Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 1 game
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 | W 84-0vs Portland State | 11/11 | 124 | 3 | 0 | 11.3 | 72.4 | Season-high 124 yds |
#8
Dylan Raiola
Dylan Raiola left a starting job and Nebraska's throne for a better shot at Oregon. Then the Ducks' NFL-bound starter shocked everyone and came back -- and now football's most famous transfer is redshirting.
6′3″ · 230 lb · Buford, GA · Buford HS
CFB Index 41 · #90 of 146 QBsHigh confidenceWatch-list name (model)Transferred Nebraska → Oregon for 2026
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The numbers
124
passing yards · 2026 · through week 3
1 game into 2026 so far -- Best game: 124 pass yds, 3 TD, -9 rush yds, vs Portland State
The play that turned itSwung Nebraska from 8% to 52% to win.Michigan at Nebraska · 30-27
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Dylan Raiola left a starting job and Nebraska's throne for a better shot at Oregon. Then the Ducks' NFL-bound starter shocked everyone and came back -- and now football's most famous transfer is redshirting.
- Signed as a 5-star recruit to Nebraska in 2024.
- Transferred from Nebraska to Oregon in 2026.
Aura™ · Him Watch
Hype = tape
+5aura tax
Fans rank this player in the 77th percentile of QBs; the tape says
71st pctl our passing-value metric (wEPA) QBs · 160 qualified, n=167
— the discourse is fair.Aura — fan perception77th pctl
Production — on-field71st pctl
n=167 mentions · cohort: QBs · 160 qualified · perception = conversation volume, production = our passing-value metric (wEPA)
Buzz vs Tape
Country hotter than the fans
The wider college football conversation reads him warmer than his own fans do — a gap of 31.7 points in belief.
8.3own fans
40national conversation
Dante Moore headlines the best quarterback room in college football. He and Dylan Raiola showed why Oregon fans should have a ton of confidence in the group. On today's episode of Locked On Ducks, Spencer McLaughlin also talks about what…
Also worth knowing:
In Their Words
556 windows · 2026 fan posts
dylan×33.9nebraska×30.7rhule×122.8colandrea×56.9oregon×8.0clear×26.1next×8.8gets×10.5
“Both of Oregon’s QB targets off of the board today. I fear I might see Dylan Raiola play football for my team”
reddit/CFB · fan post, verbatim
The story
Read that again: the highest-ranked recruit Nebraska ever signed -- son of a 14-year NFL center, the face of Matt Rhule's rebuild -- walked away from 22 career starts and won't take a meaningful snap in 2026. The exits weren't only his: his uncle was let go from Nebraska's staff and his brother decommitted, so the family's Lincoln chapter closed all at once.
What he's really betting on is 2027. Dante Moore's surprise return turned the Oregon move into the same apprenticeship Moore once served behind Dillon Gabriel -- a year to learn the system before the keys are his. Before the broken leg ended his Nebraska season, Raiola was completing 72%. The arm was never the question. The question is patience: whether a five-star raised to be The Guy can spend a year as the understudy -- and whether the gamble reads as brilliant or premature when 2027 finally comes.
His career
He was winning awards before he was old enough to be a story.
Raiola looks the part to an almost cartoonish degree -- a broad, NFL-built frame, a compact over-the-top release, the pre-snap command that drew Patrick Mahomes comparisons before a college snap. The tape, what there is of it, backs the projection: 86th-percentile accuracy and an 18-to-6 touchdown-to-interception line before a broken leg ended his Nebraska season at nine games. The honest tell is the sack rate -- bottom-ten percent -- he holds the ball hunting the throw, for better and worse, the habit a young quarterback either refines into patience or pays for. The catch for 2026 is that there won't be new tape: he's redshirting behind Dante Moore, developing in practice, not on Saturdays. This is a projection year, banking reps for the 2027 audition the whole bet is built around.
Written by our staff.
202413 games
- Signed with Nebraska5-star out of Buford
- All-Big Ten
2026
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎓
FRESHMAN HONORS
Freshman recognition (2024)
1 mention(s)
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coach2024–2026
Oregon
Played his entire career under Dan Lanning.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Oregon
2025Nebraska
2026Oregon
Career stats
Game log
Signature plays
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
- Week 3 · Portland State · 3&5 · Q3 · EPA +2.90(09:29) Shotgun #8 D.Raiola pass complete short left to #19 A.Olesh caught at PSU00, for 13 yards to the PSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 09:27, 1ST DOWN #25 R.Graziano kick attempt good (H: #39 B.Ettridge, LS: #71 R.Todd)
- Week 3 · Portland State · 3&7 · Q4 · EPA +2.88(14:56) #8 D.Raiola pass complete short right to #89 B.Bidwell caught at PSU00, for 7 yards to the PSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:55, 1ST DOWN #25 R.Graziano kick attempt good (H: #39 B.Ettridge, LS: #71 R.Todd)
- Week 3 · Portland State · 2&9 · Q3 · EPA -2.72(08:34) Shotgun #8 D.Raiola sacked for loss of 9 yards to the PSU46 (#31 L.Lisherness, #97 J.Taylor)
- Week 3 · Portland State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.58(04:08) Shotgun #8 D.Raiola pass complete short left to #15 M.Hampton caught at PSU00, for 17 yards to the PSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 04:08, 1ST DOWN #25 R.Graziano kick attempt good (H: #39 B.Ettridge, LS: #71 R.Todd)
- Week 3 · Portland State · 2&17 · Q3 · EPA +1.80(01:47) No Huddle-Shotgun #8 D.Raiola pass complete short right to #21 D.Riggs caught at PSU40, for 24 yards to the PSU10 (#80 E.Vega), 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · Portland State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +0.94(13:17) No Huddle-Shotgun #8 D.Raiola pass complete short left to #13 G.Bair caught at ORE35, for 10 yards to the ORE40 (#26 S.Melson), 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · Portland State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +0.50(12:19) No Huddle-Shotgun #8 D.Raiola pass complete short right to #13 G.Bair caught at PSU40, for 10 yards to the PSU35 (#26 S.Melson), 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · Portland State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +0.31(10:43) Shotgun #8 D.Raiola pass complete short right to #83 H.Lewis caught at PSU20, for 7 yards to the PSU11 (#22 D.Washington)
- Week 3 · Portland State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +0.23(04:27) Shotgun #8 D.Raiola pass complete short left to #15 M.Hampton caught at PSU17, for 13 yards to the PSU17, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · Portland State · 3&18 · Q3 · EPA +0.19(07:45) Shotgun #8 D.Raiola pass complete short right to #2 I.Hooks caught at PSU48, for 6 yards to the PSU40 (#30 L.Solomon)
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2024Nebraska7-6HC: Matt Rhule · Balanced
2025Nebraska7-6HC: Matt Rhule · Run-leaning
2026Oregon2-1HC: Dan Lanning · Balanced
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Box-score percentiles
High confidence
Elite: completion % (100th percentile). Strength: yards / att (98th percentile). Concern: pass yards (0th percentile).
Box-score rates (7)
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 1 game: 124 YDS/g, 3.0 TD/g, 11.3 YPA, 0.0 INT/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dan Lanning
Pass share
50.9%
110 pass / 106 run
Plays / game
72.0
3 games
Scheme: Balanced.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Watch-list name (model)
Our Heisman model has him inside the top 25; he is not on a published award watch list yet.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
How he plays
Play style
Raiola looks the part to an almost cartoonish degree -- a broad, NFL-built frame, a compact over-the-top release, the pre-snap command that drew Patrick Mahomes comparisons before a college snap. The tape, what there is of it, backs the projection: 86th-percentile accuracy and an 18-to-6 touchdown-to-interception line before a broken leg ended his Nebraska season at nine games. The honest tell is the sack rate -- bottom-ten percent -- he holds the ball hunting the throw, for better and worse, the habit a young quarterback either refines into patience or pays for. The catch for 2026 is that there won't be new tape: he's redshirting behind Dante Moore, developing in practice, not on Saturdays. This is a projection year, banking reps for the 2027 audition the whole bet is built around.
Our classifier reads him the same way: operates within the system without forcing anything.
Starter
Returning starter at quarterback for a 13-2 Oregon team that went -18 in the portal.
DNA match
Player DNA
Pocket Passer
Balanced passer who operates within the system, without one standout number carrying the profile.
QB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Joey Labas’s 2025 season.
58%match
Matches Joey on
Yards / attempt
Height
Differs from Joey on
Class year (lower)
Weight (higher)
Rush yards / carry (lower)
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Aidan O'Connell’s path through Purdue.
88%match
All-Big TenNFL Rd 4
Matches Aidan on
Height
Yards per attempt
Completion %
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to JT Daniels's sophomore season at Georgia (2021).
54%match
Matches JT on
Height
Differs from JT on
Class year (lower)
EPA / dropback (adj) (lower)
Rush usage (higher)
Player DNA
Players who play like Dylan Raiola
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peak #61
Peaked at #61 this season.
Background
As A Sophomore at Nebraska (2025) » Academic All-Big Ten (2025) » Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Spring 2025) » Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2025) Started at quarterback in all nine games played for the Huskers, leading them to a 6-3 record before suffering a season ending injury...…
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology