NY/NE Challenge Scouting Notes: New England QB

The success of any football team is predicated on the quarterback, but especially in the 7-on-7 format. The New England All-Stars were lucky to be trotting out a very talented trio.

All three quarterbacks who played for New England in the New York vs. New England All-Star Challenge hold FBS offers. Their collective performance led the New England team to a decisive victory and also helped the running backs, wide receivers and tight ends in attendance reach their full potential.

Cheshire Academy's C.J. Lewis, Kingswood-Oxford's Jacob Hallenbeck, and Newton's (MA) Austin Burton all delivered strong performances at the August 1st showcase, with Burton taking home Game MVP honors. We collected notes from the scouts and coaches in attendance on their performance.

Jacob Hallenbeck (Class of 2016, offer from UNC and interest from UMass, Monmouth, Stony Brook and Cornell): nice spiral, throws a good ball, had a few overthrows, nice, quick and smooth delivery, very good on the move to the right and left, strong arm, needs to work on accuracy.

CJ Lewis (Class of 2017, offer from UConn, with interest from Rutgers, Syracuse, Penn State, Temple, Boston College and Virginia): accurate, quick passer, great job on the deep ball, threw exceptionally well in the morning sessions, needs work on progressions in live play, really good frame.

Austin Burton (Class of 2017, offer from UMass and interest from Michigan, Northwestern and Boston College): made a bunch of great throws, great deep ball into corner, can throw on the move, makes his reads and progressions well for a junior, accurate passer, quick release on short throws, long windup on delivery for intermediate to deep balls, one that led to pick in the red zone. Made good throws in traffic in the red zone for the most part, needs to grow into body.

UConn Report spoke with all three passers about their experience on the day.

Hallenbeck: "I felt like I had a good performance, it was fun to test myself against other top talent and just go out and compete. The talent was amazing…something that I will never forget. I also felt a sense of pride know that all this talent is here and getting mostly overlooked."

Lewis: "I think I did well, got to showcase my arm strength and that I can hit timing throws. My team was really talented, I was really impressed. Especially with our defense, which had a lot of playmakers: Tahj Herring, Tyler Coyle, CJ Holmes, Omar Fortt and Koby Quansah all made plays…On the other side there was some serious competition! And when they fell behind they never stopped playing and competing 'til the end. It was fun."

Burton: "Overall the day went great, from QB drills to routes on air, to 1-on-1s and the game it was a lot of fun. Personally I felt like I got better across the day. In the game, the receivers made great plays for me that helped New England get the win. The level of talent that I played with and against was so strong. The New Yorkers were impressive and made the game very intense. It's great because playing against kids like that helps me get better."

They also enjoyed working with each other.

Hallenbeck: "I enjoyed being around the other quarterbacks. Being a student of the game I always like to watch how other QBs work and compete, seeing what they do differently and what their strengths are."

Lewis: "Me and the other New England quarterbacks talked about our team, expectations and goals for the season and the recruiting process."

Burton: "CJ and Jacob were both great QBs and even better teammates. It was fun working with them."

UConn Report has spoken with Hallenbeck and Lewis and will be profiling Burton early next week. We will be closely following all three across the 2015 football season.

Great speaking with Mass QB @austinburton_12, the Game MVP from the @NYNEChallenge! Profile coming early next week! pic.twitter.com/6hXClnTMJC- UConn Report (@UConnReport) August 14, 2015