Observations From Nebraska's Football Camp Tour; What is Raiola's Biggest Asset? | B1G Today

no huge surprise still huge news Dylan Rola one of the top rated QBs in the class of 24 officially named opening day starter at Nebraska Rola has been on campus since last semester and was off the charts good during the Husker spring game now he gets the chance to do it for real when Nebraska opens up at home against UTP next Saturday afternoon and for much more on this news what it means for the Huskers welcoming Nebraska Insider mid Sherman who has as much info on big red as anybody out there Mitch what exactly did Matt rule say about why he made this decision to go with the highly touted freshman well Dylan Rola has a lot of poise um he has a big arm he's shown the leadership qualities that Nebraska looked for and needed to see in a true freshman to hand over the starting position um the Huskers of course have a returning eight game starter in Heinrich harberg and it was difficult for Matt rule to to look past that experience and go with a quarterback and Dylan riola who of course has not started a college game has not played in a college game this will be his his his debut uh next Saturday when UTEP comes to Lincoln but the measurables the intangibles all of the talent was um was overwhelming in favor of of Dylan Rola it was too much to to turn past so um this is the choice that really was widely expected since Dylan Rola joined the nebras aska program in January and since April really when he performed well in the spring game it's been a foregone conclusion Mitch let's talk not just about skill set but also mindset how do you think Dylan will handle the pressure of being a top tier quarterback in a place that is thirsting for some type of success well that certainly remains to be seen and it's a big wild card going into this season with the true freshman quarterback uh you've not seen him react to the kind of situations that he's going to be placed in really from the from the beginning but certainly when the Big 10 season begins when Colorado comes to town in week two for a night game uh those are just the kind of kind of situations that that at 19 years old he's he's not seen But for a 19-year-old for somebody who has this limited experience no experience at the college level Dylan Rola should be about as well adjusted as as capable of performing in that moment they know about as much about him as anybody who could walk into this situation one because of his knowledge of the Nebraska program growing up with with um insight into what it's like to play this position uh because of the connections that he's made to his father Dominic's quarterbacks at the NFL level and just the the uh the history that his family has at the University of Nebraska he is unique in that way um this is not your normal true freshman quarterback Who uh for whom everything is going to be new Dylan has a base of understanding but until he goes out and does it um there are questions that remain physically Mitch what are his biggest assets his arm um it's he has an NFL arm uh seems like a flick of a wrist he can throw the ball 55 60 65 yards in the air um we've really let to see yet to see him cut loose in the workouts that that that I've seen Dylan do and this goes back really to early in his high school time he has such an effortless motion that sometimes it looks like um or or you tend to to want him to actually step into a throw and and and unleash um and I'm interested to see when he gets out in a game situation if that's the case but everything that he's done all the throws that he's made whether it was at Nebraska's Pro Day last year um when he stepped in and threw to the wide receivers um some of the workouts that that that he did when he was on campus for camps as a high school player of course the spring game the practices that we've had the chance to see you know his arm is is special he can make um all the throws um and he can do it seemingly with with um W with very little effort uh so you know that's obviously a uh a positive sign for Nebraska because it's going to play some games that require him to put in a lot of effort especially when the weather gets poor um toward the end of the season you would think that means going downfield more maybe changing some of the offensive play calls but Mitch he's a freshman he's going to be playing his first game you don't want to put him in a tough spot either what do you expect from a play calling perspective early on in his Nebraska career safe uh they're going to look for ways to to get um the ball to to Playmakers and allow those guys to to make plays Nebraska has a stable of running backs and wide receivers and tight ends that should be able to benefit a great deal from having a quarterback who can make those throws but you you you'll see him go downfield it's a strength of his for certain and we saw it some in this in the spring game but I think that's more for later this season later in his career um to really let him lead this team and and be the um the uh the center that the offense revolves around um early they they're they're going to want to limit the turnovers of course it's a huge Focus for Nebraska not just at the quarterback position but on both sides of the ball to generate more turnovers and turn it over much much less often than what we saw a year ago so um it stands to reason that they'll that they'll play to his strengths and and put him in positions to succeed and and give him some some uh some high percentage throws early on especially in that first game Mitch how long should we expect the to be if Dylan does struggle early well on one hand Nebraska has an experienced backup in hinr harberg um on the other hand you know you don't want to create a situation where he's where Dylan is looking over his shoulder you know he's won this job I I think fair and square I I think he's been the best quarterback in uh in preseason camp he was the best quarterback in the offseason he was the best quarterback for Nebraska in the spring he's done the things off the field to earn trust with his wide receivers to to earn the the favor of his offensive line um it's it's not like it's an endless rope I mean if he goes out and and turns it over multiple times and he's just having all kinds of trouble adjusting to the speed of the game or um to the lack of experience then sure Nebraska might uh you know might look at the other options but I don't expect that to happen I think they're going to put him in positions that allow him to succeed early in the season um and it's going to be a situation where once he gets the ball uh Nebraska does not look back all right Mitch let's finish here before the year starts everybody every quarterback especially can be in the Heisman race I know some Husker fans already calling for that for Dylan down the line what realistically should we expect the goals for this young man to be in 2024 yeah as a true freshman just lead the offense you know be a solid piece in this system don't try to be uh more than than what the Nebraska coaches expect him to be and and they're not expecting him to win the Heisman they're not expecting him to be uh playing at an all big 10 caliber level as a true freshman they have high expect ations for him don't get me wrong but the main thing that he has to do is put Nebraska in good situations is get the ball into the hands of the guys who can make plays it's not all on his shoulders a year ago with Jeff Sims and and harberg and chub Aerie uh splitting time at quarterback for Nebraska there was so much put on the on that position they had to run the ball um they had to throw the ball without the kind of weapons that Nebraska has at the skill spots this year and Dylan's not going to be asked to do all of that he's not going to be a guy who who who who runs the ball much um he's he he's athletic um but but he's a pro style quarterback he's a pocket quarterback um he can get out and out of the pocket and make some throws but it's it's not going to be anything that's too difficult of an ask from the get-go the expectations that Nebraska has is that he manages the game um and he puts Nebraska in a position to succeed offensively as always Mitch Sherman dropping deep knowledge on big red Mitch we appreciate the time thanks Rick rejoined Now by Howard Griffith no one is surprised by this decision he comes in as a highly touted quarterback number two in this class at the position he has all the measurables he looked phenomenal in the spring game now it's just a matter of figuring out what calls you want to make for the young man to put him in the best position to succeed yeah I think you now have to see him in game situations real games not spring games uh and that's going to really dictate how high his ceiling will be this year because as we've all talked about he has all the skill sets to make it he does all the things you want a quarterback to be be the leader be the guy that everyone's pointing to and wanting to communicate with he does that man he's great and he's actually really good in that quarterback room they talk about just how great that room is where everybody's getting along uh really well there a lot on his shoulders but I don't think he has to do it all as Mitch talked about this is a team that's still going to be really good on the defensive side with Tony white second year in that system for a lot of those guys so they're going to be okay it's about really just how much do you want to give him early because I think he can the challenge is he can probably handle it and you just got to try to figure out how to make sure you're putting him in the best position so that you don't stunt his growth he understands it's hard it's hard to be a freshman quarterback uh and start at the college level so he's going to have some challenges challenges there'll be some bumps in the road but they'll be okay with all the hype and with that last name there's maybe even a little bit of extra pressure on him but I think it's inter in when you think about that Family background that he understands what Nebraska is and I think even more so than that he understands that criticism comes with the position he plays and I think he expects it I think he'd be surprised if he didn't get it yeah when you watch him pre-practice when you watch him after practice it's always extra work that's all they talk about he stays in the film room wanting to understand what's going on around him and this is a guy that's been in the National Spotlight for a long time so he understands the pressure and the criticism that's going to be on him and I don't think he expects to just go blow the doors off of this thing the first time he steps on the field it'll build process and that's where when you when you're as far as an offensive coordinators when you set him up for Success it's given it to him in Doses and allowing other people around him to also carry a little bit of that load and also to have realistic expectations regardless of how good the start is I'm not saying he's going to be gr Merz but remember the first game that we saw grz first play for Wisconsin he had the high SP and was the first pick in the draft folks are saying he's going to play for two years then he's going to the NFL and obviously that didn't turn out to be the case so you pump the brakes a little bit you develop this man at the pace that you want him to develop and all that being said it has been a minute since Nebraska has been back to the postseason it's been a minute since they have been in the heart of the conference race I know they had the chance a couple of years ago last game against Iowa to do some damage but at the end of the day Howard the folks in Lincoln and Nebraska fans worldwide have been waiting a long time for something that the previous generations used to almost consider a given exactly and and this the team is hungry as well everyone wants to win games and now it's about doing the little things to make sure you're winning you go back to last last year I mean there were in many of these games and you think about the turnovers and when they happened bad times in in particular points of the game that was a Colorado game last year they had that under control and then a turnover start to happen this Colorado team this year will be a good uh measuring stick for Nebraska and kind of give you an idea of where this team has a chance to be yeah I like the way the schedule sets up in terms of development and finding out what this offense could potentially evolve into being throughout the course of 2024 a few