Broncos Land Their 2018 QB Recruit

After a whirlwind in recruiting starting in early December, Boise State has landed a verbal pledge from Riley Smith two weeks before National Signing Day.

Their first QB commit (and one of their longest commits at the time), Zach Wilson opened up his recruiting right before the Early Signing Period, leaving the Boise State coaches to recruit and make plans on the fly heading right in to the Dead Period, making the timing as difficult as could be. The coaching staff ending up extending two QB offers to HS recruits Brock Purdy out of AZ and Riley Smith from Florida (In addition to this, they secured a commitment from a JUCO QB as well as a walk-on JUCO QB).

Both of these quarterbacks seems to be made a priority, as coaches have been conducting in-home visits with both since the Dead Period ended a few weeks ago. Purdy visited campus the weekend of the 13th, with Smith visiting the following weekend on the 20th.

However, both recruits have seen more teams jump in the mix over the past few weeks as teams are all scrambling to find a QB and the pool being smaller than usual. This is due to the Early Signing Period, so teams cannot try to flip recruits from schools. Instead, there are many teams after a small number of recruits at each position, with the spotlight in this case being focused on quarterback. Purdy has seen Iowa State, UCF, Alabama, and Texas A&M (among others) enter the picture. Smith has seen increased interest from Pitt and UCF, among others, with Pitt offering on Tuesday.

Not to be outdone by other schools, Boise State sent in their closing team of recruiters Wednesday. WR coach Eric Kiesau, QB coach Zak Hill, and Head Coach Bryan Harsin all flying out for a visit with Riley, and it ended up paying off as his he gave his verbal pledge.

The Broncos were very fortunate to be able to get a quarterback of Smith’s caliber this late in the recruiting process. He has huge size at a listed 6’5 and 215lbs. Also, Riley possesses a big-time arm capable of making deep throws with nice touch, hitting receivers in stride. He’s also able to make plays with his legs, evading pressure and making tacklers miss, being surprising quick and nimble for someone his size.

MWConnection got in touch with Smith, here is what he had to say about his commitment:

“The winning culture was really big for me. Going from my high school (Bartram Trail HS), there wouldn’t be any change in the mindset of winning. Also, I really enjoyed connecting with the players and coaches while I was on my visit.”

The way the coaches were, sincere and taking an interest in not only Riley, but his family, played a big role in winning him over.

“How they came in and interacted with not just me, but my family was huge. Family is a huge deal to me and they were very genuine. Great guys. Coach Hill has been my main recruiter throughout the process. He’s complimented me on my ability to make different kinds of throws and to use my legs in certain situations.”

The Broncos are not only getting a talented player with a high-ceiling at a premium position, but they also landed a high-quality young man. Riley committed to the Broncos Wednesday night, but waited to announce his decision until he talked to all the other schools who were involved in his recruitment, which as discussed above seemed to be growing by the day.

“I believe Boise State is getting a guy who wants to win, and will do whatever it takes to win. I’m someone who will lead on and off the field and push himself to his best ability in whatever the task at hand is.”

Below are his highlights. Smith is a 3-star recruit on both Rivals and 247. He is ranked as the 22nd best pro-style QB on Rivals and the 41st on 247.

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