The Arizona State Sun Devils’ Freshman Quarterback and former 4-Star recruit, Jaden Rashada, entered the Transfer Portal on April 18, 2024. Rashada was the 2023 QB6 and 44th overall recruit. We’ve had a few crazy recruiting stories so far in this series, but we don’t think any will be as crazy as Rashada.
Rashada was committed to three schools before signing his Letter of Intent(that he didn’t ask to be released from), and it all starts back in June 2022. On June 21, Rashada took an official visit to the Miami Hurricanes, and two days later on June 23, he received the 24/7 Sports Crystal Ball to Miami. On June 26, Rashada officially committed to Miami. On November 10, Rashada decommitted from Miami and announced his commitment to Florida, who he hadn’t visited since his OV on June 7.
Rashada stayed committed to the Gators, and signed on Early National Signing Day December 20. It was reported at some point that Rashada received an NIL deal from the Gators worth more than $13 million over his four years.
It later came out that Rashada agreed to said NIL deal with the “Gator Collective”. They are NOT officially affiliated with the University of Florida, but they are a fundraising arm that gives money to student-athletes in all sports, not just football. Rashada asked to be released from his Letter of Intent with the Gators due to the Gator Collective being unable to honor his NIL Deal. The Gator Collective was later shut down, and on January 20, 2023 Rashada was granted his release.
On National Signing Day, Rashada committed to and signed his Letter of Intent with Arizona State, which was his father’s alma mater.
As a true freshman, Rashada started in 3 games. His first start came in Week 1 against Southern Utah. Rashada led the Sun Devils to his only win this year 24-21. He went 18/31 for 236 yards and 2 TDs, also adding 2 yards on 3 carries. His second start came the following week against Oklahoma State in a game they lost 27-15. Rashada went 16/29 for 167 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. He also added 3 yards on 5 carries. His 3rd and final start didn’t come until rivalry week, which is the last week of the season. Rashada went 10/22 for 82 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs, also adding 18 yards on 6 carries in ASU’s 59-23 loss to Arizona. It sounds like Rashada dealt with a few injuries throughout the year, with a knee injury being the only one we could find anything about.
Rashada ended up committing to Georgia out of the Portal on April 25, 2024. This is a great situation for Rashada. Rashada is coming off offseason thumb surgery from a non-football related incident, so he will be able to take his time recovering from that as well as the slew of injuries he dealt with during the 2023 season. There is no immediate need for Rashada to start with 2023 QB Carson Beck coming back for another year. Although reports had it that in his three starts in 2023, Rashada flashed signs of being a major talent.
With missing spring ball, Rashada has work to do to work his way up the QB depth chart. Current Georgia QB2, Gunner Stockton, should remain the backup to Beck heading into summer/fall camp. 2024 4-Star QB commit Ryan Puglisi also missed a chunk of Georgia spring ball with a knee injury. Puglisi when healthy though can’t be counted out. Puglisi stayed committed to Georgia, despite the short lived Dylan Raiola commitment and multiple last minute recruiting pushes by other schools. Puglisi seems determined to compete at Georgia to one day be the starter. Rashada needs to come ready to work and COMPETE if he has hopes of being the Georgia starting QB in 2025.
IF Rashada can’t beat out the rest of the room heading into the 2025 season, don’t be surprised if he heads into the portal again. We are not trying to tarnish Rashada at all, but it’s hard to deny facts. He was committed to three different schools from June 2022-January 2023, and Georgia is now his 4th commitment. Just something to keep in the back of your mind.