2024 Husker Signee Analysis: Quarterback Daniel Kaelin

The Bellevue West product showed he belonged among the nation's elite QBs, and he stuck with the Huskers despite Dylan Raiola's last-minute commitment

Daniel Kaelin via Twitter

It's almost kismet that Dylan Raiola and Daniel Kaelin both ultimately ended up in this Nebraska football recruiting class together. The pair have been the top QB targets for this cycle dating back to spring 2021, when they became two of the youngest quarterbacks to ever receive a Husker offer. Their recruitments have been linked ever since - at least as far as Nebraska is concerned.

Over the last 2½ years, their connections to the Husker program have ebbed and flowed depending on the twists and turns of what was an eventful recruiting journey for Raiola.

Ever since his eleventh-hour change of heart, Raiola has been front and center on the minds of Husker fans. But it would be a mistake to overlook the importance of the guy who spent seven months committed to Nebraska as their class QB and tireless peer recruiter.

Daniel Kaelin played JV as a freshman and split time with the varsity squad as a sophomore at Bellevue West, one of the most talented teams annually in Nebraska. Despite not being the full-time starter, he collected multiple Power Five offers thanks to strong performances at several camps.

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He was offered as a freshman by the previous staff back on May 31, 2021, shortly after receiving an offer from Florida State earlier in the day. He was a priority target of former QB coach Mario Verduzco, but after he was fired and replaced by Mark Whipple prior to the 2022 season, communication with Nebraska virtually stopped.

That changed in September 2022, when Scott Frost was fired and interim head coach Mickey Joseph took over and immediately reignited talks. Kaelin quickly became QB1 and one of Joseph’s top overall targets for the '24 class. During his brief time running the program, Joseph got Kaelin on campus for games against Louisiana Tech, Michigan, Northwestern, Purdue and Iowa.

Finally taking the reins as a junior, Kaelin completed nearly 64% of his passes while throwing for 3,186 yards and 36 touchdowns versus just seven interceptions en route to being named second-team Super State.

Kaelin then headed into the offseason determined to further his development. After his season ended, he spent nearly every weekend for the next several months working with private quarterback coach John Teigland at the Warren Academy, with former Husker Bronson Marsh at his Elite Performance Facility, playing for California Power - one of the best 7-v-7 teams on the West coast, or participating in a camp of some sort.

When Matt Rhule was hired at Nebraska, Kaelin was the first recruit he got in contact with and made sure to get him on campus for his in-state recruiting event, which took place a few weeks after Rhule took the Husker job. Kaelin quickly became Nebraska's top quarterback target in the 2024 cycle prior to five-star legacy Dylan Raiola decommitting from Ohio State in mid-December. At the time, the Huskers were lining up for a quick commitment from Kaelin.

Understandably, the staff pivoted and made Raiola their top priority. It was a delicate balance Rhule and his staff undertook, but it was made possible by the complete transparency they had with Kaelin and his camp throughout the process.

The two sides understood that Nebraska had to see how things played out with Raiola - the No. 1 QB in the class whose dad, Dominic, played at NU and whose uncle, Donovan, coaches the offensive line - before they could fully commit to Kaelin.

During the early months of 2023, the Huskers full-court pressed Raiola while maintaining consistent communication with Kaelin, who continued to build relationships with other schools and quickly became the top QB target for both Missouri and Minnesota.

By the time March rolled around, Raiola had visited Lincoln a couple times and it appeared the Huskers had a real shot of landing him.

Despite his heart being in Lincoln, Kaelin wanted to secure his spot with another school before the QB dominoes fell. He committed to Missouri on March 13, during the height of the Raiola-to-Nebraska hype.

2024 Husker Signee Analysis: Quarterback Dylan Raiola

When he initially chose the Tigers, his three other finalists were Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan State. He also held additional Power Five offers from Arizona State, Colorado, Duke, Florida State, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami, North Carolina, Rutgers, Vanderbilt and Virginia.

Over the next two months, Nebraska's momentum with Raiola steadily waned until he officially committed to Georgia on May 15.

True to his word, Rhule and the Huskers immediately turned their undivided attention to Kaelin. Rhule sent multiple coaches to Bellevue West the day after Raiola's announcement to show Kaelin the type of priority he was to them. Kaelin reciprocated their interest and the two sides quickly moved forward.

Two days after throwing in front of Marcus Satterfield and Ed Foley on May 16, Kaelin informed Rhule that he wanted to join the Husker class. The following day, May 19, Kaelin officially decommitted from Missouri before publicly announcing his commitment to Nebraska on May 20.

Kaelin jumped in with both feet as a peer recruiter, making it back to Lincoln during every recruiting event and visit weekend throughout the busy month of June. He was also in town for every home game this season. His efforts were cited by essentially every commit as being the primary catalyst for bonding as a class.

After a phenomenal spring showing off at several camps, Kaelin was one of 20 quarterbacks selected to participate in the Elite 11 Finals that were held in Los Angeles June 14-16.

Over the course of the offseason, roughly 500 quarterbacks worked out at eight different regionals (Los Angeles, Orlando, Austin, Ohio, Oregon, Mississippi, Atlanta, Northeast) trying to earn one of those 20 spots. Kaelin earned his invitation based off his standout performance at the Ohio Regional held at Massillon Washington High School on April 23.

Just to give you an idea of how prestigious these Elite 11 stops have become, 16 of the last 17 quarterbacks who have won the Heisman Trophy attended an Elite 11 regional. The last 12 quarterbacks to get drafted No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft attended an Elite 11 regional - Caleb Williams will be No. 13.

Alumni from the Elite 11 Finals include 27 of the 32 current NFL starting quarterbacks and 70-of-84 rostered quarterbacks heading into the 2023 NFL season. It goes without saying, but Kaelin joined an extremely prestigious fraternity being invited to this event and ultimately being the first-ever Nebraskan to be named a finalist.

Kaelin was among truly elite company at the event. Among the 20 selections at the time were four 5-star players and 13 additional 4-stars, which comprised 12 of the top 18 ranked QBs according to On3's industry composite rankings.

Kaelin was among the most consistent performers during the three days of competition and proved he belonged among the best signal callers in this class.

He won the Accuracy Challenge where quarterbacks are given a variety of throws - curls, comebacks, deep posts and other routes - and a target to hit. He scored 56 points as one of only three campers to score over 50.

He also finished tied for fifth during the Pro Day competition, where each quarterback conducts 20 scripted throws from different stations and are scored based on accuracy and whether the ball is completed. Kaelin went 15-for-20 in his session and scored 43 out of a possible 50 points.

At the Elite 11 camp, they give the quarterbacks the S2 cognitive test. It’s the test that replaced the Wonderlic Test during the NFL Draft process. The S2 test mainly evaluates how athletes can process split-second information and their decision-making ability.

The test takes about 40 to 45 minutes to complete and consists of nine different tests that measure varying aspects of a player's processing speed. Five of S2's mental tests include perception speed, visual search efficiency, trajectory prediction, impulse control and improvisation. For quarterbacks, the test rates their ability to track multiple objects, make complex decisions, and filter solutions with different defensive scenarios while improvising. The scores for these tasks are graded separately and then entered into a formula to determine a player's overall score.

Kaelin scored 94 out of 99 on the test. That probably shouldn't come as a surprise considering he reportedly has a genius-level IQ.

Injuries to key players factored into a disappointing season for Bellevue West, who came into the year with a lot of hype. Kaelin took a step back statistically, completing just 59% of his passes for 2,225 yards and 17 touchdowns against six interceptions while being named honorable-mention all-state by the Omaha World-Herald.

It was likely a factor in him losing his four-star status, even though many still regard him as the best quarterback prospect the state has produced since Eric Crouch 27 years ago.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Kaelin has all the traits this staff is looking for as they move forward with this offense. He has impressive pocket awareness at this stage of his development and nice footwork for a prep quarterback too. He's also really good at making pre-snap reads, quickly processing coverages and working through his progressions. You have to really like the intangibles he brings.

He also has impressive arm talent and can deliver the ball at all three levels. He throws a catchable ball and has enough velocity to throw into tight windows. I like his ball placement and he also shows good anticipation and does a good job of throwing receivers open.

He's not a plus-athlete and will never be mistaken for a dual-threat - although he's not a statue in the pocket. He also struggles a bit when he's asked to roll out of the pocket and throw on the move. But he's a nice piece of clay for new co-offensive coordinator and QB coach Glenn Thomas to work with as the program continues to transition into the pro-style system they've desired since they arrived.

The Huskers are lucky he stuck with them. There was a brief time when that didn't seem likely.

When Dylan Raiola called Matt Rhule on Dec. 10 to let him know he was interested in coming to Nebraska, the Husker staff was completely forthright with Kaelin. The following day, a member of the Nebraska staff called to speak with Daniel, who was napping after a workout. They instead spoke with his mother, Teresa, to keep them apprised of the developing situation.

Kaelin was understandably taken aback by the news of Raiola's renewed interest in the Huskers. Smelling blood in the water, a handful of teams immediately reached out to him. On Wednesday, Dec. 13, news broke that Kaelin was planning to take an official visit that upcoming Saturday and Sunday to Michigan State, a school he had visited multiple times during his initial recruitment. New head coach Jonathan Smith subsequently sent his offensive coordinator, Brian Lindgren, to visit with Kaelin at Bellevue West on Dec. 14.

Following the visit from Lindgren, Kaelin drove to Lincoln to meet with Nebraska’s coaches. Rhule was steadfast that he wanted Kaelin in the class regardless of Raiola's decision. Kaelin was also hearing from his fellow commits who were desperately trying to talk him into sticking with the Huskers.

The visit obviously went well, and while Husker fans held their breath wondering if Kaelin would flip, at roughly 4:30 p.m. Friday, Kaelin's quarterback coach John Teigland posted a video of Kaelin throwing with Husker wide receiver commit Dae'vonn Hall and Nebraska tight end Thomas Fidone II, confirming Kaelin had decided not to make the trip to East Lansing.

Kaelin signed with Nebraska on Dec. 20 and enrolled in mid-January. He's taking part in winter conditioning and will participate in spring practices.