USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.
While there’s something to be said for building a complete football team, the quickest path to victory is and will always be quality quarterback play.
This week’s edition of Friday Night Notes will be all about the most important position in the game, with three recruits who could soon be making a massive impact at the highest level of college competition.
We begin in Athens, Georgia, where the reigning kings of NCAA football pulled off a stunning victory this week. On Monday, the No. 1 quarterback and top-overall recruit in the class of 2024 – Pinnacle (Ariz.) QB Dylan Raiola – announced his commitment to the Bulldogs.
Raiola (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) gives a team that’s dominated defensively the last two years one of the most talented QBs in the country. His impact will go beyond what he does on the field, though. With Raiola in the fold, Athens is even more so a hot destination for top-rated recruits.
The best name they could hope to bring in is five-star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who is committed to Ohio State, where Raiola had once been committed. If he can be convinced to follow Raiola, the Bulldogs will soon get No. 1 talents at the two most-critical offensive positions in the modern game.
Smith is far from the only playmaker who’d be interested in teaming with Raiola, of course. According to Adam Gorney at Rivals, Silsbee (Texas) four-star receiver Dre’Lon Miller, St. Louis University (Mo.) five-star wideout Ryan Wingo and 2025’s No. 1 ranked running back, Mater Dei’s Jordon Davison are all considering Georgia more closely now.
If Georgia can recruit all of them and keep their defense going at a respectable level, they’ll be in dynasty territory. You can read more about Raiola’s recruitment and Bulldogs football in general at UGA Wire.