The five biggest 2024 recruiting storylines to watch

The February signing period opened last week, marking the end of the 2023 recruiting cycle. Just as quickly as that chapter closes, the 2024 class is already off and running. Georgia leads the way atop the team recruiting rankings, but 10 months of twists and turns, commitments, flips and decommitments await before we get to next December. As the 2024 cycle begins in earnest, here are five major 2024 recruiting storylines to follow.

1. Can Georgia sign No. 1 class in recruiting era?

In 2021, Alabama signed the highest-rated recruiting class in the modern era, bringing in a whopping 26 blue-chip prospects — including 12 of the country’s top 50 players — to Tuscaloosa. A year later, Texas A&M topped that with its own historic recruiting class, which closed the cycle with nine five-star signees.

Now, Georgia gets a chance at breaking the all-time record. The Peach State features an eye-popping 23 prospects ranked among the top 150 nationally in 2024, and the ‘Dawgs already have three on board. Five-stars Mike Matthews, KJ Bolden, Eddrick Houston and Sammy Brown are at the top of the heap, but there is a wealth of talent that could push Georgia to even higher recruiting heights.

The Bulldogs currently hold the No. 1 2024 class in the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings, and it’s very possible they lead wire-to-wire given what they already committed and what’s still out there. Will it be enough to dethrone the Aggies? Only time will tell.

2. Nebraska, USC, Georgia courting Dylan Raiola

Speaking of Kirby Smart and Co., they’re in the midst of a fierce battle for the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect, Five-Star Plus+ QB Dylan Raiola. After initially committing to Ohio State back in May, Raiola reopened his recruitment in December and has largely been focused on Georgia, USC and Nebraska since then.

Adding him to an elite skill position class in Athens would be a huge feather in Smart’s cap, but USC — which has the appeal of Lincoln Riley and his quarterback development — is making a major impression on the elite quarterback and his family. They also have deep ties to Nebraska, where his father starred as a Rimington Award winner before heading to a long NFL career. A decision isn’t expected soon, but it would a surprise to see him still on the board by the time we reach summer.

3. Florida schools working to retake their state

The 2023 cycle was another bumper crop in the state of Florida, with 54 of the top 300 prospects calling the Sunshine State home. Despite that though, the three in-state powers — Florida, Florida State and Miami — largely failed to capitalize. The Hurricanes and Seminoles signed one top-10 prospect each, while the Gators came away with none.

Will 2024 be more of the same? Five of the state’s top 10 junior recruits are off the board, with none heading to either of those three schools. There is a slight caveat, though. Of the top 10, five don’t actually hail from Florida — they play at Bradenton’s IMG Academy, which recruits nationally. Even so, if any of three are going to climb back to the top ranks of college football, they’ll have to start at home.

4. USC has chance to build an elite defensive class

Across the map at USC, Lincoln Riley built a loaded offensive class centered around Five-Star Plus+ signees Malachi Nelson and Zachariah Branch, along with top-40 wide receiver Makai Lemon. But equally as apparent was the Trojans’ lack of success on the other side of the ball — USC didn’t sign a single top-100 defensive prospect and just two ranked in the top 300 nationally. Whether in the Pac-12 or Big Ten, that simply isn’t going to cut it.

Riley and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch have a golden opportunity to change that in 2024, though. Eight defenders ranked among the top-150 nationally hail from California this cycle, with nearly all of them around the Los Angeles area at a trio of USC-friendly schools. The Trojans already lost out to Georgia on No. 2 2024 safety Peyton Woodyard, but there’s still plenty left for them to keep local. And they’ll have to do that to build a defense worthy of competing for a College Football Playoff spot.

5. What can Deion do?

Elsewhere in the Pac-12, USC has a new and very formidable recruiting foe to deal with: Deion Sanders and Colorado. After closing the 2023 cycle strong with flips from four-star Dylan Edwards and five-star Cormani McClain, the Buffs are off to a hot start in 2024. Coach Prime has already dipped into Georgia for two of the state’s best defensive linemen, and on Saturday he plucked four-star athlete Ju’Juan Johnson out from under LSU’s nose in Louisiana.

With a dearth of talent in its own state, Colorado is going to be recruiting nationally, and the ‘Coach Prime’ brand stretches far and wide. With a recruiting class that already sits among the top-20 nationally, the Buffs have a chance at their best-ever cycle with Sanders in charge.