Did Wildcats Hit a Home Run at QB With Rios?

The Arizona Wildcats landed one of their top targets in the 2026 recruiting class and their highest-rated commitment last month.

That commitment came as their top quarterback target on the board decided he would announce his commitment to the Arizona Wildcats over the UCLA Bruins, who made him a priority throughout nearly his whole recruitment.

That prospect is Oscar Rios, who currently attends Downey High School and the state of California and is one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.

Rios is a former Purdue Boilermaker commit who decided to de-commit and officially visit three schools. Those three schools being the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the UCLA Bruins, and the Arizona Wildcats, who would later land his commitment to in the month of June.

Landing Rios' commitment was huge, but who did they miss on earlier in the cycle for them to be able to land Rios?

The first name that comes to mind is Jaden O'Neal, who announced that he would be flipping away from the Oklahoma Sooners, but wouldn’t be flipping to the Arizona Wildcats, despite having ties to former Arizona Wildcats star Ortege Jenkins.

He announced that he would be flipping his commitment to the Florida State Seminoles, who also made him feel like a priority throughout his recruitment. The talented prospect has plenty of potential and was, at one point was the Wildcats' top target as he was entertaining the idea of potentially being a Wildcat.

The Wildcats also had to pass up on another quarterback commit just to be able to land the talented prospect as they passed up on Femi Babalola, who is a Tennessee high school football star and would later commit to the Boston College Eagles, as he is arguably the best player in their class.

The talented prospect is arguably the most underrated quarterback in the nation, as he is not highly rated, but he has so much potential to be one of the better prospects when it’s all said and done.

So would we say the Wildcats are the winner?

Absolutely, the Wildcats are the winner. They landed the No. 10-ranked quarterback in the nation according to 247Sports, and he has plenty of potential to see the field very early in his career.

He was an Elite 11 finalist and competed at Elite 11 to prove he is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. He competed against many of the top quarterbacks, including Faizon Brandon, who is the number one player in the country and a Tennessee Volunteers football quarterback commit.