Smothers

[NorthwoodHusker]

I don’t think they would bring in two highly rated guys if they where confident in who they had. I assume they brought in these two guys with he expectation of them taking the job. My guess is Smothers transfers. I like him but he is not very accurate. Sometimes I wonder if you guys watch other football and see actual accurate quarterbacks. We haven’t had one in my lifetime.

You need two ready to go guys.
Between the three we will have 2 for sure and going forwards

 

[Husker In Oklahoma]

Casey Thompson has an identical 40 time as Smothers, right around 4.58. Martinez and Crouch each ran a 4.47 so I don’t think either one is nearly as fast, but they’re not slow by any means

He looks faster than that, football speed.

 

[Frosty1980]

On the other hand, we may have entered a time in history were one window shops every year, and if potential upgrades can be convinced to look this way, what coach says no?

I think we have definitely entered that time.

 

[EastOfEden]

It's not clear to me which players will want to transfer differently from before. I think, however, that will get into NILs discussions for the high end players. But if there is movement of say 20 of those around the country, that will kick off 40 or 60 who think they can pick up the spot just vacated by that first 20.

But without a doubt that is just a wild guess. But I'm not sure why a 3d or 4th stringer would want to transfer. What is he selling to the new team or the new NIL?

 

[Tenafly Tiger]

Yep. It's very uncommon for a program to bring in two quarterbacks from the portal. You don't do that if you're confident you have a player anywhere near ready to start on the current roster.

I assume it will be an open competition this spring, but it would be a huge surprise is Smothers does any better than 3rd on the depth chart. I suppose he could win the #2 role, but I wonder how Purdy would react to that (I'd also be surprised if this happens -- but less so than #1).

The biggest surprise would be if Casey Thompson doesn't win the starting role -- at least to start the season. Whipple is likely going to be putting much more emphasis on passing than running for his QBs. And CT is simply a better passer to this point with more experience in both age and playing time.

One thing I haven't seen anyone talk about is the status of Thompson's thumb.

Seems like everyone expects it to be fine, but I believe that Casey said recently that it's not ready to go yet. And I read today that NU Drs and trainers need to take a look at it. If it's not healed, I would think that would impact his strength training this winter and possibly even put spring practice at risk.

 

[Hville]

I don’t think they would bring in two highly rated guys if they where confident in who they had. I assume they brought in these two guys with he expectation of them taking the job. My guess is Smothers transfers. I like him but he is not very accurate. Sometimes I wonder if you guys watch other football and see actual accurate quarterbacks. We haven’t had one in my lifetime.

Actually I do watch a lot of other games and see a lot of bad. Just watch the national championship game. Quarterbacks threw a lot of bad stuff. Partially because they were under a lot of pressure. Feel sorry for AM having to quarterback like that every game.

 

[AzHusker]

I don’t think they would bring in two highly rated guys if they where confident in who they had. I assume they brought in these two guys with he expectation of them taking the job. My guess is Smothers transfers. I like him but he is not very accurate. Sometimes I wonder if you guys watch other football and see actual accurate quarterbacks. We haven’t had one in my lifetime.

Check out Alabama, Georgia, and some of the other successful programs. They are brimming over with talent at nearly every position. And they let the cream rise to the top.

I disagree with you that Logan isn't very accurate. I think his accuracy is fine - but he does lack some arm strength, which I'm sure he's working on this off season.

 

[Frosty1980]

Check out Alabama, Georgia, and some of the other successful programs. They are brimming over with talent at nearly every position. And they let the cream rise to the top.

I disagree with you that Logan isn't very accurate. I think his accuracy is fine - but he does lack some arm strength, which I'm sure he's working on this off season.

The arm strength may be a bigger issue than his accuracy but his passes weren’t crisp and on point. He’s a tough kid and I’m not completely writing him off. One good thing about the transfer portal is that Alabama and Georgia can’t keep all that talent.

 

[T-Rex]

I would be interested to know how many players in the portal are unable to find a home after the dust settles. I'm sure there are a lot of players still standing without a chair when the music stops.

 

[YUENGLING]

Smothers is probably the best runner of the bunch. In the old days, you'd see a guy like that switch over to RB or maybe WR. In today's game, they usually transfer elsewhere. There were a few times we had both Adrian Martinez and Luke McCaffrey on the field as a sort of RB/WR/QB hybrid and it was pretty electric.

If Smothers isn't the guy, I'd love to see him get onto the field in situational play. There's absolutely opportunity to leverage a guy with his talents, especially if their heart is in it. Rex Burkhead was a high school QB who adapted in college. He wasn't the fastest or strongest RB, but he played with heart and wound up winning a Super Bowl as a running back for the Patriots.

A lot of young kids want to be the signal caller. But guys like Burkhead usually wind up having the better career as they're able to eat some humble pie and do whatever it takes to help the team win. I'm hoping Smothers can be that guy but I won't be surprised if he transfers (assuming other NU QBs surpass him).

Smothers can run he’s a threat as a mobile QB if he can get the ball out quickly in the short passing game he’ll be tough to beat. He was a 4 year starter for an Alabama high school. He’s not going to shy away from competition he was the #4 ranked duel QB in his class a 4 * Purdy was #8 in the same class and a 4 * the competition will be brutal. Don’t count Smothers out.

 

[Walztrent]

Smothers was picked by Harry Potter. Whipple wants his own guys. He picked them and they came. Thompson is the dude this year and next if he stays. Purdy is next up and the QB for the remaining 2-3 years. They both came here with that understanding. If you think there's going to be an actual "competition", well...ok. That's a nice thought.
Unfortunately for Torres he's stuck here for a year. He'll likely leave next year along with Smothers unless Thompson or Purdy suffer a career ending injury. Even then Whipple could turn to the portal again. It's just the way things work in this new world of Portals and NIL's.

I guess I don’t see how thompson or Purdy get the reins without being better. And if they are better then why worry about smoothers. Yes it’s great to have loads of talent but if your not using that talent then why does it really matter what the guy on the bench does.

 

[Blue Howl]

If Thompson is healthy, I will be shocked if he isn't the starter to open the season. Frost knows this year is his last chance. Even if the coaching staff thinks that Smothers or Purdy or Haarberg have the higher ceiling, Frost isn't going to allow an inexperienced QB to make rookie mistakes and learn on the fly. He is going to want to play the guy who is the closest to a finished product, and that is Thompson.

 

[Hville]

I would be interested to know how many players in the portal are unable to find a home after the dust settles. I'm sure there are a lot of players still standing without a chair when the music stops.

A lot. I think the thrill of transferring will diminish in the future when kids find out they don’t get picked up.

 

[Hville]

This is pretty clear to me if everyone accepts the basic principle of how important line play is. We all strife and hope we find a defensive rush. Why…..because any quarterback getting rushed performs worse and makes mistakes.

The little bit we saw of smothers was with a bad line. The line that has been rated close to dead last in PFF. If this line looks better next year Logan Smothers performance is likely to catch up to that of our transfers. If our line doesn’t get any better Purdue and Thompson’s performance is likely to shrink to that of Smothers.

 

[Husker In Oklahoma]

If Thompson is healthy, I will be shocked if he isn't the starter to open the season. Frost knows this year is his last chance. Even if the coaching staff thinks that Smothers or Purdy or Haarberg have the higher ceiling, Frost isn't going to allow an inexperienced QB to make rookie mistakes and learn on the fly. He is going to want to play the guy who is the closest to a finished product, and that is Thompson.

Well, a 15-27 starter just transferred to Kansas State, and a guy coming to Nebraska from Texas who’s team just posted a 5-7 season, mostly, under his direction. At Nebraska, the teams woes mostly fell on the offense, the OL and him. At Texas, it was all the defenses fault. Probably a happy medium in there somewhere. Lol. Be interesting watching this play out. Probably, to date, the biggest off season in Nebraska history.