Nebraska on Monday double-dipped in the transfer quarterback market, pairing former Florida State signal-caller Chubba Purdy with former Texas starter Casey Thompson. Here are three observations following Purdy's pledge to NU.Â
1. What a first month for new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple.Â
The 40-year coaching veteran arrived on campus just after four-year Nebraska starter Adrian Martinez decided to transfer away from the school and confidently said on Dec. 15 that he was fielding substantial interest from quarterbacks around the country.Â
A month later, he's got the 2021 Big 12 touchdown pass leader in Thompson and a promising young former four-star recruit in Purdy along with 2022 signee Richard Torres all joining the group for this semester.Â
Torres, the lanky, athletic San Antonio, Texas native, was committed before Whipple took over, of course, but Nebraska stuck with him and he stuck with the Huskers.Â
Thompson and Purdy, though, is a head-turning haul out of the transfer portal.Â
The Huskers now are slated to have five scholarship quarterbacks on campus for spring ball, though Torres may not be fully recovered from a knee injury that cut his senior season at San Antonio Southside short.Â
Of the quintet, three are attending their first classes at Nebraska this week. That's quite a makeover.Â
2. Let the wild rumpus begin.Â
And now, the five quarterbacks go to work duking it out for the starting job. Torres, for reasons already stated, is likely the furthest away from it, but never say never.Â
As for the others, Thompson clearly has the most experience and there's a reason the Huskers' first priority was landing him once a couple of other players decided on other destinations.Â
He threw 24 touchdowns last season for Texas, the top mark in the Big 12, and was very efficient early in the season before an injury to his thumb on his throwing hand impacted the second half of his campaign.Â
Purdy started one game in 2020 and played in one game this fall before deciding to enter the transfer portal in the midst of the Seminoles season. He and returning sophomore Logan Smothers have roughly similar amounts of experience in college.Â
Smothers started the Huskers' final game of the season against Iowa in place of Martinez and played well for the first three quarters.Â
Out of all the quarterbacks in the program, redshirt freshman Heinrich Haarberg might be the most physically like Kenny Pickett, the Heisman Trophy finalist that Whipple tutored the past three years at Pitt. He's 6-5 with arm talent Frost called "elite" and with a combination of athleticism and physical skills that is easy for coaches to dream on.Â
"Supremely talented kid and we’ve just got to keep bringing him along, but I’m really excited about his future," Frost said of the Kearney Catholic graduate, who spent 2021 trying to make the jump from Nebraska Class C-1 high school ball to the Big Ten.Â
So, now what happens?Â
Thompson is the most experienced and will have the biggest profile and most NIL deals. Purdy was not long ago a highly sought-after recruit. Smothers has the most sweat equity in the Nebraska program so far and is dangerous with his legs, too, and Haarberg may have the most raw talent out of everybody. Torres jumps into the fray once he's fully healthy.Â
The veteran coach at the front of the room has a lot of reps to divide up and decisions to make relatively quickly once spring ball gets rolling on Feb. 28.Â
3. A good 12 months for Nebraska/Oklahoma battles.Â
First came a seven-point Sooners win in Norman back in September. Neither of the starting quarterbacks from that contest are still at their schools, with Martinez off to Kansas State and Spencer Rattler now at South Carolina.Â
Then, Thompson considered following in his dad, Charles' footsteps. The elder Thompson was an option quarterback for OU. His son now will play for two of the Sooners' biggest historic rivals.Â
The two schools came back into proximity with each other again over Purdy, who visited Norman from Tuesday through Thursday and Lincoln Friday through Sunday before ultimately picking the Huskers.Â
The Sooners aren't in bad shape in terms of quarterback recruiting, though. They landed UCF's Dillon Gabriel on the same day that their star freshman, Caleb Williams, announced he was entering the portal and they could still land another, like UCF transfer Jaxson Dart.Â
NU and OU have been among the most active schools in the country in transfer recruiting and both will likely have multiple new quarterbacks on the roster when they match up again at Memorial Stadium in September.Â
There's a lot to shake out in the Husker quarterback room between now and then.Â
Keeping up with the transfer portal. Here's who the Huskers have coming to Lincoln