Nebraska Football 2024 Spring Preview: The “Young” Quarterback Room Huskers News

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.

Pre-Season Depth Chart Projection

Heinrich Haarberg – Junior – Kearney, NE

Last Season Stats: 49% completion for 962 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions – 477 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

From Huskers.com: Heinrich Haarberg battled injuries to play in 10 games with eight starts in 2023. He led the Huskers to a 5-3 record in his eight starts at quarterback. Haarberg led Nebraska in passing yards (967), rushing yards (477), rushing touchdowns (5) and passing touchdowns (7).

Dylan Raiola – True Freshman – Buford, GA

From Huskers.com: Dylan Raiola joins Nebraska as the top quarterback recruit in the country. He began his prep career in Texas and Arizona before playing his senior season for Buford High School in Georgia. In his prep career, Raiola passed for nearly 8,500 career yards with 88 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions, according to MaxPreps.

Daniel Kaelin – True Freshman – Elkhorn, NE

From Huskers.com: Daniel Kaelin was one of the state’s top players for Coach Michael Huffman while leading a high-powered Bellevue West offensive attack. An Elite 11 quarterback, Kaelin excelled alongside fellow Bellevue West signees Isaiah McMorris and Dae’vonn Hall, giving Nebraska three signees from the same high school in the same class for the first time since 1987 (Creighton Prep).

Jack Woche – Sophomore – Austin, TX

Did not play a game in 2023 for Nebraska. He is a transfer from Ole Miss.

Luke Longval – Sophomore – Sioux City, IA

Did not play in a game in 2023 for Nebraska but was on the travel roster for many of the away games.

Bode Soukup – Freshman – Blair. NE

From Huskers.com: Bode Soukup was one of the state’s most productive quarterbacks at Blair High School. He finished his career with 4,477 yards and 44 passing touchdowns.