On3 Roundtable: USC’s backup plan after Dylan Raiola commits to Georgia

USC lost out not once but twice for Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Dylan Raiola. The first time, they were bested by Ryan Day and Ohio State.

This time around, the two-time defending national champion Georgia and head coach Kirby Smart beat out Lincoln Riley and the Trojans for the nation’s No. 1 quarterback.

It’s been a weird recruiting cycle for the Trojans on the quarterback front. USC also heavily pursued DJ Lagway, another five-star quarterback on the No. 3 signal-caller in the country, before he committed to .

WeAreSC’s Scott Schrader hopped on with JD PicKell on On3 Roundtable, where the two discussed among other things, where does USC go from here with Raiola off the table.

“We kind of went through the Dylan Raiola process twice with USC. He committed to Ohio State and then decommitted and open things up,” Schrader said. “I just thought if you’re looking at this objectively, you don’t really know a whole lot about him but you know a lot about Lincoln Riley and what he does with quarterbacks, you would have thought USC would have been kind of the no-brainer choice. But now they’re in a situation where he’s just committed to the University of Georgia. USC was going after DJ Lagway strong at one point. Really, right now, the only guy that is set to take an official visit and looks like a guy that USC realistically has a shot with is Elijah Brown from Mater Dei High School. He’s set for June 24th through the 26th official visit.”

Raiola is one of the five players to have earned Five-Star Plus+ status with Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna Prep wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, Duncanville (Texas) EDGE Colin Simmons, Temple (Texas) Lake Belton wide receiver Micah Hudson and Buford (Ga.) safety KJ Bolden.

Elijah Brown is the No. 63 overall recruit and No. 7 quarterback in 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Another quarterback Schrader mentioned as someone to key an eye on is Avon (Conn.) Avon Old Farms four-star quarterback Ryan Puglisi. Puglisi committed to Georgia last fall but whether he stays in the class with Raiola now committed is a mystery.

“He’s also somebody that a few months back said that he had talked to Lincoln Riley,” Schrader said. “You really don’t know where things are going to develop with the quarterback situation. But the one thing that Lincoln Riley has told people is that he will always, by whatever means, have an elite quarterback starting for him.”