Texas Football: Key 2024 QB Dylan Raiola already trending to UGA

The first major target to really surface on the radar of the 2024 Texas football recruiting class this fall was the highly touted four-star Burleson quarterback Dylan Raiola. This talented in-state quarterback product got a lot of early attention thus far from new head coach Steve Sarkisian and quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee.

At the moment, the most important quarterback target for Sark, Milwee, and the Longhorns on the recruiting trail is the elite five-star Isidore Newman product, Arch Manning. Texas hosted Manning for a crucial visit last weekend during the game weekend where they would ultimately fall short to the No. 12 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. Yet, Texas still appears to be sitting in a good position with Manning at this point.

But if you look beyond the top target in the Longhorns 2023 class, it’s easy to emphasize the importance of having some early traction with a key target at the quarterback position like Raiola for the 2024 cycle. Texas has done well with this new coaching staff, by most indications thus far, of putting in some good work on the recruiting trail early with targets of future classes.

That appeared to be the case with Raiola. It seemed like a few weeks back you could even make the argument that the Longhorns were emerging as the early frontrunner to eventually land a commitment from Raiola. But that changed pretty fast.

Texas football looks to sit behind Georgia right now for 2024 4-Star QB Dylan Raiola

One program that caught fire on the recruiting trail of late, including with a couple of key Texas targets now, is the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia had a huge week on the recruiting trail, including landing commitments from two five-star defensive linemen in Bear Alexander and Mykel Williams.

Now, Georgia appears to be trending up with Raiola early on in his recruitment too. The first expert 247Sports Crystal Ball Prediction for Raiola has his commitment landing with the Dawgs.

Since Raiola looks to potentially be making a return visit to Athens for a Georgia game weekend for yet another time this fall, the traction between him and that coaching staff is apparent. Well-traveled offensive coordinator Todd Monken is the primary recruiter after Raiola, and he’s done a great job so far.

Milwee is the primary recruiter after Raiola for the Longhorns, and he is also putting in good work to establish this relationship early on. But it’s going to be hard to beat the momentum that the Dawgs have on the recruiting trail in the coming weeks and months.

The good news here for Milwee, Sark and the Longhorns is the fact that it’s likely going to be at least one year before Raiola announces his commitment. Texas has plenty of time to make up any ground that Georgia looks to be gaining right now with Raiola.