Eli Watkins joined his new team expecting to play quarterback. He had been brought in for that role. When the season started, though, the starting job went to someone else.
For a lot of young athletes, that would have been the end of the story. Eli could have settled for playing elsewhere, and he did excel at other positions. But those positions weren’t his goal. “I had to prove my abilities and earn the trust of all of the coaches,” the Class of 2032 quarterback from Murfreesboro, Tennessee said. He did exactly that, and eventually he took over as the starting quarterback.
Eli has been playing football for six years. He first got into the game in his own neighborhood, where his neighbors were always playing with him. Now he’s a homeschooled quarterback who will suit up for Nashville Catholic this season and next. What he loves most about the position is a feeling every passer knows. “I love that feeling when you throw a perfect spiral and it goes perfectly to your target,” he said.
His idea of what makes a great quarterback goes well beyond one perfect throw. Eli’s list includes being a leader, reading defenses, getting the ball out quickly when needed, trusting your receivers, playing with confidence, and standing in the pocket to make a throw with a defender in your face. It’s a complete list, and it shows he has thought about both the mental and physical demands of the position. It also explains why Josh Allen is his favorite NFL quarterback. Eli likes that Allen is a dual threat who isn’t afraid of contact.
Eli trains with quarterback coach Braden Graham and has attended the MTSU football camp and the Prep Redzone exposure camp. The coach who has meant the most to him, though, is Coach Jake Neal, his youth league coach. “He was a great mentor, coach, and person,” Eli said. Coach Jake coached him for half his life, cheering him on and helping him through injuries along the way. Eli still reaches out to him for advice from time to time, which says a lot about both of them.
His best moment so far came when he was moved up to play in a 14U tournament against older competition. He responded by throwing 18 touchdowns over the course of the event.
Eli’s goals are ambitious. This middle school season, he wants to go undefeated and throw 37 touchdowns. Long term, he wants to become the best quarterback in the Class of 2032. Those are big targets, but Eli has already earned a starting job that wasn’t handed to him and put up big numbers against older players. He has shown he’s willing to put in the work to reach them.
Building the Résumé: Why Upgrading Your Membership Matters
Eli has set a clear goal: to be the best quarterback in the Class of 2032. Reaching a goal like that takes years, and an upgraded QB Magazine membership helps document the work along the way.
A season with numbers like the ones Eli is aiming for will have plenty of highlights. Custom graphics turn those moments, whether it’s a touchdown milestone or a big win for Nashville Catholic, into polished pieces that family, teammates, and coaches can share. Reposts across QB Magazine’s platforms bring his story to an audience far beyond his own followers, including families and players who follow quarterback development nationwide.
That recognition builds on itself. Every graphic and repost adds to the one before, so Eli’s name grows alongside his game from season to season.
Most of all, it creates a lasting record of a quarterback who was told to wait, earned his place anyway, and kept going after something bigger.