College football’s 2025 season is right around the corner. So too is high school football season. After naming our initial 32-player five-star field in May, the Top247 for the class of 2026 gets a quick update Wednesday before everyone puts on helmets and shoulder pads in August.
Fueling the rankings movement is the completion of the major summer events. The Elite 11 Finals not only gave us an extensive look at 20 of the nation’s top quarterbacks, but the Overtime’s OT7 Finals attracted blue-chip talent from around the country. Of course, there was also a number of elite college showcases, the Texas 7on7 Championships and the final few stops of the Under Armour Next camp series.
While schools have been busy the past few weeks filling up recruiting classes, the evaluation process for 247Sports is far from over. We will give the Top247 a makeover at the midway point of the all-important senior season, then finalize the rankings following the marquee all-star games around the new year.
HOUSTON COMMIT KEISEAN HENDERSON MOVES TO NO. 2
We wrote after Day 1 of the Elite 11 Finals that it was almost embarrassing that at one point we had Keisean Henderson graded as an athlete. Yes, he’s got the tools to be a wide receiver or a safety at the Power Four level. But after watching him throw for three days alongside his peers, it became clear that he might have the highest ceiling of all the quarterbacks assembled.
Now, let’s be clear — the ultra-athletic Henderson is far from a complete product. But in our eyes, he threw some of the best balls under the California skies. More importantly, he took to coaching and showed noticeable improvement from drill to drill.
What’s even more encouraging is the fact that Henderson wasn’t afraid to take chances. And that was the same story coming out of the 2025 Navy All-American Bowl, where he was named MVP.
Henderson moves up to No. 2 overall in the rankings and will have a chance to unseat Tennessee commit Faizon Brandon over the course of the next few months if he can continue to make strides as a passer during his final campaign at Legacy The School of Sport Sciences near Houston.
TEXAS COMMIT DIA BELL IS YOUR NEW QB3 AFTER MVP SHOWING
It was a bit unclear who would be crowned MVP entering the final day of the Elite 11 Finals, but Dia Bell made it clear that he deserved the title with a surgical final session.
We have always viewed Bell as a quarterback who has a natural feel for the position. He’s never one who panics in the face of pressure. But what really stood out about his performance in a best-on-best setting was his consistency. Bell uses a smooth release and rarely misses his marks, making high-level tosses frequently look routine.
What has us even more convicted in Bell and his ability to be a force multiplier on Saturdays — and eventually Sundays — is that we have seen him be the X factor while facing stiff competition at Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage.
Bell jumps both Georgia commit Jared Curtis and BYU commit Ryder Lyons in the ranking of signal-callers at No. 10 overall. He will have a chance to keep climbing as he stares down another daunting prep schedule.
OTHER QB SHUFFLING YOU NEED TO KNOW, INCLUDING TWO RISERS
North Carolina commit Travis Burgess and Alabama commit Jett Thomalla entered the Elite 11 Finals with no shortage of fans inside the 247Sports scouting department and both managed to exceed expectations.
Burgess, who is now the No. 7-ranked quarterback and the No. 65 overall player in the Top247, looks the part with a budding 6-foot-5 frame. He led Grayson to a Georgia AAAAAA championship last fall as a first-year starter, but it was unclear just how much juice was in the arm.
As it turns out, there’s a lot.
Thomalla also aces the eye test, pushing 6-foot-4 and hovering around 200 pounds. He powered Millard South to a Nebraska Class A title as an 11th-grader, but the game tape had us wondering if he can be an efficient distributor on the move. The answer appears to be yes, and that’s why Thomalla now checks in as the No. 10 quarterback in the rankings and No. 127 overall in the Top247.
With only 19 quarterbacks holding four-star status at the moment, the fall months should produce a few more Top247 candidates at the game’s most important position.
ANYBODY ROCKETING UP TO FIVE-STAR RANGE?
Read the full article here
