Top college and high school quarterbacks participate in Clarkson Retreat

CORONADO, Calif. – The Steve Clarkson Quarterback Retreat started Saturday and many of the top high school quarterbacks – along with an outstanding list of college signal callers – were in attendance. Here are some takeaways from the event and a look at which top prospects stood out.

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Trevor Lawrence is the top-rated recruit in the 2018 class, and he backed that up on Saturday delivering passes all over the field, showing off great arm strength and athleticism and once again showing why he’s such a special prospect in this class.

One thing that especially stands out about the five-star Clemson commit is his mental makeup and maturity. The Cartersville, Ga., standout took to coaching, tweaked some things during drills to make cleaner throws and really worked out hard all day in an effort to improve.

It was impressive to see because someone so highly ranked and already committed to the national champs could have mailed it in on beautiful Coronado Island. Instead, Lawrence came here to work and he looked great all day.

There are a tremendous amount of qualities special about five-star Matt Corral’s game, and he should not be out of the discussion when it comes to who is the best quarterback in this class.

The USC commit from Long Beach (Calif.) Poly has phenomenal arm strength, the ball popped off his hand better than anyone else at the event, his accuracy was on-point almost all day and his athleticism could be underrated.

The five-star might be the smoothest quarterback in this class, and he plays with a looseness and ease that’s fun to watch. Should Corral be rated as a dual-threat quarterback because he can move so well? That’s a debate for another day, but it’s worth a discussion because he’s so good throwing on the run and using his athleticism to his advantage.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson is such an intriguing prospect because he hasn’t started a varsity season at quarterback yet he’s widely considered one of the best players at his position in the 2018 class. He proved it again on Saturday.

The four-star dual-threat quarterback from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman made all the throws and showed off a live arm, something he’s proven all offseason. He really seemed to understand the position and listened intently to Clarkson about what was asked for in the drill and then went out and delivered.

I still think he needs some seasoning, and he’s learning specific things about ball placement and throwing to spots instead of receivers. But his mind is active, he’s receptive to coaching and Thompson-Robinson has the ability to go out and deliver.

During the event, UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen raved about his budding relationship with new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch. Thompson-Robinson did the same, and he has the potential to be a really exciting pickup in this recruiting class.

Three young quarterbacks in 2020 Harrison Bailey, 2020 Luca Diamont and 2021 Aaron McLaughlin all worked out at the Quarterback Retreat, and all three looked like they belonged for sure.

Bailey was probably the most polished of the group even if his ball did sail a little bit early on. The Marietta, Ga., standout made all the throws, showed off great mechanics and delivered some beautiful passes once receivers got involved in the drills.

Diamont has a lot of arm talent and athleticism, and even though he had some errant throws he really took to instruction well, understood exactly what was asked of him and put the ball on the money numerous times.

McLaughlin has been working with Clarkson for a couple years already, and it’s hard to believe he’s a 2021 prospect. He’s already the size of Lawrence – if not slightly thicker – and while he does aim the ball sometimes in an effort to get more zip on it, he has some really special qualities for a quarterback that young.

So many top college quarterbacks were at the Retreat as camp coaches; shooting the breeze with a lot of them was definitely interesting as well.

Utah quarterback Troy Williams looks like a million bucks and although the Utes’ offense – especially across the offensive line – has some rebuilding to do, Williams could not have looked physically better.

You have to love Jake Fromm’s mental makeup. Here was the Georgia freshman quarterback giving it his all with the really young quarterbacks – “are we working hard or hardly working” was a great line of his on Saturday – and he was giving tips all day that seemed to help. The bigger point here: Fromm isn’t going to Athens to sit behind anybody – including Jacob Eason, who was also at the Retreat. Fromm looks to be a leader and a go-getter, and that makeup is one reason why he was a five-star quarterback last recruiting cycle.

The Clemson quarterback situation over the next few years is really going to be something to watch. Not only is Hunter Johnson one of the nicest and most pleasant people you’ll ever meet, but he has an absolute cannon for an arm and throws a tight spiral every time. During a long toss drill, Johnson was downfield catching passes and returning every one right on the money – and it looked effortless. Replacing Deshaun Watson is step one, but will Johnson, if he becomes the starter, beat out Lawrence when he comes to town? These are all good problems for Clemson to figure out.

New West Virginia quarterback Will Grier made the fashion statement of the day with not only his long hair and full beard, but he also sported sunglasses that looked just like the ones worn by former WWE superstar Bret “Hitman” Hart. If you don’t know the style, look them up. You won’t be disappointed.