Lot of hype around Dylan Raiola in the media right now but there are a lot of strong reasons why Rhule might end up going in a different direction, namely, Haarburg
1. Battle tested
Raiola is a true freshman and may not be acclimated to the college game. In contrast, Haarburg has been around the block and started the most games for us last year of any QB on the roster. In fact, he's the only QB on the roster who is "battle tested". No other QB can say that, period.
2. Better runner
Dylan may have the edge in the air, but if you're run the damn ball, Haarburg is your guy. Good size, decent mobility, really good straight line speed. DONU has rarely seen success with pocket passer QBs. Our identity is in running quarterbacks. Further, this is the Big Ten, baby. You really think you're going to be throwing the ball around everywhere in Kinnick Stadium late November? We're gonna need to run it, and Haarburg gives you the dimension of a QB running threat that Dylan simply doesn't.
3. Don't shake Dylan's confidence
It's a tale as old as time. Hot shot true freshman QB comes in ready to light the world on fire. That fire gets extinguished in about six quarters of football when some 335 lb nose guard named Quindarius Payne "gets home". The true freshman limps up from the ground, visibly shaken, pulling grass out of his facemask, and is never quite the same again. We've all seen it. Do we really want that for Dylan? Which leads me to my next point...
4. Preserve Dylan's redshirt
Given all of the above, would it not be better to let Dylan ease in to the role, adapt to the speed of the college game, learn from our more experienced QBs and the coaching staff, all while preserving his redshirt? He can still come on for clean up duty, up to four games. There's literally no downside. In fact, it's a free extra 4 games to utilize him. Whereas Haarburg has already used his redshirt, so he's "use it or lose it".
5. Nebraska native
Really not much to say here. Homegrown. The kid bleeds Husker red, literally.
Anyways, that's my case
1. Battle tested
Raiola is a true freshman and may not be acclimated to the college game. In contrast, Haarburg has been around the block and started the most games for us last year of any QB on the roster. In fact, he's the only QB on the roster who is "battle tested". No other QB can say that, period.
2. Better runner
Dylan may have the edge in the air, but if you're run the damn ball, Haarburg is your guy. Good size, decent mobility, really good straight line speed. DONU has rarely seen success with pocket passer QBs. Our identity is in running quarterbacks. Further, this is the Big Ten, baby. You really think you're going to be throwing the ball around everywhere in Kinnick Stadium late November? We're gonna need to run it, and Haarburg gives you the dimension of a QB running threat that Dylan simply doesn't.
3. Don't shake Dylan's confidence
It's a tale as old as time. Hot shot true freshman QB comes in ready to light the world on fire. That fire gets extinguished in about six quarters of football when some 335 lb nose guard named Quindarius Payne "gets home". The true freshman limps up from the ground, visibly shaken, pulling grass out of his facemask, and is never quite the same again. We've all seen it. Do we really want that for Dylan? Which leads me to my next point...
4. Preserve Dylan's redshirt
Given all of the above, would it not be better to let Dylan ease in to the role, adapt to the speed of the college game, learn from our more experienced QBs and the coaching staff, all while preserving his redshirt? He can still come on for clean up duty, up to four games. There's literally no downside. In fact, it's a free extra 4 games to utilize him. Whereas Haarburg has already used his redshirt, so he's "use it or lose it".
5. Nebraska native
Really not much to say here. Homegrown. The kid bleeds Husker red, literally.
Anyways, that's my case
