Louisville QB commit outshines top 2026 QBs with historic accuracy at Elite 11 Finals

Louisville 2026 quarterback commit Briggs Cherry has seen his stock rise throughout the summer, as he qualified for the Elite 11 Finals and even had a temporary flirtation with Ohio State. However, it hit a new peak in Los Angeles on Thursday night when the 6-foot-4 Chattanooga, Tennessee, product won the Elite 11 Panini Accuracy Challenge and set a new all-time record in the process. 

Briggs Cherry may be Louisville's quarterback of the future

Winning an accuracy challenge at the Elite 11 Finals certainly doesn’t guarantee that Cherry will be a quality college quarterback, but it’s not bad news. Seven of 247Sports Composite’s top 10 quarterbacks in the country are at the event in LA, where Cherry, at No. 26, is one of the lower-rated prospects nationally. The all-time high score is another good sign. 

Elite 11 has long been a proving ground for the country’s best quarterbacks, with legendary alumni dating back to 1999. Now, it’s possible that the accuracy challenge has changed scoring systems since then, so it’s not likely that Cherry beat Matt Cassell’s score in the inaugural class or a mark set by Matt Leinart in 2000. Still, even in recent history, the camp has had Cade Klubnik, Quinn Ewers, and Drew Allar pass through in 2021, and Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and JJ McCarthy in 2020. 

For the third-straight season, Jeff Brohm is set to enter the year with a transfer quarterback in his final season of eligibility. That strategy has led to 19 wins over two seasons with Jack Plummer and Tyler Shough, but eventually, even one of the most QB-friendly play-callers in the country is bound to swing and miss in the portal. The Cardinals would be better off in the long term to develop a young QB into a multi-year starter, and though Brohm has added a QB in the previous two recruiting classes, Cherry could jump to the front of the line as the program’s eventual starter. 

The sturdy pocket-passer is exactly the type of quarterback that thrives in Brohm’s offense, and his tape doesn’t just showcase his impressive accuracy; it also reveals an effortless deep ball with good touch. Cherry’s advanced footwork always has him throwing from a stable base, which allows him to access all three levels with anticipation and timing. With such a trustworthy foundation, there is time for the second-reaction playmaking and off-platform throws to develop, which would unlock another level for a player who is becoming one of Louisville’s more highly anticipated quarterback prospects, at least of the Brohm era, if not longer.