Official thread for nervous/irrational/curse-related QB posts

[huskerj12]

This can be a welcoming thread for anyone who needs to vent the dark thoughts that come from being a Nebraska fan for the last 20 years. These posts don't need to be rational, they just need to get out of our systems. I'll go first (deep breath...)


Hi everyone, my name is huskerj12 and I am a Husker fan.

Clearly the idea of the #1 QB in the country coming to Nebraska would be incredible and should be celebrated...

...Maybe I'm a stereotypical self-loathing Husker fan but I'm having trouble putting all my hopes and dreams into Raiola haha. ESPECIALLY knowing that Raiola committing here would all but confirm that he will be our starting QB next year. Super talent?Absolutely. Nebraska runs in his veins? Sure. But I just can never fully trust the type of recruits who move all around the country chasing recruiting clout and treating the college decision process like a fickle Bachelor contestant.

None of that would bother me much if we had a returning QB who was going to keep the ship steady while Raiola gets his feet wet as a freshman. Our program is in very trustworthy hands with Rhule, but it's STILL like a wobbly Jenga tower right now. Handing Raiola the keys to the kingdom could be genius, but it could also get weird in a very important year. Again, the dude is ultra talented, but he went to 3 different high schools in 3 different states, he has committed to two of the top programs in the country and apparently will end up decommitting from both, I know this is corny as hell to think about but a big part of me is like, has this guy had enough of a chance to develop the intangibles of being a QB to take over a program on day 1? Leadership, trust, real life bonds with teammates, adversity, things like that? I mean he literally hasn't even gone through an offseason with a team he played for since he was 15 years old.

This is all nervous speculation, I will gladly laugh at myself if/when this all turns out to be ridiculous, but I CAN'T HELP HOW I FEEL. People who watched Friday Night Lights know what I'm talking about- I'm worried about him being Nebraska's version of JD McCoy, ok?? 😨

 

[Baron Winnebago]

An alternative read of things is that this boy has always been N deep down in his heart and Ohio State was because Frost fucked it up and Georgia was because the relationship with Rhule was fresh vs Former King KIRBS having a long term one with him. He's been trying to resolve his identity as an elite QB prospect with his identity as a long suffering Nebraska fan and as we all know there is no rush like taking a hit off the Big Red Crack Pipe.

But Rhule has emphasized wanting to take guys who will be here for multiple years and Dylan checks that box in a big way. Ideally, though as you note certainly not guaranteed, Dylan solves your QB problem from 3 years and allows you to hopefully take and develop Kaelin/Manske/whoever coming up behind him. It's not a perfect solution but it's the best chance we've got and just like from my personal favorite movie Star Trek: The Next Generation when you've got a 78.74 inch vent opening in the death star, you have to take your shot

 

[Baron Winnebago]

But also it's easy to not be nervous when suffering is guaranteed

 

[Turn Down for What]

 

[BIG TONE SOPRANO]

@TaterTrio GITT

 

[Tsakoi]

I will say that after following recruiting for as long as I have that the Raiola saga has had a giant number of red flags. But the thing is that many of them could be entirely made up in my own imagination.

For example: People are talking and saying things like DR's dad Dom wants this. And Dom wants that. And Dom wants his kid to (insert any combo of NIL/playing time/guarantees) That all sounds stupid. Who does this guy think he is? Who is running the program, Rhule or the player's dad?

Buuuttttt none of that is verifiable and I've never heard Dom say any of it. It's just stuff that is out there in the ether. Internet fodder.

The one thing I will say that is totally lame if it happens....a big production commit video. What will this be his 3rd one? When are we gonna get off Instagram and get serious about football? Just decommit from Georgia and commit to Nebraska with a tweet and a message and be done with it. It's like someone having a big ceremony for their 3rd wedding. Yeah, this time is forever. My advice to DR would be to be in love with the game of football and not the hoopla.

I'm a Gen Xer, we hate posers.

 

[Rebound96]

I'm honestly very worried that we are putting all our eggs in the DR basket only for him to transfer for a guaranteed starting spot at a championship contender after balling out his freshman year.

You still have to take this opportunity, obviously, but it makes me very nervous.

 

[Turn Down for What]

I will say that after following recruiting for as long as I have that the Raiola saga has had a giant number of red flags. But the thing is that many of them could be entirely made up in my own imagination.

For example: People are talking and saying things like DR's dad Dom wants this. And Dom wants that. And Dom wants his kid to (insert any combo of NIL/playing time/guarantees) That all sounds stupid. Who does this guy think he is? Who is running the program, Rhule or the player's dad?

Buuuttttt none of that is verifiable and I've never heard Dom say any of it. It's just stuff that is out there in the ether. Internet fodder.

The one thing I will say that is totally lame if it happens....a big production commit video. What will this be his 3rd one? When are we gonna get off Instagram and get serious about football? Just decommit from Georgia and commit to Nebraska with a tweet and a message and be done with it. It's like someone having a big ceremony for their 3rd wedding. Yeah, this time is forever. My advice to DR would be to be in love with the game of football and not the hoopla.

I'm a Gen Xer, we hate posers.

I just hate the song and dance shit.

Just get to it already!

 

[huskerj12]

An alternative read of things is that this boy has always been N deep down in his heart

Yeah I've always kinda scoffed about that angle because even with his dad being who he is, NU hasn't given an out-of-state teenager anything to even root for or feel good about since they were like tiny elementary school children, but maybe he really is just weird and has a deep love for NU? Haha I'll just go with that from now on if he comes here.

 

[Turn Down for What]

I'm honestly very worried that we are putting all our eggs in the DR basket only for him to transfer for a guaranteed starting spot at a championship contender after balling out his freshman year.

You still have to take this opportunity, obviously, but it makes me very nervous.

I heard a Georgia fan say this the other day and it was actually a good point considering a lot of that fanbase isn't happy with Raiola right now, but he said honestly getting a highly rated QB out of high school right now has never been unimportant as it is in today's college football landscape.

If you're a good program (like Georgia) highly rated transfers will just come to you and you really don't have to worry about developing them because they're already ready to go.

Obviously if you're Nebraska you take Raiola and hope he sticks around.

 

[RedSavage]

I'm honestly very worried that we are putting all our eggs in the DR basket only for him to transfer for a guaranteed starting spot at a championship contender after balling out his freshman year.

You still have to take this opportunity, obviously, but it makes me very nervous.

So much this

 

[Baron Winnebago]

I'm honestly very worried that we are putting all our eggs in the DR basket only for him to transfer for a guaranteed starting spot at a championship contender after balling out his freshman year.

You still have to take this opportunity, obviously, but it makes me very nervous.

I'm more worried about him sucking than him being too good and leaving us

 

[huskerj12]

I'm honestly very worried that we are putting all our eggs in the DR basket only for him to transfer for a guaranteed starting spot at a championship contender after balling out his freshman year.

You still have to take this opportunity, obviously, but it makes me very nervous.

Right, I don't even think that would be like a personal attack at him or anything, it seems like a decently high probability. If he is now changing his mind about Georgia based on NIL or starter guarantees or something, it's a pretty easy leap to wonder if he's coming here to get that NIL and starter guarantee while having some fun and getting a ton of headlines for a year, with the hopes that he'll be able to parlay all of it into a top-tier team giving him all of those same things next cycle. The portal era is ruthless, can't really argue with that being a decent possibility.

 

[huskerj12]

People are talking and saying things like DR's dad Dom wants this. And Dom wants that. And Dom wants his kid to (insert any combo of NIL/playing time/guarantees) That all sounds stupid. Who does this guy think he is? Who is running the program, Rhule or the player's dad?

The more Dom talk that gets thrown around the more I wonder if he's a helicopter dad. Some people say he's making demands, some people say he's just doing his due diligence, some people say he's a loyal Husker who prays to the Husker gods for his son to follow in his footsteps and would never allow any situation to tarnish the sacred N which means Dylan will definitely come save us (even though people said that same thing last time Dylan was giving us a bunch of attention before committing to UGA).

I know this is a bit harsh but that's what this thread is for

 

[lee_carvallo_12]

what's the worse that can happen? we go 5-7 with 6 3-point losses again?

 

[huskerj12]

what's the worse that can happen? we go 5-7 with 6 3-point losses again?

Yeah I know, we could say that about anybody who comes in haha. I guess it's just the 'putting all our eggs in one basket' thing. It shrinks the room for error down to nothing. This is totally cynical thinking I admit, but if he's the only QB we bring in, and then we miss a bowl again, and then he continues his trend of finding a new team each year and jets off to transfer to Tennessee or whatever, and we go into 2025 with MAYBE Purdy and Haarberg and we're scrambing to try another QB reset, that would be the worst that could happen: zero success in years 1 and 2, and zero momentum going into year 3.

If this was a blind test and we took away the 5 star-ness of it all, my nervous/cursed brain would have ranked the options like this:

1. Veteran transfer + young transfer + freshman recruit
2. Veteran transfer + freshman recruit
3. Young transfer + freshman recruit
4. Freshman recruit only, who has changed high schools each of the past 3 years and committed/decommitted from two schools during recruitment
5. Haarberg and Purdy run it back

(Obviously the 5 star-ness matters a whooooole lot in reality haha)

 

[BusterScruggs]

definitely have a bad impression of how they handled the McCord situation where they seemed to text people or do whatever they needed to do to get word out that he’s opening back up to us right when McCord gets on campus. Maybe in isolation you could excuse it but combined with all his other recruiting adventures…

We can only hope at this point that he actually made up his mind and wasn’t using the rumors and media to simply keep his options open.

 

[HerbRedman]

I'm honestly very worried that we are putting all our eggs in the DR basket only for him to transfer for a guaranteed starting spot at a championship contender after balling out his freshman year.

You still have to take this opportunity, obviously, but it makes me very nervous.

Oh I think that would actually be a victory LOL. I think the odds of Dylan transferring after 1 yr here are like 93% (I'm joking...i think). Dylan has already changed HS's 4 times and he's changed college commitments 3 times (and we're not even to signing day yet - still time for a 4th).

I'm not even THINKING about 2025 yet. In Dylan years, that's like 4 yrs away.

My aspirational goals for NU are to 1, get Dylan to commit; 2, get Dylan to sign LOI; 3, get Dylan to show up for JAN drills; 4, get Dylan through fall camp engaged and without threatening to transfer; 5, get Dylan through fall camp without him wanting to transfer. 2025 might as well be 10 yrs out for all I care.

People who say "he might not be here 4 yrs" are special people.

 

[whoboppin]

To me Raiola has a very, very high floor. Unless he is just a 100% bust, I just cant see how he isnt eventually drafted with his size and measurables.

Realistic worst Case = Christian Hackenberg ( and even Hack is 10x better then the trash we rolled out in 2022)

God decides he loves the Huskers Again = Andew Luck

Stanford went
2007 4-8
2008 - 5-7

Insert Andrew Luck
2009 8-5
2010 12-1
2011 11-2

 

[Papa...Football]

I’ll believe he’s N once he signs and makes it to campus.

I’ll believe he’s our savior when we, at minimum, make a bowl game with him at the helm.