Nebraska’s quarterback room looks different this spring
Nebraska’s room is not a familiar one this spring. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
Quarterback rooms are often easy to categorize. In a lot of cases, there is the established starter and the backup trying not to think too far ahead. There is the prized recruit being developed for the future. There is the transfer brought in to steady things for a season. Sometimes there is a battle, but even then, the shape of it is usually familiar.
Nebraska’s room is not all that familiar.
That is true on paper, where the Huskers have three quarterbacks with Power Four experience competing this spring. It is true in practice, where reps are being rotated and evaluated in real time. It’s also true culturally, because what could easily become a tense, fragile room instead sounds collaborative.
“It’s very unique,” Nebraska quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas said Wednesday. “Obviously, we’re in unprecedented waters with the newness, the transition, the fluidity of rosters. But we’re very fortunate to have three guys that have experience. Great character, great people, fit in the room, it’s been an awesome part of that dynamic.
“Excited about not only the experience that they bring, but the character and the work ethic that they bring.”
That quote is one worth exploring further. When you break it down, experience is no longer guaranteed to come from the same pipeline and development is no longer always linear. A player can start games for Nebraska, leave, come back and still be part of a real competition. Another can arrive after winning a league player of the year award somewhere else and immediately become central to the room. Another can stay put, absorb the pressure of new additions and see it as fuel rather than threat.
That is the room as it stands right now.
TJ Lateef is the returning starter, at least technically, after taking over late last season when Dylan Raiola was injured. Daniel Kaelin is the familiar face who left for Virginia and then returned home. Anthony Colandrea is the transfer from UNLV, the reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year and, for now, the player many assume is leading the race.
All three have something to sell. All three have a reason to believe they belong.
