The Opening brings together many of the nation’s most explosive high school football players for a full week of drills and competition under the watchful eye of coaches, analysts and evaluators. Elite competition tends to reveal truths about players, which can fuel rises and falls in the national recruiting rankings. Standouts get rewarded with ratings bumps and sometimes new offers from big-time schools.
In addition to position drills and 7-on-7 games, recruits have an opportunity to stand out in the Nike Football Rating Championship, an NFL-combine style event that measures speed, quickness, power and leaping ability. The 166 recruits who will compete in The Opening finals were subjected to the same testing at regional events throughout the spring.