Photo Credit: Greg Smith/Hail Varsity
As Nebraska football spring practices continue, we are getting a lot of interesting nuggets from assistant coaches. On Thursday, a little bit was revealed in regards to what Mark Whipple has been working on with the quarterbacks.
According to Brian Christopherson of 247Sports, footwork has been something that Whipple has been working on with the quarterbacks. The offense, along with head coach Scott Frost has noticed the changes in practice.
With the type of quarterbacks Whipple has been recruiting, this point of emphasis makes a lot of sense. Whipple wants strong quarterbacks under center who know how to throw in the pocket. Techniques such as a five-step drop are essential for under-center quarterbacks to work on.
Staying square in the pocket and making throws was something that the Nebraska football quarterbacks had trouble with in the 2021 season. Oftentimes, they would look to run outside the pocket. , That was sometimes a product of the play of the line, but scrambling was the name of the game overall. Pocket presence and footwork technique were oftentimes not on display last season. That appears to be changing.
The five-step drops and quarterbacks playing under center are both things that will be utilized heavily in this offense. As Christopherson notes, Nebraska football is trying to work on that right now. Quarterback Logan Smothers likes the changes in particular.
Of course this is the time of year when all change is usually trumpeted as a positive, as guys want to get behind the new ideas. But Smothers said he does like the tweaks, including the under-center stuff for quarterbacks.
Frost noted the footwork changes too, and “a few things different in the passing game” in where the QBs are setting up, how he’s reading defenses and going through progressions.
“Just versatile. You’ve got options. A lot of different looks, so keep the defense on their toes,” Smothers said.
Technique and pocket presence is something that Nebraska is going to have learn and do in a Mark Whipple offense. This is a little bit of a change up in comparison to what Nebraska was asking out of their quarterbacks last year. This change could end up being positive or negative. Time will tell.
