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.
Shout out to Derek Peterson and Erin Sorensen for holding down the fort for the last couple of days here. They are appreciated.
Recruiting analysts like myself spend a lot of time trying to figure out how many players Nebraska would like to take in a recruiting cycle. The reason is pretty straightforward. Once you know that, it becomes easier to work backwards. You can figure out how many prospects Nebraska would like to sign at each position in a given year. Once players start committing, you are able to know how many spots are left at each position.
The total amount of prospects is a key part of the puzzle for each class. Scott Frost said Nebraska is expecting to take a smaller class in the 2021 cycle during his time on Sports Nightly. So far, the class has seven commits but Nebraska’s senior class for the upcoming season is only 14-deep.
“We’re in a position this year where we’re getting a lot done but we’re going to have to sign a smaller class this year,” Frost said. “So we kind of have to be deliberate about where and when.”
In addition to the 14-man senior class, there are a couple other reasons why it will be difficult take a full 25-man class this recruiting cycle. There may not be as much attrition this year as we have seen under the first part of Frost’s tenure at Nebraska. The roster is pretty much flipped and filled with “Frost guys.” That should lead to less attrition than the staggering amounts we’ve seen so far.
At 81 scholarships currently, Nebraska has walk-ons Isaac Gifford and Ty Hahn to put on scholarship soon. All the intel I have points to linebacker Luke Reimer going on scholarship soon as well. The team would also like to add one more immediately-eligible transfer (preferably at wide receiver) which gets Nebraska to 85 scholarships. Let's take into consideration the 14 seniors departing and small attrition of three more players. That gets you to 17 spots available for the 2021 recruiting class.
We are looking at about 17-22 players being brought in this cycle. The staff has a history of finding creative ways to take a full boat of prospects. Yet, given the numbers this year, that might be harder to do. Remember, this is a young football team with over half the team being sophomores or freshmen.
Nebraska will end up being fairly selective in who gets the green light to commit for the 2021 class. There will always be surprise commitments to fans and media but anyone that commits to Nebraska this cycle is someone the staff will feel good about.
Recruit Watch
>> Florida 2021 wide receiver Simeon Price included the Huskers in his top 10 on Wednesday.
#Top10
Recruitment 100% open
📸:@Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/6P4JFjEs9I— Simeon Price (@SimeonPrice2) May 13, 2020
>> Arizona athlete Denzel Burke did not include Nebraska in his top five that has a strong Pac-12 flavor.
Blessed to be in this position. #Top5 #noorder Edit: @Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/663KuKl01b
— Denzel Burke (@King10Burke) May 13, 2020
>> Texas wideout Jaedon Wilson has the Huskers in his top 10. The 6-foot-3 pass catcher is an intriguing prospect.
#blessed #top10 #2gocrazy #sum2prove @SWiltfong247 @MikeRoach247 @TrueBuzzFB
Edit by: @MSUHype pic.twitter.com/zwwmtQdpmn— Jaedon Wilson (@cantguardjaee) May 11, 2020
ICYMI
>> We have reached No. 5 on Derek Peterson’s Most Intriguing Huskers list and that spot goes to offensive lineman Matt Farniok. (Premium)
>> Quarterback Noah Vedral has found his new home. He’s heading to Rutgers.
>> Padding the Stats looks at Nebraska’s basketball latest commit and why he is a good get for Nebraska.
>> The Hail Varsity staff took your questions in the mailbag, including why so many kids are committing right now.
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.
