I don't know what you mean by the term, "projects." Do you just mean that those guys have room for improvement? Because I'm pretty sure that Zac Lee and every other QB in the country, whether it's a prototypical NFL QB, or Dennard Robinson, has room for improvement. When you say that the "project" players will take longer to coach up, I don't know what that means either. If they're a worse passer, than it'll take longer to coach up their passing than if they were a good passer, sure. But if they're a worse runner, I imagine it'll take longer to coach up their running game.We don't have to use the freshman, we want to, because that's the kind of offense that we want to run and Bo made the call that the killer running ability of Martinez is worth it.
This is why in the offseason I said: we should start Lee, because we should be starting a talented quarterback. And many, many other responded: Lee isn't a good runner. Taylor is a good runner. Having that is more important. Bo agreed with them. It was his call, and that's what he went with. I still don't agree with the call, but I don't think it will be disastrous either - as stated, if we show up to play, I think we'll steamroll many teams this year, Texas included, whether or not the QB has his footwork down. I'm not stoked that this is the story Bo has chosen for this season, but we're down that road now and I'm hoping for the best.
On another note, with the 3-headed QB race this year, we forget how dangerously thin we really are at the quarterback position. We have Taylor and Cody who from the start were projects, that were completely raw about being a QB (footwork, mechanics, etc), from the moment they stepped on the field. Cody was a dedicated QB from the beginning, and he has made strides in all those departments. Taylor wasn't, so it's understandable that he is less far along. Then we have Lee, who, footwork or not, is clearly out of favor; Witt, who left; Spano, who no longer has healthy knees; Carnes, who is redshirting...
So some guys we get are projects and some aren't. The direction that Bo wants to turn this offense to involves getting a larger number of quarterbacks who are projects, which is how we end up with two project, athletic QBs at the top of the depth chart, and Jamal Turner as our next QB commit. They will take longer to coach up, doesn't matter how good the QB coach is, but in the meantime will rely on their athleticism. That's not my cup of tea, personally, but it's Bo's.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding your terminology, but the way I look at it, every player on the team is a "project." They've all got to get better at some or all aspects of their game.
In terms of the "style" of QB that you get, which does depend on the offense you run, go take a look at Landry Jones, or Garrett Gilbert. Based on what you're saying, those guys aren't "projects," like Martinez is. But, as far as I can tell, they're still struggling quite a bit, and their offenses are both struggling more than Nebraska's has so far. So I don't get the argument that certain guys who have more of a passing background would be lesser projects than a guy like Martinez. Maybe they would be lesser projects when it comes to passing, but not when it comes to having a complete football player, and they aren't so much easier to coach up that it would solve all the problems an offense might have.
As far as I'm concerned in the QB style department, having a QB that can run gives you an extra weapon. It's one more guy the defense has to account for, and when defenses have trouble accounting for the other 10 guys, that 11th can kill them. Martinez can do that, while guys like Lee, Gilbert, or Jones can't. That gives him an edge, and it gives this offense an edge.
Now, does Martinez and the offense still have to improve? Of course they do. Maybe Martinez is closer to taking that next step as a passer than we think, since we haven't really seen it in a game. We don't really know. But the argument that "athletic" QB's are bigger "projects" and can't help out an offense as much as a prototypical passer should've been wiped out back in the days of Turner Gill.