Nebraska Football: The backup quarterback competition should hold off

The Nebraska Football competition for backup quarterback should be fully evaluated in a couple months.

You have heard us talk for the past couple of weeks about the fact that spring ball is the time to figure things out. Although some positions may be set in stone for the fall for Nebraska Football, other positions may be up for grabs. On the other hand, positions may also not be able to be fully evaluated until the spring. The backup quarterback spot falls into that category. Nebraska Football has multiple candidates for the position and only one spot to go around.

As the second half of spring practices begin, that will certainly be a position battle to watch. Although watching the backup quarterback battle may sound like watching paint dry, it will be important to take stock for the future. If Adrian Martinez leaves to go to the National Football League, whomever is in the second spot will likely be the starting quarterback. So far we have heard rave reviews about newcomer Luke McCaffrey and what he brings to the table. However, let us not forget about Andrew Bunch and Noah Verdal. They are certainly capable of taking the position as well. Although they may not be as highly touted as McCaffrey is, they deserve a fair shot at things. Particularly for Verdal, he deserves a fair shake at things as the transfer did not even play until midway through 2018 the season due to the complications of the transfer process.

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The backup quarterback battle is one that we should watch as the spring progresses. The question was posed by Brian Christopherson of 247Sports if there would be any separation for the backup quarterback position. He brings up an interesting argument. Particularly in spring ball, it speaks to the need to find a number two quarterback

"We didn’t really get a fair look at Noah Vedral a season ago, who thought he was going to ineligible all year, saw limited reps in practice, then suddenly was declared eligible by the NCAA halfway through the season. Mario Verduzco says Vedral seems more settled now with his volume of snaps increasing. Andrew Bunch, meanwhile, came back from a quick trip through the transfer portal to compete. He’s the one guy in the room not named Martinez who has started a game. And true freshman Luke McCaffrey is impressing everyone, including Martinez, with what a quick study he is.McCaffrey, ideally, can redshirt this year, but the new rule that allows a player to compete in four games without burning his shirt makes things a little more interesting as coaches figure out a pecking order."

Truthfully, this is a question that will probably be answered more at the beginning of training camp in August. I don’t see anybody getting separation at the position enough over the course of spring ball to warrant considering him as a second option to Martinez. Right now, I would consider the battle to be very much even. Have everybody involved learn the playbook and get familiar with the program again. Once they have done that, then the competition should begin in earnest in August. Right now, I really don’t see any separation being gained during spring ball.

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It’s great that Luke McCaffrey is a quick study. It’s awesome that he is hitting the books hard and wanting to learn as much as possible. I am all for putting Vedral in the mix of things, he certainly deserves another shot. However, let’s fully evaluate the backup quarterback competition a couple of months from now.

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