Recruiting never stops and it's easy to miss the top stories day-to-day. Recruiting analyst Greg Smith recaps all things Nebraska recruiting news, analysis and more so you never miss a thing.
Earlier today in the recruiting-only mailbag I got a question about which players used their redshirts last season. The short answer is that only Maurice Washington, Adrian Martinez, Caleb Tannor, Barrett Pickering and Cam Taylor all played enough as true freshman to use their redshirts. The more I thought about it, the more players I remembered got to develop and get acclimated to college with a redshirt season.
We tend to get some focused on the current recruiting class that it is easy to forget just how excited Husker fans were to land some of the players that just spent a year redshirting.
Desire to excel no fear of failure .
— Cj Smith (@Cj_Csmith) January 27, 2019
There are a lot of players that have a lot of potential that will be fun to track during winter conditioning and spring ball. Nebraska’s own Cam Jurgens is a name that pops up quite a bit as he gets used to playing on the offensive line. But what about a player like defensive end Tate Wildeman? The Huskers fought hard to keep him in the fold once Coach Scott Frost’s staff took over. His development is important as he works himself into the defensive line rotation.
During the 2019 cycle we’ve talked a lot about adding defensive backs to the roster and Nebraska has done a good job of bringing in new talent to Travis Fisher’s room. Don’t forget that in addition to Taylor playing as a true freshman last season, CJ Smith, Cam Jones and Braxton Clark all redshirted.
Nebraska still has 20 players left on the roster from the 2018 recruiting class. Of those 20, redshirts were used on 12 of them (including junior college linebacker Will Honas who suffered a season-ending knee injury during the season).
The Huskers will try to finish strong over the last few days of the 2019 recruiting cycle but remember there are plenty of guys from 2018 that are chomping at the bit to show what they can do.
Recruit Watch
>> Nebraska’s lone official visitor from the weekend, Dylan Jordan, posted some pictures from his weekend on social media.
Red Burns Brighter @ the University of Nebraska‼️ Truly a special place to be…🔴⚪️☠️🌽 #GBR #Huskers pic.twitter.com/JeOEfLl1WO
— Dylan Jordan (@thedylanjordan_) January 27, 2019
>> Huskers 2020 wide receiver target Xavier Watts (Omaha Burke) picked up an offer from Notre Dame over the weekend.
https://twitter.com/xavierwatts6/status/1089218736421249024
>> Ryan Held is ready to head back out on the road in one of the staff’s favorite states to recruit in.
Looking forward to turning some corners in my Georgia area for a couple days. Tons of great players in this state. #GeorgiaBallers
— Ryan Held (@CoachRHeld) January 27, 2019
>> Arlen Harris Jr. is already pretty heavily recruited as a 2021 prospect who has already been to Lincoln for a game. The running back from Missouri will make his way to Lincoln for Junior Day on Feb. 2.
Can wait to head back over to Lincoln nxt wk for the Nebraska Jr Day! #GBR #pawsup #runit #L33gacy @HuskerFBNation @AllenTrieu @JPRockMO @EdOBrien247 @NateClouse @trainrunit @lhscougarfb pic.twitter.com/y7KLq2sBHs
— Arlen Harris Jr. (@arlenharrisjr33) January 26, 2019
ICYMI
>> Hail Varsity caught up with outside linebacker Dylan Jordan after his trip to Lincoln to get his thoughts on the visit. (Premium)
>> Jacob Padilla explored how Tim Miles’ lesson of toughness was lost in translation.
>> Two future Husker basketball players faced off on Saturday and Jacob Padilla has his five thoughts.
Greg is the Recruiting Analyst for Hail Varsity and has covered Husker athletics since 2013. He has always had a passion for sports while growing up in the Chicago area. As he got older and had to hang up his cleats and sneakers, he realized his passion for sports went beyond just watching and attending games. He has covered many events from the Rose Bowl to championship boxing matches. If he’s not talking sports, he’s hovering over his grill. He is married to an amazing woman, Kim, and they have a dog that barks when Greg yells at the TV during games.
