Who will be Nebraska’s starting quarterback in 2024? Head coach Matt Rhule was asked that very question while appearing on The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell of the On3 network.
Rhule made it clear that there is no timetable for announcing the starting quarterback.
“I think when we know, we know. It’s one of those deals like, I don’t want to play games with people. If we know, we know. At the same time, I’ve watched enough major college football, and we’ve figured out here it’s gonna take a couple of guys. Most years, you’re not gonna play just one quarterback. So, our job is to push all of those guys to be great. Our job is to give them all opportunities to show what they can do and grow.”
The Cornhuskers currently have three quarterbacks on the roster. Junior Heinrich Haarberg and freshmen Dylan Raiola and Danny Kaelin. The Husker head coach spoke in detail about the need for multiple quarterbacks on your roster to be ready to play at any given moment.
“You go back to our last year at Baylor, and we sat there with Charlie Brewer all year long. All of a sudden, he’s hurt, and we’re in the Big 12 Championship Game. We’ve got our third-string quarterback, who’s played one snap the entire year out there trying to bring us back, which he did. So we’re gonna coach everybody, but in terms of naming a starter, we know when it’s clear we’ll do it.”
Nebraska started three quarterbacks (Jeff Sims, Chubba Purdy, and Heinrich Haarberg) last season. The Cornhuskers’ spring game will take place on April 27 at 11:00 a.m.
The elder statesman in the room this upcoming spring is no other than Heinrich Haarberg.
The other two scholarship quarterbacks are early enroll true freshmen in Daniel Kaelin and Dylan Raiola.
This does not make me feel great about the upcoming season. Unless Haarberg makes a big jump this season (which I am hoping for) then Nebraska is left with starting either a highly regarded true freshmen or a highly regarded true freshman.
Neither is ideal at this point which might show how important this spring season is for the quarterback room.
I do wonder if this spring will determine whether Nebraska is going to have to bring in a veteran transfer (hopefully one pops into the portal). I believe you should look to do so regardless because getting another scholarship quarterback on the roster only makes sense.
But as Matt Rhule says, you don’t take one just to take one. You do so if it upgrades the roster.
Gone
I realize nobody wants to think about these guys, but it’s important to remember where we were.
Jeff Sims
Jeff Sims started the season as a turnover machine, losing the Minnesota game and it didn’t get any better after that.
Sims started 5 games, completed 28 of 47 attempts for 282 yards. He had one TD and SIX INTERCEPTIONS for the season.
Chubba Purdy
Purdy could have been the veteran quarterback Nebraska needs for the 2024 season, but he probably saw the writing on the wall with Dylan Raiola coming in.
Chubba Purdy started 6 games, completed 31 of 57 attempts for 382 yards. He had two touchdowns and THREE Interceptions.
