Checking in on college football quarterback recruiting market for Class of 2026

News surfaced last week that five-star 2026 quarterback Jared Curtis will announce his commitment on May 5.

Curtis is the No.

1 quarterback in the country and the No.

2 overall player, and hell decide between two recruiting juggernauts, Oregon and Georgia.

Curtis is one of 26 blue-chip quarterbacks in the 2026 recruiting cycle.

Half of them remain uncommitted as the calendar flips to April.

After Curtis commits, other dominoes will soon fall.

Advertisement With that in mind, were taking a look at where things stand with the blue-chip quarterback market as the 2026 recruiting cycle heats up over the coming weeks.

(Note: All rankings are by the 247Sports Composite.) Ranking: Five-star, No.

1 QB, No.

2 overall Status: Uncommitted Curtis committed to Georgia in late March 2024 but backed off his pledge in October.

The Bulldogs remain in the thick of the race, but its difficult to discount Oregon in any recruiting battle these days.

This decision should be interesting, as should the pivot plan for the program that doesnt end up with Curtis.

Ranking: Five-star, No.

2 QB, No.

6 overall Status: Committed to Tennessee Brandon has been committed to Tennessee since August and hasnt visited any other schools.

He told On3 a few weeks ago that LSU and Alabama continue to reach out, but there doesnt seem to be any drama here.

Ranking: Five-star, No.

3 QB, No.

11 overall Status: Committed to Texas Bell received an offer from the Longhorns on June 1, 2024, and committed just a few weeks later.

He hasnt visited any other programs even though Georgia, Alabama and Texas A&M offered in the months following his pledge to Texas.

Ranking: Five-star, No.

4 QB, No.

16 overall Status: Uncommitted This is an intriguing recruitment.

Lyons is technically a member of the Class of 2026, but hes essentially a 2027 recruit because he plans to serve a Mormon mission following his senior year.

USC was long thought to be the lean Lyons older brother, Walker, plays tight end for the Trojans but he told Rivals in early March, that has been fair but maybe not as much anymore.

USC is still in the mix, but Oregon, BYU (where he has strong family ties) and Michigan are very much involved.

This figures to be a competitive race.

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5 QB, No.

17 overall Status: Committed to Houston Henderson is a dynamic athlete who some schools have recruited as a receiver or defensive back, but Houston believes in him as a quarterback.

He committed to the Cougars last May.

Can Willie Fritz and staff hold on to Hendersons commitment as more high-profile programs make a push? Ranking: Four-star, No.

6 QB, No.

53 overall Status: Uncommitted Duckworth has visits planned to Georgia, South Carolina and Florida State but told On3 recently that Ole Miss is at the top of my list right now.

Ranking: Four-star, No.

7 QB, No.

67 overall Status: Uncommitted Smigiel committed to Florida State last June but reopened his recruitment in January, and the Seminoles are no longer in the mix.

Smigiel has visited Washington and South Carolina.

Those two occupy spots in his final four, along with Michigan and UCLA.

Ranking: Four-star, No.

8 QB, No.

88 overall Status: Committed to USC Williams committed to Oregon in August, but Lincoln Riley and new USC general manager Chad Bowden made him an immediate priority upon Bowdens arrival in January.

The effort worked, and Williams flipped to USC on Feb.

21.

Ranking: Four-star, No.

9 QB, No.

110 overall Status: Committed to Arizona State The Sun Devils have held Fettes pledge since September.

LSU, Ole Miss and Auburn are among the schools that have offered in recent months, so well see if any of them can gain any traction.

Ranking: Four-star, No.

10 QB, No.

123 overall Status: Uncommitted Bentley trimmed his list to three schools on Sunday.

He could be Georgias fallback plan if Curtis picks Oregon.

Oklahoma is still recruiting Bentley hard even though it has four-star Jaden ONeal committed.

LSU didnt sign a quarterback in 2025, so theres an obvious need there, too.

NEWS: Elite 2026 QB Bowe Bentley is down to 3 Schools, he tells me for @on3recruits The No.

5 QB in 26 has locked in OVs to each of his finalists: Georgia: June 6-8 Oklahoma: June 13-15 LSU: June 20-22 https://t.co/Fqjz8UXcFV pic.twitter.com/rUdogsLQjE Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) March 30, 2025 Ranking: Four-star, No.

11 QB, No.

138 overall Status: Committed to Oklahoma ONeal recently moved from Southern California to play his senior season in Oklahoma.

That brought him closer to the Sooners, which received his commitment in June.

Will that hold up? As we noted, Oklahoma is recruiting Bentley, and thats always a delicate matter among quarterbacks.

ONeals commitment to the Sooners came when Seth Littrell was the offensive coordinator, but Littrell was fired in October.

And ONeal is slated to visit Florida State this spring and has expressed an interest in taking trips to other schools.

This will be one to monitor.

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12 QB, No.

176 overall Status: Committed to Notre Dame Grubbs committed to the Fighting Irish in June and hasnt visited any other schools since.

Ranking: Four-star, No.

13 QB, No.

197 overall Status: Committed to Miami Coleman committed to Miami in July.

Ranking: Four-star, No.

14 QB, No.

201 overall Status: Committed to Texas A&M Casuga committed to the Aggies in October and appears to be solid there.

Ranking: Four-star, No.

15 QB, No.

231 overall Status: Committed to Florida Florida is Griffins dream school , and he committed to Billy Napier in June.

This one is rock solid.

Nos.

16-26 16.

Oscar Rios, No.

233 overall, uncommitted 17.

Peyton Falzone, No.

247 overall, uncommitted 18.

Matt Ponatoski, No.

249 overall, uncommitted 19.

Troy Huhn, No.

264 overall, Penn State 20.

Jett Thomalla, No.

292 overall, uncommitted 21.

Tait Reynolds, No.

299 overall, Clemson 22.

Gavin Sidwar, No.

335 overall, uncommitted 23.

Luke Fahey, No.

339 overall, uncommitted 24.

Tayden Kaawa, No.

340 overall, uncommitted 25.

Kayd Coffman, No.

351 overall, Michigan State 26.

Derek Zammit, No.

390 overall, uncommitted There are eight uncommitted players in this group, so this is where the bulk of the blue-chip quarterback movement will happen.

Rios, the highest-rated player of the bunch, is committed to Purdue but backed off that pledge last fall.

Hes scheduled to visit Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Utah, Arizona and Colorado.

Falzone has official visits lined up to Iowa and Utah.

Ponatoski will be a compelling recruit because baseball will seemingly play a significant role in his decision.

Matt Ponatoski is navigating the recruiting process for two sports.

He's a four-star QB recruit and has drawn offers from Michigan, Texas A&M, Arkansas and others.

Hes also the No.

16 player in the 2026 class for baseball https://t.co/iz5rSAWSHB pic.twitter.com/c2KwnuMCeu Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) March 3, 2025 Thomalla recently released a top five of Arizona, Duke, Iowa State, Missouri and Virginia Tech.

Missouri, along with Ole Miss, is also showing interest in Sidwar, a former Rutgers commit.

Fahey received an Indiana offer in early March, but well have to wait to see how his recruiting process comes together.

Kaawa received offers from Boise State and Cal in March, while Zammit recently announced hes down to four schools: Alabama, Washington, Mississippi State and Syracuse.

Advertisement Programs to watch Georgia and Oregon are battling for the top QB in the cycle.

What does the team that doesnt land Curtis do? Alabama and Ohio State have yet to add a quarterback to their 2026 class.

Both signed a five-star in the 2025 cycle, which might make landing a high-profile QB more difficult this year.

The same goes for Deion Sanders and Colorado since it seems clear that Julian Lewis is the future of the position in Boulder.

North Carolina landed top-100 prospect Bryce Baker in the 2025 cycle.

Will Bill Belichick make a push for a high-end quarterback in this cycle? (Photo of Dia Bell: Jonah Hinebaugh / USA Today Network via Imagn Images).

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