2026 5-star QB Jared Curtis named Gatorade Tennessee Football Player of the Year

The nation’s top uncommitted quarterback resides in Tennessee, and he continues to earn awards to prove it.

On Friday, Nashville Christian five-star QB Jared Curtis was named the 2024 Gatorade Tennessee Football Player of the Year.

The junior gunslinger led the Eagles to a 13-1 record and a state title this week. Entering the final game of his season, Curtis had thrown for 2,672 yards and 38 touchdowns while also rushing for 577 yards and an additional 14 scores.

“Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Curtis as Tennessee’s best high school football player, and he joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fl.), Peyton Manning (1993-94, Isidore Newman School, La.) and DJ Lagway (2023-24, Willis High School, Texas),” Gatorade wrote of Curtis in a press release.

Curtis is the No. 4 overall prospect and top-ranked QB in the 2026 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the top-ranked junior in Tennessee.

Curtis is nation’s top uncommitted QB

The 6-foot-3.5, 225-pounder reopened his recruitment on Oct. 17, decommitting from Georgia. He’s now giving a slew of other programs a look once again, including the likes of Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Oregon, as well as UGA.

“I told Coach (Mike) Bobo and Coach Smart if I’m going to be committed somewhere I want to be 100 percent committed and not take any other visits,” Curtis told On3 upon decommitting.

“I got to the point I want to where I want take other visits and I don’t want to be the guy going on all those visits, not that it’s a bad thing, but just want to respect the program and respect the coaches.”

“I’d say the production of quarterbacks is a big factor in it but also the relationship with the coaches,” he added about what he was looking for in a program.

Curtis has an On3 NIL Valuation of $937K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.