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.
We are at the point of fall camp where you can start imagining a potential two-deep for Nebraska’s first game. Let’s think about the the offense specifically. We’ve entered Year 3 of Coach Scott Frost’s time at Nebraska. The offensive two-deep will be slanted toward players he and his staff recruited.
This is definitely not a bad thing. Look at the skill position players that you expect to have roles this season. Most have been recruited in the last few classes. Quarterbacks Adrian Martinez, Luke McCaffrey and Logan Smothers were all recruited by Frost and QB coach Mario Verduzco. Dedrick Mills is the unquestioned starter at running back. He was brought in by Frost and running backs coach Ryan Held, as well as Ronald Thompkins, Rahmir Johnson, Sevion Morrison and Marvin Scott.
Wide receiver isn’t much different than quarterback and running back. Wan’Dale Robinson, Omar Manning, Alante Brown, Zavier Betts, Levi Falck and Chris Hickman were all recruited by this coaching staff. Kade Warner was not but since he missed all of 2017 with an injury, he’s only played in games for Frost.
Tight end is a different story. It’s a mixed bag with Jack Stoll and Austin Allen being players the staff inherited. Travis Vokolek was brought in as a transfer by Frost. The trenches are of course a different story. It takes longer to develop players to play on the line in the Big Ten. Still two of the five projected starters—Cam Jurgens and Bryce Benhart—were signed by Frost.
So, what does this all mean?
It should be the end of any talk that Nebraska is still getting the types of players it needs to run the offense. A significant percentage of players on offense were signed by Frost and his staff. That should mean that the offense will start to look closer to what everyone expected when Frost arrived in Lincoln. Speaking about his talented but inexperienced wide receiver group, Frost was optimistic.
“I think we have right guys now,” he said. “A lot of the guys that have been here have taken pretty big leaps forward and then we have a lot of young talent and new talent and it’s going to be a matter of getting those guys up to speed.”
I am also interested in what effect all this could have on recruiting. Now that the season is close to kicking off in the Big Ten, it will be an opportunity for recruits. That can see what Nebraska has been up to during the offseason. That is one element that Held mentioned last week.
“It’ll be nice for us to play in 2 and half weeks so recruits can see us on TV,” Held said. “That’ll help since we obviously haven’t played yet. It will help us to be seen by the kids we are recruiting.”
Perhaps the Huskers being back on television soon can help get the ball rolling for the 2022 class. If the Huskers can show improvement to start the season while playing closer to the style Frost wants, that would help too. We are just a couple weeks from finding out.
Recruit Watch
>> Lincoln Southeast star Jake Appleget got some love on NFL Countdown this morning.
You got MOSSED!!! We see you @ApplegetJake and @Schne1Mc! Let’s GO @SoutheastFB pic.twitter.com/DrbDhyQ7iq
— LSE Athletics (@LSEAthletics) October 11, 2020
>> Big time 2022 defensive end from Georgia Mykel Williams posted some new highlights to Hudl.
Check out my highlight – https://t.co/CGyipcG2B3 Spencer ❗️
— Mykel Williams (@MykelW_50) October 10, 2020
>> Curlee Thomas, a 2022 defensive end from Texas, played a heck of a game on Friday night.
We got the dub!! Hard fought game. I had Multiple sacks, multiple tackles, multiple pressures. I'm tired 😴 🛌
— Curlee Thomas IV ⭐️⭐️⭐️ QB Hunter (@CurleeIv) October 10, 2020
ICYMI
>> I went out to Tabor, Iowa, on Friday where Fremont-Mills dropped (Premium) its Homecoming matchup to Central Valley.
>> Derek Peterson took a look into Greg Austin’s touch, simplicity and Nebraska’s run game in 2020.
>> Check out the Week 5 edition of the Nebraska Preps Postgame show with Damon Benning and Jacob Padilla.
>> Bird led Bennington past Elkhorn in a battle of Class B’s best on Friday night.
>> Future Huskers faced off at the SkyHawk Volleyball Invitational and Jacob Padilla has the breakdown.
