After tonight and TJs performance any talk about Rhule and Dana will simmer down. And we can agree or disagree about what Husker fans patience or not that they will or won't be regarding bowl games in the future.
it was brought up on a pod cast......
- Thread starter TNT
- Start date
I love Dylan Raiola, I think he's an exemplary young man. However, moving forward, TJ Lateef is the new #1 and that to me includes starting Spring Practice 2026. It's about playing the guy that gives us the best chance to win and for as much as I like Dylan, he's not it. Lateef's speed gives our offense an extra weapon that Dylan simply doesn't have: The ability to run the QB.
I love TJ and was saying all week that it the staff played yo his strengths we would win. However that being said we played UCLA. Their defense isn't great and it was our defense who almost lost this game for us. If TJ continues to play like he did last night and let's say winsout and we are 10-3, you are correct he is probably the #1 QB going forward. However as TO would do you don't lose your starting position due to injury. Which means Dylan is QB1 until the coaching staff decides he's not.
Yeah, it was just one game, and he may sh!t the bed next week, but I like the way he spins it. He throws the ball with intent, zipping it into the target. Except for that perfect floater to EJ, that showed me he also has touch. This kid has a HIGH CEILING!
Lateef may be the key to solving the OL coach problem.
Dare I say, I think he has a higher ceiling than Raiola. Dylan's immobility will always be a liability. We know how much trouble a running threat from an opposing QB gives the Blackshirts. Opposing defenses have ZERO concern with Dylan beating them with his legs. They never have to "spy," so it allows one more defender to drop in coverage, making the mid-range passing game more difficult. If opposing defenses have to keep a backer or safety up near the LOS to keep TJ from turning nothing into a big gainer with his legs, it frees up passing lanes down field. The advantages of having LaFeet in the game are endless.
Not only is DR15 not a runner - he labors to work the pocket as well - just not great footwork to buy time. He can improve - but clearly that is more natural for TJ - and given the nature of the college game - I think TJ is a better QB to fit our offense. And we have other QBs being recruited I think that could be at a similar level to TJ.
At some point you can't just hitch your wagon to DR15 and hope it works out. Hopefully Rhule is able to work through that hard decision. Honestly if somebody offers TJ the bag and we can't match it - the decision gets made for us - he'll be gone. But I hope we keep him - dude has shown when he in on the field he can ball.
At some point you can't just hitch your wagon to DR15 and hope it works out. Hopefully Rhule is able to work through that hard decision. Honestly if somebody offers TJ the bag and we can't match it - the decision gets made for us - he'll be gone. But I hope we keep him - dude has shown when he in on the field he can ball.
Why does everyone assume money can take some of these kids? Maybe they are making enough here and are happy here with the staff, the facilities, the location? Maybe they like being a part of the rebuilding process. We just assume everyone is playing for the money.
At the start of the season most on this board were saying if the offense could score 30 points a game we would probably win most of the games on our schedule. To me that means most thought the defense would be fair but not great. Maybe border on being good, and if they could hold a team under 30 we would have a chance for victory. Well the defense has only given up 30 points twice. One of those games we won. The offense on the other hand has only scored 30 points 4 times. Two of those were to Akron and Religion 101.
Our defensive backs are our strength and that is where we have experience. Most of the DBs and safeties are juniors and seniors. However most of the front 7 are younger guys. Only Juedy is a above a sophmore on the Dline. So its not surprising that is our weakness on D. Its also not surprising that is why we are weaker against the run. But they have shown signs that they are going to be a pretty good group in the future.
I would say the defense is doing about as expected. Fair group, bordering on being good, but not great. I would also say they are living up to what was expected of them by most of this board, holding teams under 30 points. In fact they have only given up more that 21 points 3 times. To me its the offense that hasnt lived up to their end of the bargin. In our 3 losses they have only scored 20 points 1 time.
Yes we dont have a great run defense but that hasnt lead to a great deal of points given up. If the offense scores over 25 (not the 30 most were saying to start the season) we would only have 1 loss right now.
Our defensive backs are our strength and that is where we have experience. Most of the DBs and safeties are juniors and seniors. However most of the front 7 are younger guys. Only Juedy is a above a sophmore on the Dline. So its not surprising that is our weakness on D. Its also not surprising that is why we are weaker against the run. But they have shown signs that they are going to be a pretty good group in the future.
I would say the defense is doing about as expected. Fair group, bordering on being good, but not great. I would also say they are living up to what was expected of them by most of this board, holding teams under 30 points. In fact they have only given up more that 21 points 3 times. To me its the offense that hasnt lived up to their end of the bargin. In our 3 losses they have only scored 20 points 1 time.
Yes we dont have a great run defense but that hasnt lead to a great deal of points given up. If the offense scores over 25 (not the 30 most were saying to start the season) we would only have 1 loss right now.
He might very well be. I need to see more from TJ. UCLA was weak. If he plays this well in 2 weeks on the road against Penn State and we win, then we come home and he beats Iowa, we may seriously have a QB1 competition.
Which is why I, at this time, I am 90% sure that Lateef will not be on our roster in 2026. The coaches are going to, most likely, stick with Raiola, Lateef will not be happy to remain on the sidelines only getting into the game if we're playing Akron and up 60 points.
As I said, I love Dylan Raiola, he's a fantastic young man, but this is college football and winning is the currency of the realm. And, I think by saying, "Well, it was UCLA" is disrespectful. UCLA doesn't have a winning record, but they have a lot of great players and Lateef played damn near perfect. He was cool under pressure, the moment wasn't too big for him, he didn't start nervous or jittery, etc.
In point of fact, I'd go so far as to say if we had a competent run defense, the victory over UCLA would have been 21-24 points, not 7, which would have made TJ's performance even more remarkable.
I'll not gonna get too worried yet considering you were telling everybody last week that we were going to lose all of our remaining games.
I'll not gonna get too worried yet considering you were telling everybody last week that we were going to lose all of our remaining games.
You realize that we lost to USC because of our terrible run defense, right?
And thanks to our nearly non-existent run defense, we could have lost to UCLA.
TJ comes from a spiritual family and is a spiritual young man. He is driven by money. If he leaves, it won't be for a bag of money.
I wuz just yanking your chain, Coach Leatherboots.
I had to get you back for that comment you made in the "What Are You Watching" thread in the Game Room Forum.
No, perhaps not. But a larger bag of $$$$s AND a #1 QB spot? Yeah, I think he'd take the larger bag of money from another team if it comes with a starting QB spot.
99, we could have lost every game and been 0-10 using your logic. How about all those three-point losses over the past six years that we could have won?
BTW, there was no way UCLA would have won last night. Nebraska had the game under control the whole time. Even if UCLA ties the game, there were still two minutes to go with Nebraska in good field position to get to at least a field goal.
BTW, there was no way UCLA would have won last night. Nebraska had the game under control the whole time. Even if UCLA ties the game, there were still two minutes to go with Nebraska in good field position to get to at least a field goal.
With the transfer portal, NIL, and how drastically rosters can change from one season to the next, I think it's safe to say most elite players ARE playing for the money. I think for the best, most elite players, money does make the difference. For guys who can't get that big NIL deal, then what you're talking about is, I think, accurate.
Latest posts
-
-
Super Official Huskers "How about that volleyball team!" vs Illini Game Week Thread.- Latest: Hunchback Johnny