Finding the right quarterback is important for every program. That’s especially true at a place like Nebraska, where head coach Matt Rhule is in the process of rebuilding the program.
However, it’s important to remember that a quarterback cannot fix all of a team’s problems on their own. It’s important to have players around the quarterback to help them out, as Rhule explained during an appearance on Always College Football.
“I think it’s everything,” Matt Rhule said. “I think if you want to ask your quarterback to try to be one of the best players, he can’t try to do things outside of himself. He’s got to stay within himself, let the game come to him and just distribute the ball and make good decisions and trust the people around them. So, whether it was really bulking up our offensive line and bulking up our protection whether it was going out and getting weapons at the wide receiver position, the tight end position, and the running back position.”
In 2023, Rhule’s first season at Nebraska, quarterback was a major concern and the team saw three quarterbacks take a significant number of snaps. However, as Rhule explained part of the issue for those signal callers was the youth they were working with for weapons. It’s an issue that he doesn’t expect to be a problem next season.
“Kind of what happened to us last year, we lost three receivers and we played a bunch of freshmen out there, and they played their way through it. Guys like Jaylen Lloyd, Malachi Coleman, they played through the highs and lows of being a true freshman and now in the spring, they know what to expect. So, you see them making big plays,” Rhule said. “We bring in Isaiah Neyor. We bring in Jahmal Banks, two really accomplished players as older players, and what we have now is a receiver room that we think is eight, nine, 10 guys strong that can go out and win in the Big Ten.”
Matt Rhule still has to make a decision moving forward at quarterback. As of now, Dylan Raiola and Heinrich Haarberg around among the quarterbacks battling to be Nebraska’s starter.
Matt Rhule says Dylan Raiola is capable of starting as a freshman
Matt Rhule believes that Dylan Raiola has the makeup to be capable of starting as a freshman. A lot of that, he explained, comes down to his family.
“He was raised in a football family. His grandfather played at the University of Miami. His Dad was obviously a 14-year pro in Detroit. A great, great offensive lineman. His uncle, Donovan, he works for us. Great offensive lineman at Wisconsin and the NFL… It’s an athletic family, it’s a football family. Dylan, to me, comes in as a young player but he understands that it’s a 24-hour deal to be the starting quarterback at a place like Nebraska. think that background has helped him walk in here in a really mature way,” Rhule said.
“He wants to be a pro. He doesn’t just want to walk in and learn the pass plays. He wants to learn how to flip the protection and what are the run checks. He’s up early in the morning, he’s working at it all the time.”
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