Nebraska’s first week on the newly reopened recruiting trail following the December-January dead period has been full of mostly good news. The Huskers added Ole Miss transfer linebacker Breon Dixon over the weekend. Tuesday night 3-star defensive end Casey Rogers committed. He, like Dixon, was in Lincoln for a visit this past weekend.
So was Vanderbilt commit Miles Jones. Well, make that former Vanderbilt commit.
Please respect my decision pic.twitter.com/pj39NGGsJ6
— Miles Jones (@msj_era1) January 17, 2018
Recruiting analyst Greg Smith has reported that it was down to the Commodores and the Huskers for Jones, so last night’s news was certainly good news for Nebraska. A high 3-star athlete, Jones would start out at running back for the Huskers, but in this offense positions are kind of just labels for guys with the explosiveness and athleticism Jones possesses.
Per his Hudl profile, the Plantation, Florida, prospect has Nike verified numbers of 4.62 in the 40, 4.09 in the 20-yard shuttle and 37.9 in the vertical jump. Add it all up, and Jones scored a 109.71 in the Nike Football Rating. (Note: The Nike Football Rating, formerly SPARQ, is an attempt to standardize recruit testing and has a pretty good reputation among coaches for being accurate, which isn’t a given with the slew of numbers out there.)
Jones actually posted a better total score than that at The Opening Miami regional last February. His 112.26 rating ranked second behind Nadab Joseph, a 4-star defensive back who flipped from Alabama right before early signing opened and signed with Georgia. Jones is fast enough – his 40 time ranked third among running backs at the Miami regional – but it’s his explosiveness and power that really jump off the page. Jones' vertical jump (37.1) and kneeling powerball toss (40) both ranked eighth among all prospects at the regional.
Jones is expected to announce his decision on Thursday. You can check out his senior-year highlights below.
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/5447616/59c82e5123521212207115b0
The Grab Bag
- While I've still got love for D.J. Durkin, my bullishness on Maryland football will have to be downgraded if offensive coordinator Walt Bell ends up leaving for Florida State.
- I'm in love with the job Jeff Monken has done at Army (10-3 in 2017). Here are his "six key values" and "seven football commandments" if you're interested in that sort of thing.
- Steve Sipple catches up with Eric Johnson. The Atlanta-based former Husker trains prep football players, and has worked with Dixon and Nebraska junior linebacker Mohamed Barry. Not a bad connection to have for the Husker in perhaps the hottest recruiting ground going right now.
- ICYMI: Inherent bias noted, Derek Peterson and Jacob Padilla run an almost unstoppable pick-and-pop when it comes to hoops analysis. Be sure to check out their columns from yesterday.
Today's Song of Today
Brandon is the Managing Editor for Hail Varsity and has covered Nebraska athletics for the magazine and web since 2012, Hail Varsity’s first season on the scene. His sports writing has also been featured by Fox Sports, The Guardian and CBS Sports.
