There are a lot of cynics these days when it comes to college recruiting. The emotional investment is low. Everyone is guarded.
Although DawgNation won’t mind the fact that Jared Curtis stands as the second-highest-rated QB at UGA in the modern era (behind only Justin Fields), many will say they won’t put faith in it until he signs and officially becomes a Dawg.
They might be aware that Curtis is rated higher than former 5-stars like Jacob Eason and Matthew Stafford, but they still don’t want to get burned the way UGA did with former 5-star Dylan Raiola in the 2024 cycle.
Raiola moved from Arizona to Georgia for his senior year, but still wound up in Nebraska instead of Athens.
OK. We get it. So about that …
1: Is Curtis really done with recruiting?
Nashville Christian coach Jeff Brothers thinks so. He’s known Curtis was going to be a Dawg again for an unspecified time, but it sounds like it was earlier than when the rest of the world found out on Cinco de Mayo.
What does Curtis think?
“One-hundred percent,” he said. “100% locked in, and I think it will stay at that.”
The better question: What does Curtis’ mother think?
“Yes, I feel like this is done,” Barbara Curtis said. “I do. I think that was the whole point of Jared opening back up his recruiting. Reopening his recruiting. He really truly just didn’t feel right going to other schools. He just wanted to watch football games. He just wanted to go and watch teams compete, and he just didn’t feel right doing that while committed to Georgia. He didn’t want the negative spotlight and attention to be like, ‘Oh, he’s still going to other schools’, although he would call Coach (Kirby) Smart and Coach (Mike) Bobo every time before he would go and let them know, he still just didn’t feel right about it.
“I feel like with him doing that, he’s enjoyed all these options once more. Enjoyed this journey and this process. I think that we are finally like, ‘It is done.’ The chapter is closed.”
She described it as a “best two out of two” win for UGA in the series.
2: What kind of a leader can Curtis be at Georgia?
Everyone sees a 5-star. They also see the tattoos. Most likely don’t know they represent a connection to beloved family members, like a dear uncle who has died, his grandfather and his 2-month-old nephew.
They see the diamond studs in both ears. What does that mean? It means a young person has their own sense of style.
Does that mean he is flashy or flamboyant? Is he another Bo Callahan from the underrated movie “Draft Day,” starring Kevin Costner?
It looked like they would all go to his birthday party. Judging by the way they interacted with him before and after his ceremony. His coach told DawgNation last year his favorite Curtis highlight came after a vanilla swing pass.
It was what Curtis did after that throw that stands out.
“Sort of a check-down swing route across the field to a running back and from across the field on the far hash, he outran him,” Brothers, said. “It was probably a 60-yard touchdown. But he outran the running back down the field, trying to block for him so he could get into the end zone, 50 or 60 yards away across the field.”
“That tells me enough about him and the way he plays. That’s probably my favorite thing I’ve seen him do. I wouldn’t say it is the most craziest-looking throw I’ve ever seen him make. It was a check-down swing route, but he was committed to making sure his guy got in the end zone. He was going to lead him down there.”
Curtis is at the 6-foot-4 mark on the growth chart, and he is now a thick 228 pounds. He can run and will be hard to get on the ground.
3: How will Jared Curtis add to the team culture?
To answer that best, we need to share something Brothers said before the ceremony.
Not many folks, even insiders, know that Curtis drives basically an hour each day (40 or so miles) from his home in Dickson to attend and play for Nashville Christian and then another hour back home.
There is also the way he’s viewed around the program.
“The one great thing about Jared is his ability to stay connected to his people here,” Brothers said. “To stay connected to this team, this football program, even when all these things like his commitment today are swirling around. He is very much, and you’ll see it today, he’s excited about this football team. Yes, his future is out there. Yes, there is a lot to that for him, but he wants to come back and win another (state title) and so his focus remains, and his ability to stay connected, I think, speaks a lot to his character, too.”
There have been times in his career when his coaches have had to chase him out of the scout team huddle. He just wants to go against the first-team defense and compete against them and make them better.
“When your most talented player is your hardest worker, then you know you are going to be in a good situation,” Brothers said. “The guys just follow him as he leads them in that.”
While in the midst of his own big day, Curtis took time out of his news conference to recognize his backup quarterback. He’s young but also has a talented arm, and Curtis said he hopes the young man is up there at the podium one day.
We don’t usually hear things like that at 5-star commitment ceremonies.
4: How elite is that arm talent?
What happens when college coaches see Curtis throw for the first time?
Their eyes get a little bigger. The mouth opens. The jaw drops.
“That didn’t look like it was any work at all,” Brothers said of those moments. “Just very natural.”
Brothers called his arm “otherworldly” and explained why.
“He’s just got an amazing ability to make every throw, but to make every throw catchable. So a lot of guys have big arms. You know, without naming names, you can go down the list of guys that had or have super strong arms but can’t do it because they can’t throw the underneath ball,” Brothers said. “They can’t throw the swing route, and he can throw every ball on the field, and he can throw it catchable at every level on the field.”
“I know it sounds like a lot, but it is easy to just tell the truth about Jared.”
We thought that was his 5-star arm story about Curtis. Until we heard a better one.
“It is not even on tape,” Brothers said. “I watched him one time. We were at practice. He was looking out to the side. We had a spread formation. He was looking out to the guys. The center snapped the ball when he wasn’t looking, so it kind of went past him. He just kind of jogged back to it. We were running an outs concept, so the outside receiver across the field has a deep-out route. A 14-yard comeback route.
“Jared kind of jogs over to the ball. Picks it up and on one leg just kind of turns around and underarms it across the field on an out route and hits the guy right in the chest. That was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen him do, and then he just kind of jogs back to the huddle and is ‘What’s next?’
“That was like a 30- or 40-yard throw. He was like a submarine pitcher from baseball. Off one foot.
“He just shoots it out there and hits him right in stride,” Brothers said.
5: Football IQ: How did he make a big leap in his junior year?
There is a lot more to playing QB than having a rocket arm, but it doesn’t hurt. No offensive coordinator worth his play sheet in the SEC would pass on a rare arm talent like Curtis.
The film shows that he took a big leap in his junior season. He upped his completion rate from 56% to 70%?. He increased his touchdown passes from 25 to 40, while at the same time dropping his interception tally from nine to three.
How did that happen?
“Hard work,” Brothers said. “A lot of time spent in the offseason studying, which we talked about, studying coverage. Studying route concepts. How they merge together. How to be patient in the progression and take the open receiver. So, just the maturity and the growth in understanding football.”
His physical abilities allow him to do crazy things, but he had to learn how to make decisions that helped his team be more effective. He was hounded about reducing turnovers and raising his completion percentage.
His freshman year was surrounded by seniors. He basically just had to remember the snap count and go play. The Eagles went 9-3 that year in the games he played. Those vets were gone for his sophomore year, and his record as the starter fell to 5-7. He responded with a brilliant 12-1 year as a junior.
The coaching staff has challenged him to be the best decision maker he can be for his senior year. The physical talent will be there in spades. They just want him to have his best season yet in deciding where to go with the football.
6: How is he wired to play the game?
Curtis grew up racing four-wheelers and even rebuilding junked ones. He’d work with his father on those and sell them. He didn’t watch a lot of college football growing up. He still doesn’t pay much attention to games on TV.
He likes to ride horses and grew up with his own steed named “Bomb.” That is just perfect for a 5-star QB prospect.
He’s the first football player in his family. Most of his family were baseball or softball players. His sister went to Sewanee University on a basketball scholarship. His dad is athletic, but never played sports.
His mother, Barbara, had an opportunity to go to Western Kentucky for softball. The new 5-star UGA commit grew up playing running back.
“I like contact,” he’s told DawgNation.
DawgNation better brace themselves for this, but remember that play Gunner Stockton tried to make against Texas in the SEC Championship? When he flipped it into 4WD mode and tried to plow a field of Longhorns to paydirt?
Curtis would try to make the same play. That’s how he is wired. He’s competitive.
“Tough,” he said, describing his game before sharing a story from his father.
“My dad always taught me. He said if he ever saw me lying down on the field, he would come out there himself,” Curtis said. “I feel like unless you are seriously injured, you shouldn’t be lying down, unless it is something to be smart at the end of the game. So I feel like trying to be tough out there and lead the others is the biggest thing. The biggest part.”
He said he’s got big goals in mind for his college career. His ultimate goal is to win a national championship. The dream is also to win the Heisman Trophy and eventually become the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Injury update: Curtis will be out of action until early July
Curtis will be the rare 5-star QB that will not take part in the annual “Elite 11″ quarterback competition. That’s because he is still recovering from a back issue.
Spring practice will start up next week at Nashville Christian, but he will be very limited. He’ll be raring to do more, but Brothers will be holding him back.
He’ll likely do just stand-and-throw drills and maybe some simple route-tree throws this spring.
Brothers expects Curtis to be a full participant in team activities right around or right after the July 4th holiday break.
While he’s out, look for him to do some recruiting for the Dawgs. Curtis seemed quite enthused about getting to Athens this weekend to hang out with 5-star OT Jackson Cantwell.
It will be Cantwell’s last visit before he makes his own decision on May 13.
That’s next week. Cantwell is the No. 1 player in the nation for the On3 Industry Ranking and No. 1 overall for the 247Sports Composite. He’s the only player in the nation for the 2026 cycle that Georgia is recruiting that’s ranked higher than Curtis.
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