Eleven takeaways, musings and questions following a 2024 Elite 11 Finals that has us excited for the future

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — Eleven takeaways from a terrific 2024 Elite 11 Finals, because 12 or 13 just wouldn’t make as much sense.

1. Future Buckeye Tavien St. Clair might finish No. 1 in the rankings

Ohio State’s quarterback room is already viewed as one of the deepest units in all of college football and after watching Clair rip tight spirals for three straight days, it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon.

With LSU commit and top-ranked quarterback Bryce Underwood at home, it was Tavien St. Clair who came into the event as our highest-ranked prospect at No. 2 overall in the Top247. He somehow exceeded expectations and we named him Alpha Dog of the week, though he did not finish as the Elite 11’s MVP. In fact, we think you could drop St. Clair in next year’s NFL Scouting Combine and he would have scouts drooling

St. Clair is a budding signal caller with a prototypical frame (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) who can feather the football to all three levels. He’s accurate in the pocket and on the move as he uses a smooth release to throw with both touch and power. He also appears to be wired the right way based upon everything that we heard from the Elite 11 staff.

The recruiting industry has long pegged Underwood as the can’t-miss quarterback in the 2025 cycle and it’s time to officially put St. Clair in that same category as he’s got both a high ceiling and a high floor. We’ll meet in the coming weeks to discuss our quarterback pecking order and there will likely be plenty of discussion about who should be No. 1 in the rankings.

St. Clair, of Bellefontaine, is in line to become the first in-state quarterback to sign with Ohio State since Joe Burrow back in 2015. He’s the type of talent that should eventually push Alabama transfer and former five-star Julian Sayin for a starting gig in Columbus.