The most intriguing — and most talked about — roster question over the coming months for Nebraska will undoubtedly be at quarterback.
There are three scholarship players in the fold now that Tanner Lee has declared for the NFL Draft and, as reported yesterday, Scott Frost and quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco have offers out to at least two other Class of 2018 prospects.
The starting-point trio — redshirt sophomore-to-be Patrick O’Brien, redshirt freshman Tristan Gebbia and incoming freshman Adrian Martinez — start competing in the coming weeks as school begins Jan. 8 and winter conditioning will follow shortly after.
But what will the quarterbacks room look like by the time fall camp rolls around? Let’s take a look at what Frost and Verduzco did at Central Florida.
In 2016, their first season there, the Knights carried six quarterbacks, including five on scholarship. Senior Justin Holman won the job and began the season as the starter, but injured his hamstring after two starts. True freshman McKenzie Milton — the only quarterback Frost brought in during his first offseason — took over from there. He started twice, missed one game due to an ankle injury, but then started UCF's final eight games.
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We know what happened after that. Milton turned in a sensational sophomore campaign, leading the Knights to a 13-0 record and earning All-America and Heisman Trophy consideration.
Just as interesting to Husker fans, though, might be how Frost handled the rest of the group. He recruited Milton as soon as he got the job, landing a young player considered to be a perfect fit for the system. Other than that, though, UCF stuck with the returning quarterbacks and also converted senior wide receiver Nick Patti.
After the season, Holman and Patti graduated and two others — Tyler Harris (December 2016) and Pete Dinovo (August 2017) — transferred.
The Knights brought in three quarterbacks that offseason — freshmen Darriel Mack and Wahoo native Noah Vedral and redshirt sophomore Wake Forest transfer Hayden Kingston — to build around Milton.
Those numbers and the recent offers are clear reasons to expect at least one more addition to the NU quarterback crop for 2018. While former head coach Mike Riley was a proponent of a small room — he had just Lee, O’Brien and Gebbia last fall — and would have had walk-on Andrew Bunch as the No. 2 against Penn State on Nov. 18 if Lee had not cleared concussion protocol, Frost has had at least four scholarship players in each of his first two seasons as a head coach.
So now there are several avenues to keep an eye on. Nebraska has offers out to Jaymare Joiner — a Tucson, Arizona, native and University of Arizona commit who likely feels good about not signing with the Wildcats in December following Rich Rodriguez’ firing on Tuesday — and Montgomery, Alabama’s James Foster. reported that Joiner is slated to officially visit NU the weekend of Jan. 19.
Vedral also seems a natural transfer candidate. He played as a true freshman at UCF — 22-of-29 for 276 passing yards and a touchdown, plus 77 rushing yards and two more rushing touchdowns in mostly mop-up duty — meaning that if he followed Frost back to his home state he could use his redshirt year to satisfy the NCAA’s transfer requirements.
The Huskers could also look for a graduate transfer any time between now and August.
The bottom line: NU offered and signed Martinez, who plays in the Under Armour All-America game Thursday in Orlando, in short order, but that’s likely just the first move of a busy offseason for Verduzco’s group.