Dylan Raiola shares his strengths, weaknesses so far in spring camp

All eyes this spring at Nebraska are on the quarterback position, where the team quite simply must get better than it was a year ago. Enter superstar recruit Dylan Raiola.

Raiola was a late flip in the recruiting process from Georgia, a landmark commitment for coach Matt Rhule and his staff.

At 6 foot 3, 220 pounds, Raiola looks like your prototypical quarterback. So far through a little bit of spring football it appears he’s getting himself acclimated with the offense. He pointed out a few things he’s done well and a few things he’s still working on.

“I think creating explosive plays has been probably one of the better things I’ve done,” Raiola said. “I think something I’ve got to catch up on is the protections, understanding where my inches are and things like that. So I think it’s just the scheme-wise, catching up.”

Those are all little mechanical pieces that help keep plays alive longer, giving Dylan Raiola a shot to use his arm to unlock defenses. But he’s finding out this spring that not everything has to be a downfield shot.

The team can chunk out some big plays even on short throws, assuming that’s what the defense is giving.

“I think just getting the ball into space with our guys that can run,” Raiola said of producing explosive plays. “It could be a 5-yard pass, but we’ve got some juice on the edges, so our guys can turn it into 20-, 25-yard gain. So it’s just getting the ball to our playmakers.”

While he’s certainly not guaranteed the starting job going into next year, the former five-star-plus recruit is a heavy favorite to have a major role. Whether that’s the starting gig or a hefty chunk of snaps as the backup, the Cornhuskers are getting him ready.

He’ll have to compete with some other veterans in the room, like Heinrich Haarberg.

So far, though, the competition has been friendly. Everyone is working together this spring to bring the others along.

“Obviously having Heinrich be able to teach us the scheme, very lucky to have him in the room and have some experience on the field,” Dylan Raiola said.