Dylan Raiola flips to Nebraska from Georgia in bombshell college football recruiting move
Dylan Raiola, the near-consensus No. 1 player in the 2024 college football recruiting cycle, flipped his commitment to Nebraska after originally pledging to Georgia in the bombshell move of the recruiting year, coming just two days before the start of the early signing period.
Nebraska has been involved in Raiola's thinking from the beginning: his father played for the school during his collegiate career, he attended games in Lincoln as a child, and his uncle, Donovan, is currently offensive line coach there.
Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule made Raiola's recruitment a high priority since his arrival at the program, even after the quarterback gave his verbal to Georgia.
That initial commitment even included Raiola moving to Buford, Ga. to play his senior year of high school in an effort to be closer to the Bulldogs, but Nebraska stayed in the race, and rumors emerged late last week that the prospect could flip to the Huskers, as the major recruiting services all formally changed their predictions from the SEC power to the Big Ten program.
Raiola recruiting profile
As a senior at Buford, the five-star prospect completed 63.2 percent of his pass attempts for 205.1 yards per game, covering 2,666 yards in total, scoring 34 touchdowns and throwing just one interception.
Raiola hit over 64 percent of his throws for 2,435 yards with 22 touchdowns with five interceptions in his junior campaign.
The quarterback threw for 3,241 yards with 32 touchdown passes and rushed for nine additional scores in 12 games as a sophomore.
Three of the four major recruiting services — 247Sports, Rivals, ESPN — call Raiola the No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 cycle.
And those three named him a top-10 ranked overall prospect in the class, with On3 dissenting, calling Raiola the No. 35 overall player.
"In elite company"
"With his sturdy lower body, he is able to generate power and velocity on his throws," 247Sports recruiting analyst Chris Singletary said in his assessment of Raiola.
"As he continues to mature and grow, he could top the scales at 235 pounds. His athleticism is good and should improve as he develops throughout his career."
Singletary added that Raiola is a "young player who has very few holes in his game even with two more years of high school left. Ahead of the curve mechanically and possesses the arm strength that puts him in elite company."
More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams
Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Picks