Luke McCaffrey

[TheSker]

By the attrition we are seeing on offense with so many departures, it's clear to me that the root of this program's current challenges are on the offensive side of the ball.  The team can still like each other, but if the offensive players do not believe in the offensive philosophy, opportunities or staff, they are going to leave.  The data shows the offense has only gotten worse since Frost's first year.  Meanwhile, the defense has gotten marginally better and is way more competitive this year compared to the prior few years and its apparent to me that, with the strong passion the returning defensive starters have about their side of the ball, there is something going in the right direction.  

Frost is very stubborn though and has shown little desire to make more drastic staffing changes on offense or to admit his current approach is not working in the BIG.  Players want to play on a team where they can excel and their skills can be maximized.  From the departures today and in recent weeks, it seems many of our offensive players do not feel like that is happening.

It's funny when coaches are called stubborn 

McCaffrey threw 1 touchdown and 6 picks.

But let's call Frost stubborn.....

 

[uberism]

By the attrition we are seeing on offense with so many departures, it's clear to me that the root of this program's current challenges are on the offensive side of the ball.  The team can still like each other, but if the offensive players do not believe in the offensive philosophy, opportunities or staff, they are going to leave.  The data shows the offense has only gotten worse since Frost's first year.  Meanwhile, the defense has gotten marginally better and is way more competitive this year compared to the prior few years and its apparent to me that, with the strong passion the returning defensive starters have about their side of the ball, there is something going in the right direction.  

Frost is very stubborn though and has shown little desire to make more drastic staffing changes on offense or to admit his current approach is not working in the BIG.  Players want to play on a team where they can excel and their skills can be maximized.  From the departures today and in recent weeks, it seems many of our offensive players do not feel like that is happening.

Strongly disagree. 

McCaffrey - was given the chance to take over the QB job and was horrible. 

Wandale - the second highest used WR in the country. He didn't leave on his own, it wasn't his choice. 

Farniok - undersized and would never become a starter. 

Warner - had all of the chances in the world to become a main target and got beat out. His dad can say whatever he wants on Twitter, it will never chane the truth about Warner's ability as a Big Ten WR. 

 

[HuskerNation1]

Strongly disagree. 

McCaffrey - was given the chance to take over the QB job and was horrible. 

Wandale - the second highest used WR in the country. He didn't leave on his own, it wasn't his choice. 

Farniok - undersized and would never become a starter. 

Warner - had all of the chances in the world to become a main target and got beat out. His dad can say whatever he wants on Twitter, it will never chane the truth about Warner's ability as a Big Ten WR. 

I agree our QB play has stunk the past 2 years.  AM had his best year as a freshman and has regressed since then.  McCaffrey was under Frost's supervision for 2 years and we did not see much production or growth.  Now he started maybe 2 or 3 games this past season so it's hard to argue there was not a ceiling for improvement.  Many freshman QBs have their struggles, and I believe his upside was huge. And while players bear some responsibility, we should also see year over year growth, and at the most important position on offense (QB), we have simply not seen that growth.  Losing Spielman and Robinson in back to back years does not help.  I realize there will always be personal issues players must consider, but I also feel like if our offense was trending in the right direction and we were showing signs of growth on the field, you would not see as much attrition.  

 

[I am I]

I watched LukeM 7~9 times at QB in high school in the Denver area. He won all the games. He was good. Even the State Championship at Mile High. 
but when a kid in HS is just the best damn athlete on the field in HIGH SCHOOL, surrounded by a good team he’s gonna look good. When we recruited him and Lynn (from creek) I thought “we are getting the best players from Colorado, but both these kids need a lot of work at their position...a LOT” 
you could just see it  The Creek QB went to iowa that year (how’s he doing?), Creek played the QB who got a scholly to Wisc when they played a team from Utah, or some such. I was there, I saw it. 
 

I saw  Luke play several times in HS. At Neb he got bigger and faster but his game and especially his passing never got better, his whole game looked liked it did in HS. 

I’m not surprised he’s still one of the best athletes on the field but still not a complete QB. He looks the same (better physically) but not better as a whole QB 

as I type this..I may delete later lol, but I think we need a fast thinker, great passer first, decent/good runner at QB.  Stop w the 18 QB runs per game and find a guy who can pass at 68% and then run for 8-10 times for 25-40 yds per game. I read the article said Frost knows 18-20 runs by QB is too much. Hopefully we can stop that and start throwing darts 28x per game. 
Luke is not a dart thrower. 

 

[krc1995]

Wonder if he had choose between Smothers and McCaf? 
 

Smothers has a history of transferring to follow his dad as well 

don’t fall in love kids 

 

[chamrocck]

What the hell is going on?  College football is changing and getting to be a bit of a joke with all the player movement.  If we are going to lose some of our best players let's at least get some dudes to replace them.  

 

[HS_Coach_C]

What the hell is going on?  College football is changing and getting to be a bit of a joke with all the player movement.  If we are going to lose some of our best players let's at least get some dudes to replace them.  

But we're limited to 25 new scholarship players per year, including new high school signees, JUCOs, and transfers. Not going to be easy to keep a full roster, but at least we have plenty of walk ons to reward.

 

[C-4]

What the hell is going on?  College football is changing and getting to be a bit of a joke with all the player movement.  If we are going to lose some of our best players let's at least get some dudes to replace them.  

Feel the same. This isn’t because of Nebraska suffering, but the constant movement among every team and players not having to sit out much anymore is pretty silly and making me lose a bit of interest. The majority of the kids are messing up by not sticking it out with whatever school they’re at. At least if their goal is the NFL or to graduate college with with the path of least resistance (credits not transferring, second school not having their major or not being strong in it).

 

[NoLongerN]

What the hell is going on?  College football is changing and getting to be a bit of a joke with all the player movement.  If we are going to lose some of our best players let's at least get some dudes to replace them.  

My experience in this world has led me to conclude that new freedoms are great to have ... and then it takes time for one to learn under that freedom the power and responsibility you now carry in that new freedom.  It won't surprise me for this to take 5 years for kids to understand how to process out their new freedom, perhaps longer.  

 

[Decked]

Should be a 30 hard cap limit now per each team. 

 

[HuskerNation1]

Not sure if you can blame frost for mccaffrey not getting better, the dude just isnt a qb.  Cant do anything about that.

Then why did Frost recruit him to play QB in the first place?  Frost could have chosen someone else as the class QB.  

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Then why did Frost recruit him to play QB in the first place?  Frost could have chosen someone else as the class QB.  

The Luke recruitment is a tricky one. With Adrian on the team and projected starter in the near future, Frost figured he could take a chance on an athlete which they could develop into a QB or move to another position if QB didn’t work out. Luke doesn’t come to NU if Frost doesn’t offer him the legitimate shot to win the QB job. Luke had that opportunity for 2 games in 2020, and he failed. It’s obvious Frost and the staff brought up a potential position change after this spring. Luke objected and wanted to try to compete for the QB job at another school. 

 

[HuskerNation1]

The Luke recruitment is a tricky one. With Adrian on the team and projected starter in the near future, Frost figured he could take a chance on an athlete which they could develop into a QB or move to another position if QB didn’t work out. Luke doesn’t come to NU if Frost doesn’t offer him the legitimate shot to win the QB job. Luke had that opportunity for 2 games in 2020, and he failed. It’s obvious Frost and the staff brought up a potential position change after this spring. Luke objected and wanted to try to compete for the QB job at another school. 

I think there is way too much rush to assume that McCaffrey cannot succeed as a QB at the collegiate level. He started 2 games and was 1-1 as a starter.  AM has started many more games and struggled this past season as well and was 2-4 as the starting QB  so he also failed.  Do we now just wipe the slate clean and go with Smothers?  

 

[ColoradoHusk]

I think there is way too much rush to assume that McCaffrey cannot succeed as a QB at the collegiate level. He started 2 games and was 1-1 as a starter.  AM has started many more games and struggled this past season as well and was 2-4 as the starting QB  so he also failed.  Do we now just wipe the slate clean and go with Smothers?  

Even in the win against Penn State, McCaffrey didn't perform all that great, and he was awful against Illinois.  I think Frost was going to let Luke stay at QB through this spring and see where the competition goes.  If Luke wasn't significantly ahead of Smothers, then a position switch would have been what's best for the team.  Luke decided to go with himself (and I don't have an issue with that) and would rather be a QB elsewhere than a WR at NU.

 

[zeWilbur]

I think there is way too much rush to assume that McCaffrey cannot succeed as a QB at the collegiate level. He started 2 games and was 1-1 as a starter.  AM has started many more games and struggled this past season as well and was 2-4 as the starting QB  so he also failed.  Do we now just wipe the slate clean and go with Smothers?  

So a QB is only successful if they win games? Isn't there an entire sideline of other people that directly contribute to that as well?