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 Huskers have added a lot of size and length to the roster over the last few recruiting classes. A number of recruits recently have been big for their position. It’s no coincidence what Coach Scott Frost said this after the 2018 Iowa matchup.
“What disturbs me right now is that Iowa is a bigger, stronger football team,” Frost said. “I never thought I’d see or hear that or say that about a Nebraska football team. That we can fix. We can get bigger, we can get stronger. Give their guys credit. They had three, four years in Iowa’s strength and conditioning, we had one year with Zach [Duval]. They leaned on us quite a bit in the second half. I thought the defense did a nice job of responding, but I look forward to the day where we’re not going to get pushed around by anybody.”
After that November meeting, Nebraska signed a recruiting class that started the foundation of adding some serious size to the roster. It was most notable on the offensive line.
Here’s a look at that group:
- Bryce Benhart (6-8, 303)
- Jimmy Fritzsche (6-7, 250)
- Ethan Piper (6-4, 270)
- Brant Banks (6-7, 265)
- Matthew Anderson (6-6, 250)
- Michael Lynn (6-6, 280)
The secondary added Myles Farmer, Javin Wright and Quinton Newsome. They all have good size for their positions. Outside linebacker Garrett Nelson and defensive lineman Ty Robinson are not small. The 2019 class started the trend and it continued in the 2020 class.
The Huskers added Zavier Betts (6-3, 190) and Omar Manning (6-4, 220) at wide receiver in the last cycle. Outside linebacker Blaise Gunnerson (6-5, 250) arrived in Lincoln this January looking ready to play college football. Turner Corcoran (6-5, 280) and Alex Conn (6-6, 280) fit in with the offensive linemen on campus. Each junior college player that signed with the Huskers in the 2020 recruiting class has good size to them too. And, of course, the Huskers did sign a polar bear in Nash Hutmacher.
Big Boy Summer! #ThePolarBear #Panzer pic.twitter.com/adk2N03PfF
— Nouredin Nouili (@Nouri_73) July 4, 2020
If there is a theme for the 2021 class so far—aside from the fishing and dunking competitions—it’s size. The offensive line trio of Teddy Prochazka (6-8, 270), Henry Lutovsky (6-6, 325) and Branson Yager (6-7, 320) is massive. Every linebacker commit in the class is long and athletic. The wide receiver pair of Shawn Hardy (6-3, 190) and Latrell Neville (6-4, 190) complement the previous class of wideouts well. Even the 2021 quarterback—Heinrich Haarberg—stands at 6-foot-5 and 185 pounds. Frost is well on his way to getting to another stated goal that he revealed after that same Iowa game in 2018.
“I want to get to the point where I look across the field and don’t think they are bigger than us,” Frost said. “That shouldn’t happen at the University of Nebraska.”
Recruit Watch
>> The Huskers newest commit Latrell Neville wasted no time introducing himself to top target Thomas Fidone.
Yo , wassup @ThomasFidone ?
— S E V E N (@LatrellNeville7) July 4, 2020
>> Tight end target Erik Olsen elected to stay home by committing to the Buffaloes over the weekend.
@CUBuffsFootball @k_dorrell @embo82 @CoachChev6 pic.twitter.com/SHpupqCURq
— Erik Olsen (@e_olsen12) July 4, 2020
>> Intriguing linebacker target Martez Thrower committed to Kentucky.
I will be committing to kentucky 💙🤍💙🤍
pic.twitter.com/yAXODDUNxr— martez thrower (@ThrowerMartez) July 4, 2020
ICYMI
>> I offered up 5 thoughts (Premium) on the commitment of 4-star wide receiver Latrell Neville.
>> The Hail Varsity Yearbook features an honest discussion on the state of the country following the death of George Floyd betwen former Husker Josh Mitchell and some of his closest friends.
>> Jacob Padilla caught up with Huskers hoops assistant Matt Abdelmassih on pandemic recruiting and more.
>> The latest Nebraska film study (Premium) focuses on defensive back Deontai Williams.
