We are still a long way from the December Signing Day, and in the current era of college football recruiting, things can change on a dime. 247Sports’ Status Check series aims to update fans on the latest with the class of 2027‘s top committed prospects. Today that means a look at Elite 11 Finalist and Miami quarterback commit Israel Abrams.
247Sports rates Abrams as a high-four-star recruit with a 95 grade. He is the 2027 Top247’s No. 14 overall prospect and No. 2 quarterback nationally, in addition to being the No. 1 player in Illinois. The industry-generated 247Sports Composite currently has him slightly higher when it comes to stars — he is a five-star recruit but not as high nationally, slotting at No. 39 overall.
As a junior, the 6-foot-4, 187-pounder was absolutely dominant. MaxPreps’ Illinois Player of the Year led Arlington Heights (Ill.) Montini Catholic to a 14-0 record and 4A state title. He completed 233 of 340 passes (68.5%) for 4,072 yards, 40 touchdowns and only six interceptions while carrying the ball 82 times for 224 yards (2.7 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
His efforts on the field as a junior, as well as in the Hoosier State at Elite 11 Indianapolis, earned him an invitation to the Elite 11 Finals, which take place May 29-31 in Southern California. Only 20 quarterbacks are selected annually for the prestigious event.
Abrams reminds 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins of UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Abrams is an “elastic signal-caller who can rip the ball around the yard” and “accurate on the move and will find launching points, both on and off-platform,” Ivins said.
Much of Abrams’ recruitment was an interesting one to track. There were lots of twists and turns over a six-month span.
For a while, there was plenty of buzz around Wisconsin. There was a long period of time during which the Badgers felt extremely confident that Abrams was going to eventually call Madison, Wisconsin, home.
However, around October, things started trending for a few other programs. Tennessee, Iowa State, Purdue and Northwestern were the ones beginning to move the needle for him, especially the Cyclones. All signs pointed toward him landing in Ames, Iowa, but the Cyclones couldn’t get it across the finish line.
Once again, things took a turn. After not picking a school, and remaining patient, it started to look like Auburn was going to land Abrams. He was fired up about the new staff under coach Alex Golesh.
A month later, 247Sports spoke with Abrams, who shared that he had trimmed his recruitment to five finalists. The Tigers remained in the mix. He was focused on Auburn, Purdue, Kentucky, Florida State and Miami. In fact, the Hurricanes, he said, “came in last of all of them,” but were recruiting him as hard as anyone.
Later in March, he made it clear that he was excited to visit Coral Gables, Florida, and check out the Hurricanes. Abrams visited Miami March 31. Suffice to say it was a game-changing trip.
After initially wanting to commit at the end of April, he sped up his process and publicly picked Miami April 3 in front of friends and family on the Pat McAfee Show. It was a massive win for coach Mario Cristobal.
