Five-star QB Jarrett Stidham decommits from the Texas Tech Red Raiders

The consensus five-star prospect, who is rated as the top dual-threat quarterback in the country by 247Sports, had been committed to the Red Raiders since early March, when he pledged after a trip to Lubbock.

As the centerpiece of a strong 2015 recruiting class, Stidham was key to the rebuilding efforts of head coach Kliff Kingsbury. He was the best quarterback commit in the modern history of Texas Tech football. In that sense, Stidham’s decision could send shockwaves through the rest of the class.

What’s surprising about the decision is that Stidham hadn’t visibly wavered in the months since his commitment -- no visits to other schools on his 247Sports profile, no talk about reconsidering his pledge. From the outside looking in, there was nothing that foreshadowed his Saturday announcement. However, the recent success of freshman quarterback Pat Mahomes could have played a role in the decision. The loss will leave the Red Raiders scrambling to find a quarterback in the current cycle, as well as hold together the rest of the class.

According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Stidham is the No. 26 player nationally, the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback, and the No. 5 player in the state of Texas. Prior to his commitment, he held offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, Florida, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, and Washington State. And considering how highly he is rated, most of those schools would probably still take a commitment from the 6’4, 190-pounder, even though it’s late in the recruiting process.

Another school to watch is Baylor. The Bears have a quarterback commit in Temple (Texas) athlete Chad President, but Stidham is a much safer bet as a more developed quarterback. Furthermore, head coach Art Briles has connections to Stephenville because he was a long-time coach at the school before moving on to the college ranks.

There’s also Oregon, a school that recruited Stidham hard prior to his pledge and will almost certainly be looking for a new starting quarterback next season after the likely departure of Heisman winner Marcus Mariota. Interestingly enough, the decision by Stidham to decommit came shortly after Mariota was announced as the winner in New York.

So stay tuned, because one of the best quarterbacks in the country is back on the market with less than two months until Signing Day.