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Will Nebraska football make any major additions via the spring transfer portal window?
Apr 17, 2025
Breaking down what Nebraska football needs to do, if anything, in the spring transfer portal, including three targets who could make sense. We also discuss the departures from the roster, debate how Big Ten quarterbacks compare to Dylan Raiola, and more. #Huskers #GBR
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0:01
hey folks welcome back to the Husker Big Red YouTube channel I'm Chris Peterson and joining me as always is my co-host is Danny Gillette and we're back here on
0:08
this Thursday morning to talk about some Nebraska football in the transfer portal Um the portal opened on Wednesday so
0:13
we've had a few departures Um there's a few players in there that I would like to see Nebraska transfer or target um in
0:19
the transfer portal So we'll discuss all that and then the possibility of uh seeing Nicoa on the field this coming
0:25
season at UCLA So we'll get into all that Before we do hit the like button hit the subscribe button and get into
0:30
the comments section And Danny how are you doing on this Thursday morning i'm doing pretty good Just keep trying to
0:36
keep up with all this transfer portal news It's making my head spin and a lot of uh a lot of work a lot of typing My
0:42
fingers hurt a little bit but I guess that's better than having a boring off seasonason There is no offseason anymore
0:47
So yeah there there really is no offseason anymore Hopefully hopefully I got the name right Nico that's it right
0:53
i don't know I'm not sure if that was close enough I just want to call him Nico Everybody knows who you're talking about I mean hey you've had enough
0:59
practice with Ugi and Burk So now you're getting these names down I'm just going to go with U Ugie I'm not gonna jurase
1:07
or is that how he says it there you go Look at you Yeah So I'm the next Kent
1:13
Pulka You know he never mess He never messes up anybody's name So don't you do
1:19
radio anyway i know you do print Don't Don't you do a little bit of radio sometimes Sometimes I do a little bit of
1:24
radio Not a lot but uh sometimes but I I do preface on there that I write names not pronounce them So and people always
1:30
tell me I have a face for radio so maybe I should start you know It's kind of fun It's not too bad but you know high
1:36
school is pretty cool Yeah Yeah It is uh it is interesting though having to uh pronounce so many names Not not easy at
1:43
all But um anyway looking at the transfer portal so far there hasn't been
1:49
you know a ton of things happening I guess let's start with the the departures the the transfer portal departures for Nebraska because those
1:54
are the things that we know have happened Um and there was a a bit of a surprise on Wednesday the opening day as
2:01
a Jack Mallister the punter who transferred from Washington entered the transfer portal which kind of you know
2:06
caused a collective like questioning of why And Sean Callahan had a report um that basically that Mike Eckler um
2:13
prefers the rugby style punter and that's why Mallister left Washington is because they were switching to a rugby
2:19
style punter So when he said you know there was a change in circumstances it wasn't like oh I got offered money in
2:24
the from the portal or anything Um it just Nebraska has a different philosophy So it sounds like you know Eckler and
2:31
the Huskers will be bringing in a rugby style punter which they're going to have to do in the spring portal now Um so
2:36
yeah that was kind of a an unexpected u move And you know um I remember when Cal
2:42
Mallister was committed it was kind of a big commitment because he was one of the best punters in the Big 10 last season I
2:48
mean hey punters are people too man And you know people forget about uh people forget about special teams but you know
2:54
I had to look up rugby style punting and I'm very intrigued I'm very intrigued So
3:00
hopefully they can bring somebody in and um you know I mean Cam is still on the
3:06
roster I I remember when he committed two years ago and um I'm kind of interested to see the punter battle my
3:12
one of my editors suggested that I do a deep dive at punter So maybe I'll do that today But uh it was a bit of a
3:19
surprise but looking back like looking now at it from that philosophy you know Nebraska going in a different direction
3:25
in terms of the way they want to utilize the punter it makes more sense now
3:31
Yeah it's it's a little bit different It's a little bit of a different philosophy um you know doing the um the
3:37
rugby style punt as opposed to kind of the traditional um you know drop drop back punting Um but you know it is what
3:45
it is I mean it's worked with uh you know Eckler before I think the thing is it does allow you to tap into like some
3:52
of the more professional players you know like if you've heard Brian Bushini kind of talk about like some of the
3:57
older guys coming to take punters jobs That's something he kind of talked about That's what he's talking about essentially this rugby style punter And
4:03
so teams will kind of recruit um the guy I think they play like Australian rules football or even just rugby and they
4:10
they bring him over and so sometimes you do have guys that are like 20 excuse me
4:15
like 28-year-old freshman or whatever Like that's kind of what uh Brian Bushini who was the punter last year
4:20
kind of alluded to But um yeah I think it's I think it's a good idea I don't really know um you know enough about it
4:28
to say why it's better one way or another Um it's just it kind of gives you I I would say it's probably harder to return because it has that little
4:35
bouncing that rolling bouncing type of thing and it's kind of uh they kind of kick it to the side They kind of kick it
4:41
directionally and I think that that kind of forces the the returner to waste some energy or some motion kind of collecting
4:48
the ball and then I think the idea of it rolling around um and the bouncing kind of gives your coverage team a chance to
4:54
to go down there So I don't know I think some of it too has to do with protection wise um you know you're kind of rolling
5:00
out your punter away from from the blocks too So um yeah I think it definitely takes away from or takes it
5:08
lessens the need to have like a guy that can just boom the heck out of the ball in the air Now there could be less of uh
5:13
you know more struggles like pinning the ball inside the 20 but you know just depends on the quality of punter you get So add add that to the the list That's
5:20
probably one thing Nebraska will be adding here in the next few weeks a new punter because I just I don't think it's
5:25
going to be Camden Cook based on um he's not he's not a rugby style punter I don't believe So I mean maybe he can
5:32
adjust to that but um yeah I I'm assuming that they're going to find somebody in the next few weeks to uh to
5:39
take over that job Probably somebody that Eckler knows or is either scouted So that'll be interesting to see you
5:44
know who that is If you look at one of the huge problems Nebraska had last season it was blocked kicks So I So I
5:53
know the regime and coaching and you know Mike Eckler is a lot different than Ed Foley but you know a rugby style
5:58
punter may not be a bad idea because also keeps the the defense on their toes or the special teams defense on their
6:05
toes as well So you know I'm going to have to look more into the rugby style punt but you know it's it's a practice
6:11
that many teams use and um and you know just from researching what I have about
6:18
it I'm in favor of it Yeah And I think um I know that I know
6:23
the rugby style punt is part of the idea is to um limit returns So um you know
6:29
Mike Eckler's had a lot of success with that and it makes sense um I think to try to bring in somebody that he you
6:35
know wants you know a punter who's going to use the the style that he's familiar with and that he's had success with So
6:41
um I you know I'm glad that that all happened And it seems like it was an amicable amicable uh breakup And I don't
6:47
think Jack Mallister is going to um struggle to find um find a spot Michigan could be a perfect landing spot for him
6:53
because they have been looking for a punter and they've added like kickers the last two spring windows So keep an eye on them Um but he'll he'll find a
7:00
job somewhere like he's he's too good of a punter um not to be kicking somewhere next season So um the other guy that let
7:07
that left was Alex Bullock Um entered the transfer port but he hasn't been with the team this spring according to
7:13
Sean Callahan So I mean that's not like a huge surprise and I mean we haven't really mentioned him in the wide receiver room Um but that doesn't mean
7:20
he can't produce somewhere else um Thomas Fedoni re retweeted him and said
7:25
that he was the best route runner that he'd ever seen So it'll be interesting to see where Alex Bulock uh winds up but
7:31
um yeah it's not not a big surprising departure though for the Huskers When you look at the wide receiver room now
7:38
in comparison to two years ago I mean it's night and day And ultimately
7:45
there's just not enough room for a guy like Alex Bulock And I think honestly Dana Hulkerson's offense is not
7:54
suited for him Bulock is a very good route runner but he doesn't have that you know breakaway downfield speed or
8:00
that explosive playmaking ability You know Thomas Vidon's endorsement you know
8:06
I I I kind of just chuckled at it now but Bullock was probably one of the best
8:12
route runners on the team at one point and he had good hands So I don't think Fidoni is too far off but I think for
8:18
what Holerson wants to do and for what this offense wants to do Bullock's type
8:23
of receiver is kind of um not suited for this offense Yeah And just just too many
8:31
guys ahead of him I mean there's just it's just hard for him to work his way on the field I don't think he really contributed that much last year So um
8:38
best of luck in 2023 when we couldn't pass the ball honestly Yeah for sure Um
8:44
but yeah best of luck to him Um I'm sure there's going to be more guys entering the portal in the next few days Um in
8:50
the next week or so I don't think it's going to be anybody like any starter starting caliber players but um but yeah
8:56
there's going to be some more guys that hit the portal Um on the flip side
9:01
though looking at you know transfers that Nebraska should be interested in Now Matt Rule said like they're not
9:07
going to be super active and I don't think that they will be Um but I do think that there's a few spots where
9:12
they could use some depth where there's depth or is at least a question mark in the three um well I guess two positions
9:19
mainly that I'm looking at um which is running back and defensive tackle Um those are two positions I think
9:24
objectively you can look at them and say like there's a question mark about the depth Now maybe the guys on the roster
9:30
will answer those questions this fall and maybe that's what the coaching staff is relying on Um however they are light
9:36
for um a Big 10 team I mean you look at the backfield and outside of EMTT Johnson there's nine career carries in
9:42
the back field for seven yards So I mean that's to me that's worrisome That that's a worrisome thing And I know
9:47
everybody's talked up Quinton Knives but um you know I'm just saying like there's a guy a guy from Illinois that just
9:54
entered the portal Josh McCrae And you know he ran for over 600 600 yards last
10:00
season Um he had 69 yards averaged 5.2 per carry He's a senior Like I think it
10:06
would be worth kicking tight kicking the tires on a running back like that I know that's probably going to hurt the feelings of uh you know Quinton Ives and
10:13
Mechy Nelson but you know that's that's just the way like you know to me I think
10:18
Nebraska would be a better team with a guy like Josh McCrae I mean he's 240 pounds Now I'm not saying they have the
10:24
NIL budget to get him I have no idea They probably spent most of their money they spent a lot of money on Roco
10:30
Spindler They probably I mean to be honest let's be honest Nebraska probably overpaid for Roco Spielberg So um I
10:37
don't know how much money they have left and they had to I think though they I I really think they had to So yeah I'm not
10:44
Yeah they had to but um that was just that was a decision that they made So you know they look because like Joe Cotton is a offensive tackle who is in
10:53
the portal from South Dakota Like he would be probably a great fit but probably not going to have the NIL money to it's going to cost a million dollars
10:59
to get that guy So um just based on the interest that's there Um so I don't
11:05
think that that's probably going to happen but um Josh McCrae is a guy I
11:10
would like to see them maybe kick the tires on There's also a running back from North Dakota State that just entered the portal Um so I don't know I
11:16
think that would be worth exploring Um just like I said you know I mean I get that Quinton Ives you know probably
11:23
deserves an opportunity but at the same time I still think it's a risk to have him be a running back too Because look
11:29
if EMTT Johnson gets hurt like you know is Quinn Ives really ready to be a starting running back in the Big 10 like
11:35
that's a question you need to ask yourself and I'm not sure what the answer to that is Well how else are you going to find out
11:42
well I mean you're not going to you're not unless he does it But that's the thing is like do you really believe in
11:47
your heart of hearts that he can do that and you have other guys out there that have produced This is also not a running
11:52
offense anymore So I don't know if Yes If John you can't win in the Big 10
11:58
unless you can run the ball I don't care what anybody says You can't win in the Big 10 unless you run the ball I mean
12:03
sure but I mean I don't think you you pay for a guy
12:08
like McCrae when I don't know I just don't see running back as a need necessarily I I
12:15
think offensive tackle sure I mean absolutely When you look at the depth of tackle I think that's a more pressing need but I'm not so concerned about the
12:22
running back position I'm not like that super concerned about it I just think if you have a chance to
12:29
get a guy that's proven as a pro as opposed to a guy that's unproven Like to me I just think that that's hard to pass
12:35
up you know and I and I don't know what he would cost moneywise I mean that's all like factored into it Um but it's
12:42
just like to me you know if you're going to be a playoff team like I just think you have to or going to try to be a
12:47
playoff team you just have to look under every single rock and and maybe they really do You know I'm not in practice
12:53
every day so it's not like I could personally evaluate Quinton Knives So they would have a better idea than I do
12:59
of if he's better than um you know Josh McCrae or another running back out there
13:04
I'm just saying like if they have any doubt about that they need to go and get
13:09
somebody because like if we get to the point like all I'm saying is that if we get through the season and you know Emtt
13:16
something happens to Emtt Johnson who's a 200lb running back trying to get through a Big 10 season and Quinton Ives
13:21
has to play and he's like not up to snuff or whatever like I just feel like that's something that Nebraska could really regret when it could be I don't I
13:28
feel like it would be easy to add a veteran running back to this room And I get that that could ruffle some feathers but at the same time you know that's why
13:35
they call it show business not show friends Like I mean it's college football but it but it's a business And
13:40
you know so like I get it and I get you don't want to ruffle feathers but you're also you're also trying to win games
13:46
here And so I'm not I'm just not sure if you know another running back wouldn't help you do that
13:52
I agree I I mean I I definitely agree too on the injury point of it because I
13:58
remember two years ago in September it seemed like our entire running back room was hurt Um and that was early on But I
14:06
think you just roll with what you have I mean clearly the coaching staff likes what they see there So I mean maybe
14:13
maybe you know a guy like Nelson is really balling out in practice Maybe
14:19
Quinton Ives is really you know making a name for himself there I wish we could see practice That would be pretty cool
14:25
But um I don't know I think I think honestly I think they're going to roll with what they have and we'll see how
14:31
that goes Yeah I think they probably are too Um my only thing the other thing I
14:36
really liked McCrae is because you know he is 240 pounds whereas you know Johnson is 200 and I think they have
14:43
Ives listed at 205 He might be a little bit bigger than that but um anyway just would add a different element Um I just
14:49
think it's worth a discussion point Um at any rate one player I do think that they should definitely um look at adding
14:57
I mean besides the the Joe Cotton guy who's uh from South Dakota I mean Wisconsin's kind of in the mix with him
15:03
Iowa Um but there's a defensive tackle from um Vanderbilt um that they that I
15:09
think would be worthwhile targeting Um Dearan Thomas is the guy that I'm
15:14
thinking of I was just bling on his name for a second So he the reason I think that this would be a good addition um they've never really replaced Nash uh
15:22
Hutmaker in that you know in his size um Riley Van Pop is obviously going to be
15:27
kind of taking over that spot for Tai Robinson and then you know for the most
15:32
part I guess it's going to be Elijah Judy kind of taking that that role as a nose tackle type Um so I don't know if
15:39
you could get a guy um who you know has has started games in the SEC who's 330
15:44
lbs I mean I think that that would be worthwhile He had 34 tackles two and a half sack or two and a half uh excuse me
15:50
two tackles for loss and a sack last year So pretty a pretty productive player but again I mean a lot of this
15:56
too comes down to like how much money do you have in the NIL budget because there's probably not a lot and um so I
16:02
don't know if there's going to be enough to get this guy or not I agree Yeah I think he would be a good addition too because the defensive line is really
16:09
young and bringing in someone like him who has that upper classman experience Uh could could definitely be an asset to
16:15
the room and I agree with you I don't know how much they have in their NIL budget but he would definitely be a
16:21
worthwhile ad I would say you know in in my opinion just because we were tied about it that a defensive tackle ad
16:28
would be a little bit more pressing than a running back at this stage But again we'll see how the money shakes out I
16:35
don't know I don't know either exactly how much they have but um I I wouldn't
16:41
mind another defensive tackle if nothing else just to bring al you know bring along the room I mean Tyson Terry said
16:47
on let's see Tuesday that he you know he was going to be kind of you know healthy
16:55
by November hopefully So that kind of takes him out of the equation for this season at least So I don't think adding
17:01
another defensive tackle would be a bad thing for the room Yeah especially a guy who's more of a run stuffer you know can
17:08
play on rundowns Um because I pass rushing I I think Nebraska is okay for the most part but um I do worry a little
17:15
bit about you know the run defense So I mean we'll see I I do think that Ben PPP's going to hold up okay and Judy but
17:21
I worry about again I worry about the depth because you know if one of those guys gets hurt then all of a sudden you
17:26
don't have I mean where where are the other 300 pounders on this Dline so I I just would really like to see him add
17:31
another like 320 330 pound guy that that's got some experience So um we'll
17:37
see though They haven't Nebraska has not shown interest in anybody yet that I've seen So at at this point they're kind of
17:43
resting on their laurels which isn't surprising I mean you know it's just it's easy for us to look and say "Oh they should add here here or whatever."
17:49
But we don't know what the NIL budget is for one thing Um you know I I think if
17:54
it was the right player the right position they might add some but they're definitely going to be adding a punter
18:00
Outside of that though I don't think anything is guaranteed Out of all the positions out of all the positions that
18:05
we thought Nebraska would add I don't think punter was on my list necessarily But and you know I was thinking about
18:12
too the other day and uh pass rushing defensive tackles are important no doubt
18:17
but I think you're going to see a lot of it come from the linebackers Um a lot of it come from the linebackers and it's
18:23
important and I'm not dismissing you know pass rushing defensive tackles but I think with this defense what you're
18:29
going to see is a lot of the Florida boys um can you know kind of take that uh role over as pass rusher and um you
18:38
know it would be great if we could get some pressure up the middle from the defensive tackles but like you have mentioned before those are hard to find
18:44
because every team wants a wants a defensive tackle like that So we'll see Um but yeah I
18:51
um I'm not sure if Nebraska is going to add anybody I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't but uh we'll see Yeah I
18:59
don't think they I'm thinking back to excuse me last spring I don't think they
19:04
did really add anybody So um I don't think they add anybody at all So I would expect it to be pretty similar for that
19:10
They got most of their needs addressed already um which I think is smart because this is going to be an expensive
19:17
uh probably transfer window Um so we'll see how that goes I guess so our last topic we'll shift to just a little more
19:23
transfer portal talk because there's not a whole lot else going on So Nico Amavia is going to according to Colin Coward
19:30
and others commit to UCLA Um he entered the portal with a do not contact tag and it sounds like he's going to be making a
19:36
little bit less in NIL than he did from Tennessee to this kind of this whole thing kind of blew up in his face a little bit But um you know I don't know
19:43
a lot of people are really ripping this kid and I understand it like I get it but at the same time there was a lot of
19:49
college football quarterbacks last week that went to their programs and got their deals renegotiated because of Nico
19:55
and nobody's ripping them and they basically did the exact same thing So like I guess my point is going back to
20:01
the whole thing of where it's not you know this is show friends it's show business Like if you're going to ask for
20:06
more money you better make damn sure you're worth it and the company then the company you're asking it for like values
20:11
you And that's where that's where Nico made his mistake He asked for $4 million a year when he's not a $4 million a year
20:18
quarterback Because if he was you know what you can bet your ass Tennessee would have paid that money Yeah
20:24
And I don't care what anybody says about culture and like yeah culture matters but I mean at the end of the day like
20:29
talent matters more than culture So I mean like they they probably matter equally but like you can have a good
20:35
culture but if you don't have the talent like it isn't going to matter So like you you need to get talent and find a
20:40
way to build a great culture with talent but like you can't win championships on culture alone And and when people you
20:47
know say stuff like that it just kind of annoys me because it's like yeah like I get it but you know you're you're not
20:52
going to like you know you can't build a team of Alex Bulocks and expect to win anything Like I'm sorry but that's the
20:58
reality Yeah And well I I also think too it was and I know his dad negotiated Nico's dad
21:05
is negotiating the deals I think how they went about the negotiations and how public they were made made it so that
21:13
people didn't like him And honestly I have my questions about him as a
21:18
quarterback but um you know I it's going to be interesting because the UCL the the UCLA
21:25
game last year was this was when everything kind of spiraled for the Nebraska football defense So I'm going
21:31
to be curious to see what they can scheme up this year um with a different quarterback and
21:38
things like that So that's definitely a game of intrigue especially on the road Yeah And it's the whole situation I
21:44
think is is uh kind of interesting And um yeah I just don't think the way they they went about it was the right way Um
21:52
you know I it just was a it just was a a mistake I mean it just was a mistake on on how much the team valued him I think
21:58
So you know they're like "Hey man you're not great to the point where we can't find somebody else you know." So it's
22:04
it's kind of interesting but um you know I think that's true honestly I mean play
22:10
alone I'm not so sure he's a $4 million quarterback but we'll we'll see Yeah I
22:17
mean he didn't he had some weird moments last year I mean he had the one game against Arkansas where they were down
22:23
like four or something on the last play and instead of like throwing it into the end zone he ran the ball out of bounds like that was that Yeah I do remember
22:29
that Yeah Um so he just he had some weird moments Um but I do think he's I do think he's a good player I mean I
22:35
think that you know that's kind of been you know taken down a little bit Um you know or he's kind of been taken a little
22:41
bit in terms of like the kind of player that he is like you know I mean he might be he's probably as good maybe or even
22:47
better than Dylan Riola I mean I don't want to like sound sacrilegious but he did he did have a pretty productive
22:53
season you know last year at Tennessee it wouldn't surprise me if he played really well at UCLA Um but but he
22:59
definitely um overestimated what his value was you know and that's that's the thing is like
23:05
if you're going to make that move like you need to be make you need to make sure that like your employer or whatever
23:10
um you know doesn't want to lose you and if they like you have to be willing to to leave and he was and I mean I'm not
23:18
going to sit here and say that you but UCLA is not a better situation than Tennessee Like anybody saying that is crazy because Tennessee was expected to
23:25
compete for the SEC championship this year and UCLA is not that right now I mean and maybe they'll get there and
23:31
maybe Nico will help them get there But um yeah it's kind of a weird kind of a
23:36
weird move in beyond that now that's going to be stuck with him too He's going to have that label when he goes to the NFL draft You know teams are going
23:42
to be you know wondering about that He's going to have this label of like being a culture killer and a coach killer And
23:47
hopefully he can turn that around and have like two good seasons And I mean a lot of that stuff the media like I don't
23:53
always buy into the media narratives because the med it does blow up crazy like and it's really easy for everybody
23:58
to take pot shots at him when you know like Avery Johnson from Kansas State got more money from Kansas State because
24:04
like Tennessee was even potentially reaching out to him You know it's not like Avery Johnson was like no man I'm good like I love Kansas State so much
24:11
I'm going to stay here no matter what It was like no I'm good but hey can I have another $400,000 like then I'll be good
24:16
to stay here And people don't have a problem with that but they do have a problem with Nico you know doing his
24:22
thing And to me it's basically the same thing It's just one one side was a lot smarter about how they went about the
24:28
negotiations Nico publicly mixed family and business
24:33
And that's something you never do I don't care if his father was handling
24:38
because it's similar to the Lavar Ball you know thing back in the day And Lavar Ball was very vocal and very aggressive
24:45
Now now does he look smart yeah But is it a good idea for family members
24:51
whether or not they're your negotiators whether or not they're your managers like having that label attached as
24:59
somebody's father and you know blasting programs or teams or whatever for not
25:05
supporting your son I get sticking up for your son but at the same time you're going to get a lot of blowback It's not
25:10
like Avery Johnson's dad you know went out on X and said this stuff and got
25:16
Avery more money Avery was very quiet like quiet about it asked for more money got more money you know things like that
25:22
So it's a combination of family and business that kind of did Nico Well I
25:28
think it's just you know they the negotiations broke down and he just overestimated what his son's value was
25:35
So you know like that's that's just the at the end of the day that's what happened because if this was Arch Manning and he hit the portal like you
25:42
know what I mean he would get $4 million probably more And that's just that's just where it is And so like but yeah I
25:47
mean one one side handled it the way that you're supposed to and one side didn't But you know just like I don't know this idea that some like I just
25:54
think that there is no loyalty Loyalty is you know whoever is going to pay you the most money And that's that's at the end of the day that's what it is Yeah
26:01
For coaches players I mean oh players aren't loyal to their school Well coaches can leave the next day Look at
26:06
Terrence Knight Look at Tony White I mean they they pre-recorded a early
26:14
signing day interview saying how much they love the defensive line and the defense and they were gone I mean and
26:20
that's the reality of it I mean there is no loyalty in sports anymore So to blame it all on the players because I've heard that because I've heard that's what a
26:25
lot of people do Oh they're amateurs They ruin college athletics No it's both sides And the problem and I'm gonna get
26:31
on my soap box here but the NCA introduced NIL and introduced this you
26:36
know way for players fake money And now they let out Pandora's box and they have no idea how the hell to regulate it
26:42
Typical NCA fashion They start something they never finish it and they let it run
26:48
wild I mean they know how to regulate it they just won't do it because the NCAA
26:53
only selectively you know enforces its rules And that's that's the that's why it just needs to go the NCA I mean at
27:00
least in terms of major college football like it can run the other sports where the money's not involved But yeah it's
27:05
been it's been a total disaster It's gonna be it's going to be interesting to see how how Nico's dad handles his
27:14
younger brother because his younger brother is also a pretty damn good quarterback as well So I'm wondering what kind of role he'll play too Madden
27:21
is his name I think Nebraska offered him uh last year I think it was or maybe
27:27
earlier this year But I think so Yeah I mean I Madden's pretty good too So yeah
27:33
I mean we'll see I think it's interesting that you know you look at every a lot of the quarterbacks I think
27:39
every five-star quarterback from that class is now transferred So and that was the first NIL class So we'll see how
27:46
this goes I mean Nebraska is one of the one of the schools that paid big NIL money to a freshman quarterback So we'll
27:51
see how it works out I mean Michigan's done the same Um you know I feel like those two situations are a little bit
27:57
different than some of these other ones um where the guys came in and then didn't really play right away and then
28:02
transferred Um but you know we'll see how it works out I a lot of uh a lot of
28:08
these guys are leaving and then finding success elsewhere So I don't know like going forward in the future like it is
28:14
kind of risky to give a fivestar quarterback money you know you're paying for talent but you're also you know
28:19
you're you're taking on a lot of risk with that too Well Nebraska also took the risk with the transfer portal quarterback and that
28:25
didn't work out Well Jeff Sims didn't work out Casey Thompson oh man he kind
28:31
of worked out but kind of didn't So we played both sides of the coin
28:37
Yeah it just it'll be interesting to see how some of these other guys um you know
28:42
work out Um but I I definitely am very happy with uh you know Dylan Riola I don't see him going anywhere but I mean
28:49
he's he's another guy that who knows man He probably got a bump like when when all that stuff was going out Like he probably got a bump from the whole Miami
28:55
rumors and stuff And that's fine Like that's what you should do You know you I will never fault anybody for getting you
29:03
know their free market value And uh the thing is that the problem with Nico is they just overestimated it And it was
29:09
like they thought that Tennessee was just going to give him like a sweetheart deal because he was there for a year And it's like you're not good enough to get
29:16
your salary doubled buddy Like that's just And unfortunately now you're paying the price for it And uh you know we'll
29:21
see how it all works out Like hopefully it doesn't negatively impact his career too much Um but he put himself in a
29:27
difficult situation too of like oh I'm and then the other thing that I think is just ridiculous is now now they're
29:33
trying to say that it was the offense was the reason that they were leaving and not the money And it's like see like
29:38
the way they handled the negot it's not the fact that he wants a ton of money It's the way that they're trying to handle these negotiations
29:45
Well yeah It's just it's the fact that they went there and then Tennessee uh basically rebuffed him during the during
29:51
the winter window and was like "No we're not going to do this." And then so he like went went on this power play and
29:57
it's like you know if you're going to take because like there's two ways that that can happen once you take that step It's like in the NFL you know if you're
30:03
gonna if you're going to hold out from camp you're either gonna get back in camp really quickly or you're going to
30:08
be traded That's how it works I mean and that that's just you know what I mean there's there's only two ways that it really goes And it can either it can
30:14
either like I know they were trying to kind of jolt Tennessee to the table And that's one that can work It does work
30:20
sometimes when when like players hold out in the NFL but but the thing is like your value has to be at a really high
30:27
point right and it wasn't And so when he when he did that that burned the final bridge And so they're like "All right
30:33
trade him He's not he's not above the team Basically get rid of him." I mean you don't there's not a trade in college
30:38
football But essentially that's the move that Tennessee made So you know he he overplayed his hand and misunder he
30:44
overplayed his hand He m underestimated um you know how strong the hand was
30:51
I want to play a little game with you and it's going to be a quick game It's not going to be a long game but I'm going to name some of the quarterbacks
30:56
that Nebraska's going to face in 2025 You tell me if you think Dylan Riola is better than said quarterbacks
31:04
Okay this So the first one uh Brendan Sorsby I'll I I'll say better in favor
31:11
of Raiola Yeah I would say I would give uh I would
31:17
give Dylan the benefit I'm going to put a little uh Is Dylan better than Big 10 quarterbacks okay So no What was the
31:25
first one again dylan Brendan Sorsby Oh Brandon Sorsby No Nope Uh Dylan Raola is
31:31
better Bryce Underwood I'd say yes For Dylan I would say I would say it's going
31:37
to be I would say it's going to be close but yeah I would think that Dylan would be better for now Aiden Chile's
31:46
Dylan Dylan is better Preston Stone
31:52
Definitely I would take Dylan over Preston Stone Jaden Ma Now this one's interesting
31:58
because I was impressed with him a lot That one is interest That one's probably tough
32:04
Um I I still would take Dylan Riya though Like if I had a choice for this season I would still take Dylan Raola I
32:11
would too but I wouldn't be mad if you know in some alternate world we had to take Jaden Like that wouldn't be a be a
32:19
bad thing in my opinion I think it's gonna be really good Um yeah but you know that was also a classic Tony White
32:25
defense game there so I don't know Um Nico
32:32
gosh that's a tough one I'd probably go Dylan but I would think well I mean one
32:37
reason I'll preface this is because he's going to be in the same like so if you take everything away the
32:43
systems if you just gave me the the options of like without the the team and the offense and stuff I probably would
32:49
honestly say Nico because I just think having that two-way ability um I value that But just this season I think Dylan
32:58
will be better because he's in the same offense He's got Holerson and he's got dynamic wide receivers So I think he has
33:03
a better situation than Nico So situationally with Nebraska I think Dylan's better but just off talent I
33:09
would take Nico I would take Nico for now based off of that talent But I totally agree with you
33:15
about the system fit and things like that Um but I think for that one I'll take
33:21
Nico This next one I'll take Dylan all day and twice on Sunday Drew Aller
33:27
Yeah I would take I would take Dylan I know you don't like I understand Drew Aller Drew Aller I think Drew Aller is better than some people give him credit
33:34
for but um yeah he's he's not he doesn't throw it as well as he should So I mean
33:40
he does a lot of good things with his legs and I think he did take a step last year but yeah the the Penn State Yeah
33:45
but the Penn State fans used to compare him to JJ McCarthy and he is not JJ McCarthy
33:50
You know who else is better than people gave him credit for or was better than people gave him credit for christian Hackenberg Yeah I was gonna say JJ
33:57
McCarthy but well yeah JJ McCarthy is better than people gave him credit for
34:03
Uh you know my thoughts on JJ too So that's that that that's another show for another day And then the last one uh
34:10
Mark Granowski I'd take Dylan Yeah Dylan Raola I Yeah I would take
34:16
um Yeah they might have to I don't know I think that Dylan throws it better than Nico I might have to re change my
34:24
answers because you know like on like with the with the Bryce Underwood I do think Bryce Underwood's a better
34:29
quarterback than Dylan I think he's going to be a better quarterback than Dylan Um maybe not this season but like
34:35
armed I think I do think he has a better arm and he's more athletic and u he's just a bigger kid you know so I think
34:41
there's I think you know he there's a reason why he got a higher grade than
34:47
Arch Manning Like you know I think that Dylan's right there in that Nico range And I do think Dylan's going to be a
34:53
first round pick I think this season I think you're really going to see him take a huge jump forward You know the
34:59
the game slowing down slow to speak so to speak And uh so I don't know I'm kind
35:04
of rethinking maybe I shouldn't have put Nico above him also because I just don't
35:10
know if Nico can make the NFL throws that Dylan can make So I don't know I'm I'm wavering all over the place But I
35:15
would say those three those two quarterbacks are close with him Underwood and Nico I think And then I
35:21
would say Julian Saiyan from Ohio State also is in that mix But outside of that
35:26
nobody has more talent than Dylan Riola in this conference And frankly I think you could probably say the entire
35:32
country outside of you know maybe like Arch Manning and you know a couple guys like that but Dylan Royola can sling it
35:38
as well as just about anybody I agree I really like my um but I'll be
35:45
interested to see if the if it was just because Nebraska's defense was bad that day I still have nightmares of Malcolm
35:52
Hartzog getting out getting beat on some touchdown routes So maybe it was a
35:58
defensive scheme but I did like Ma and what he brought for USC I thought he was a good scheme fit for them Uh when when
36:04
when we played him and um yeah it's going to be an interesting gauntlet of quarterbacks A lot of talent there a lot
36:11
of potential there Some still developing some veterans Um but the Nebraska
36:17
defense is going to be put to the test for sure this year I think um one thing speaking of like Nico and other
36:23
quarterbacks um they need to figure out how to how to stop the running quarterback I know that's not easy I'm
36:28
not saying like it's an easy thing to solve but they really struggled with that last year I remember in that UCLA game I felt like the quarterback ran
36:35
quite a few times and then um and also in Northern Iowa Northern Iowa Yep And
36:41
um so that's that's something with some of these quarterbacks like Nico and Bryce Underwood that they can do both of
36:47
those things And maybe Dylan can this year with him losing a little bit more weight And I'm not saying I want like a
36:52
true read option quarterback but I do think you need to be able to to pick up a couple third downs a game which he
36:57
actually he did a few times last year So I mean I think he was a little better runner than you know some people give
37:03
them It's like people forget how the season went you know when they the farther we get away from it Um I I do
37:08
think that Dylan could be in better shape but he also ran a few times last season So like let's not act like much
37:14
took over That was the other part of it too But like let's not act like he was Drew Bledsoe back there No No I
37:22
mean also had also had a gunslinging arm And uh and I mean Dylan he did that ball
37:29
pat you know Drew Bledo's like famous for that pat on the ball Yep Drew Bledo
37:34
Speaking of quarterbacks that were actually better than people give him credit for Drew like people just forget because he was the uh he was you know
37:42
before Tom Brady but Drew Bledo definitely did more than his fair share in New England I'll always stick up for
37:47
Drew Bledsoe Yeah Drew Bledo was the man in the It's very true I love that Drew Bledsoe um like you know backup
37:54
quarterbacks always get the ring you know and stuff like that but he actually he earned that championship ring for the
38:00
Super Bowl when they won over the Rams because he came in during that Pittsburgh AFC Championship game like
38:05
off the bench threw a touchdown pass So like I love that he actually like got to feel like he was part of the a part of
38:12
winning that championship because he was But yeah Drew Bledo you're definitely right A guy that um could use a lot more
38:18
credit four 44,000 yards passing in his NFL career 251 touchdowns So there you
38:24
go Drew Two Patriots fans sticking up for you buddy He was uh he had the arm
38:29
that uh Matt Rule and Marcus Satderfield thought Jeff Sims had So yeah Yeah Back
38:36
in the the old Washington State day It's crazy that Washington State had him and then Ryan Leaf Like in succession they
38:43
had like in five years they had two top five quarterbacks So times have changed
38:49
And actually Washington State also more recently had Kim Ward So
38:54
So they're a quarter Are are they a quarterback factory i don't know Factory Yeah I don't know There's There's It's
39:00
up for debate Maybe they've had more they've had more first round quarterbacks than honestly I think Michigan and Ohio
39:08
State because Michigan hasn't their last Well they've had two Okay never mind and they've had
39:13
two which was Harbaugh and McCarthy but still I mean Ohio State hasn't had very like in the last like I'm saying in that
39:19
time frame I guess from like 1993 on I don't think Ohio State's had a maybe one
39:24
maybe Cardell Jones went in the first round and Michigan Michigan's had one JJ McCarthy so it's pretty crazy and I want
39:32
to think like Georgia Georgia hasn't had a first round quarterback have they well okay no I'm wrong um Stafford was a
39:37
firstrounder so before anybody else what though like 15 that was a while ago So
39:42
you look at over the last like 20 years Washington State's had more first rounders than Michigan Georgia and Ohio
39:49
State That's wild Penn State too Penn State's had they had Carrie Collins but I can't remember He was a firstrounder I
39:55
think I can't quite remember first or second Penn State's not exactly a quarterback factory They're a running back factory No I know but it's just it
40:02
just in like you know I'm just think going of the names of But I think you could say that about like Miami too I'm
40:08
trying to think who their quarterbacks have been Although they're going to get one in Cam Ward but he might go first overall It's funny but now you know
40:16
where if Drew Bledo play if it was now Drew Bledo would go to Washington State for like a season and then he would
40:21
portal to like Oregon you know Tom Brady would have probably like lasted a season at Michigan and then
40:28
Yeah Tom Brady I don't know because he he was a different he never even was the full-time starter at Michigan So I mean
40:35
he was but they tried to play Drew Henson with him all the time So former former Yankees legend Drew Henson Yeah
40:42
former Yankees legend Drew Henson Yep He he like people speaking of like not giving him Drew Henson was a good was a
40:48
better athlete than people gave him credit for Yeah he was and he actually was really good at the one season he was
40:54
the starter at Michigan He was pretty good Um so yeah it's interesting how that all works out And I guess uh we'll
41:01
wrap up the show there before we get on any more tangent That's interesting how that that relates to Dylan being better than Big 10 quarterbacks So Yeah You
41:09
know you get from you start talking about quarterbacks that don't get their due and Drew Bledo definitely is a good one in that regard So and so is Drew
41:15
Henson So the Drews got their due today The Drews got their due today So there you go everybody That's what you get
41:21
with the Husker Big Red podcast So um if you want more information we're actually going to be uh doing our live chat on
41:27
Saturday morning So come hang out with us And if you want to talk some Patriots history like we're we're some great guys
41:32
or and maybe we'll get to some Nebraska stuff too So thanks for hanging out with us again you guys And as always go Big Red Go Big Red
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