3 takeaways from the commitment of Dylan Raiola to Nebraska football

Nebraska football has landed the commitment of five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola and here are three takeaways for the Huskers.

It’s hard to believe it’s become a reality, but Dylan Raiola is going to play quarterback for Nebraska football. The five-star signal-caller and son of Huskers legend Dominic Raiola announced his commitment on Monday.

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— Dylan Raiola (@RaiolaDylan) December 18, 2023

The commitment is something every Nebraska football fan has been waiting for since Steve Wiltfong of 247 Sports first projected the flip to happen.

Now, it’s official and the Huskers have beaten out Georgia, not only for top-100 tight end Carter Nelson, but also for five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, who is ranked as the No. 2 quarterback and No. 6 overall recruit in the 2024 class via the 247 Sports composite rankings.

There is no place like Nebraska and here are three takeaways from the commitment of Dylan Raiola.

The biggest commitment since Tommie Frazier

Touchdown Tommie Frazier was highly rated back in the day and would have probably been ranked very similar to what Dylan Raiola is right now. In terms of Nebraska football history, that’s the only recruitment I can really compare to this.

There weren’t the flips this one had, but not many expected Tom Osborne to pull that one off either and it helped pave the way for back-to-back national championships, as well as four conference championships and three appearances in the national title game.

This pledge will have a similar impact. I’m not saying Dylan Raiola is leading the Huskers to national championships. But I do believe he’ll have a chance to lead Nebraska to the 12-team playoff during his tenure and believe his impact will be substantial.

The quarterback position has plagued Nebraska for decades. But the Huskers finally got the guy they needed on Monday and it’s been a long time coming.

A day-one starter

I guess this is more of a prediction than a takeaway, but I believe that we’ll see Dylan Raiola under center when the Huskers open the 2024 season against UTEP on Aug. 31.

Nebraska opens with UTEP, Colorado, and Northern Iowa. I wouldn’t be opposed to having someone like Chubba Purdy start the season, but my feeling is that Purdy probably enters the portal.

Former five-star quarterback Kyle McCord got scared away by the presence of Raiola and McCord is fresh off a 3,100-yard season with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions.

There will be some bumps and bruises along the way — no doubt. But Raiola is talented enough to make it worthwhile. His arm talent is something Nebraska has maybe never seen.

That’s not a shot against Husker greats like Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch, but the Huskers had never had a quarterback who could spin it the way Raiola can. There’s a good chance he’ll be declaring for the NFL draft after his junior season, so why not roll with him from day one?

Raiola will have to earn it of course and the stiffest competition might be Daniel Kaelin, but come Aug. 31, I’d be surprised if Dylan wasn’t the starter for Nebraska football.

The dream scenario

Landing Raiola is a dream come true. Remembering back to his decommitment from Ohio State, Matt Rhule tweeting the Undertaker sitting back up, as well as the commitment to Georgia and everything — it has been a wild ride.

It’s been a wild ride for Daniel Kaelin too. First, he was committed to Missouri after the Huskers prioritized Raiola. After he committed to Georgia, Kaelin flipped to Nebraska again.

The three-star quarterback who was also an Elite 11 performer, got stuck in the middle again with Raiola popping back on the radar. Kaelin was going to visit Michigan State but he has re-affirmed his commitment to Nebraska football, which gives the Huskers the best QB haul I can remember in a long time.

Kaelin wants to compete and he will. The kid can absolutely play, which is why he was committed to a program playing in the Cotton Bowl in a couple of weeks. But if Raiola wins the job and leaves for the NFL, Kaelin may still be around and start the next two years after.

It might not be realistic to expect him to sit on the bench for three years, but QB depth is valuable and if Kaelin stays behind Raiola, the Huskers will have it for the first time in decades (I’ve said that a lot).

But the potential for five years of Raiola and Kaelin starting is the dream scenario. It might not work out, but if it does, a resurgent era of Husker football could be on the horizon.

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