Four-star quarterback Derek Zammit wrapped up his Elite 11 Finals performance on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles. The Washington commit began the competition on a high note, performing well during night one. After some setbacks on day two, Zammit bounced back with a quality finish to his seven-on-seven performance.
Derek Zammit Completes Elite 11 Finals
Day One Standout
Tuesday evening was the beginning of the Elite 11 Finals, and Zammit started strong on night one. Elite 11 posts their daily rankings after each day of competition, and Zammit ranked fifth out of the 20 attendees after the first day. Quarterbacks compete in a variety of different drills on night one. The night culminates with the attention-grabbing Rail Shot Challenge. The athletes are tasked with throwing “rail shots” to wide receivers. This is a line-drive style throw to a streaking receiver down the sideline. It’s aimed to simulate a precision pass through the coverage gap between the safety and a trailing cornerback. This style of throw requires a strong arm and an accurate placement of the football, and the throws routinely turn heads.
According to reports from 247Sports, who covered the Finals on site, Zammit was consistent with his throws in this event. He kept incompletions to a minimum and showed solid velocity. The recruiting site listed Zammit in its top 11 after day one. Five-star Tennessee commit Faizon Brandon won this competition.
Pro Day Event
Day two of the Elite 11 Finals is a Pro-Day event. Each signal caller goes through a 20-throw script where they are graded on the precision of their passes. Three points for hitting the facemask of the receiver (a “perfect” throw), two points for a good throw, and one point for a catchable ball. These throws include everything from quick slants to deep routes, and require both three-step drops and seven-step drops.
The Washington commit had the difficult task of being the first quarterback to throw in the Pro Day event. It was a tough outing for the New Jersey native. Student Sports – the company behind the Elite 11 competition – tabbed Zammit with 35 points in the Pro Day throwing sequence, the lowest of the evening. He was on target with 14 of 20 of his passes in this competition. Uncommitted four-star quarterback Matt Ponatoski scored a high of 49 in the event. And for reference, Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik was on site and also participated in the Pro Day throwing sequence, scoring a 46.
On the other side of the field during the Pro Day throwing, quarterbacks also competed in the Accuracy Challenge. Here, recruits throw to stationary targets across different levels of the field. Zammit scored a 35 in this competition. Four-star Louisville commit Briggs Cherry scored the highest in this competition with a 63. Zammit’s score was a few notches above four-star Penn State commit Troy Huhn (34), three-star North Carolina commit Travis Burgess (31), and Terry Walker III (30), a three-star Duke commit.
7-on-7 Competition
Day three of the Elite 11 Finals is the much-anticipated seven-on-seven competition. In this event, the quarterbacks are tasked to drive a seven-man offense 40 yards to the end zone. They are given 3.5 seconds to throw per play, before a sack is tallied. They each have 15 minutes to essentially score as many touchdowns as they can in the seven-on-seven format.
Quarterbacks run in groups of two for this event, with one on each side of the field driving towards opposite end zones. Zammit was in the second-to-last duo to take the field, opposite four-star Miami commit Dereon Coleman. After a slow start, going three-and-out on three of his first four drives, Zammit settled in. The future Husky ultimately completed 11 of 20 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Three of the registered incompletions were counted as wide receiver drops. That gave him an adjusted completion percentage of about 65%. Zammit’s 159 passing yards were more than eight of the other participants. He also took two sacks.
Elite 11 Takeaways
It’s important to keep in mind the scale of the Elite 11 Finals. Twenty of the nation’s elite quarterback recruits are invited to the strenuous competition, meant to challenge the best of the best.
There were ups and downs for the 6’-1” quarterback. He was named within the top five of the group after day one but had a tough performance in the day two events. Despite the challenge, Zammit showed his ability to rise to the occasion, bouncing back during his seven-on-seven opportunity where he averaged 14.5 yards per completion and notched a pair of touchdowns. Zammit put himself in the mix of elite company earning a spot at the Finals. He’ll join former Elite 11 Finalist Demond Williams Jr. in Washington’s quarterback room next year.
Main Photo: Peter Ackerman / USA TODAY NETWORK
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