The Most Doomed CFB Recruiting Class in College Football History...

AtoZ Sports

What really went wrong with the 2023 college football recruiting class? Joe DeLeone and Ryan Roberts dive deep into the biggest disappointments and surprises — from Arch Manning Texas highlights to LaNorris Sellers highlights, plus insights on Nico Iamaleava highlights, Jaden Rashada highlights, and more.

Transcript

00:00The 2023 quarterback recruiting class was once deemed the greatest quarterback class that we

00:05have ever seen. But now in 2025, it's clear this is one of the biggest group of busts

00:12that has ever been around. We are going to break down today where all of these guys are now

00:17and who has actually succeeded amongst the most notable names.

00:21Ryan, I remember pretty distinctly back in 2023 when this quarterback class was entering

00:32the sport, there was a lot of hype. There was a lot of buzz. I really thought that some

00:37of these guys were going to go on to change the sport. And now when we look back at it

00:43today and we dig deep, it is shocking how few of these guys actually, I can't even say

00:49lived up to the expectations, but actually started for the teams that initially recruited

00:53them. Well, I remember covering this recruiting class before it even got to school. And that

00:58was the running thought process about this group was that this was going to be an extraordinary

01:02class. And one of the best quarterback classes that we have seen in some time, a lot of raw

01:07tools, a lot of talents, but clearly based upon the results, this is not quite, at least

01:12today, lived up to expectations. We of course have to start this conversation with Arch Manning,

01:17who went to Texas in a state at Texas. Now he is expected to be the starter for the Longhorns

01:23this upcoming season. There are a lot of high expectations for what he is going to be once

01:28he reaches the NFL. The buzz is there, but we've only gotten a very small glimpse. He's

01:33contributed in 12 games where he has amassed 115 rushing yards in four touchdowns. He's only

01:40thrown 95 passes, but as a 68% completion percentage, nine touchdowns, two interceptions for

01:47969 yards. While the book is not finished on Arch Manning, I think that we're already stepping

01:54towards him, maybe living up to those expectations of him deserving to be what was the number one

02:00quarterback in this class. It's also been a wild ride for now Oregon quarterback, Dante Moore,

02:06originally signed with UCLA Bruins after being silently committed to Notre Dame football, as well

02:12as verbally and publicly committed to the Oregon Ducks. He had a little bit of some struggles in

02:17his first year under head coach Chip Kelly, only throwing 11 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and

02:22completing just 53.5% of his passes. Ended up transferring to Oregon after that freshman year

02:28and backing up Dylan Gabriel in 2024. As of today, this would be considered a major bust of a recruit,

02:35but he has an opportunity now in his first year as a starter under offensive coordinator Will Stein

02:40to rewrite his book and his history and his resume and his future and become a dynamic playmaker for Oregon.

02:48Of course, there's no name that's more polarizing than Nico Iamaliava. He has been the biggest talking

02:54point of the 2025 offseason. He committed to Tennessee. He, before he even stepped foot onto the field

03:01as the starter for this team, was a part of a controversy involving him on a private jet that

03:07sparked lawsuits that have led and opened even bigger doors for future lawsuits, but he still

03:14managed to lead the Tennessee Volunteers and help them reach the college football playoff. And in that

03:19time, 21 touchdowns, five interceptions, 2,616 yards with a 64% completion percentage. That performance

03:28though was not enough for him to stick around. And it's not like this was him getting pushed out.

03:32He started a massive debate on the future of the sport and contracts and for how long players should

03:39stay after he fought to get more money on the current NIL deal that he was receiving. It was pushed

03:46by his father and his representation that he should be in the upper category for what quarterbacks are

03:51making. Tennessee stood their ground. It did not allow for him to stronghold them in that

03:59negotiation. He eventually, infamously left Tennessee to go to UCLA. Now he didn't play up to

04:06this big hype that was put out there for him. Nico, a lot of people expected he would go on to be the

04:11best quarterback in this class because he had all the tools, but was very shaky throughout his time at

04:15Tennessee. With the controversy that has followed him, it now begs the question if he can even

04:21reclaim and make up for some of those inefficiencies in his time at UCLA.

04:26One of the biggest busts of the 2023 quarterback class has to be now Auburn quarterback Jackson

04:33on Ray as the number eight overall player and number four quarterback on the consensus ranking.

04:39Arnold spent one year as the starting quarterback for Oklahoma, where he was eventually benched and

04:45then reasserted into the lineup. His numbers on paper weren't horrible throwing 12 touchdowns,

04:50only three interceptions, but if you watch the film from 2024, you saw a very stagnated

04:54Sooner offense. And now he goes down to Auburn to potentially be the present, but maybe not the

05:02future as five-star quarterback Deuce Knight in the 2025 class threatens his starting spot throughout

05:08the season. Will Jackson Arnold be able to reclaim some of the fanfare that he had from the recruiting

05:13process, or will he be just a blip on the radar for the stardom of Deuce Knights? More will be able to be

05:18seen in the 2025 college football season. Speaking of busts, there's none bigger than Malachi Nelson,

05:23who at the time was the number five quarterback recruit, the number 13 recruit overall. A lot of

05:28people thought that when he was going to USC, he was going to be the face of the program. He was going to

05:33be the next Heisman Trophy winner, the next great name to represent USC, but he didn't even come close to

05:42living up to that. He's only attempted 20 passes in his career. He only attempted three in Los Angeles

05:48before he transferred to Boise State of all places. A lot of people thought, hey, Malachi Nelson, Ashton

05:53Gentry, this could be a really exciting duo. He didn't start. He got beat out by a much more under-recruited

06:00kid in Maddox Madsen who helped lead this team to the college football playoff. He went back in the portal. He is now

06:07expected to start for UTEP. Now, there's certainly a chance that he could change the narrative around

06:13him, but he fits the description of the biggest bust potentially in this 2023 class.

06:19Let the bust continue as we talk about now Sacramento State quarterback, Jaden Rashada,

06:26rated as number 84 overall player and number seven quarterback on the consensus ranking for the 2023

06:32quarterback class. His career has been turbulence to say the absolute least. He was a starter for

06:39Arizona State briefly during the 2023 season, but only through four touchdowns, three interceptions,

06:44completed less than 54% of his passes, went on down to the Georgia Bulldogs and was viewed as the

06:49potential developmental starter behind Carson Beck, but the patience did not prove to be worthy there as

06:55he entered the transfer portal again after the 2024 season. He now goes over to Sacramento State and

07:02FCS program. He, by all accounts, is expected to be the starting quarterback, and I'm sure that he

07:07will be a dynamic player on that level, but certainly a top 100 recruits now being in Sacramento State in

07:13just his third season is going to ultimately be looked at as a bust of a college career.

07:19One of the few relative success stories that we have is Avery Johnson, who was the number nine

07:24quarterback in the class, number 85 overall recruit, has not really turned into an All-American just yet,

07:31but he's been one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 12. He's contributed in 21 games in his

07:36career, has 901 career rushing yards with 14 touchdowns. This past year, 58% completion

07:43percentage with 10 interceptions and 25 touchdowns. A lot of work to be done there, but most notably,

07:49he helped his team beat Rutgers in the Rate Bowl as well as the Pop-Tarts Bowl in the winter of 2024.

07:56Avery Johnson has shown some bright spots and certainly some signs of improvement,

08:00but has been one of the few bigger names that has gone on to become a starter for their team.

08:05One quarterback in the 2023 class that is being hyped up by some as being a breakout star for the

08:102025 college football season is now Michigan State quarterback Aiden Childs, who is rated as the number

08:16168 overall player, number 13 quarterback on the composite ranking for 247 Sports. He originally started

08:24his career with the Oregon State Beavers playing for head coach Jonathan Smith. When Coach Smith left for the

08:30Michigan State Spartans before the 2024 season, Childs followed him. Now he showed a lot of promise

08:35in his brief stop with the Beavers, but the first season as a starter for the Spartans was much more

08:40up and down through 13 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 59.4% completion percentage. Everyone around

08:47East Lansing is expecting a huge jump for a very talented quarterback who unfortunately was put into a

08:52pretty tough spot, but expect Aiden Childs to take a huge jump as he starts to hone in on his

08:57as extreme talent at the 6'3", 210 pound dual threat quarterback with a whole lot of upside.

09:03Now Sam Levitt was pushed out at Michigan State where he originally started his career as the number

09:0818 quarterback in the class, but he was an exciting name from 2024 because of what he did at the end of

09:16the season for Arizona State playing for head coach Kenny Dillingham. In 13 starts, he had 443 rushing

09:23yards and five touchdowns, 2,885 yards, 24 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a 62% completion

09:30percentage. He helped Arizona State pull off an unexpected turnaround where they finished as one

09:35of the hottest teams in the country, winning the big 12 championship game, dominating Iowa State,

09:40and then going on to produce a thriller of a college football playoff performance against Texas where

09:46they lost in overtime. A lot of hype for what Levitt could be, maybe an expectation for the 2027 NFL draft

09:53where he could be a first round pick because he is one of the more athletic and dynamic quarterbacks

09:57in the country. Finishing up with arguably the most dynamic dual threat quarterback in all of college

10:04football, South Carolina's Lenore Sellers was rated as the 256th overall player, the number 18 quarterback

10:11on the composite ranking in the 2023 recruiting class. In his first year as a starter in 2024,

10:18he threw for over 2,500 yards, 18 touchdowns, and completed nearly 66% of his passes, also accounted

10:25for over 600 yards and seven rushing touchdowns. From the start of the year to the end of the year,

10:29we saw dramatic improvements from the 6'3", 242-pound signal caller, and now he heads into the 2025 season

10:36as arguably one of the potential biggest risers in the 2026 NFL draft class. Size, power, athleticism,

10:44and upside. There is no downside to the talent that Sellers brings to the table and expect him to take

10:49the country by storm again in 2025. Folks, comment below, who did we miss that you think that we should

10:55bring up here in the comments, and who do you think is going to be the most successful quarterback from

10:59the 2023 recruiting class? Hit the like button and subscribe. We'll be back with more.

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