Matt Rhule might not have enough corn-magic to land Dylan Raiola for Nebraska football, so where would the Huskers turn for the future at QB?
There are a lot of reasons to believe that Matt Rhule can help return Nebraska football to its former glory. One of those reasons, however, might not be Dylan Raiola suiting up for the Cornhuskers.
Whenever Raiola, the son of Nebraska legend Dominic Raiola, shockingly decommitted last winter from Ohio State, the possibility of the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2024 recruiting class — a quarterback, no less — coming to Lincoln had Husker nation buzzing. There seems to have been real interest from the 5-star quarterback too.
The way things are trending, though, it does appear that Dylan Raiola will ultimately end up at Georgia, though that is not yet official. That would certainly be a blow to Nebraska and Rhule as they'd hoped Raiola would be the cornerstone of the 2024 recruiting class and the rebuild in the program.
But rather than holding onto the hope that Raiola will end up with the Huskers, what about the contingency plan? What happens if the QB indeed commits to Georgia, what then does Nebraska football do about the future at quarterback?
Let's take a look at the backup plans in play for Cornhuskers and Matt Rhule.
Nebraska football: 3 Dylan Raiola backup plans for Matt Rhule if QB commits to Georgia
Matt Rhule could try to flip in-state Daniel Kaelin to Nebraska for 2024
As of right now, 3-star quarterback Daniel Kaelin is committed to Missouri. But there's a chance that a big reason for that is the fact that Nebraska football has been so singularly focused on Dylan Raiola and not wanting to spoil any chance of landing the No. 1 overall recruit that they simply haven't been in on Kaelin…yet.
With that being said, Kaelin is the No. 3 recruit in the 2024 class from in-state for the Huskers. As Rhule needs to put a heavy emphasis on keeping the best players in the state at home to play in Lincoln, that could be a key factor if the program is forced to pivot away from Raiola.
Kaelin obviously doesn't have the high-end talent that Raiola does, but he checks the boxes of a player who could be a solid starter for Nebraska football which, frankly, isn't something that the program has had consistently over the past several years. He has a good-not-great arm, is quite accurate, and could be a riser with another high school season as the starter at Bellevue West.
It would certainly take some leg work by Rhule and his staff to get Kaelin to flip from his commitment to Missouri but, if the Huskers are forced to look somewhere other than Raiola for answers at quarterback, Kaelin is sitting in their backyard and should be a prime target as a backup plan.
Kamari McClellan is a high-end backup plan for Nebraska and Matt Rhule
Staying in the 2024 recruiting class for now, another potential option that Rhule could turn to depending on Raiola's eventual decision is a quarterback who new members of the coaching staff that came to Lincoln with Rhule, Marcus Satterfield specifically, are familiar with.
Kamari McClellan is only a 3-star recruit out of Pinson, AL but he's high on that spectrum with his athleticism and talent. McClellan was a big target for Satterfield while he was at South Carolina, but the Gamecocks ultimately moved off of the quarterback when they were able to get a commitment from Dante Reno, their top option at the position for the 2024 class.
Even still, we've already seen McClellan get offers from the likes of West Virginia, Oregon, Florida State, Auburn and other Power 5 programs in the 2024 recruiting cycle, which speaks to how intriguing he is for a program like Nebraska. More importantly, Satterfield already has an established connection with McClellan.
The dual-threat QB could be a spark for the Huskers offense, especially given that he also has favorable size and that Nebraska is likely to have another mobile passer, Jeff Sims, starting in the 2023 season, which could make the transition to McClellan eventually a smooth one.
McClellan is set to visit Lincoln in early June, which gives a clear indication that Rhule and the Huskers too view the quarterback as a Dylan Raiola backup plan worth exploring.
Nebraska could play the waiting game for Stone Saunders in 2025
Obviously, an ideal scenario for Nebraska football would be to land a quarterback the program can feel confident in moving forward in the 2024 recruiting class, even if it's not Dylan Raiola. At the same time, though, if the chips fall not in the Huskers' favor, it's also been made clear that the administration is going to be patient with Rhule in building this.
In that patience, there is also the chance that Jeff Sims, who was one of the standouts of this year's spring game after transferring in from Georgia Tech, could surprise some people in the 2023 season. Given that he has two years of eligibility remaining, it's entirely feasible for Rhule to roll with Sims for the next two years and then really set his sights on recruiting quarterbacks for 2025.
That's where Stone Saunders would come into play for Nebraska football.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound passer from Harrisburg, PA appears to be the type of recruit who could be a tone-setter for Rhule's tenure in Lincoln. Blessed with a big arm and good physical tools overall, he's already got an offer from the Huskers but also has offers from the likes of Michigan, Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and more.
If Rhule is confident in Sims and what he could also potentially find in the transfer portal moving forward, there are worse options for the long-term outlook of Nebraska football than biding time until they can go hard after Saunders and making the 2025 recruit the cornerstone for the offensive rebuild that they initially hoped Raiola would be.
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