Michigan State football: Newest QB commit is vastly underrated

The newest Michigan State football quarterback commit is severely underrated and one look at his resume tells you that.

Michigan State football stayed hot on the recruiting trail on Sunday night and landed its second quarterback in a week. This time Jonathan Smith landed 2024 three-star quarterback Alessio Milivojeci.

Milivojeci is a solid recruit according to the 247Sports composite rankings. They have him listed as a mid-three-star and a top 1,200 player in his class. They also have him as the 69th-best quarterback in 2024 as well. A lot of kids blossom into elite talent who are ranked this low, but does Milivojeci deserve to be ranked this low?

Alessio Milivojeci is severely underrated

It is borderline disrespectful how underrated Milivojeci is in the recruiting rankings. His high school accomplishments make him sound like a four-star recruit in the top 300 in his class. Yet he currently is barely cracking the top 1,200.

During this past season, he led his team to a 10-3 record and a trip to the Illinois state semifinals. During this season, he cemented himself as a legit dual-threat quarterback. He completed 251-of-345 passes (73%) for 3,408 yards. He also threw for 40 touchdowns with only four interceptions which is wildly impressive. Alessio also did a lot of damage on the ground, running the ball for 331 yards and nine touchdowns. That’s right, a state semifinalist quarterback with 49 touchdowns is barely a top 1,200 player in his class. Unbelievable.

247Sports OT7 Finals Camp

Recruiting sites like 247Sports or Rivals host camps for recruits for them to come and display their talents. This is the recruiting site’s best chance to watch the players and set their rankings accordingly. Milivojeci attended the OT7 Finals camp put on by 247Sports and got his chance to prove himself.

And boy did he ever.

Alessio “attending” the camp might not be the best word choice. He dominated the camp. Milivojeci did so well that they named him to the honorable mention Dream Team list. Obviously, that means he wasn’t the best player at the camp. But does someone barely in the top 1,200 usually even get close to being on the camp’s dream team? No, they do not.

Michigan State landed a good quarterback and don’t let his ranking make you think otherwise. Recruiting sites are good at what they do, but they are by no means perfect. Spartan fans are all too familiar with the concept of turning low-level recruits into NFL draft picks, as seen during the height of the Mark Dantonio era. I think Milivojeci has the potential to be just that when his time is done in East Lansing.