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.
The Nebraska football players that are returning to campus on June 1 to begin voluntary workouts got me thinking. I started to allow myself to ponder potential storylines for the 2020 season. One that we would have talked about quite a bit through the spring is who was poised to be a breakout young player.
Oftentimes Nebraska has wins on the recruiting trail and then fans file those players away not knowing when they will get to see them on the field. Since the Huskers are such a young football team, it allows for plenty of opportunity for players to rise up. Let’s take a look at a few players who all happen to be on the defensive side of the ball.
When Nebraska plucked Myles Farmer out of Georgia, the defender was an intriguing athlete. He was recruited on both sides of the ball by different schools but Travis Fisher and Erik Chinander loved his potential on the defensive side of the ball. He redshirted in 2019 but when we talked to Fisher back in March. he spoke about why it was so hard to keep Farmer off the field.
“Myles Farmer is one of the top guys on the team,” Fisher said at the time. “So a guy like that you really want to make sure he has everything he needs before he touches the field. If you are struggling with this or that or weight, you don’t just want to throw a guy out there just because it’s Myles Farmer. You want to make sure he’s ready.
“Those guys got ready in time but at the same time it’s all about the room. It’s not about that one person. It’s all about the room. I did what I felt I needed to keep the room as good as possible.”
Farmer is a player that the staff feels is poised to break out soon. He's in a crowded and veteran position in the defensive backfield. Still, it would not be surprising to see him in the mix for consistent playing time this fall.
Let's stay in the 2019 recruiting class. Remember how much we talked about Nick Henrich during his recruitment? Only Wan’Dale Robinson and Bryce Benhart got more coverage than Henrich in that class. A short time later, Henrich can be a forgotten man in Barrett Ruud's group. His position group has become crowded in a hurry.
Ruud has seniors Collin Miller and Will Honas back for one more season. Junior college transfer Eteva Mauga-Clements joined the mix this January. Luke Reimer has been a big surprise as a walk-on. Garrett Snodgrass is also in the mix and Keyshawn Greene will join the fold this summer.
Expectations are still high for Henrich. Ruud has described him in the past as smart, tough, very athletic and dependable with a natural feel for the game. The Huskers will need more than Miller and Honas to play quality snaps for the defense in 2020. Henrich appeared in one game last season. He saw special teams duty during the Wisconsin game. Nebraska was careful not to rush him back from injury but he could be poised for a breakout in 2020.
Nebraska has a number of young scholarship players on the team. The development of those players will play a big factor in how the Huskers perform in 2020 and the coming years. It is easy to focus on the incoming freshmen as program saviors. There has been a large number of players that have redshirted in Lincoln recently. It’s reasonable to expect some big jumps from players already in Lincoln.
Recruit Watch
>> Husker running back target Caleb Berry put a video out showing the work he is getting in these days.
— Cbezzy (@Caleb28berry) May 24, 2020
>> Big-time JUCO tight end Quentin Moore committed to Washington over the weekend.
IM ALL DAWG ‼️ #COMMITTED pic.twitter.com/PbUBUBcuPo
— Quentin Moore (@Quentinmoore88) May 24, 2020
>> Louisiana running back target Logan Diggs hit one of his academic goals this semester showing that he’s focusing on the student part of “student-athlete.”
this year, was my first year ever reaching my goal of a 4.00 or higher.. I finally did it 😢
— Logan Diggs (@logandiggs3) May 25, 2020
ICYMI
>> As Derek Peterson explains in his latest column the situation hasn’t been kind to Nebraska.
>> The next Moore To It Podcast is live and it has a double dose of Jay as Jay Foreman joins this week.
>> There is lots of intrigue in the middle for Nebraska volleyball as Jacob Padilla explains.
