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Texas Longhorns quarterback commit Shane Buechele is far from the most highly-ranked quarterback at the Elite 11 Finals at Nike World Headquarters, but he's currently the best as he continues to lead the field after three days of competition:
The 2015 #Elite11 Finals rankings heading into Day 4 of the competition #KeepClimbing pic.twitter.com/q6VJ52gFva
— Elite11 (@Elite11) July 8, 2015
The 6'2, 185-pounder is having quite a week -- not only has he shown off his football dribbling skills, he's also made a major impression on Elite 11 coach Trent Dilfer.
"The way his hips, core, shoulders unwind, the way the ball's loaded," Dilfer told USA TODAY, "literally, it's
Indeed, while Buechele is somewhere between the heights of the 6'0 Brees and the 6'2 Rodgers, his delivery is similar, from his base to what Dilfer calls his "opposite equals" set to move the throwing motion into his upper body. Ideally, the front foot hits just as the quarterback raises the off hand and throwing hand into the plane of the shoulders.
Shane Buechele -- Student Sports
If the foot hits before the arms raise, it becomes difficult to sync the rest of the throwing motion and the wrist load can suffer, a major issue that Dilfer worked with current Texas redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard on fixing during the Elite 11 process that was partly to blame for all the wobbly passes that Heard threw during his high school career.
So when the ball comes out from Buechele's crisp delivery with velocity and perfect spin, it's a result of a lot of moving parts coming together, just as they do for Rodgers and Brees. Those clean mechanics helped Buechele throw three touchdown passes in six throws during Tuesday's 7-on-7 portion of the workouts, according to Bleacher Report.
For guys like Rodgers and Brees, even being the best isn't good enough -- there's always a higher level to reach. Buechele is wired the same way.
"I feel good about what I've done," Buechele told ESPN. "You can always do better. I've thrown the ball okay. You can always improve. I'm glad I'm at the top, but I still have a lot of work to go. My goal is to be No. 1 at the end. These first few days were good, and I'm glad I could represent myself so well. I've been working really hard."
The hard work is paying off as Buedchele works to earn everything he gets.
"I don't want to be labeled as ‘the guy,' but I do want to be known as ‘the guy,'" Buechele said. "I want to be the guy that gets out to everybody, and I want to be the leader in the class. I also want to be the guy that comes in and helps the team win a lot of games over the years.