Dylan Raiola’s Nebraska Replacement Drawing Rave Reviews
Newsweek · C · trust 48/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Few were surprised when former five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola transferred out of Nebraska earlier in the offseason after two underwhelming years in the program under head coach Matt Rhule.
Raiola, who was arguably the top recruit in Nebraska history, ended up committing to Oregon in the transfer portal, where he will sit next season behind projected top-10 pick Dante Moore.
With Raiola gone, the door was left open for one of the four signal-callers on the Cornhuskers’ roster — Anthony Colandrea, Daniel Kaelin, T.J. Lateef, and Bode Soukup — to grab hold of the job he vacated.
With fall practice in full swing, one QB seems to be setting himself apart from the pack, and he’s turning more heads than just those of Nebraska’s coaches.
“[Colandrea is] a problem,” one anonymous Mountain West coach told ESPN . “He is a dynamic athlete. What type of a true quarterback he is will be interesting to see how he grows in their offense, but he's so good at escaping the pocket and running for explosive plays.
“He's a good football player. He's tough. He's going to give some people issues. He's probably 5-11, but he's fast. He's got some of that Johnny Manziel feel to him, where he's explosive.”
Colandrea’s playmaking ability isn’t a surprise to Rhule, who’s seen firsthand in spring and now fall practice just how much having a dual-threat quarterback could boost his offense.
“He's a playmaker,” Rhule told ESPN. “He can throw from the pocket. He's smart and he can run the football. But I think the biggest thing is when the play breaks down, he gets outside the pocket.
“Your receivers have to run across the field, but I think with him, they realize that he's going to get out on the edge and he's going to try to throw the ball for a touchdown. … I think just the way that he'll settle down the offensive line, the pass rush, because if they make a mistake, he could be gone, makes a big difference.”
Colandrea had a breakout season last year at UNLV. He threw for a career-best 3,459 yards, 23 touchdowns, and nine interceptions, and he rushed for 649 yards and 10 more scores.
Given the inconsistency of Nebraska’s offensive line, Colandrea’s running ability may prove invaluable next year.
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