Another Nebraska football player is on the move.
In what has been a wild month of movement for Nebraska football, Luke McCaffrey was among the three players who transferred from the program on Tuesday. The transfer of McCaffrey officially marks the end of his time under center in Lincoln.
McCaffrey saw most of his playing time in the 2020 season. He appeared in seven games, and went 48-of-76 on the season throwing for a touchdown and six interceptions. He was much more effective on the ground, totaling 364 rushing yards.
Averaging 118 yards per game, he proved to be a decently effective dual-threat quarterback. he tallied 830 totally yards from scrimmage in 2020, and was a focal point of the offense in some games. One of those games came against Penn State. He passed for 152 yards and rushed for another 67 in what was the program’s first win of the season.
After the Penn State game I wrote that McCaffrey was the future at quarterback for Nebraska football. Judging from that game alone, he showed that he had the skill set to be a dynamic playmaker. However, he was never able to put it together consistently over the course of the games he started in.
After struggling with this decision for weeks, I have decided to enter the transfer portal and explore my options. I am thankful for the support Nebraska fans have shown me. I have so much love for my coaches and teammates from my time here. I am excited for the future.
— Luke McCaffrey (@mccaffrey_luke) January 26, 2021
With the way that the future of the Nebraska football quarterback room is shaping up, the huskers are certainly set at the position. Heinrich Haarberg and Logan Smothers figure to be the future at the position. Smothers in particular could be in line for a big role moving forward. In terms of retaining talent, I am disappointed that McCaffrey transferred from the program.
However, in terms of what it means positionally for Nebraska, this is not a huge blow. It does come with this caveat. Nebraska needs to be able to develop the likes of Smothers and Haarberg or else they will end up in the same situation as McCaffrey. In terms of just skill set alone, those two should be able to stabilize the quarterback position for the future.
I certainly like watching McCaffrey play, and I wonder if he will stick with the quarterback position at his next destination. He certainly has the ability to be a very good athlete, and he can be effective, particularly out of the pocket.
One has to wonder if he will go close to home, or if he will go to a program in desperate need of a quarterback. He does have starting potential, but he just was never able to put it all together at Nebraska.