When Tennessee picked up a commitment from three-star quarterback Brian Maurer last week, it looked as though they might have found a diamond in the rough. Maurer’s stock had steadily been rising this summer, and he was starting to get attention from Power Five schools across the country. And after a tough decision by Ohio State made him rethink things, Maurer ended up committing to the Vols.
Now the Vols’ lone 2019 quarterback commitment looks primed to explode on recruiting sites after his performance at Nike’s The Opening Finals so far.
Maurer was one of just 12 quarterbacks invited to participate in the finals of Nike’s annual camp event. At The Opening, he’s been going up against some of the highest-rated quarterbacks in the 2019 class. And he’s been looking just as impressive as those signal callers, if not more impressive than many of them.
According to Luke Stampini, Maurer was the fifth-best quarterback among the 12-man group during Sunday’s portion of the event. The quarterbacks were throwing to receivers as those receivers were guarded by defensive backs, and Maurer stood out.
“No quarterback saw his performance improve from start to finish more than Maurer, a Tennessee pledge,” Stampini wrote. “The Ocala (Fla.) West Port signal-caller really started warming up at the end of the camp hitting multiple throws down the field. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Maurer just needs to work on his overall consistency, and unleash those ‘wow’ throws more frequently.”
Maurer, who’s rated right now as just the No. 492 overall player and No. 18 pro-style quarterback according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, performed better than four-star and top dual-threat quarterback Bo Nix, four-star and top-100 overall player Dylan Morris, four-star Alabama commit Taulia Tagovailoa, and four-star and top-100 overall player Graham Mertz among others according to Stampini.
On that same day, Maurer competed in the long ball contest, and he nearly won the competition. He threw a ball 63 yards, coming in second only to Tagovailoa’s 66-yard bomb.
Brian Maurer with a 63-yard throw in the QB long toss competition. Alabama commit Taulia Tagovailoa won with a throw of 66 yards pic.twitter.com/L1Im6u6Jm3
— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) July 2, 2018
But that’s not the only video of Maurer being impressive at The Opening.
On Monday, Maurer wowed with impressive deep touchdown passes to two Oklahoma commits. The first video shows him connecting with four-star receiver Trejan Bridges.
#Tennessee commit Brian Maurer hits #Oklahoma commit Trejan Bridges deep for six at The Opening Finals: https://t.co/jCyl6z27zY pic.twitter.com/73wdR8upmW
— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong247) July 2, 2018
The second video shows his deep pass to five-star receiver Theo Wease.
Tennessee QB @maurerera_2 to Oklahoma commit @_TheoWeaseJr pic.twitter.com/FHieEUq1pz
— SB Nation Recruiting (@SBNRecruiting) July 2, 2018
Maurer has burst onto the scene this summer with his performances at regional camps and at camps on Power Five campuses. Now he’s really getting a chance to shine at The Opening, and he’s taking advantage of that big stage.
Look to see Maurer potentially earn a fourth star once recruiting rankings get updated after The Opening, and he’ll have a ton of momentum heading into his senior year of high school down in Ocala, Florida.
