Lateef vs. Minchey

[ShortSideOption]

Unless there's a third option we're screwed if TJ is starting next year

I agree with most people that based on what we've seen from Lateef, he has a lot of growing up to do to start for us in 2026 and get us to 7 or 8 wins. Defending him a little, we are 1-2 years early on judging what he can be, but that's going to happen when he's the only returning scholarship QB on your roster.

 

[ShortSideOption]

No @HerbRedman , no way Nebraska could be in for a quality qb. We are terrible. I don't need these facts fucking the narrative that we are done. Can't have it. Nope, not doing it. Have you approved this with @ShortSideOption?

Who's narrative is we are done? Have you read any of my replies literally defending the staff in this thread?

 

[ShortSideOption]

I don’t know who starts.

Based on the limited data available, they’re basically the same player.

There you go... this is kind of where I'm at. The only reason people are out on Lateef is because he played Cockeye, Penn State, and Utah. People were in on Lateef when he beat UCLA, and his mop-up duty against HCU and Akron clamoring to see more of him. Minchey is exactly the same, he gets reps while up 4 touchdowns against Navy, Purdue, Arkansas, Stanford, and Syracuse. What would have happened if he actually played against Miami or Texas A&M, would he have looked like Penn State Lateef? What happens if their first string QB gets hurt against USC in the second half like ours did and Minchey comes in and gives up the lead?

There's way too much unknown for me there. That's not to say that I think Lateef will be the starter next year, just that it's an open competition. I get the people that have seen Lateef and want something different, I don't understand the people that say they've seen enough of Minchey in option 3 to know he's better.

 

[NEHusker54]

I voted Minchey. I don’t think the female Britney Griener is it.

POTY

 

[Flabio]

I voted Minchey. I don’t think the female Britney Griener is it.

 

[ShortSideOption]

I voted Minchey. I don’t think the female Britney Griener is it.

I shouldn't laugh, but since he makes more than me I will.

 

[HerbRedman]

I was told by 1890 prior to close and one coach, they pretty much believed they had to choose between guaranteeing the starting job to someone and losing Lateef

Why did Lateef sign here originally then? He knew he'd have to sit 2 yrs behind Dylan. That's partially what I'm not comprehending now. Lateef came here knowing he'd have to sit 2 yrs and he'd have his shot in yr 3.

To me, this is no different. Say you get a 1 yr rental and then it's Lateef vs Trae in 2027. That is exactly what Lateef agreed to when he signed here.

Are you saying Lateef changed his entire mind bc he performed well in 1 game vs UCLA? Now he's 'big strong man, won't be pushed around'...?


To me, if I'm Lateef: I came here expecting to sit 2 yrs. I didn't perform well enough to change that. I'm gonna have to sit my 2nd yr (as I was already planning to do). I just don't know why he automatically became a flight risk. If that's true that is dumb on his part (probably his people).

 

[HerbRedman]

Something to keep in mind about Lateef (and Raiola for that matter): Lateef faced three pass defenses that are higher ranked than any that Raiola faced this year.

Lateef went up against #10 Cockeye, #17 Utah, and #21 Penn State.

The best Raiola faced was actually Northwestern at #30. USC was #47, and nobody else was even in the top 50.

I'll say it: I was expecting more from him vs Utah. Utah's D gave up 600 yds to unranked KSU, 600 yds to unranked Baylor and 500 yds to unranked Kansas. Bad, bad, bad.

Utah did NOT have a good defense this yr. Especially toward the end of the season. Bad teams were putting up major yds.

Lateef & NU basically went 2 Qs without getting a single 1st down. NOT GOOD. And let's be honest our O looked awful after those first 2 drives.


I am still a Lateef believer though. I just think it's a big risk hoping he can I.orive enough in one spring and one fall camp to be a different QB. I also think he's a major injury risk right now. I think he needs another 18 months of training table and weights (which would put him at fall 2027).

 

[Mr.Bojangles]

He might be by the time he's a senior but he is NOT better than Dylan right now, not even in the same league

Agreed but he's still a freshman give til sophomore year and he'll come along.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Why did Lateef sign here originally then? He knew he'd have to sit 2 yrs behind Dylan. That's partially what I'm not comprehending now. Lateef came here knowing he'd have to sit 2 yrs and he'd have his shot in yr 3.

To me, this is no different. Say you get a 1 yr rental and then it's Lateef vs Trae in 2027. That is exactly what Lateef agreed to when he signed here.

Are you saying Lateef changed his entire mind bc he performed well in 1 game vs UCLA? Now he's 'big strong man, won't be pushed around'...?


To me, if I'm Lateef: I came here expecting to sit 2 yrs. I didn't perform well enough to change that. I'm gonna have to sit my 2nd yr (as I was already planning to do). I just don't know why he automatically became a flight risk. If that's true that is dumb on his part (probably his people).

When Lateef signed here, he was waiting behind Dylan, absolutely. But it wasn't "Dylan and if he transfers out then we will go get another person to be in front of you if you aren't ready..." It's much different from the kids perspective that he was waiting until the guy he knew was here left, and then he leaves and they bring someone else in to start. That's why the staff and 1890 told me if they brought in someone to start, Lateef was gone.

I'll try to summarize because I don't think we are as far off as our back and forth is suggesting. If our staff looked at what Lateef did and said, "he can't start for us next year, we need to go get a starter" and we landed on Minchey, I'm really fucking pissed. You gotta go get someone with starting experience like a Leavitt or Sorsby. You can't have that thought and go with someone who hasn't started at all and has less than 30 throws in 3 seasons.

Now, if our staff said "we believe in Lateef, but we aren't sure if he's ready yet, so we need to bring in someone to come compete with him for the starting job in 2026" I absolutely love the move. Because Minchey is about as good as you can get with that mentality and without guaranteeing the start over Lateef. And based on the fact I was told Lateef was out if we go grab someone to start next year over him, it seems like this is what happened. Give yourself a chance with two highly ranked but unproven options.

Still gotta go get at least one more scholarship QB somewhere, but it's the Lateef vs. Minchey show to start for 2026 because our other guy we get in the portal or sign out of high school is probably going to just be a depth piece. Lateef may very well end up being a depth piece too.

 

[NCsker]

I guess when I hear "guaranteed starter" that's what I take it as. What else would it be other than a "literal guarantee"? I don't think that's a straw man at all, but more the entire point I'm trying to make with Lateef still being here. If Lateef goes in the portal I'll believe that Minchey was "guaranteed" the starting spot. Because from what I was told by 1890 prior to close and one coach, they pretty much believed they had to choose between guaranteeing the starting job to someone and losing Lateef, or bring someone in to have an open competition with Lateef for the starting spot. That's not my opinion, that's the opinion of the people that were in the negotiation conversations on what they were going to do. So that's the facts as I know them.

I'll try phrasing it a different way. While I think we are still 1-2 years early wanting to see really good production out of Lateef, I do agree with people that he would have to get much better to be our starter for 2026 and get us to 7 or 8 wins. he absolutely has some growing to do. I just don't think our program is in such a bad spot that we decided we were going to "guarantee" (however people want to think of that word) the starting spot to someone that has zero starts in their 3 years in college and less than 30 throws in that timeframe. In year 1 Rhule guaranteed the starting spot to someone but that's because they had starting experience. Have we regressed so much we are guaranteeing a starting spot to someone that it's a guessing game?

In the portal, I just think your program is in a world of hurt if you guarantee starts on your team to someone that has never started a game before. Someone you have zero clue how they are at that position because the film is limited except for against terrible competition. All the Minchey playing time is basically Lateef playing time against HCU and Akron, blowouts where the game was well in hand, and everyone was clamoring for more Lateef at that time. If we truly are guaranteeing starts to a transfer QB coming in and that is who we landed with, someone who has never started in 3 years, we are in a world of trouble as a program.

Luckily I'm pretty sure that's not what happened.

 

[Quint]

There you go... this is kind of where I'm at. The only reason people are out on Lateef is because he played Cockeye, Penn State, and Utah. People were in on Lateef when he beat UCLA, and his mop-up duty against HCU and Akron clamoring to see more of him. Minchey is exactly the same, he gets reps while up 4 touchdowns against Navy, Purdue, Arkansas, Stanford, and Syracuse. What would have happened if he actually played against Miami or Texas A&M, would he have looked like Penn State Lateef? What happens if their first string QB gets hurt against USC in the second half like ours did and Minchey comes in and gives up the lead?

There's way too much unknown for me there. That's not to say that I think Lateef will be the starter next year, just that it's an open competition. I get the people that have seen Lateef and want something different, I don't understand the people that say they've seen enough of Minchey in option 3 to know he's better.

I don’t know if I thought they’d bring in someone with a markedly different skill set and experience level or not, but I wasn’t going with TJ’s football twin as an option.

I will say I’d take Mincey over the MSU kid all day.

 

[HerbRedman]

You gotta go get someone with starting experience like a Leavitt or Sorsby.

Those are the top 2 QBs in the portal. Do they want to come here? They want to play for a 7-6 team?

This is GREAT news!

Why do people keep bringing these two up? It doesn't further the discussion.

 

[Flabio]

This convo can be keeled real quick. Go lookup TJ’s offer list as a recruit and who he visited. Two visits: unofficial to CU and official to NU. That’s it.

 

[...TrueColors...]

This poll is interesting... If Lateef is as bad as what this is representing, Nebraska coaches messed up royally not going after a sure starter to guarantee the job to, instead of going after someone that would keep Lateef here he could battle with.

This is kind of a shit QB market

 

[Alcaus]

Those are the top 2 QBs in the portal. Do they want to come here? They want to play for a 7-6 team?

This is GREAT news!

Why do people keep bringing these two up? It doesn't further the discussion.

Leavitt is seemingly visiting Kentucky, a 5-7 team who got shutout and beat by 40 points in their final game.

Hard to say ‘25s record is the deciding factor for him.

 

[Cash68847]

Leavitt is seemingly visiting Kentucky, a 5-7 team who got shutout and beat by 40 points in their final game.

Hard to say ‘25s record is the deciding factor for him.

Stein has a great track record. It’s easy to see if Kentucky is going to pay a fair market price. Most of these kids care more about getting to the league.

 

[CornFed Gregger]

Stein has a great track record. It’s easy to see if Kentucky is going to pay a fair market price. Most of these kids care more about getting to the league.

He also bailed on ASU midseason & is apparently demanding 5mil or more. Kentucky might be top of the list cuz they got some boosters desperate to ignore the NIL bs this kid has pulled.

I agree on Stein tho

 

[Cash68847]

He also bailed on ASU midseason & is apparently demanding 5mil or more. Kentucky might be top of the list cuz they got some boosters desperate to ignore the NIL bs this kid has pulled.

I agree on Stein tho

If he is demanding 5 million I would be surprised KY would spend that, but who knows. I bet he still gets around 3-4 million.

 

[HerbRedman]

Leavitt is seemingly visiting Kentucky, a 5-7 team who got shutout and beat by 40 points in their final game.

Hard to say ‘25s record is the deciding factor for him.

I saw that UK thing and thought it was fake!

This is kind of a shit QB market

This.

This is why I like Minchey and his value for the money. Sorsby would be my #1 but he's TTU and too expensive.

I like Minchey or trying to find the next Trinidad Chambliss/Gronowski type (FCS/DII kid).

There just seems like a lot of Aiden Chiles/Jeff Sims type guys out there. A lot of flaws and you're paying for their P4 "experience"....which let me translate for you: they have experience turning the ball over and losing a fuck ton of P4 games.