Is Dylan Raiola a senior? Looking at Nebraska QB's NCAA eligibility

Dylan Raiola, a five-star quarterback from Buford (Georgia) High School, has generated a lot of column inches for a prospect who has not taken a single snap in college football. He is best known for committing to the Ohio State Buckeyes before flipping his commitment to the Georgia Bulldogs and finally to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Raiola is a freshman who is seen as the domino that will change the fortunes of coach Matt Rhule's Nebraska program and even has high chances of being QB1 as a freshman, an unusual sight in Power Five football.

Can Dylan Raiola start at QB as a freshman?

It's almost unheard of for a true freshman to start as a quarterback in the modern iteration of college football, but if there's someone who has the talent to do it according to insiders, it's Dylan Raiola, especially after flipping his commitment to the Cornhuskers.

On On3's "Andy Staples" podcast, Husker Online analyst Sean Callahan said that the prevailing mood around the Cornhuskers camp is that Raiola has already locked down the QB1 spot.

“Rhule has not said it, but it’s very obvious to anybody that’s around the program,” Callahan said. “They’ll put out a depth chart, is my guess. They’ll have one more week of training camp, and it wouldn’t surprise me if after this week, if they kind of define things a little clearer.

“So, they’ve got a good situation in that quarterback room. It’s very hard to have that in the transfer portal era of college football, to have two or three quarterbacks on your roster that you feel good about right now.”

Raiola will have to battle against last season's QB1, Heinrich Haarberg, to win the coveted spot. Last season, the Cornhuskers' season fell off the rails after a promising start and the team finished with a 5-7 record.

After a Ffall camp session, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule's comments to the media regarding Dylan Raiola possibly being the team's starter will give Cornhuskers fans goosebumps.

"If he goes out there on Day 1, he will be ready," Rhule said. "But you must be willing to ride the highs and lows with a freshman so he doesn't play afraid. His maturity has allowed him to do that, making him viable and ready to grace the gridiron as a freshman."

If Dylan Raiola wins Nebraska's QB1 spot, a lot of eyes will be on him to see how he makes the step up from high school to college football and whether he will justify the hype that he has generated.