Vanderbilt freshman quarterback Jared Curtis has a fan in a former Commodores and NFL Pro Bowler Jay Cutler.
“Me and the boys went down and watched (him) before Christmas; kid’s the real,” Cutler said in an interview with Outsider. “I mean he can go.”
Curtis, the No. 2 quarterback in the country from the class of 2026, made national headlines last December when he flipped his commitment from Georgia to Vanderbilt ahead of signing day on Dec. 3, becoming the highest-ranked recruit in Commodores history. He was the No. 1 recruit in the country when he signed. He finished as the No. 4 recruit after the final rankings were released.
Curtis, the heir apparent to Diego Pavia, was an early enrollee at Vanderbilt and began practicing with the team ahead of its appearance in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31.
“It’s hard for me to be excited about a 17, 18-year-old,” Cutler said. “He’s not. That dude, he is an absolute specimen. He makes it look very, very easy. Just his motion, and he’s got a cannon.”
In 2025, Curtis led Nashville Christian to a second consecutive TSSAA football state title in Division II-A, passing for 2,073 yards with 36 touchdowns and six interceptions while rushing for 614 yards and 11 scores.
He closed his high school career winning back-to-back DII-A Mr. Football and Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year awards, while also being named The Tennessean’s High School Sportsperson of the Year for 2025.
“The future is bright,” Cutler said. “I think with him, he’s going to start. He has to start next year.”
Cutler played at Vanderbilt from 2001-2005, passing for 8,697 yards with 59 touchdowns and 36 interceptions, and later earned an induction into the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. After four seasons starting for the Commodores, Cutler was selected 11th overall by the Denver Broncos in the 2006 NFL Draft, before later going on to play seven seasons with the Chicago Bears.
Harrison Campbell can be reached at hcampbell@usatodayco.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
