By Tom Luginbill

Scouts, Inc.

July 14, 2009

This year's crop of EA Sports Elite 11 quarterbacks is an eclectic group of big names, upside guys and maybe even some prospects who could surprise down the road. You could argue that considering 2010 is a down year at the position, picking the final 12 quarterbacks was the most difficult it has been in recent years.

Keep in mind that in order to qualify for the final Elite 11 invitation, players needed to attend either an Elite 11 regional camp or a Nike Football Training Camp and many quality prospects in this class chose not to participate.

Guys like Notre Dame commit Andrew Hendrix (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller), Zach Lee (McKinney, Texas), Maryland commit Tyler Smith (Easton, Pa./Wilson Area) and Anthony Gonzalez (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty), just to name a few, were not under consideration for this very reason.

Obviously this made the selection process all the more difficult and tough decisions had to be made for at least five of the 12 spots. The reality is that for every selection that was made another good player was not selected …

To read about Penn State commit Robert Bolden and the rest of the field, click here.

ESPN Rise also did an in-depth preview of the camp, with detailed scouting reports on each competitor, which you can find here.

The Nittany Lions' other quarterback commit from the class of 2010, P.J. Jones from McKees Rocks (Pa.) Sto-Rox, was invited to compete but cannot attend because of the ankle injury he suffered playing pick-up hoops earlier this month.