2 QBs on the field?

Mavric said:
Part of - maybe a lot of - the reason we've struggled getting some QB depth over the last 10ish years is we had two straight guys who started as Freshman and stayed until they were seniors (TMartinez and Armstrong).  That's not the most appealing situation to recruit into.  On the day Gebbia committed I said there was basically no chance that both he and POB finished their careers at Nebraska.  That's just how it works now-a-days.

McCaffrey is basically the perfect guy to bring in one year behind Martinez: an elite athlete who - due to lack of experience - has some growing to do as a QB.  That combined (hopefully) with his family background would give you a guy who is fine with waiting a bit.  But I would say the chances of both him and Smothers both playing out their eligibility here is already extremely small (barring a position switch for one). So you keep Smothers in the fold and work like crazy on your 2021 guy.  Because you can bank on losing at least one of the three.  So you've got to keep the hopper full.
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Great summary, Mav.  With QB's, teams have to recruit one or two great ones every year, and hope they stick around.  It's nearly impossible to control the QB transfer problem, it's just the way of life in college football.  Hopefully Frost and Verduzco build the relationships with the QB's and they want to stick around, but there are going to be guys that transfer.  I'm sure both McCaffrey and Smothers think they are going to win the QB job in 2021 (assuming Adrian leaves early for the NFL), as you have pointed out, it's unlikely that both of them stay at NU for their entire college careers.

I think one avenue where Frost can use to keep the QB depth strong is targeting walk-ons each year.  Frost can ask an in-state or nearby QB to walk-on, and if he ends up getting the #2 spot, he will be put on scholarship.

 
Mavric said:
Part of - maybe a lot of - the reason we've struggled getting some QB depth over the last 10ish years is we had two straight guys who started as Freshman and stayed until they were seniors (TMartinez and Armstrong).  That's not the most appealing situation to recruit into.
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Totally agree. I harped on Bo towards the tail end of his career as being a guy "who couldn't recruit a really good quarterback" but the T-Magic situation started things off on the wrong foot from the get-go.

On a slightly different train of thought, this is where the beginning of the Frost era has had a huge boost: If you're going to play a true freshman and he winds up being the guy (especially in a system like this), you want him to be really, really good. And that describes 2AM. It's a setup that plays off of what Frost/Verduzco did with Milton and kind of cements us as "Mobile Quarterback U." And you see this in the recruiting already; we're set up to not have the same struggles because there will be competitive depth.

Hopefully this doesn't strike up a huge argument over past seasons, etc., but T-Magic was just good enough to probably fend off some decent JUCO prospects and some other would-be game changers for us but not good enough (in my humble opinion) to set a tone that Bo's offense grew great quarterbacks. Point is, Frost doesn't have that problem at all and it feels amazing.

 
Mavric said:
Part of - maybe a lot of - the reason we've struggled getting some QB depth over the last 10ish years is we had two straight guys who started as Freshman and stayed until they were seniors (TMartinez and Armstrong).  That's not the most appealing situation to recruit into.  On the day Gebbia committed I said there was basically no chance that both he and POB finished their careers at Nebraska.  That's just how it works now-a-days.
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I think you're right, but I would probably lean towards the 'part of' explanation myself. I think it's a nasty mixture of coaching changes, inadequate coaching, a sampling of disappointing recruiting and then QB longevity.

In today's game, I just don't have a good gauge of how much the QB longevity thing plays a role. I'm not saying it's irrelevant by any means, but it seems like most people expect a young, talented QB to leave within three years. That's what everybody expects for Martinez. Toss in the four game redshirt rule, and that the QB transferring stigma declines every single year now, and it's even more enticing to head to a program that already has an established starter.

I also think I've heard Clouse and Schaefer say most of the QB recruits they talk to don't care much about the current QB situation because they're so confident in their own abilities that they feel, at some point, they'll start. And if they have to transfer, it's a 'so be it' sort of a thing.

 
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Enhance said:
I also think I've heard Clouse and Schaefer say most of the QB recruits they talk to don't care much about the current QB situation because they're so confident in their own abilities that they feel, at some point, they'll start. And if they have to transfer, it's a 'so be it' sort of a thing.
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I agree with this. You don't become an athlete at the level these guys are at if you don't go into any competition, regardless of established starter, thinking you're not going to beat them out. A lot of these kids have probably already beaten out an established starter ahead of them in youth or high school.

 
WyoHusker56 said:
I agree with this. You don't become an athlete at the level these guys are at if you don't go into any competition, regardless of established starter, thinking you're not going to beat them out. A lot of these kids have probably already beaten out an established starter ahead of them in youth or high school.
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And yet, most of them transfer. 

There is definitely an argument to be made that many of the top QBs can make more realistic decisions when it comes to recruiting.

 
Enhance said:
I also think I've heard Clouse and Schaefer say most of the QB recruits they talk to don't care much about the current QB situation because they're so confident in their own abilities that they feel, at some point, they'll start. And if they have to transfer, it's a 'so be it' sort of a thing.
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It depends on the situation and what they were looking at for "QB situation" I would think.  I don't think they really care who the backups are.  But how old the starter is would seem to be relevant.

This really doesn't mean a whole lot but just as an example Clemson got Deshaun Watson as the #1 QB in the country and #42 player overall in the 2014 class.  He didn't play a lot that year but their QB in the 2015 class was Kelly Bryant who was #420 overall and a three-star.  By the time the 2016 class came around, Watson was rolling and they got Zerrick Cooper who was a four-star but down the list a ways.  For the 2017 class Watson was on his way out and they got Hunter Johnson who was a five-star and #30 overall in the country.  They followed that up with Lawrence who was the #1 overall player in the country.  But with Lawrance dominating, their QB for 2019 was lower-four-star Taisun Phommachanh.  Not that he's anything to sneeze at but a noticeable step down from where they were the previous two classes.  For 2020 - when Lawrence will be on the way out - they're back up to the #1 QB in the country and a five-star.

That's extremely anecdotal and maybe coincidental but that's just the first team I thought to look up and it kind of fit the pattern.

 
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Mavric said:
It depends on the situation and what they were looking at for "QB situation" I would think.  I don't think they really care who the backups are.  But how old the starter is would seem to be relevant.

This really doesn't mean a whole lot but just as an example Clemson got Deshaun Watson as the #1 QB in the country and #42 player overall in the 2014 class.  He didn't play a lot that year but their QB in the 2015 class was Kelly Bryant who was #420 overall and a three-star.  By the time the 2016 class came around, Watson was rolling and they got Zerrick Cooper who was a four-star but down the list a ways.  For the 2017 class Watson was on his way out and they got Hunter Johnson who was a five-star and #30 overall in the country.  They followed that up with Lawrence who was the #1 overall player in the country.  But with Lawrance dominating, their QB for 2019 was lower-four-star Taisun Phommachanh.  Not that he's anything to sneeze at but a noticeable step down from where they were the previous two classes.  For 2020 - when Lawrence will be on the way out - they're back up to the #1 QB in the country and a five-star.

That's extremely anecdotal and maybe coincidental but that's just the first team I thought to look up and it kind of fit the pattern.
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+1 for the joke in there, whether or not the Phommachanh/sneeze correlation was intentional.

 
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