2024 Alabama commit Julian Sayin wins 2023 Elite 11 MVP
By WVUA 23 Digital Reporter Peyton Davis
After garnering the attention 0f scouts and media throughout the week, top 2024 University of Alabama quarterback commit Julian Sayin took home the Elite 11 camp’s MVP honors among a field of top quarterbacks in his class.
Sayin came into the camp as the No. 13-rated player, second-ranked quarterback and best player in California, according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings. He more than lived up to that hype throughout the week.
Scouts initially saw the 6-foot 1-inch, 195-pound quarterback as more of a “high-floor prospect” because of his precision, poise and accuracy, but his performance in Beaverton, Oregon, over the past week has high school football evaluators more impressed going into his senior season.
“We knew he was talented, but we initially viewed him as more of a high-floor prospect that might not have the highest of ceilings. That’s longer the case. Sayin seems like the type of signal caller that can arrive in Tuscaloosa and push the quarterbacks that are already on campus,” said 247 Sports recruiting expert Andre Ivins.
Among 18 of the top high school quarterbacks at the competition, 247’s No. 1 overall recruit and Georgia commit Dylan Raiola was the consensus favorite to win the competition going in, but all scouts in attendance agreed that Sayin was the better player throughout the week. FOX Sports College Football writer Michael Cohen called his performance “a wire-to-wire victory,” in receiving the honor over Raiola and company.
This throw in the 7-on-7 period on Friday capped off a week that will get Alabama football fans excited for his arrival next spring.
Based off of every quote and takeaway of Sayin’s game from experts and evaluators, it seems as if the senior at Carlsbad High School cannot be ruled out for the Alabama starting job in 2024.
That’s a long way off, but uncertainty surrounding who will be the Tide starter this fall is adding to the intrigue surrounding Sayin.
The current room is crowded with Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, Tyler Buchner, Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan all under scholarship, and every player has eligibility remaining past the 2023 season.
The hope is that there will be a set starter going into the 2024 season because that will mean this upcoming season was a success at that position, barring whoever may win the job going pro, but seeing Sayin thrive on a big stage and taking home Alabama’s first Elite 11 MVP since Tua Tagovailoa in 2016 is exciting for a program in a transitional period at quarterback.
The rising high school senior has talked at length about being apart of the recruiting process of other elite 2024 prospects, as the program’s class ranks 22nd in the country early in the cycle and will look to catch up with Georgia, which has gotten off to a hot start and has the runaway No. 1 class. The Tide looks to make an early push to catch Georgia as they look to flip one of their 5-Star commits, linebacker Demarcus Riddick, following his official visit in Tuscaloosa over the weekend.
