Huskers coach Matt Rhule lauds Heinrich Haarberg in deep QB room

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule had nothing but praise for quarterback Heinrich Haarberg as the latter prepares to backup starter Dylan Raiola.

It is undoubtedly a role switch from where the quarterback was last year. He went 77-of-157 on the year, throwing for 967 yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He was thrust into the starting quarterback role following injuries and poor play from Jeff Sims.

Now, he is entering a wholly revamped quarterback room featuring freshman sensation, Week 1 starter Dylan Raiola, and classmate Daniel Kaelin. That said, his athleticism is certainly intriguing. He has the potential to play multiple positions, which he has tried a bit with the Huskers.

Rhule elaborated on where he envisions Haarberg in the quarterback race and broke down the versatility that the quarterback brings to the table.

“Yeah. I think that remains to be seen,” he said. “I probably don’t want to give too much out there to everybody. I think in fairness to Heinrich, I just have so much respect for him as a competitor. He can go out and do anything. Look at Coach (Scott) Frost. He was one of the great quarterbacks in college football history and then went on and played safety in the National Football League and Heinrich reminds me so much of that. Heinrich to me could be a great safety, probably he’d be a great tailback, wide out, tight end, and so we have the opportunity to use him when needed.

At the same time I don’t want to lose my number two quarterback, so there’s a fine line there. We are not going to play this year out of fear. We’re not going to play like, what if this goes wrong? I know sometimes that’s the way people think, that’s the way sometimes I think. But we made a decision that we are going to attack, that we’re going to go all in on this team and attack with everything we have and Heinrich is a part of that so we’re going to use him.”

It will be interesting to see where exactly Haarberg falls, not only in the quarterback room but on the roster as a whole. He certainly has a multi-faceted skill set that could be useful in today’s modern game. Haarberg has stuck by Nebraska through some of the leaner years. Now, he has another chance to make an impact.