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.
Monday was a good day to be Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez. No, it wasn’t because winter conditioning and classes for the spring semester began. It was his 19th birthday and he was named to the FWAA Freshman All-America Team. His stats from his freshman campaign put him in some pretty elite company.
.@MartinezTheQB was just the sixth freshman quarterback – true or redshirt – to average 200 passing yards and 50 rushing yards per game since 1990.
Other notable freshman to reach these marks:
Marcus Mariota (2012)
Johnny Manziel (2012)
J.T. Barrett (2014)#GBR— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFBNation) January 7, 2019
As the 2019 recruiting class gets wrapped up, I can’t help but notice that Martinez has become more and more of a selling point for Nebraska recruiting. When you see the skills and maturity that the California signal-caller has, it’s hard not to want to play with him. In fact, Scott Frost is counting on that based on what he said during his signing day press conference.
“Yeah if you’re a football fan and followed our offense, I think you see the type of firepower it has, and I think that lends itself to having recruits want to come play in this offense,” Frost said.
“We had a great start and covered a lot of ground in year one. Offensively, (we) still want to get better. Speaking to the last job we had, they were second-to-last in the country in offense when we got there and in two years we were the No. 1 scoring offense in the United States. This one’s heading in the same direction particularly with Adrian (Martinez) at the controls. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the country. You know if I was a skill player on offense, I’d want to come play with a guy like that.”
Many of the offensive recruits I talked to throughout the season mentioned the prospect of playing with Martinez. The most notable quote came from Wandale Robinson, who also started classes in Lincoln on Monday.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Robinson said of playing with Martinez. “You don’t really get the chance to play with a quarterback that talented and especially since he is so young. Knowing that I get to play with him for at least the next two years and possibly three It’s just going to be really fun to have all the pieces around him that will enable him to do what he does best.”
As Nebraska continues to build its offense around Martinez, they certainly hope that more and more players jump at the opportunity.
Recruit Watch
>>Drake Heismeyer, a 2020 offensive lineman from Saint Charles, Missouri, went down to the national combine in San Antonio and held his own. Heismeyer has been to a game in Lincoln and could see his stock rise soon.
Some 1 on 1 clips at the US Army National Combine. pic.twitter.com/e97DTJpaf2
— Drake Heismeyer (@DHeismeyer77) January 6, 2019
>>Renato Brown, a 2019 lineman and former Miami commit, released a new top 5 and the Huskers made the cut. Nebraska likes him as a defensive tackle.
— Renato Brown (@Renato__59) January 6, 2019
>>Tavian Mayo, a 2019 cornerback from Georgia wants everyone to know that he still has Nebraska on his mind with his recruitment.
Don’t get it confused I still got love for Lincoln Nebraska ✅❤️💯🌽 #huskernation #GBR❤️
— tavian2x (@tavian_1) January 5, 2019
ICYMI
>>Derek Peterson is back with his Five Factors to check out the trends for Nebraska basketball.
>>Jacob Padilla took a look at a jam-packed week of high school hoops action.
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.
