Final take: Quarterback position on solid ground
We give our final take on spring practice as we look back on each position group. We kick things off today with a look at Nebraska's quarterback position.
What we learned: This position group is well on its way
When Tanner Lee declared for the draft in January, Patrick O'Brien transferred to Colorado State, and Tristan Gebbia left for Oregon State, you knew 2018 was going to be a challenge at quarterback.
The Huskers had to lean heavily on freshman Adrian Martinez, who missed his senior year of high school with a shoulder injury. Sophomore Noah Vedral wasn't ruled eligible by the NCAA until the sixth game of the season and Andrew Bunch was just the fifth walk-on (Matt Turman, Monte Christo, Ron Kellogg III and Ryker Fyfe) in the modern era of Nebraska football to start a game at quarterback.
The 2018 quarterback situation was a first-year head coach's worst nightmare, but Scott Frost and Maro Verduzco never made excuses. They played the hand they were dealt, and in the end, Martinez delivered one of the best statistical seasons we've seen from an NU quarterback in a long time. Heading into 2019 the situation at quarterback is much different for Nebraska.
Martinez is getting preseason Heisman talk, Vedral is in his third year of Frost's offense, Bunch has legitimate playing experience under his belt, and freshman Luke McCaffery is on campus and had a very promising spring. Walk-on Matt Masker also traveled to nearly every game as a true freshman, and he gained valuable experience a year ago.
When you compare NU's quarterback situation to what's going on at other schools across the country, the Huskers are in a great spot for 2019 and beyond. Top to bottom you could make a strong case quarterback was the deepest position on the offense this spring along with tight end.
Biggest concern: How the No. 2 job will be handled
There aren't a lot of concerns right now with the quarterback position, but I think the overall decision of how the back-up job is handled behind Martinez is what I'll be watching closely.
Quarterbacks, in general, are all very competitive, and typically don't take bad news well as we've seen in the past at NU. That's why when you look at Vedral, McCaffery and Bunch, I think the decision of how they list the quarterbacks will not be an easy one.
Vedral was Frost's No. 2 at UCF and took over the No. 2 job last year once cleared by the NCAA. Bunch has started a game at NU and looked at potentially transferring in January. Then you have McCaffery, who is both physically and mentally gifted and had a great spring from all accounts. I don't envy Frost and Verduzco on having to make that final decision come August. Today, Frost has said Vedral has the edge for the No. 2 job, but a guy like McCaffery is only going to get better with each day in the program.
Spring surprise: McCaffery's quick grasp on the offense
Before McCaffery even got to campus speculation started amongst Nebraska fans if the Colorado native might start his Husker career as a wide receiver.
The talk wasn't too far out of bounds, as McCaffery played receiver as a junior in high school and is currently one of the fastest players on the Husker roster.
However, "the McCaffery to wide receiver talk" ended pretty quickly once people saw how prepared he came to campus. McCaffery studied and learned the entire playbook before he even got to campus.
His knowledge of the offense even blew Martinez away.
"Wait, you just got here. You aren't supposed to know all of that already," Martinez joked when talking about his first impression of McCaffery in meetings.
McCaffery's overall mental knowledge put him right in the battle to be NU's No. 2 quarterback, and the physical gains he made to his body in just one winter were also very noticeable. During the spring game, he also showed his speed turning the corner on an option play. His future appears to be very bright in this football program.
Looking ahead: The Martinez hype train is only starting
The hype for Martinez is only just beginning. There's a pretty good chance he could be the All-Big Ten quarterback in 2019 based on what the league has lost at that position.
I also expect Martinez to be named a captain as a sophomore and represent the program at Big Ten Media Days, which will put him in pretty rare company.
It's going to be very fun to watch his growth as he matures both mentally and physically. He has a chance to break a lot of records in his career at Nebraska.