The 2015 The Opening and Elite 11 at Nike Headquarters featured the top high school football players in the nation competing against the best at their position. 18 of the premier quarterbacks in the country vied for the Elite 11 MVP prize. In the end, Ole Miss commit Shea Patterson took home the MVP with a sensational performance in 7on7 elimination play in leading LunarBeast to the championship.
One of the few class of 2017 athletes in attendance, Donovan Peoples-Jones captured the Nike Football Rating Championship with a great all-around performance in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, agility shuttle and kneeling power ball toss.
Every athlete at The Opening made plays. After evaluating all of our footage over the week, it's clear that some players stood out and made plays more consistently than others.
Here are the athletes that we selected for the 2015 Nike The Opening #D1Bound All-Tourney Team.
CLA analysts Aaron Plunkett and Danny "DSPN" Dabiri provide breakdowns below:
Quarterbacks
Malik Henry: The Florida State commit displayed great pocket presence. Henry reads defenses well at the line and spreads the ball around to his weapons. Henry led Mach Speed to the 7on7 championship with precision point passing and big play making.
Shea Patterson: The Ole miss commit has the quickest release of bunch, makes great decisions, is able to look off defenders and deliver accurate ball. Patterson can deliver the ball into tight spaces and is not afraid to challenge the defense with his arm strength and accuracy.
Brandon Peters: The Michigan commit has a long frame, is consistent and spreads the ball around. Peters makes solid check downs and has good velocity on the ball. He will be a welcomed addition in Ann Arbor.
Dwayne Haskins: A pure pocket-passer with great touch. Threw a great deep ball all tourney and had the third most TD passes behind Shea Patterson and Malik Henry by our count.
Shane Buechele: The Texas commit throws a good deep ball and displayed accuracy in 7on7 action.
Honorable Mention: KJ Costello-- The Stanford commit throws the best deep ball of bunch perhaps and checks down well.
Running Backs
Demarrio McCall: The Ohio State commit had at least 20 catches in 7on7 action. McCall is elusive with great hands out the backfield. He gets up field, runs great routes, knows how to get open and catches the ball in space.
Tavien Feaster: The Clemson commit runs low to the ground, is very elusive and shifty. Feaster is hard to contain and his stop and start ability is off the charts.
Honorable Mention: Miles Sanders - The Penn State commit catches the ball well out of backfield, has a strong lower body, and catches the ball with his hands.
Tight Ends
Isaac Nauta: The Florida State commit is the complete package, with great hands, route running, ability to run after catch and gets up field and behind the defense consistently. One of the most polished tight end prospects in years.
Jake Hausmann: The Ohio State commit gets open consistently and score TDs. Hausmann is a solid red zone target and may have had most TDs for TE in 7on7 action.
Honorable Mention: Naseir Upshur - The talented TE from Philadelphia has several offers from the likes of USC, Alabama and Michigan. Upshur is a big target with soft hands.
Wide Receivers
Binjimen Victor: The long and rangy playmaker from Fort Lauderdale is reminiscent of George Campbell. Victor has excellent hands and high points the ball. A great red zone target, Victor snatches the ball and is a deadly offensive weapon. At 6'4, combined with his long wingspan, Victor is virtually unstoppable.
Freddie Swain: Swain makes plays. He is a great deep threat, his leaping ability and timing is uncanny. Swain is physical, plays much bigger than his size and catches everything thrown his way.
Trevon Sidney: The USC commit is Shifty and impossible to cover in the red zone due to his premium route running and change of direction. Sidney has big hands and the ability to pluck the ball out of the air.
Kyle Davis: Already has the size of an NFL wide receiver. By far the strongest receiver of the group, Davis has the most upside. He has strong hands and is a physical route runner.
Tyrie Cleveland: The Houston standout can stretch the defense, has a fast 40 time, big vertical, great red zone target. Cleveland is tall, long and fast. A tough cover for any defensive back. Sported a 3.95 shuttle time, is a great route runner and high points the ball.
Josh Imatorbhebhe: The USC commit knows how to get open and use his body to shield off smaller defenders. Can leap over anybody with his ridiculous 47.1 inch vertical. Large hands allow him to be a formidable redzone weapon.
Devin Duvernay: He's extremely shifty, maybe the best route runner of the bunch and he can also stretch the defense. Can go up and high-point the ball at anytime. Ran a 4.32 on turf in 40-yard dash.
Austin Mack: The Ohio State commit is a big target, knows how to get open, has great hands and catches the ball over the middle. Uses his body to out muscle smaller defenders.
Tyler Vaughns: The Bishop Amat standout has excellent hands and is a great route runner. Vaughns used his speed to get behind the defense and caught catch the ball consistently in traffic. Used his long frame to go over the top of smaller defensive backs.
Honorable Mention: Donnie Corley ran great routes throughout 7on7 competition, he's really smooth and plays much bigger than his size. He was a top target for his quarterbacks.
Linebackers
Aaron Hansford: He can cover in space, has good ball skills, good instincts and is easily the fastest linebacker of the bunch.
Jeffrey McCulloch: He made it to the Nike Football Training finals, has great instincts, can cover and moves really well in space. McCulloch has great lateral quickness for his size.
Daelin Hayes: The USC commit plays really well in space, has great ball skills and big physical presence on the field.
Rahshaun Smith: The Clemson commit plays the ball well, has good coverage skills and can cover downfield.
Honorable: Lamar Winston Jr. - The Oregon commit has good ball skills and can cover in space.
Cornerbacks
Levonta Taylor: The Florida State commit has the best instincts combined with quickness we've seen in a long time. He drives on the ball, is a lockdown defender, and consistently made plays with the ball in the air. Taylor is an excellent goal line defender and amazing cover corner.
Kristian Fulton: The talented cornerback from Louisiana has good hands, great cover skills and makes plays consistently.
Nigel Knott: He has great quickness and good ball skills Not many receivers are gonna get behind him in coverage. His hands allow him to be a threat to the quarterback at all times. Ran 4.38 laser-timed forty on grass during testing.
Byron Murphy: Great cover corner, great ball skills, was physical with receivers and tough to break down. Reads the QB's eyes and breaks on the ball very well. Consistently stayed in the receivers hip pocket, and is a pesky defender.
Jamyest Williiams: Great ball skills, reads the QB eyes and makes game changing plays. Closes on the ball well. Plays bigger than size.
Jordan Parker: Very long physical corner that improved over the tournament. He's relentless and stays with receivers.
Honorable: Traveon Beck (Cal Berkeley commit) - Great cover corner. Tenacious, great lateral quickness and instincts.
Safeties
Brandon Burton: The Gardena Serra two-way standout is a ball hawk, made several pass breakups and patrolled the secondary. As an excellent WR, Burton plays the ball better than most safeties we've seen at the Opening over the past three years.
Jamel Cook: The Florida State safety commit is long and athletic. He has incredible size and instincts and had at least 4 INT in 7on7 play.
Nigel Warrior: High points the ball, good instincts great ball skills, maybe the best instincts of any safety. Not gonna get beat deep.
JoeJuan Williams: Excellent closing speed. Great size and strength at the safety position. He's physical.
ATH
Mecole Hardman: Can arguably play both sides of the ball at the next level. He has elite speed, agility and great hands. Times the ball very well in the air and knows how to get open on offensive side.
Devin White: Has great size on offensive side of the ball can catch the ball out of the backfield. He's fast despite his frame. Knows how to get up field and can get to the edge.
Jack Jones: The Long Beach Poly playmaker is a great athlete that can play both sides of the ball but is more of a threat on offense in our opinion. He made a handful of pass breakups and his front-flip in the endzone after scoring was insanely athletic.
Melquise Stovall: The USC commit is a great route runner and always a threat out of the backfield or slot position. A tough cover in space.
Trevon Diggs: He has great speed and quickness which allow him to get open on offense. Plays bigger than his size. Made several great plays on offense and had an interception on defense.
Honorable: Sewo Olonilua - Has great ball skills, reads QB eyes plays the ball in air well. Finished with several interceptions and pass deflections. Excellent lateral quickness.
