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Florida football: How much is a high school QB worth in NIL money?

By Will Thomas

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 12: Florida Gators commit Jaden Rashada looks on during the second half of a game between the Florida Gators and the South Carolina Gamecocks at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 12, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 12: Florida Gators commit Jaden Rashada looks on during the second half of a game between the Florida Gators and the South Carolina Gamecocks at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 12, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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Florida football’s 2023 recruiting class took a big hit with the loss of Jaden Rashada. After some issues with the NIL deal he was promised, Rashada chose to start fresh and look elsewhere to play college ball.

Allegedly, the deal Rashada was promised was around $13 million. But, now that the saga of his recruitment is over for UF, was he really worth that much?

Chris Doering made some comments on the radio this morning about the situation, stressing that Rashada didn’t deserve the $13 million.

“This kid does not deserve $13 million and I am so glad to hear that Florida will not be paying him that. And, I’m happy to hear that he will not be attending the University of Florida.”

Doering said that he would have been offended as a former Gator if Rashada had been given this deal. Why? Because there are so many former Gators who deserved it more. He acknowledged how much times have changed since then, but still made his point clear.

Guys like Tim Tebow, Danny Wuerffel, and Emmit Smith are some of the guys who would have deserved a NIL deal of this size “because of what they did when they played at the University of Florida.”

The idea of paying a high school player that much money before we even know if they have what it takes to play at the college level baffled Doering. And now that Rashda is gone, that idea is worth thinking about.

This is not to say that losing Rashada doesn’t hurt the Gators. It does. He was the top player in their 2023 class and would’ve competed for the QB job this upcoming season. But was $13 million too much?

What if he doesn’t pan out? What if he can’t find the field for the first few years of his career and transfers? Then the university looks silly for their investment.

NIL is a very complicated landscape, and the bidding wars for top prospects are only going to get more intense. But as more recruiting classes come and go and more dollars go into high school prospects, we may see a lot of schools face similar issues.

How much money are high school players really worth?

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