The Opening 2017: Results, Rankings, Highlights and Reaction from Thursday

Thursday marked the first day of action from Beaverton, Oregon, for The Opening Finals 2017, with 166 of the nation's top high school football players looking to solidify their status in next year's recruiting class. 

Thursday and Friday are set up as practice sessions for the quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends to get acclimated with each other. Saturday is when the showcase events begin, followed by the seven-on-seven tournament Sunday and Monday. 

The marquee name at the event is quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He's a 5-star Clemson commit who Scout.com ranks as the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2018 class. 

Lawrence was getting in some early reps during Thursday's practice, via SEC Country's Chris Kirschner:

The Georgia native already showed off his impressive skill set at the Elite 11 earlier this month, sitting atop the rankings each day and earning a trip to The Opening:

Georgia is a quarterback hotbed for 2018 recruits. Lawrence is the top-ranked player in the class, but Kennesaw's Justin Fields sits right behind him. 

With Lawrence having already given his word to Clemson, Fields is the hottest still-available prospect for teams looking to solidify their quarterback depth chart.  

The early returns in Oregon look promising for what Fields will be bringing to college, via Kirschner:

During the Elite 11 competition, Lawrence talked about having a friendly rivalry with Fields during their high school careers. 

"Not really anything like [a rivalry]," Lawrence said, via USA Today's Devin Ugland. "We're friends and it's kind of hard not to follow each other with social media and we have the same QB coach. We haven't worked out together yet, but we need to."

Fields initially committed to Penn State last December before announcing on June 6 he had re-opened his recruitment. The nation's No. 5 prospect in 2018 has six schools—Penn State, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Mississippi—in the running for his services. 

Jake Reuse of Rivals.com offered a side-by-side view of Fields and another highly touted quarterback, Matt Corral:

While The Opening is a high-profile recruiting event, there's also time for young athletes to build memories that will last forever. In the case of quarterback Justin Rogers, this pass to Hall of Famer Jerry Rice certainly qualifies, via Scout.com's Greg Powers:

It doesn't hurt that Rogers' throw was perfect and hit Rice in stride as he was going into the end zone. 

Moving away from quarterbacks, plenty of playmakers are in attendance this weekend, including Louisiana's Terrace Marshall Jr., the nation's No. 2 wide receiver recruit. Not surprisingly, he's receiving a lot of attention from LSU. 

Marshall told Billy Embody of Scout.com about what he's heard from LSU head coach Ed Orgeron and wide receivers coach Mickey Joseph:

"[Orgeron] wants me to stay in-state. He's recruiting me way harder right now. They're letting me know that they want me and want to use me in a big way. He's sending a really good message.

"It's great [our relationship with Joseph]. He understands the importance of this decision. He don't bug me. He hits me up, but he doesn't blow my phone up because he knows that's what I don't like. He respects me and I respect him."

Even though Joseph has been able to respect Marshall's desire for space so far during the process, that may change after seeing the Parkway High School star show off his route-running skills, via SEC Country's Sam Spiegelman:

Embody did note Marshall's top four schools include LSU, Texas A&M, Texas and Miami, though Marshall admitted TCU could also make its way onto the list. 

With Texas looking to make a splash under new head coach Tom Herman, having Marshall on its radar makes perfect sense.

However, Jason Suchomel of OrangeBloods.com provided some videos of other Longhorns wide receiver commits and targets of interest:

Brennan Eagles is the prize among that trio. The 6'3 ½", 214-pounder plays at Taylor High School in Houston and is the No. 3 wide receiver in his class..  

Per Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports, Eagles said he intends to take official visits and has Texas, Oregon, Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma and Florida State still in play.

On the other side of the ball, the nation's top defensive recruit, Micah Parsons, is starting to make a run as the best overall player in the 2018 class. 

A 5-star defensive end, Parsons showed off his insane athleticism as a wide receiver against cornerback Christian Tutt, via Adam Sutton of Eight Laces:

Parsons is another player who decommitted from Penn State earlier this year, but he still has the Nittany Lions on his short list along with Alabama, Clemson, Florida State and Ohio State. 

Texas commit B.J. Foster is looking to solidify his status as the top safety in the 2018 class and prove his skills haven't faded in his first bout of competitive action since tearing his ACL and missing most of his junior season last year. 

Those are just a few of the names and storylines that will be tracked all weekend in Oregon. Thursday was a warm-up act for what is sure to be a memorable weekend and one that will go a long way toward shaping the 2018 recruiting landscape. 

With so much talent packed into one place, the nation's best high school players will finally have a chance to separate themselves from the pack and prove to every college coach why they should be part of their roster next year.

Scouting information via Scout.com unless otherwise indicated.