Five-star Jared Curtis has arrived at Vanderbilt … but might not play right away

AlabamaArizonaBYUGeorgiaGeorgia TechHoustonIndianaIowaJames MadisonMiami (FL)MichiganNorth TexasNotre DameOhio StateOklahomaOle MissOregonTexas A&MTexasTexas TechTulaneUSCUtahVanderbiltVirginiaScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsNewsletterRecruitingOddsPicksBest Portal Classes2026 CFB PredictionsEarly Top 25Transfer QB RankingsCollege Football Quarterback Jared Curtis is the highest-ranked signee in program history. Denny Simmons / USA Today Network via Imagn Images Share articleNASHVILLE, Tenn. — Quarterback plays that bend brains did not leave Vanderbilt with Diego Pavia. Mine just had fun processing this one: The new guy drops back, feels pressure, rolls right, sees an open receiver down the sideline, lets one fly in full sprint and watches it land softly in both hands, in stride, about 40 yards downfield. Then celebrates that display of arm strength and touch with one more flex in the form of a backflip. Here’s the twist: It was the other new guy. It wasn’t early-enrolled freshman Jared Curtis, the No. 2-ranked player by 247Sports in the class of 2026, the former Georgia commitment whose flip to his hometown Commodores in December capped an impossibly delightful 2025 for Clark Lea’s program, and whose first few weeks of chucking footballs on campus have done nothing to mute the belief that he is a towering talent. Curtis was standing and watching as senior Blaze Berlowitz made that play on the final snap of Thursday’s practice. On Saturday, they both performed in Vandy’s spring game in front of a few thousand fans at FirstBank Stadium — a game moved up three hours to avoid oncoming rain — and provided scant fodder with a 60-minute running clock and two other quarterbacks getting series. It was still enough to confirm what people have been saying around the program. One, that Curtis is as advertised. The Nashville Christian product looks bigger and stronger than his listed 6 feet 3, 230, and it’s possible a Vanderbilt football uniform has never been filled by a more gifted player of the game. He had a couple of throws Saturday that made me wonder if AI arms are a thing now. Are the machines going to perfect football before they kill us all? Okay, Jared Curtis 👀 pic.twitter.com/I04dQyj142 — SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) April 18, 2026 Two, that this is a real competition. Which may not thrill every fan. But might be a good sign for Vanderbilt’s hopes of staying relevant in The Year 1 AD (After Diego) and beyond. Quarterback depth, in this economy? It’s precious, as is the potential effect on an 18-year-old who should be planning a pontoon excursion for “senior skip day” but is instead taking college courses and learning an SEC offense. Social media and bank accounts may tell a young person in Curtis’ position one thing, but the daily work after he levels up tells him another. Lea has of course been eager to see what’s catching Curtis’ ear. “I’m so impressed with his humility, his process,” Lea told The Athletic. “And with his ownership of the things he doesn’t know yet, and his commitment to grow and get better. Like any young person, part of our job is to mentor and grow them through all the things that exist now, the distractions, whether it’s NIL or just the attention. But he’s not one who is looking to be distracted. So I’ve enjoyed sitting with him and having those conversations, and also enjoyed watching him engage with his teammates.” In an era that values quarterbacks in their fourth and fifth years  — many of them on their second and third schools — the 2025 season was a big one for true freshmen. Four started from day one at Power 4 programs, after just two (Donovan Raiola at Nebraska and Jaden Rashada at Arizona State) had done so in the previous four seasons. BYU’s Bear Bachmeier, Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Michigan’s Bryce Underwood and Maryland’s Malik Washington did fine overall — 61 touchdowns, 34 picks and a 32-20 record combined — while enduring some freshman moments. Same with Pittsburgh’s Mason Heintschel after he took over that starting job from Eli Holstein a few games into the season. But there are reasons we don’t see it often. Just one of those teams, BYU, had serious College Football Playoff designs well into November. The ideal path, even for the ultra-talented, highly recruited passer, is to get a year to acclimate to college and the higher level of football. Think CJ Stroud, Bryce Young (who didn’t redshirt but did back up Mac Jones as a frosh) and Drake Maye. This eliminates mistakes, mistakes that can harm confidence and lose games, before they’re made. Of course, it’s natural to assume that Vanderbilt, even after an unprecedented 10-win season, would simply hand the offense over to an unprecedented prospect like Curtis. But Berlowitz is plus-sized Pavia. He’s a 6-3, 200-pound creator who clearly embraced the influence of the 2025 Heisman runner-up while sitting behind him at Vanderbilt and New Mexico State. (So yes, it’s possible New Mexico State will deliver Vanderbilt consecutive starting quarterbacks, which would make it the greatest feeder team since the Tidewater Tides sent Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry and Lenny Dykstra to the New York Mets in the 1980s.) Lea said Berlowitz has “unique athletic ability,” but has been most impressed with how he has operated within Tim Beck’s system in the spring. Getting the offense in the right play, getting players in the right spots, recognizing protections, throwing the ball away … these things really only excite coaches, but that’s because they know how hard it is to win with quarterbacks who don’t do them well. So that’s Curtis’ charge. A public look at both quarterbacks on the same field Saturday left no doubt which of the two was more talented. When Curtis plays in a real game — and that will certainly happen in 2026 — the thing that will surprise people is how athletic, mobile and improvisational he can be. Before the AI arm even starts firing. “Creative elements will be there and be dynamic,” Lea said Saturday of Curtis, “but he has to consistently own the operation.” Vanderbilt didn’t make Berlowitz or Curtis available after Saturday’s exhibition, though Curtis told reporters earlier this month of his process: “I’m getting there. … The biggest thing is just trying to get the plays down.” Lea said he is “not anti” the idea of using both quarterbacks early in the season. That would be my guess right now. It would also be my guess that by preseason 2027, the Curtis comparisons will not be with anyone on his own roster but with the best quarterbacks around the sport. He has to put in the work to get there, but the tools are undeniable and will at least flash this fall. “In a perfect world, you’re playing with one quarterback,” Lea said. “That’s a perfect world. But we need to be open to every possibility. We have to position this team to win.” That’s the expectation at Vanderbilt now. And though Lea is losing the player who reinvented his program, this is his most talented team yet. The Commodores could be a real problem again as soon as The Year 2 AD. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Joe Rexrode is a senior writer for The Athletic covering college football. He previously worked at The Tennessean, Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Journal, and covered the Pyeongchang, Rio and London Olympics for USA Today. Follow Joe on Twitter @joerexrode