West Coast Spotlight: Five QBs to watch
Nearly all of the top 2024 quarterbacks in the West - and across the country - are off the board, but there is still news surrounding many of those players and with some of the top 2025 names. Here is the latest in this quarterback spotlight.
MORE IN THIS SERIES: East QBs to watch | Mid-South
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The 2025 four-star quarterback had a phenomenal sophomore season at Murrieta (Calif.) Murrieta Valley with 2,853 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and four picks, but it should not be lost that Bachmeier also rushed for 644 yards and 18 more scores. And then he was outstanding at the Steve Clarkson QB Retreat, so Bachmeier could be in store for a major rankings bump because he has a big-time arm and he’s incredibly accurate.
What’s next will be interesting. Will Bachmeier be drawn to playing with his brother, Tiger, at Stanford or look at another program as his recruitment continues? Michigan, Oregon and many others will be interested as things pick up even more for the 2025 quarterback class.
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Only two of the top 22 pro-style quarterbacks in the 2024 class remain undefeated. One is Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy’s Jayden Bradford, and the other is Brown, the four-star standout at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei who has taken his time throughout his recruitment and has felt no pressure to make an early decision.
Stanford looks to be in good shape for Brown, but USC could make things interesting since the Trojans missed out on the two five-star quarterbacks in the West - Dylan Raiola to Georgia and Julian Sayin to Alabama. After having a huge junior season, Brown will throw at the Elite 11 with both of those quarterbacks after a busy spring of playing 7on7 and, oh, possibly making a commitment as well.
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Maybe no quarterback in the West has made physical and performance strides like Longstreet over the last year as he’s now emerged as one of the better 2025 quarterbacks not only in the region but nationally.
After putting up big numbers in his sophomore season at Inglewood, Calif., the four-star quarterback transferred to powerhouse Corona (Calif.) Centennial, and he’s been hitting the weight room as well. Longstreet is quickly maturing physically and as a quarterback and he has a phenomenal coach to teach him in the next two seasons in Matt Logan.
Longstreet showed off his skills at Corona Centennial’s recent college showcase and then again at the Long Beach Tournament of Champions event before taking visits to Ohio State, Michigan and LSU in recent days.
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The No. 1 prospect in the 2024 class has made a lot of noise in his recruitment this offseason by committing to Georgia and working on tons of top talent to join him in Athens. He’s been training and working to improve his game, but a lot of it has not been in the public eye. That will change at the Elite 11 in the coming weeks.
Raiola and 19 other top quarterbacks are going to be put through the gauntlet of drills that separate the contenders from the pretenders in many ways, and many eyes will be on him since he’s the top-rated player, let alone quarterback, in the entire class.
The five-star from Phoenix Pinnacle was not at the Steve Clarkson QB Retreat with fellow five-star Julian Sayin and others for a comparison, but that will change at the Elite 11 and if history is any proof Raiola will come to put on a show.
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His father by the same name starred at San Diego Lincoln and then at Oregon before being selected third overall in the 1999 NFL Draft. And now the 2025 quarterback is on the start of a similar path by transferring to San Diego Lincoln for his junior season, and the Ducks are unquestionably one of the top teams early on in his recruitment.
Smith is a taller version of his father, and he can sling it all over the field but he still needs to refine parts of his game. It will be incredibly interesting to watch how his recruitment and development progress over the next couple years as the four-star quarterback certainly has the pedigree to be a special player.