Developing quarterbacks has become a big problem for Nebraska football.
With the news that Luke McCaffrey is no longer with the Nebraska football program, that got me thinking.
Nebraska undoubtedly has talented quarterbacks on the roster in Logan Smothers and Heinrich Haarberg. Nevertheless, none of that will mean a thing if those two quarterbacks are not able to develop.
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Most recently, Nebraska has been unable to do so successfully. After a stellar freshman season, Adrian Martinez has struggled mightily at times over the past couple of seasons. After throwing for 2,917 yards, 17 touchdowns, and eight interceptions Martinez has seen his numbers decrease over the past two seasons. He threw for 1,956 yards in 2019 with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
In 2020, he threw for 1,055 yards, four touchdowns, and three interceptions. Granted, those numbers are obviously a bit less because of the length of the season. Even still, his decision-making has been questionable at times over the past couple of seasons. He hasn’t really made too many big strides from his freshman season.
In terms of Luke McCaffrey, he came in as a four-star quarterback with a ton of promise and potential. He finished his Nebraska football career with three touchdowns and six interceptions. He did have some really good games in 2020, but just did not show the consistency needed to be a full-time starting quarterback. I have no doubt that he is a great athlete, he certainly showed that. He will probably be able to have some form of success with another school. However, the results just weren’t there in Lincoln.
In that respect, Nebraska needs to focus on developing Smothers and Haarberg a little bit better. One of the things that I think they should do is identify a play style for both of them and stick to it. Are you going to be a run-first quarterback? Conversely, are you going to be a pocket-passer? Those are things I think Martinez and McCaffrey struggled with. They couldn’t decide whether they wanted to run or pass. Fixing something like that could be very helpful in helping the younger quarterbacks develop.
The development of these two is going to be crucial for Nebraska football. So far, Nebraska has done a subpar job at developing the quarterback position. The recruiting portion that has been okay, it’s what they do after with the quarterbacks that has been the issue. They need to be very careful with how they approach the development of Haarberg and Smothers. Otherwise, we’ll just see the same thing happen to those two.