Stryker Pregame Perspective: Promising Freshmen (Offense)

Quarterback TJ Lateef rates highest in Husker fan survey of offensive platoon players with potential.
Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef scrambles for yardage against the Akron Zips last week.
Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef scrambles for yardage against the Akron Zips last week. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

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When pretty much the entire Nebraska roster gets to play in a September nonconference game, as happened in last week's 68-0 win over Akron, it creates opportunities for almost everyone, but especially the youngest and newest. Nebraska fans are good at looking ahead to possibilities of future years when promising youngsters may become prominent.

My pregame survey question this week is focused on skill players on NU’s offense. On a sunny, windy Saturday before the Houston Christian game, I asked 100 Nebraska fans in Lincoln’s Downtown and Haymarket areas to tell me who they think is the most promising freshman on the list of six that I presented.

My pregame survey question this week is focused on skill players on NU’s offense. On a sunny, windy Saturday before the Houston Christian game, I asked 100 Nebraska fans in Lincoln’s Downtown and Haymarket areas to tell me who they think is the most promising freshman on the list of six that I presented.

Nebraska wide receiver Quinn Clark hurdles Akron's Rodrick Hunter on his way to a 37-yard touchdown reception.
Nebraska wide receiver Quinn Clark hurdles Akron's Rodrick Hunter on his way to a 37-yard touchdown. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Quarterback TJ Lateef collected the most votes, with 45. Wide receiver Quinn Clark was next at 26.

Lateef came quickly to mind for many, but the ones who voted for Clark often made comments like, “I like Lateef, but he’s not going to play for a while.” Some speculated he is the most likely to transfer of any on this list.

Lateef, a true freshman from from Compton, Calif., completed 6 of 7 passes for 128 yards in his collegiate debut against Akron last week and led back-to-back scoring drives for the Big Red in the fourth quarter. The second scoring drive was capped by Lateef's eight-yard touchdown run.

The vote:

TJ Lateef (quarterback) 45, Quinn Clark (wide receiver) 26, Isaiah Mozee (running back/receiver) 15, Cortez Mills (wide receiver) 7, Jeremiah Jones (wide receiver) 6, Conor Booth (running back) 1.

A future Pregame Perspective will focus on promising freshmen on the defensive unit.


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Tad Stryker
TAD STRYKER

Tad Stryker, whose earliest memories of Nebraska football take in the last years of the Bob Devaney era, has covered Nebraska collegiate and prep sports for 40 years. Before moving to Lincoln, he was a sports writer, columnist and editor for two newspapers in North Platte. He can identify with fans who listen to Husker sports from a tractor cab and those who watch from a sports bar. A history buff, Stryker has written for HuskerMax since 2008. You can reach Tad at tad.stryker@gmail.com.