Elijah Haven is the 247Sports Preseason Player of the Year in Louisiana for high school football’s 2026 season.
The 6-foot-5, 235-pounder is a senior quarterback from Baton Rouge (La.) Dunham School.
In 14 games as a junior during the 2025 season, Haven completed 240 of 332 passes for 3,931 yards and 62 touchdowns against seven interceptions.
“There probably hasn’t been a more critiqued prospect in the senior class than Haven, but here’s the reality: he has accounted for 178 touchdowns over the past three seasons,” said 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins. “He’s a one-man show at Dunham and he’s extremely hard for defenses to stop. Haven got his ring last year. There will likely be an encore.”
247Sports national scouting analyst Gabe Brooks sees a common theme in Haven entering the signal-caller’s final campaign.
“Reps, reps, and more reps … that’s a key ingredient in long-term success for quarterbacks,” Brooks said. “At the rate he’s shown in his first three varsity seasons, the 6-foot-5, 235-pounder could eclipse 12,000 passing yards, 3,000 rushing yards, and 1,000 pass attempts in a four-year varsity career. Haven’s combination of physical tools, production, and experience compare favorably to any quarterback in the country, regardless of class.”
Haven has been committed to Alabama’s 2027 recruiting class since April 25.
The Opening Finals and the Elite 11 Finals were among his offseason accolades, and he is set to play in the 2027 adidas Polynesian Bowl.
“It’s more time to just develop my craft,” Haven told Bama247 this summer. “Obviously when you get into basketball that is about two to three months where you haven’t picked up a football. So not losing that time and being able to have a longer offseason and take more time to continue to get better.
“I am always working to improve my throwing mechanics. Anything I can do to deliver the ball on time, more efficiently, more accurately and more precisely is obviously the goal every single offseason. And then the mental part. Football is a very mental game, especially at the quarterback position. Continuing to expand my knowledge of defenses and coverages and things of that nature, for sure.”
