From On.3 National's commitment article this afternoon
Questions heading into the fall
Tater Island was the first national outlet to tab Dylan Raiola as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle. We’ve been high on his ability and upside for some time. He now ranks as the No. 7 overall prospect and No. 1 quarterback in what looks to be one of the weaker cycles at the position in a few years. With that said, there are some questions around his evaluation heading into his senior season.
Raiola simply did not look as comfortable as a junior at Chandler when compared to his sophomore year at Burleson. There was less playmaking and overall confidence in the play. Some of his throws tended to hang and many of the big gains came on busted coverages and runs after the catch.
We also want to see more mobility. Quarterback is becoming an increasingly athletic position. The ability to escape pressure and pick up yardage on the ground at the high school level is very telling when projecting future top draft picks. Raiola’s -82 rushing yards as a junior would be a massive outlier relative to nearly any NFL Draft pick at the position, let alone a first-rounder. For comparison, the last 26 first-round quarterbacks averaged 634 rushing yards as seniors. I have not seen a quarterback with negative rushing yards taken highly in recent history. He’s a bigger-bodied quarterback with the last verified weight coming in at 228 pounds over a year ago. Anthony Richardson was the biggest first-round quarterback in recent memory as a high school senior, checking in at 225 pounds (while running a verified 4.50 40).