twitter.com/ballou_tanner/status/1512994064978915329 <strong><img class="alignleft wp-image-319082" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/04/81-Johnathan-Montague-300x270.jpg" alt="" width="167" height="150" />Johnathan Montague, 6'1 190-Knightdale</strong> When I watched Montague's sophomore film in preparation for Saturday's camp, I came away mildly impressed. When I saw him in person, however, I was blown away. The ball flies out of his hand with very little effort on his part. His mechanics have already improved greatly since the fall and his footwork was also fairly impressive. He's definitely going to make our biggest movers list and he's made a fan out of me. If there was any thought of it being a fluke, he once again impressed when I saw him Sunday. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="145389" first="Elijiah" last="Oehlke"], 6' 180- Gray's Creek<img class="alignright wp-image-319094" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/04/66-Elijiah-Oehlke-269x300.jpg" alt="" width="147" height="164" /></strong> I had never heard of Oehlke before Saturday but he planted himself firmly in the mix for the top 2025 quarterbacks in the state with a strong all-around performance. He ran well and showed some fairly polished mechanics for a freshman. What really impressed me though, was his deep ball. He routinely flicked it 40-50 yards when given the chance. His shorter throws got to his receivers quickly out of their breaks and he had a good feel for when to fire it in and when to take some off of his throws. Excuse me while I go watch his film. <strong><img class=" wp-image-319075 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/04/88-Aidan-Kelly-1-283x300.jpg" alt="" width="126" height="133" />Aidan Kelly, 6'2 230- CE Jordan</strong> Kelly put up solid, but not eye-popping, numbers as a sophomore but I really liked the way he threw it Saturday. The ball jumped out of his hand without much extra effort from his lower body. On second review of film, he shows that a lot. It's not that he's throwing a lot of 50-yard bombs, but he's really good at fitting the ball into tight windows that wouldn't be there without a strong arm. He has a strong lower body and is able to generate a lot of torque in one movement. I came away impressed.