Just a few weeks ago, the Alabama Football team was yet to land a commitment at the quarterback position despite early recruiting success. Kalen DeBoer then picked up a commitment from Keelon Russell as DeBoer and his staff flipped the Elite playmaker from SMU. Pessimists and Alabama rivals downplayed landing Russell saying it wasn't a big deal as he was committed to SMU while pointing to the fact that Alabama seemingly "whiffed" on some of the "top" quarterbacks in the class.
This week Russell headed west to the Elite 11 Finals where nearly every top quarterback in the country went through pro day drills, workouts, and 7 on 7 camp. He woke everyone in the country up to how talented he is. On the first night of the camp Russell was named the top player after an impressive day throwing the ball.
The second night Russell impressed again on Night Two completing 15 of 20 Passes in a drill where Quarterbacks were forced to throw every type of pass.
4⭐️ Alabama commit Keelon Russell has an ARM💪 pic.twitter.com/wXMy0Gd4HX
— Rivals (@Rivals) June 20, 2024
In the 7 on 7 portion of the week, Russell was lights out completing 19 of his 25 throws with five touchdowns. The impressive week landed Russell the MVP Award of Elite 11. He becomes the first Alabama Quarterback to win the award since Tua Tagovailoa in 2016.
BREAKING: Four-Star Alabama QB commit Keelon Russell has won the Elite 11 MVP 🏆
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 20, 2024
The Elite 11 staff accounts film, traits, & camp performance into the rankings
Tua Tagovailoa (2016) is the last Alabama QB to win the prestigious honor #RollTide 🐘https://t.co/yKiqmAnP3x pic.twitter.com/na6sc3yEtF
Russell's performance this week will see him make a massive jump from the eighth-ranked quarterback and 80th-ranked player overall into five-star status.
When Russell makes the jump to a five-star recruit, it will not only not bolster the Tide's recruiting ranking but, also pay dividends on the recruiting trail. Russell's commitment has already gotten Alabama a visit from five-star wide receiver Kaliq Lockett. After seeing how impressive Russell was this weekend, there will be plenty of receivers interested in teaming up with the Alabama Commit.
Kalen DeBoer and Keelon Russell Proving Doubters Wrong
When Keelon Russell committed to Alabama both Russell and DeBoer caught flack as people called Russell a backup plan while indicating that Kalen DeBoer had a different top choice. Now, DeBoer looks like he was right as Alabama landed a quarterback who was severely under-ranked. Russell and DeBoer will be linked for a long time as DeBoer's first Quarterback recruit and Tide fans should be excited to get Russell on campus. After seeing what Kalen DeBoer has done developing quarterbacks the sky may be the limit for Keelon Russell at Alabama.