Nebraska football officially makes its case to top transfer portal player

The Nebraska football team is going after one of the top portal players in the country and had some official meetings just ahead of the weekend.

If you thought that Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule was warning that the Huskers weren’t going after a transfer portal quarterback this year, it turns out you can rest easy. NU is absolutely going after at least one.

Rhule talked in his postseason press conference about the price of a portal quarterback, saying Nebraska would have to pay $1.5-to-$2 million to land a good QB1. Looks like those comments were more a call to arms from boosters and NIL operatives.

Just ahead of the weekend, Husker coaches reportedly met with one of the top transfer portal players out there in former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard. Presumably, Rhule, as well as a few other members of the staff went out to visit Howard at his home so they could make their official pitch.

It’s worth pointing out that the Nebraska football team is making a move after originally being thought as a team that wouldn’t be a candidate for the #2 quarterback and #2 overall player in the portal this offseason.

It also feels like the Cornhuskers coaches don’t make that trip if they didn’t at least get some vibes that Howard is actually looking towards Lincoln. But that doesn’t mean it’s anything close to a done deal.

Nebraska football has stiff competition for Will Howard

Since the former Kansas State signal-caller announced he was transferring, USC, Wisconsin and Miami are among the teams said to be interested. It does help that none of those teams are really coming off great seasons.

The real question now is just how fast things are going to move for Nebraska in this regard. The portal officially opens on Monday. Could Howard pull the trigger quickly, or is he going to slow play his pursuers, knowing he’s got some time before a final decision is needed?

Considering there are several backup options out there, it would be best for Nebraska football if the Will Howard situation plays out ASAP. Then they can look to some talented Plan B quarterbacks quickly.