Lee makes most of Manning QB Academy

By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com

So, how did you spend your last full weekend of June?

Nebraska quarterback Tanner Lee traveled to his home state of Louisiana and dissected every move of Peyton Manning.

The retired Super Bowl champion quarterback, partly for whom the Manning Quarterback Academy is named, will offer any bit of wisdom, help with any mechanics or answer any questions of those in attendance of his family’s annual camp.

“I watched Peyton sit down with a high school coach who asked him a question,” Lee told me this week, “and he filled up a notepad full of plays and explained things that could help him out. They really give time to every person, and it was really cool to see.”

And what would Peyton Manning, the former Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts quarterback, say about Lee, the Tulane transfer who enters fall camp as Nebraska’s No. 1 quarterback?

“He’s always very complimentary of me,” Lee said with a grin. “I appreciate that. They keep having me back out there, so that’s an honor. Any time I do anything, he’s got tips and pointers and telling me ‘good job’ and ‘good throw’ and stuff like that.”

Lee, from Destrehan, Louisiana, has been attending the Manning Camp, on the campus of Nicholls State in Thibodaux, Louisiana, since his high school years. When he was quarterback at Tulane, the Mannings invited him as a counselor at their camp.

“It’s my favorite week of the year, for sure,” said Lee, one of 43 collegiate quarterbacks serving as a counselor at this year’s camp.

“You are being evaluated out there," Lee said. "There are scouts in the stands. College coaches aren’t allowed out there because of some rules, but there are a lot of personalities and TV guys out there watching, so you want to perform well and see how you match up against everyone else in the country.

“You get to meet all these different quarterbacks and you get to bond with them over the course of the week. By the end of the weekend, you get pretty close to some of these guys, want to stay in touch, exchange phone numbers, kind of get to follow the guys throughout the year, so it’s nice.”

Other Big Ten quarterbacks at this year's academy were Alex Hornibrook from Wisconsin, Richard Leggo from Indiana, John O’Korn from Michigan, Clayton Thorson from Northwestern and David Blough from Purdue.

“All really good guys,” Lee said. “We had a lot of good talks and stuff like that. It was good to get to know them a little better.”

Lee said the Mannings – Peyton, Eli and father Archie – put the quarterbacks through a workout on Thursday and Friday to “coach us up, get us moving.”

Come Saturday, the quarterbacks were participating in a bigger challenge, throwing routes in front of parents and kids, and then afterwards, participating in an “Air-It-Out” challenge.

“You’re throwing at a golf cart from 15 and then 25 yards, and one that’s shooting down the sideline,” Lee said. “It was pouring down rain, so it was kind of fun to do that. I didn’t win the competition. I hit the first two, but I didn’t hit the last one.”

Nonetheless, Lee turned some heads, including that of Senior Bowl scout Patrick Woo, who first saw Lee at the camp in 2015, when Lee was at Tulane. Lee stood out then, and he stood out even more last week, Woo told reporter Christopher Heady of Landof10.com.

“He looks the part,” Woo said. “And he threw the ball well in 2015, and it was no surprise he won the starting job at Tulane. At that time in the college football landscape, he was the best (quarterback) in the state of Louisiana because LSU was struggling to find the guy.”

Lee sat out last season at Nebraska as a transfer and earned the No. 1 job heading into fall camp after edging redshirt freshman Patrick O’Brien and true freshman Tristan Gebbia in spring practices.

 “I wanted that, especially going into this summer, and I felt like I earned it,” Lee said. “It was a great opportunity that the coaches allowed me to have. I told them I’m going to continue to just earn that job now. I need to go out and earn that starting spot every day, like nothing’s changed. That’s how I’ve been attacking it so far.”

Nebraska offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf said Lee’s overall consistency, not just in any one particular area, earned him the No. 1 job entering fall camp.

“It was just a daily consistent effort at practice – extra work, accuracy – all of the things he’s shown to have,” Langsdorf told me. “He didn’t change day-to-day. He’s the same guy, personality, all of those things. His leadership style, he’s not a guy who’s real up-and-down. He’s real steady. That’s part of how he leads.”

Langsdorf offered positive reports on the other participants in the competition, O’Brien and Gebbia.

“Patrick did a lot of good things, too,” Langsdorf said. “He got a lot of reps and made the most of his opportunity. I just think making strides from even the wintertime, getting in better shape, having a better understanding.

“And I was pleased with Tristan. Here’s a guy who’s a true freshman, only been here a couple of months at the time, and goes in there and acts like a veteran player in the Spring Game. I thought that was really impressive. I’m pleased with our depth, our knowledge, our work ethic.”

Lee said he merely controlled what he could control, maintained an even-keel attitude and embraced the quarterback competition.

“The best thing about (competition) is it actually does make everyone better,” Lee said. “It pushes you. It forces you to show up with a game-day attitude for every practice, stay on top of your playbook, stay on top of your studies and film and stuff like that. In a lot of ways, it made me a way better quarterback for having gone through that.”

All the while, Gebbia, who arrived on campus in January, has “attached himself to me,” Lee said.

“I love that,” he said. “I feel like I can give him any kind of information to make his transition easier and develop habits that are going to help him in the future. I’ve been extremely impressed with both he and Patrick.”

Lee spends much of the offseason watching film on himself, trying to detect and correct bad habits in his throwing motion and decision-making. He’s also participating in team workouts and meetings every morning, then throwing 7-on-7 routes in the afternoon against the defense.

And yes, Lee has seen a couple of newcomer wide receivers on offense stand out in the 7-on-7 work.

“For sure, Tyjon Lindsey, you can tell, he’s just a natural football player,” Lee said. “The guy just gets it. He flies around, he has great hands. Jaevon McQuitty, he’s a question machine. He’s really anxious to get better. You can tell. You can tell how hard they’re trying, working.”

Oh, and speaking of former Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, here’s one out-of-nowhere name Lee mentions as a player to watch. He's also a wide receiver.

“Kade Warner,” Lee said, referring to the Arizona native walk-on and son of former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Kurt Warner. “He’s really impressed me. You can tell he’s picked up the game quickly and kind of has a feel for running plays and stuff. I had a lot of guys at the Manning Camp ask me about him. I told all of them he’s been very impressive so far.”

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.