What makes 2024 No. 1 prospect Dylan Raiola a huge pickup for Ohio State
One of the nation’s top high school football prospects came off the board on Tuesday night when 2024 five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola announced his commitment to Ohio State. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder debuted as the No. 1 overall prospect in the initial 2024 On300 back in March. He has since risen to the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 On3 Consensus.
Raiola is one of four active quarterback prospects to earn a five-star rating by On3, Arch Manning, USC commit Malachi Nelson and Tennessee commit Nico Iamaleava from the 2023 cycle. The Chandler (Ariz.) High signal caller chose the Buckeyes over Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, and USC, among others.
The Chandler (Ariz.) High signal caller is one of three initial five-stars in the 2024 cycle for On3 along with cornerback Desmond Ricks and defensive lineman Justin Scott. He also became the fourth active high school quarterback prospect to be rated as a five-star by On3 along with Arch Manning, USC commit Malachi Nelson and Tennessee commit Nico Iamaleava from the 2023 cycle.
Raiola has become one of the nation’s most sought-after prospects this offseason. He holds offers from most of the nation’s top programs and has recently taken visits to Oregon, Clemson, Georgia, USC and Ohio State. The Buckeyes and Trojans are currently out in front according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine.
Let’s get into what makes the new Ohio State commit On3’s initial No. 1 prospect in the 2024 cycle.
Dylan Raiola is a top arm talent
We’ll start with Dylan Raiola‘s arm talent. Simply put, he’s a natural passer.
Raiola has fluid, relaxed throwing mechanics that manifests in a quick, replicable release. The ball comes out of his hand with substantial velocity considering this early stage in his development. Raiola also has a strong base that allows him to power through throws.
We see this in Raiola’s ability to easily stretch the field with his deep ball as a sophomore at Burleson (Texas) High. He’s able to activate all portions of the field with his arm strength.
Playmaking and creativity
Dylan Raiola can do much more than deliver from a defined, set platform. His quick, loose arm allows for the ability to make some impressive off-platform throws from outside of structure.
The arm talent combines with a natural feel for the pass rush, quick feet and field vision to result in some high-difficulty reactive plays. We already see Raiola making these types of plays with regularity as a high school underclassman.
You can see some influence of his father’s former Lions teammate Matthew Stafford‘s style of play. The first throw in the above clip is not dissimilar from Stafford’s now famous no-look pass from the Super Bowl.
The fact that Raiola is seeing the field so well and making these types of reactive plays in his first season as a varsity starter is highly encouraging and points to a significant upside as he continues to progress. Playing quarterback is a performance craft. The best players at the position are able to make plays in the face of a pass rush. Raiola certainly shows early signs of excelling in that area.
Production on Friday nights
In addition to the on-field skill set, Dylan Raiola was among the more productive quarterbacks in the 2024 cycle as a sophomore.
Raiola hit 228-350 passes for 3,341 yards (9.5 yards per attempt), 32 touchdowns and five interceptions in 12 games as a sophomore at Burleson. He also ran for nine touchdowns. Raiola threw for more yards than any quarterback who ranks in the top 200 of the 2024 On300. He did so while facing good competition in Texas’ 5A classification.
The strong production should continue with Raiola’s transfer to Chandler. The Wolves are one of the top high school programs in the western United States and are perennial state title contenders in Arizona’s Open Division.
Athletic pedigree
Dylan Raiola has a strong athletic pedigree. He doubles as a standout baseball player – both as a pitcher and catcher. His fastball was clocked at 89 miles per hour as a freshman. As noted earlier, you can see some of his baseball background spill over to the football field.
If the last name sounds familiar, it’s because it is – Dylan is the son of long-time Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola.
The Raiola family has a well-established athletic history. Prior to his 14-year career with the Lions, Dominic starred at Nebraska, where he won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center in 2000. Dylan’s mother, Yvonne, played water polo at Hawaii. His older sister, Taylor, currently plays volleyball at TCU.
Dominic Raiola’s brother and Dylan’s uncle, Donovan Raiola, played at Wisconsin and for six seasons in the NFL with various teams. He’s now the current offensive line coach at Nebraska. Dominic and Donovan’s father (Dylan’s grandfather), Tony, was a defensive lineman at Miami in the late 1970’s.
Fit and impact at Ohio State
Dylan Raiola‘s skill set is such that we feel he could thrive in about just any offense. With that said, Raiola looks to be a strong fit for what Ohio State likes to do on offense under head coach Ryan Day.
We’ve seen Ohio State have great success in hitting vertical, downfield concepts with Justin Fields and CJ Stroud. Day likes to recruit quarterbacks with the arm talent to drive the ball downfield to Ohio State’s typically supremely talented wide receivers. Raiola should have no issues with that aspect of the game, as shown above. We also feel that Raiola has the capacity to add some individual playmaking outside the structure of Ohio State’s offense when the play breaks down.
Ohio State has an embarrassment of riches in its quarterback room. This is despite losing Quinn Ewers to Texas via the transfer portal. Stroud is likely off to the NFL Draft after this season. He is followed by former five-star sophomore Kyle McCord and true freshman Devin Brown – who was On3’s No. 1 overall prospect in the 2022 cycle.
No coaches are currently recruiting the quarterback position at a higher level than Ryan Day and quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis. It’s hard to think of a program that has brought in more five-star quarterbacks in recent memory.
Any talk of such a lofty ranking for a young prospect like Raiola should be delivered with the critical caveat that this is a long-term projection that is both early and subject to change. Progression and performance as an upperclassman takes precedence over a sophomore ranking in On3’s evaluations.
Dylan Raiola has shown enough high-level skills and upside to this point to place him at the pole position as the top quarterback and No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle and one of the top prospects nationally, regardless of class. Ohio State’s track recent track record of sterling quarterback play does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon.