Pallone's Week 1 QB Rundown

There's nothing like Week 1! Last week, I was able to attend five total games. In those games, I was able to get great looks at seven notable QB prospects. Here are my thoughts on all seven of these QB performances.    Toledo CC has a good one in [player_tooltip player_id='321724' first='Ali' last='Beydoun']. Ali had an especially great first half. He consistently picked apart man coverage, going through his reads quickly and finding whatever receiver was able to earn separation. Generally, I'm very impressed with how Ali read the field during the entire game. I only counted one inaccurate pass in the first half, and he got into an amazing rhythm. I can tell that Ali is one of the smarter QBs in the midwest.   In the second half, Ali had some points of struggle. Cass Tech seemed to have given a lot more zone looks, and Cass Tech did an amazing job blanketing the Toledo CC receivers. With less consistent windows, Ali held onto the ball longer and was forced to throw it away on several occasions. Now, I'd need to watch the all-22 to see how much of the 2nd half struggles were on Ali vs. Cass Tech's elite secondary. Though, there were definitely more mistakes on Ali's part in the second half.   Another great aspect of Ali's game is his athleticism. Whenever the pocket began to deteriorate, Ali did an excellent job exploding outside of the pocket while keeping his eyes downfield. Really impressed with Ali's ability to evade pressure while keeping his eyes on his receivers.   I don't see any offers on Ali's Twitter. From the one showing, it looks like Ali could earn MAC offers. If he's not a D1 prospect, he'll almost certainly earn D2 offers in the coming year. I could see a school like Grand Valley State loving what they see in Ali.     One of the best performances from the PKC. Cooper ran the ball with great success and looked a lot more elusive than I had expected. He's also not afraid to drive through tackles to earn tough extra yards. I wasn't expecting Northville to have such a lethal 1-2 punch with Derkach and Defore.   Cooper also did well in the pass game. Not a ton of attempts, but still a few accurate, on-time passes. Cooper looked extremely comfortable out there, and did not have the 1st-game jitters like I saw with several other QBs.     Anderson will improve as the season goes on. Throughout the offseason, I heard nothing but great things about Anderson. Great mechanics, ball launches out of his hand, etc. I saw all of that on Thursday- the talent is obvious. Though Anderson did have those first-game jitters. A little uncomfortable in the pocket, rushed some throws, and had a few very uncharacteristic missed throws. I did love what I saw at times. Anderson's production will skyrocket once he gets more reps in and gets more comfortable at the Varsity level.     A tale of two halves for Donald. The Cass Tech coaching staff did a good job scheming Donald for success in the second half, and he also generally looked more comfortable and accurate. Early in the game. Donald struggled to make completions on quick reads. Looking for easy, quick completions on quick comebacks, Donald was consistently a tad late, and the Toledo CC defense was fast enough to break up his passes. He also had a couple misses in the first half.   In the second half, Cass Tech was able to find some explosive plays. The Toledo CC defense was creeping up, and that's when Donald delivered a few impressive deep balls. Just like what I saw in the offseason, Donald's deep balls were right on the money, catching his receivers in perfect stride. Once Toledo CC started playing deeper, Donald did a better job in the short-intermediate areas of the field. Love how Donald executed the second half gameplan!     Brother Rice's JV quarterback impressed me.   Pre-game, I loved Marcy's consistency. Mechanics were crisp, and just about every throw was perfectly on point. With mechancis down, everything else should fall into place.   Marcy did well in the first half against Dakota. There came a time where Brother Rice's RB went down with an injury, which forced the offense to air it out more. Generally, Marcy's abilities flashed, with a few accurate, on-time throws. Though I did see Holden rush his mechanics a bit, and he looked a tad uncomfortable in the pocket.   Just needs more reps. I thought Marcy did amazing in his first-ever high school football game. Marcy should be on his way to being a college prospect, especially if he grows a few more inches.     Alex is a big reason why Clarkston has earned a big boost in this week's media poll. I expected Clarkston to have success, but I did not expect them to look as well-rounded as they did.   Alex played like a veteran. Confident, calm, and precise. Not a super high volume of passes from Alex, and those throws weren't the most complex, but he was extremely accurate and made very few mistakes. Some QBs at those Week 1 jitters and struggled to make any throw, but Alex looked completely unfazed.     Kendall is going to bounce back. The more I think about Thursday, the more I see how difficult it must have been for Kendall. Under constant distress, and against a great secondary.   Pre-game, Kendall looked great. The same consistent mechanics and accuracy we saw in the offseason.   In-game, there were some bright spots. Goalline throw to Tre was a good one. Some examples of elusiveness in the pocket. No doubt that Kendall will catch his stride and get into a rhythm in the coming weeks.

There's nothing like Week 1! Last week, I was able to attend five total games. In those games, I was able to get great looks at seven notable QB prospects. Here are my thoughts on all seven of these QB performances.