Jeremy Pernell: Huskers Setting Themselves Up Well at Quarterback

There's more to it than the Year 2 jump that's expected from Dylan Raiola. Behind him on the depth chart and in the recruiting pipeline is talent that should produce sustained success.

Nebraska freshman quarterback TJ Lateef | Nebraska Athletics

Training camp is in full swing as the Nebraska football program prepares for a season that will kick off Aug. 28 in Arrowhead Stadium against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Matt Rhule's third Husker team will look to continue its upward trajectory with designs on being a dark horse playoff contender.

I believe those aspirations will become a reality during the 2026 campaign, but there's no reason this team can't crash that party a year early. That might sound wildly optimistic for a program that just recently snapped a seven-year streak of losing seasons and won its first bowl game since 2015, but I believe in Rhule's process.

I also spent the offseason taking a deep dive into this roster position-by-position in preparation for my season preview. I'll dive into that in a couple weeks, but there's a clear reason to be bullish on this program moving forward: the talent and depth at quarterback.

There's a saying in sports: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." Well, there's also a derivative of that mantra that indicates how strong the culture is at a program. It's when your best players are also your hardest workers. That's Dylan Raiola.

Optimism for the upcoming season begins and ends with Nebraska's sophomore quarterback.

Dylan Raiola was the only true freshman quarterback to start every game for a Power Four team last season. | Amarillo Mullen

It didn't take long to show why he was the most ballyhooed quarterback recruit to ever sign with the Huskers. The five-star legacy made his presence felt immediately as a true freshman last season, throwing for 2,819 yards and completing 67.1 percent of his passes. Both marks set freshman records at Nebraska and led all true freshmen nationally.

In fact, Raiola's 2,819 passing yards are the second-most by a Big Ten true freshman dating back to 2000, and his 67.1 completion percentage ranked 14th nationally last season.

Raiola was the only true freshman quarterback to start every game for a Power Four team last year en route to becoming the first true freshman quarterback to ever lead Nebraska to a bowl victory. It was an encouraging debut, no doubt, but it was far from perfect.

His 13 touchdown passes versus 11 interceptions on the season left much to be desired, especially considering that through the first six games he had nine touchdowns and just three interceptions.

Dana Holgorsen took over as offensive coordinator late last season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Raiola hit a wall in early October against Rutgers that he didn't start to work his way out of until Dana Holgorsen was brought in as offensive coordinator a month later. In four games with Holgorsen at the helm, Raiola completed 71.7 percent of his passes for 6.5 yards per attempt, with three touchdowns and three interceptions. In the four games prior, he connected on just 58.5 percent for 5.4 yards per attempt, with one touchdown and six picks.

On the season, according to Pro Football Focus, Raiola's passing grade versus zone coverage was 82.3, which ranked among the top-20 nationally. He competed 74.6 percent of his passes against zone, which ranked 7th in the country. Conversely, his passing grade against man coverage was a humbling 55.7, which was in the bottom 15 nationally. He also had eight turnover-worthy plays against man coverage which was the fourth-worst mark in the country.

After logging over 850 snaps last year, the game will naturally slow down for Raiola and I'm anticipating a big jump in Year 2 after an entire offseason of tutelage from Holgorsen and quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas.

While I'm not suggesting there isn't in-season growth that happens with players, the majority of development comes during the offseason. So much of the season is about game planning, getting ready for the next day, preparing the guys, putting the game plan in, explaining what the reads are and then quickly moving on to the next game and learning your next opponent.

Dylan Raiola logged more than 850 snaps last season. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There just isn't enough time to diligently work on basic fundamentals once the season gets underway like there is during the winter and spring months, and in fall camp. Muscle memory is built during the offseason. It's why oftentimes you see the biggest jumps happen between a player's first and second years.

There's no debating Raiola's arm talent puts him in exclusive company, but what sets him apart from most of his peers are his intangibles. He has outstanding poise in the pocket, and his knowledge of the game is incredibly advanced for someone his age. He has a tremendous work ethic and is a film junkie. His diligence off the grass is what's going to have him knowing answers to the test on gameday with pre-snap reads and post-snap adjustments.

I think Raiola will be one of the best QBs in the Big Ten this season and one of the best in the country in short order. I expect him to complete around 70 percent of his throws and easily eclipse 3,000 yards passing with more than 25 touchdowns.

The No. 2 job will likely be held by sixth-year senior Jalyn Gramstad. The 2023 first-team All-American and NAIA Player of the Year transferred to Nebraska from Northwestern College last offseason after impressing Husker coaches at their post-grad camp in June 2024.

Jalyn Gramstad, a highly decorated NAIA quarterback, transferred to Nebraska after the 2023 season. | Nebraska Athletics

Athletic, albeit with an average arm, Gramstad played in 52 games for Northwestern College and was 25-1 as their starting quarterback. He hopes to be a coach someday, and his presence on the roster is reminiscent of an NFL team having an experienced veteran in the QB room to help mentor a promising youngster.

Although Gramstad is the top backup, it would be interesting to see how the staff would handle having to replace Raiola in the lineup if he were to miss time due to injury. If Raiola were to miss a series or two here or there, I would expect Gramstad to fill the void in his absence. However, if Raiola had to miss an extended period of time, would coaches insert one of their promising freshmen due to their immense potential?

When Matt Rhule hired Glenn Thomas in mid-January 2024, Nebraska's QB coach quickly zeroed in on TJ Lateef as his No. 1 target after building his recruiting board. Ranked as a four-star prospect by Rivals and ESPN, Lateef was chosen to participate in the Elite 11 Finals last summer.

By all accounts, after participating in bowl practices in December, Lateef arrived on campus in January and has really impressed coaches. He had a solid spring and has continued to make big strides throughout fall camp. He's currently QB3, but if Nebraska didn't have Raiola on the roster he'd likely be heading into the season as the starter because of his ceiling.

TJ Lateef has impressed coaches since arriving on campus in January. | Nebraska Athletics

Also in the room is redshirt freshman Marcos Davila, who spent last season with Purdue. After losing Daniel Kaelin to Virginia in mid-December, the Husker staff went into the portal themselves to find his replacement. They quickly identified Davila as a top target.

A decorated signal-caller from Midland, Texas, Davila ended his high school career as a three-year starter with 93 touchdown passes and 9,101 passing yards. He was Garrett Riley's top target and initially committed to play for him at TCU in December 2022, but decommitted after Riley left to take the offensive coordinator job at Clemson.

Davila had also been Dana Holgorsen's top QB target in the 2024 class while Holgorsen was at Houston, offering him on Sept. 1, 2022. Davila nearly signed with Holgorsen and the Cougars, but he stuck with his pledge to the Boilermakers and played last season for Holgorsen disciple Graham Harrell.

Rated a four-star recruit by 247Sports and selected to play in the All-American Bowl, Davila shares a similar build to Raiola and has the second-most gifted arm on the roster in terms of pure arm strength and passing ability. He's behind Lateef as the team enters the second half of camp, but the staff really likes his upside.

Marcos Davila transferred from Purdue to Nebraska during the offseason. | Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

On a year-to-year basis, the best teams in the country have difference-makers at quarterback. Of the 12 teams who made the CFB Playoff last year, nine were led by QBs named to all-conference teams in the same season.

That includes a Boise State team that was led by one of the best college running backs of all-time. The Broncos offense was built around Ashton Jeanty, who was 27 yards short of tying Barry Sanders' NCAA-record 2,628 rushing yards in a single season set in 1988. Even their QB (Maddux Madsen) was named honorable-mention All-Mountain West.

The outliers? Georgia's Carson Beck was named second-team All-SEC in 2023 and Tennessee's Nico Iamaleava — now at UCLA — is squarely on NFL radars as a redshirt sophomore. Also keep in mind Notre Dame doesn't belong to a conference, but their QB Riley Leonard was drafted in the sixth round by the Indianapolis Colts.

Nebraska is positioning itself for sustained success thanks to the talent that's accumulating at quarterback.

Nebraska is set to add Dylan's little brother Dayton to the room as part of the 2026 recruiting class. While not as heralded as Dylan, Dayton Raiola is a promising prospect in his own right. He also knows he'll be asked to sit for a few years and wait his turn before competing for the vacant job after Dylan leaves. He's completely okay with that. In a world where QBs often leave if they don't win the job within their first two years at a school, that acceptance can't be understated.

By most accounts, that's also the approach being taken by both Lateef and Davila, although I can't imagine both of them being on the roster in 2027 if Raiola shocks most people by returning for his senior season.

I would actually be surprised if they're both in Lincoln next year if one of them noticeably pulls away from the other during this season. But I don't look at that as a bad thing. The room will lose some guys along the way but with the talent being added, the guy(s) who rise to the top in that competition and stick around will be ready to take the reins from Dylan.

Trae Taylor (center), a 2027 Nebraska commit, appears to have the tools to be the Huskers' quarterback of the future. | David Rodriguez Munoz / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Among that group of players is 2027 QB Trae Taylor, who is a consensus four-star recruit and ranked among the top-10 QBs in his class by every major recruiting service. He has a chance to be a five-star by the time he graduates and could win that job in Year 1 — he's that good.

While the room will certainly experience attrition over the next few years, if things go according to plan, it will also feature one of the nation's best for at least the next two seasons while coaches develop a talented room behind him in anticipation for an eventual passing of the baton.

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