Here are three quick takes on Nebraska's addition of Texas quarterback Casey Thompson on Thursday from the transfer portal.
1 - This is exactly what Nebraska was looking for
When Adrian Martinez left Nebraska in December, there was really only one viable option for Scott Frost heading into a make-or-break 2022 season.
Frost needed to go out and find a proven veteran quarterback to step into Martinez's place. There was no way Frost could move forward without finding a proven transfer portal addition at quarterback.
Frost and new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple found their man in Texas's Casey Thompson.
After starting in 2021, Longhorn head coach Steve Sarkisian added Ohio State's Quinn Ewers from the transfer portal, which sent Thompson to the portal.
We've seen a shuffle of quarterbacks across college football at places like Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida State and Ohio State to name a few.
Thompson is the latest chip to fall, as it's clear Sarkisian was going in a different direction just like Frost and Whipple are going in a new direction in Lincoln.
2 - Thompson is more than prepared for the fishbowl
There are very few places where being the starting quarterback is tougher than Nebraska. The University of Texas might be one of them.
The quarterback at NU oftentimes faces 40 or more reporters twice per week during the season and is heavily criticized on social media. We've seen Husker quarterbacks booed over the years even by what is considered "the greatest fans in college football."
For Thompson, coming to Nebraska should be no big deal. He's already faced his fair share of criticism in Austin and he grew up the son of an Oklahoma starting quarterback Charles Thompson. In summary, he owns the t-shirt and the bumper sticker on what it's like to be a quarterback in a fan crazed market.
I'm not sure there has ever been a newcomer this prepared for the fishbowl life of being a Nebraska quarterback. It will be interesting to see how the fifth-year Thompson transitions to his new life in Lincoln.
3 - This paves the way now for two quarterbacks
The hard part is seemingly out of the way for Frost and Nebraska. They found their proven veteran quarterback in Thompson.
So what's next? Locking up Florida State's Chubba Purdy, who has long been on Mark Whipple's radar since his time at Pittsburgh.
Purdy is different in the sense he has four years of eligibility remaining, and an early injury in 2020 really set his career down a different path at FSU.
If Frost and Whipple can pull off the combo of Thompson and Purdy, it will be one of the more successful transfer portal pulls of 2022. It's hard enough to convince one quarterback to come, let alone two.
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.
