Matt Rhule reveals Heinrich Haarberg's QB availability for bowl game amid position change

The Nebraska Cornhuskers had a quarterback battle this past offseason that ultimately ended with head coach Matt Rhule making Dylan Raiola the team’s starting quarterback. That left Heinrich Haarberg to be the team’s backup. Now, Rhule is changing things up again, changing Haarberg’s position to tight end.

Despite that decision to change positions, Rhule shared that Haarberg is still going to be available in the bowl game at quarterback if need be.

“He’ll still be available as a quarterback in the bowl game,” Matt Rhule said. “But Jalyn [Gramstad] has been working as the number two quarterback and Heinrich’s been pretty much full steam ahead getting ready for next year and sort of being that F-Y tight end type guy.”

Nebraska is returning starting quarterback Dylan Raiola. That news came after there were some rumors that he might try the Transfer Portal, but he ended up quashing those rumors with a post on his Instagram story that he was all in with the Cornhuskers.

Raiola will, presumably, be who Matt Rhule turns to in the bowl game this season with Jalyn Gramstad acting as his backup. That would mean that Heinrich Haarberg could fill in if there was an emergency situation.

Over the last two seasons, Heinrich Haarberg has played in 21 games for Nebraska. During that time, he’s completed 49.7 percent of his passes for 1,068 yards and seven touchdowns to eight interceptions. Notably, in 2024, he only attempted 18 passes, often appearing in Wildcat or two-quarterback formations.

Haarberg has 145 rush attempts for 579 yards and six touchdowns as a quarterback over the last two seasons. On top of that, he has three receptions for 20 yards over that span. Now, he’s going to move to tight end and look to use his combination of size and strength to help Nebraska on offense.

Matt Rhule and the Cornhuskers are currently getting ready for the Pinstripe Bowl where they’re set to take on Boston College. This is the first season that Nebraska has made it to a bowl since 2016 and it came on the back of a 6-6 regular season record.

Beyond the opportunity to play in a bowl game itself, making it to play in a bowl game gives Nebraska multiple extra weeks of practice. That, in turn, gives Matt Rhule a chance to prepare players like Heinrich Haarberg for a new position next season.