Nebraska Football: Quarterback competition will make for interesting spring

Nebraska football will have a spring quarterback competition.

It is sure to be an interesting spring for Nebraska football, and it appears that they plan to have an open competition at the quarterback position.

This is not really too much of a surprise. With Adrian Martinez still recovering from surgery, I sort of expected this to happen. According to a report from Mike Schaefer of 247Sports, the coaches want Martinez involved in the competition. He cannot receive contact in any way, but he should be good for everything else.

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This is good news for Nebraska. For one, competition at a certain position is always going to bring out intensity and focus. That is certainly what you want before spring ball as this team looks to bounce back from last season. For what it’s worth, Martinez did not have the best year last year. Now, he has competition, as Luke McCaffrey in particular showed he could be a viable option for the program moving forward. A little healthy competition never hurt anybody, and I would suspect that the Nebraska coaching staff will be watching this closely.

It’s certainly worth monitoring how Martinez heals. If everything heals according to plan, and he doesn’t get hit, I would surmise that he would be able to be at full health sooner rather than later. As far as McCaffrey goes, this is his best chance to see how he stacks up for the starting job. With so much hype surrounding him last season, McCaffrey is now in his second year with the program. Now is his chance to show that he belongs on the field as much is Martinez. He certainly should come into each practice with that mindset at the very least.

"“Every position is true competition and quarterback is no different,” Frost said. “Sometimes we treat those guys like the last case and you can’t touch them, but we have always said we are going to play the best guy at every position. And Adrian is starting out and he is our quarterback and he is going to get the ones at the beginning, but we are going to give some reps to Noah with the ones and some reps to Luke. Just like any other position, we are watching every snap they take and every rep they take. We are going to want the 22 best guys on the field at all times and the quarterback is no different.”"

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the course of spring ball. I am not expecting their performances to make a final determination for the depth chart. I am expecting this spring competition to show that both quarterbacks are ready to compete. After Martinez struggled at times last year, a quarterback competition is necessary. If anything, this will help him regain his form and get his confidence back.

At the very least, this will prepare Martinez for August. If he treats this spring ball seriously, He could be in good shape come August. Just because he is not getting tackled does not mean he is not learning anything. This spring is crucial for both quarterbacks, and the fact that Nebraska football is having a competition shows that they are serious about trying to get the best players on the field. I will certainly be watching this closely.

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