Notre Dame four-star quarterback commit Deuce Knight has had the attention of On3 director of rankings and scouting Charles Power this month. Power named the Lucedale (Miss.) George County senior his MVP of the OT7 7-on-7 tournament and Elite 11 Finals. Entering those events, he ranked Knight as the No. 53 overall player, No. 7 quarterback nationally and No. 3 prospect in Mississippi in 2025.
After watching the 6-foot-4½, 208-pound Knight perform all three days at last week’s Elite 11 Finals at Manhattan Beach (Calif.) Mira Costa, Power revealed whether Knight could receive a rankings bump. On Wednesday night, he discussed that and seven other topics on The Notre Dame Football Show with Mike Singer and Tim Hyde.
Here is everything Power said about Knight. Quotes have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
On why he named Notre Dame QB commit Deuce Knight MVP of the Elite 11 Finals:
“Deuce Knight, among that top group, had the week’s most legitimate ‘wow moments.’ In addition to the consistency of the performance —he was good every day— but his second day was exceptional. That’s the day they do the Pro Day primarily. …
“He had maybe a four-throw sequence on that Pro Day, which was the best of that day. It was the location, arm strength and projectable tools. Just seeing it all come together.
“If you had told me that Deuce Knight would have been our MVP at the Elite 11, and particularly if he had shown out on the Pro Day in February, I would have had trouble believing that.
“He showed the most upside of that group. He must continue this trajectory and carry it over to Friday nights. Still, there were certainly moments where it was very tantalizing as an evaluator — just what he could do. His physical talent, seeing it all come together in a performance and stacking all that.
“The four-man group to me was him, Keelon Russell, Husan Longstreet and Tavian St. Clair. It is the eye of the beholder — what you value. It’s highly subjective. It’s probably the most subjective evaluation of the whole cycle. But for me, just the ‘wow factor’ that Deuce had at times outweighed all those other guys in that specific area.”
On Deuce Knight starting to tap into his potential:
“In Deuce’s case, we’ve always known he’s had a ton of talent. But he’s given us a lot of reasons for optimism in the past month or so, with the OT7 and (Elite 11) just back to back.
“He’s best in situations where he’s not having to overthink. When you see things go live, it’s not necessarily a performance thing, but sometimes, with these quarterbacks just operating in drills, that’s a skill. It might not always be a skill that will transfer to a live situation, but he’s improved. He’s gotten increasingly competent.
“Him going out there and doing what he did on that Pro Day, which is what they build toward, they put a lot of emphasis and time into that, him and going out there and doing that was an uncomfortable situation. It can expose quarterbacks a little bit. Him going out there and having what was the most impressive one speaks volumes to the strides he’s made.”
On Deuce Knight’s improvement since his Under Armour Next Camp performance in February:
“He looks night and day different from that day that we saw him in Carrollton, Georgia. It felt like he was aiming a little bit. He seems so much more confident operating. There’s less thinking and more go-with-the-flow, letting it rip, a higher competence level and letting his talent take over.
“But also, this speaks to trends we see at the quarterback position. Deuce Knight is a freaky athlete — a three-sport athlete. He hasn’t spent a lot of time doing quarterback training. He’s been playing basketball and running track. Really, until maybe the last couple of years when he started doing some 7-on-7, he was a guy who was just playing football during the football season with his high school. So, we saw the hockey stick type of trajectory in 7-on-7 as well.
“So it has to make you feel good about his capacity to improve. He’s a guy who knows he needs to get better. Like I don’t think he views himself as a finished product, which, a lot of times, these prospects’ mindset is a big factor in how much they improve. It’s all encouraging.
“I’m excited to see how he carries this over into the season. It’s going to be interesting. This quarterback group, in general, is a fun one to evaluate. Deuce is a guy who will have a lot of eyes on him this fall, and having a full offseason at George County should help. I’m excited to see how it all comes together.
“We make a lot about his passing improvement, but I’m excited to see how he is just as a playmaker. Just how everything slows down for him — he can be a 1,000-yard rusher. A guy with his athleticism, that’s certainly a possibility. So, it should be fun to watch.”
On Deuce Knight’s current ranking:
“The arrow’s pointing up on Deuce in general. Bryce Underwood wasn’t there, the LSU commit. In my opinion, and I’ve held this opinion for a while, Bryce Underwood is probably in a tier by himself. After that, it’s a little muddled. Because when you look at Bryce Underwood, his upside is extremely high, but he’s also probably the most accomplished high school player of these guys. He hits a lot of markers when you’re looking at these quarterbacks.
“Outside of that, it’s a fascinating group. I tend to lean upside types. But then you get to brass tax, which is the senior year, where we drill down on the players. Deuce has set himself up to make a move, but it’s contingent on playing on Friday night because, at the end of the day, the film is the tip of the spear with our evals. You have to give us a reason on film as well.”
On observing Deuce Knight’s leadership and character:
“That’s one benefit of seeing these quarterbacks in person in these settings because we’re unable to attend all their high school games. That can be informative —just seeing how they interact with teammates, people surrounding them at these camps and other quarterbacks.
“The vibes around Deuce are positive. He’s a guy who wants to get better. It’s obvious when he goes to these events that he’s trying to improve. From my interactions with him, he’s just a laid-back, calm, pretty steady, chill guy.
“Deuce’s parents were up there (near the press box at the Elite 11) and were audibly cheering for all the quarterbacks. That informs — he certainly has the personality you could see going over well in a locker room. That’s just from what I’ve seen.
“Watching him with his 7-on-7 team at OT7, he was the alpha on that team. There’s no doubt about it. He was just very calm and certainly like a steady presence there. The competence and seeing him at that 7-on-7 tournament, year over year, was very different. You could tell that he’s just much more comfortable. That was pretty apparent. That’s a benefit of going to this. How these guys play is important to us. But he certainly has a lot of those qualities.
“Steve Wilfong reported this when we were out there. (Deuce) got really positive reviews from the coaches with just the amount of questions he was asking and the notes he was taking. He was one of maybe two or three that they singled out.
“From what I can gather, this guy wants to get better. There are a lot of instances of that. That’s huge when you have someone with his immense talent level. He’s got a top 1 or 2% physical traits relative to his size and athleticism. So, if he can continue on this trajectory and keep that growth mindset, that increases the chances that he will hit his massive ceiling.”
On Deuce Knight improving his accuracy:
“He was in the top group in everything. That was my basis for making him the MVP. This guy was in the top group, really, every day. He had the best day two. It had the highlight sequence of plays that week.
“With Deuce, I have seen his motion quickened. His competence in making decisions is going to factor in his release time. He looked much more competent in 7-on-7, getting the ball off faster. There were instances in 7-on-7 where you saw him get to his third read.
“One area I’m looking for him to continue improving — this is not singular to him because there are several top quarterbacks that this applies to — is just getting those live reps and knowing, ‘This is an instance where I need to tuck it and run. This is an instance where I need to get it off fast.’ And just seeing that decision-making.
“That’s one area where Bryce Underwood and maybe Matt Zollers are better than the rest of this group. When you watch the film, there’s not as much lag time with seeing this guy open and getting it out.
“Deuce has shown improvement in that just in the 7-on-7. So there may be some times in his junior season where he was trying to be a little too perfect playing quarterback, where it’s like, ‘Let the playmaking take over. You’re the best athlete on the field. Tuck and run for an 80-yard touchdown.’
“That’s just all growth as a player. I’m excited to see how it goes. Of course, you would want his completion percentage to move up. But to me, it’s more like, ‘How dominant of a high school player are you?’ He’s a dual threat, making improvisational plays.
“If he’s more of a playmaker, with his legs, it opens things up in the passing game. It all goes together. He’s got the potential to do that this year. It’s going to be fun to see how that all unfolds.”
On how he compares Deuce Knight:
“You look at his physical comps, and it’s like Vince Young, Anthony Richardson, and probably a lighter Daunte Culpepper—a taller Robert Griffin. If you were to do a combine analysis for the numbers he has now, that’s what it is.
“So the biggest thing is just getting that experience, putting yourself in a good situation, developmentally speaking from a competence level, heading into your college time and seeing how it shakes out.
“He’s a guy who, seeing all these guys in person, I did a superlative articlefor the Elite 11, and my superlative for him was most upside. So the fact that he has the most upside and performed well is a reason for Notre Dame fans to be excited.”
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