The 3-2-1: Martinez turning heads early in Fall Camp

Quarterback Adrian Martinez's play has been a story thus far in Fall Camp. We hit on that and more in this week's 3-2-1 column.

1 - Martinez is locked in this August

Everybody loves a little bit of Fall Camp hype. Tight ends coach Sean Beckton was not shy with his words when talking about junior quarterback Adrian Martinez this August.

Could 2021 finally be the breakout season from start to finish we've been expecting to see from Martinez? It sure has that feel.

"It's night and day as far as his mechanics, his leadership, his confidence. You can see it," Beckton said. "I told him (Tuesday) I love where he is and to keep his head where it is. He's performing at a high level. He's demanding a lot out of himself and demanding a lot out of his teammates.

"He's playing at the highest level I've ever seen. So now he's got to continue that. He can't go backward. He's got to make sure he continues to stride forward and keep leading this offense and this team."

And, as Beckton said, a lot of people have been waiting a while to see this version of Martinez.

With Luke McCaffrey out of the picture, there's no need to stage a QB battle. This is Martinez's team, and he's taken full ownership.

"That's the Adrian Martinez we have been wanting to see," Beckton said. "He's really, really in a good spot. Everybody across the board on the team knows it, and they are following him. When the team follows the quarterback, you are really going to have a great team. Adrian is playing at a high level."

2 - Markese Stepp may be further along than expected

After getting a chance to see USC transfer running back Markese Stepp now twice in person, he looks physically further along than I was expecting after missing the entire spring.

So where will Stepp factor into NU's very crowded running back race?

Offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said on Wednesday they are repping five different backs with the top offense. I still believe freshman Gabe Ervin to be the early favorite at this point.

They are going to continue to keep Stepp on a "pitch count," but he definitely appears like he's at least gotten himself physically ready to throw his hat in the race this August. And as we know with running back, it's always good to have options. You can never have enough of them.

3 - Nebraska has two NFL tight ends right now

There were four different NFL teams with scouts at Wednesday's Husker practice. They were coincidentally all huddled in the same area, watching NU's tight ends.

It's clear that super-juniors Austin Allen and Travis Vokolek are NFL prospects. Both are in their fifth year of college, and my guess today is, if 2021 goes as expected, it will be their last season at NU.

This is as legitimate a one-two punch at tight end the Huskers have had in years. Both Allen and Vokolek have gotten their bodies right, and the NU staff is doing all they can to increase their role in the offense.

If things go to plan, it's going to only help Nebraska's much improved wide receiver group, as opposing defenses are going to have to pay closer attention to the tight ends.

1 - Will we see an offensive line rotation at all?

Every August this seems to be a topic of discussion: Will Nebraska rotate on the offensive line? There seems to be a misconception about how the Huskers used their linemen in the 80s and 90s under Tom Osborne.

The reason so many guys played back then is oftentimes Nebraska blew their opponents out, creating opportunities for the second and third units to get valuable game experience.

When looking at the 2021 offensive line, Greg Austin has depth and options. He definitely wants to settle on a starting five, but you get the sense he has about three other linemen who could be versatile swiss army knives that could play multiple positions. Big picture, I think that's what Austin is building. He wants depth and options, and it appears he has that.

2 - What are your biggest concerns thus far overall?

When I look at the biggest concerns with this football team, I have two of them. Overall depth at quarterback and even inside linebacker to an extent.

NU was able to survive the Will Honas injury without any issues, but they are another injury away at inside linebacker from that being an issue. Today, they have three guys in Chris Kolarevic, Luke Reimer and Nick Henrich. Both Reimer and Henrich have had injury issues over their careers.

With quarterback, it's an obvious one. If Martinez were to go down, the Big Red would have an issue. I think you could say that though for just about any team if they lost a four-year starting quarterback.

Sticking on the subject of inside linebacker, I'll make this prediction for 2021.

Kolarevic will have over 100 tackles in 2021 and lead the Huskers in total tackles.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap-Tuesday's at 7 pm.