The Huskers QB Depth Chart Is Set & Other Notes from Coach Matt Rhule Nebraska Dylan Raiola

Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule met with the media midday Friday to take questions on an array of subject, but we know what is still on everyone’s mind.

How are the quarterbacks going to be marched out there?

We had already gotten the answer on our starter yesterday, but Rhule confirmed the rest of the depth chart beginning with the fact Heinrich Haarberg is the clear number two behind Dylan Raiola. Daniel Kaelin will be number three and he added Jalyn Gramstad, who transferred from NAIA Northwestern College, could also move the football.

Rhule on why Raiola won the job:

“I felt all along like Dylan can be the starter game one. The problem was I also felt like, so could Heinrich. I also felt like so could Danny. And Danny had a really, really, really strong week and a really strong scrimmage, too. So why did he (Raiola) win the job? Why did Dylan win the job? I think Dylan puts all the pieces in play. You know, that doesn’t mean the other guys don’t. But I think Dylan has elite arm strength. He understands all the run game checks. He understands the entire RPO game. He understands the situation of football, and I think he’s really cleaned up his footwork in the pocket, which is one of the big things.”

“Sometimes people want us to name a starter because it’s the most convenient thing, you know, but at the end of the day, I want to be a program where you earn things, and so while you might be ahead of people, until you show me you can do this, you’re not the starter, and that challenges people to go do this.”

When asked how the news was delivered, he said he brought in Haarberg first and at the end of the day, he’s a Husker through and through and just wants to get better. He did add Heinrich expressed a desire to be involved in any other areas which could help the team.

He told Raiola as he was leaving the practice field they had released a graphic naming him the starter.

The plan appears for Kaelin to redshirt this season in the number three slot. However, Kaelin, Rhule said, is very aware of his future here and he intends to use him is as many of the four games allowed in which he can while adding he’s more than capable of starting if injuries require the redshirt to be ripped off.

He repeatedly stated all four quarterbacks are more than capable of performing at a high level if called upon.

OTHER NOTES

• The kicking game may come down to gameday – while Buschini is the clear number one at punter with the staff’s full confidence, the placekicking duties are another matter. Rhule said it will definitely be a late decision.
• He is looking to how Alvano recovers from his groin injury, but isn’t worried about their abilities – “I’m concerned about the kicking, make no mistake about it. I’d be more concerned if they weren’t making kicks.”

• Rhule said, “It’s hard to have a great team when you have entitlement.” He used incoming transfer Isaiah Neyor as an example stating when asked which jersey he wanted, he would take any number, even 99 if it helped the team.
• “I love that kind of integrity,” said Rhule. “It may not seem like much but it is.”
• He brought up true freshman Jacori Barney as example of someone with a high speed engine, saying he’s player he has to ask to slow it down whereas others have to be told to pick it up. “Jacori Barney has one speed.”
• With Fan Day coming up, someone asked asked Rhule about any weird things he’s signed in the past. He stammered, made a few faces and noises before deciding silence was the better part of valor and keeping those stories to himself. That was good for some laughs.
• When prodded, he said he would love to take the team back to Ireland and likes neutral site games. He talked also about possibly going to Mexico or overseas.
• He added he went to Ireland on vacation with his wife while mulling the Huskers offer. After they landed they saw a “200-foot high Husker helmet” probably left over from the game a few months previous and they decided “It was a sign from God,” good for more laughs.

FINAL QUOTE FOR THE DAY

“I want to be happy in the locker room, but contentment will come from the film and the way we play, it will not come from the scoreboard. And so there’s a way that we want to play.” – Coach Matt Rhule

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