Five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 overall player in the 2024 college football recruiting class, committed to Georgia on Monday. The Phoenix, Arizona, product picked the Bulldogs over heavy interest from Nebraska, where both his father and uncle played for the Cornhuskers, among other top teams in the country.
Raiola is rated the No. 1 overall player and No. 1 quarterback in both the Top247 and 247Sports Composite Ratings for the 2024 cycle. He immediately joins Justin Fields as the top two recruits in program history, narrowly edging out linebacker and 2023 first-round NFL Draft pick Nolan Smith. Raiola is the third No. 1 overall recruit to commit to Georgia, joining Smith and defensive tackle Trenton Thompson.
“The ability to drive the ball with velocity regardless of the weather conditions are things that impress because of his mechanics and ability to transfer his weight in the lower body and not just rely on his arm to make throws,” 247Sports national recruiting expert Chris Singletary said of Raiola. “He has a fluid throwing motion that does not possess any flaws or hitches.”
Raiola was previously committed to Ohio State but decommitted in December 2022 before reopening his recruitment, and Georgia quickly became a factor after the Bulldogs won back-to-back national championships in January. Raiola will go on an official visit to Athens, Georgia, on June 2.
“I’m attracted to the culture and the standard at Georgia and the more time that went by the stronger I felt about it,” Raiola told 247Sports. “There was a lot of silence and a lot of quiet and I just learned a lot throughout this whole process of who I can lean on and depend on, and another thing I loved, Georgia is not built on one person or one position group. It’s a complete program I get to be part of.”
In two seasons as a starter Pinnacle High School in Arizona and Burleson High School in Texas, Raiola has completed 65% of his passes for 5,776 yards, 54 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He won Texas District 5-5A Offensive MVP as a sophomore.
Rich get richer
Georgia has recruited at an astronomical level over the past five years, but landing a quarterback of Raiola’s caliber is a game-changer for the program. The Bulldogs briefly had Fields on campus, but he ultimately transferred to Ohio State and led the Buckeyes to a pair of Big Ten titles.
Now, the timing is ideal for Raiola to step in and take the Georgia offense to another level. Junior Carson Beck is projected to start for the Bulldogs in 2023, which could set Raiola up to win the starting quarterback job in 2025. With fellow five-star Brock Vandagriff and blue-chip Gunner Stockton on campus, the Bulldogs will be stacked at the quarterback position.
Raiola was primarily sold on Todd Monken’s offense at Georgia, but Monken has since left to take an offensive coordinator job with the Baltimore Ravens. However, Mike Bobo’s elevation to the role does not appear to concern Raiola.
Lengthy process
Raiola started getting national attention before his sophomore season at Burleson High School in Texas. Later, he moved to Chandler High School in Arizona before settling at Pinnacle High School for his senior season. Georgia was his first offer on June 10, 2021, before the Bulldogs had won a national championship under Kirby Smart.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day offered in October 2021, and Raiola committed in May 2022, one month after unofficially visiting Columbus, Ohio. After he was elevated to the No. 1 overall prospect, Raiola ultimately decommitted and evaluated all his options.
Like Arch Manning and Quinn Ewers over the past three seasons, ranking as the No. 1 overall quarterback recruit comes with massive pressure. Georgia pushed hard for Manning’s commitment in 2023 before losing out to Texas. Landing Raiola changes the way that offensive players will look at Kirby Smart’s program.
Huskers’ loss
No program was more openly courting the talented Raiola than Matt Rhule’s staff at Nebraska. Raiola’s father, Dominic Raiola, was an All-American center for the Cornhuskers and has his No. 54 jersey retired. His uncle, Donovan Raiola, is the offensive line coach at Nebraska and was the only assistant retained from Scott Frost’s staff.
Ultimately, Rhule was unable to close the deal with the legacy prospect, a setback for the first-year staff. However, Nebraska has a relatively young quarterback room that includes expected starter Jeff Sims, Logan Smothers, Chubba Purdy and Heinrich Haarberg. All four players have eligibility remaining after 2023. The Cornhuskers also have offers out to six other quarterbacks, including uncommitted players Alessio Milivojevic and Alex Erby. More could add the mix with Raiola off the board.
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